Migrant or Refugee? There Is a Difference, With Legal Implications

Abstract: In the first half of this year alone, at least 137,000 men, women and children crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach the shores of Europe, according to the United Nations . Thousands are traveling across the Balkans now. Q. Does it matter what you call them? A. Yes. The terms “migrant” and “refugee” are sometimes used interchangeably, but there is a crucial legal difference between the two. Closing the Back Door to Europe In recent months European nations have worked to block the main route taken by migrants fleeing war and upheaval. Q. Who is a refugee? A. Briefly, a refugee is person who has fled his or her country to escape war or persecution, and can prove it. The 1951 Refugee Convention , negotiated after World War II, defines a refugee as a person who, “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.” Among those crossing the Mediterranean in the first half of 2015, the greatest numbers came from Syria , Afghanistan or Eritrea . Syrians are widely presumed to be refugees because of the civil war there, according to the United Nations refugee agency . Many Afghans have been able to make the case that they are fleeing conflict, the agency added, and Eritreans can generally argue that they would face political persecution at home in Eritrea, which is ruled by one of the world’s most repressive regimes . Q. What does the distinction mean for European countries? A. Refugees are entitled to basic protections under the 1951 convention and other international agreements. Once in Europe, refugees can apply for political asylum or another protected status, sometimes temporary. By law, refugees cannot be sent back to countries where their lives would be in danger. “One of the most fundamental principles laid down in international law is that refugees should not be expelled or returned to situations where their life and freedom would be under threat,” the refugee agency said in a statement on Thursday . Countries Under the Most Strain in the European Migration Crisis European Union officials struggle to cope with the growing crisis. Q. Who is a migrant? A. Anyone moving from one country to another is considered a migrant unless he or she is specifically fleeing war or persecution. Migrants may be fleeing dire poverty, or may be well-off and merely seeking better opportunities, or may be migrating to join relatives who have gone before them. There is an emerging debate about whether migrants fleeing their homes because of the effects of climate change — the desertification of the Sahel region , for example, or the sinking of coastal islands in Bangladesh — ought to be reclassified as refugees. Q. Are migrants treated differently from refugees? A. Countries are free to deport migrants who arrive without legal papers, which they cannot do with refugees under the 1951 convention. So it is not surprising that many politicians in Europe prefer to refer to everyone fleeing to the continent as migrants. Q. Which term applies to the flood of people reaching Europe now? A. The United Nations refugee agency says that most of them are refugees, though some are considered migrants. “The majority of people arriving this year in Italy and Greece , especially, have been from countries mired in war or which otherwise are considered to be ‘refugee-producing,’ and for whom international protection is needed,” the refugee agency said. “However, a smaller proportion is from elsewhere, and for many of these individuals, the term ‘migrant’ would be correct.” Human traffickers make no such distinctions, though; refugees and migrants are often jammed into the same rickety boats for the crossing. Q. How does the United States see the issue? A. Admitting refugees is somewhat different in the United States. The State Department vets a select number of people — lately, around 70,000 a year — and admits them as refugees. Others who arrive in the country without legal papers can apply for political asylum; in that case, a judge decides on the merits of their claims.

Middle East and Africa Migrant Crisis,European Migrant Crisis


Workplace Deaths in 2015 Reached Six-Year High

Abstract: More workers died from on-the-clock injuries in 2015 than in any of the six previous years, though the rate of such deaths has been falling, according to data released last week by the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics . The census of workplace fatalities, first conducted in 1992, provides a detailed view of workplace safety in America and shows the demographic groups and professions most at risk of fatal workplace injury. Here’s a look at some of the key figures from the new report. 4,836 That’s the total number of fatal workplace injuries in 2015, the highest since 2008, when such injuries resulted in 5,214 deaths. High as the total may seem, the rate of workplace deaths — as a share of every 100,000 full-time equivalent workers — fell slightly from 2014 and has fallen relatively steadily since 2006. 93 percent Men accounted for all but 7 percent of the total workplace deaths last year. 2,054 That’s the number of transportation-related episodes that resulted in fatalities, accounting for about 42 percent of all workplace deaths. As a result, 745 drivers of heavy and tractor-trailer trucks died because of injuries at work last year, more than any other major civilian occupation. Falls, slips and trips made up the next most common major cause of workplace fatalities, resulting in 800 deaths last year. 903 That’s the number of Hispanic or Latino workers who died in 2015, approximately two-thirds of them foreign-born. More Hispanics or Latinos died from workplace injuries in 2015 than in any year since 2007, when the number for the group was 937. 650 Workers 65 years and older died at higher rates last year than their peers in any other age group. With 650 deaths for those senior workers, 2015 was the second-worst year for the age group since the data was first collected in 1992. Only last year’s total, 684, was larger. 18 percent That’s the decline in the number of workplace suicides from 2014. The homicide rate rose 2 percent. Over the last five years, both declined.

Workplace
Falling
Civilian casualties
BLS


For Federal Programs, a Bit of Market Discipline - David Leonhardt

Abstract: WASHINGTON Wouldn’t it be nice if taxpayers could somehow get a refund for government programs that didn’t work? Instead, the opposite tends to happen. Programs that fail to make a difference — like many of those that train workers for new jobs — endure indefinitely. Often, policy makers don’t even know which work and which don’t, because rigorous evaluation is rare in government. And competition, which punishes laggards in the private sector, is typically absent in the public sector. But there is some good news on this front. Lately, both American and British policy makers have been thinking about how to bring some of the competitive discipline of the market to government programs, and they have hit on an intriguing idea. David Cameron ’s Conservative government in Britain is already testing it , at a prison 75 miles north of London . The Bloomberg administration in New York is also considering the idea, as is the State of Massachusetts . Perhaps most notably, President Obama next week will propose setting aside $100 million for seven such pilot programs, according to an administration official. The idea goes by one of two names: pay for success bonds or social impact bonds . Either way, nonprofit groups like foundations pay the initial money for a new program and also oversee it, with government approval. The government will reimburse them several years later, possibly with a bonus — but only if agreed-upon benchmarks show that the program is working. If it falls short, taxpayers owe nothing. The first British test is happening at Her Majesty’s Prison Peterborough, where 60 percent of the prisoners are convicted of another crime within one year of release. Depressingly enough, that recidivism rate is typical for a British prison. To reduce the rate, a nonprofit group named Social Finance is playing a role akin to venture capitalist. It has raised about $8 million from investors, including the Rockefeller Foundation. Social Finance also oversees three social service groups helping former prisoners find work, stay healthy and the like. If any of those groups starts to miss its performance goals, it can be replaced. For the investors to get their money back starting in 2014 — with interest — the recidivism rate must fall at least 7.5 percent, relative to a control group. If the rate falls 10 percent, the investors will receive the sort of return that the stock market historically delivers. “It’s been only a few months,” says Tracy Palandjian, who recently opened a new Social Finance office in Boston , “but the numbers are coming in O.K.” Antony Bugg-Levine of the Rockefeller Foundation told me it had invested in the project for two main reasons. One, it expected to get its money back and then be able to reuse it. Two, if social impact bonds work, they have the potential to attract for-profit investors — and vastly expand the pool of capital that’s available for social programs. Clearly, social impact bonds have limitations. For starters, it’s hard to see how private money could ever pay for multibillion-dollar programs like Medicaid or education. Just as important, the execution of any bond program will be complicated. It will depend on coming up with the right performance measures, which is no small matter. Done wrong, the measures will end up rewarding programs lucky (or clever) enough to enroll participants who are more likely to succeed no matter what. But whatever the caveats about the bonds, the potential for improving the government’s performance is obviously huge. That’s true in education, health care, criminal justice and many other areas. A recent review found that 10 major social programs had been rigorously evaluated over the past two decades, using the scientific gold standard of random assignment. Only one of the 10 — Early Head Start, for infants, toddlers pregnant women — was a clear success. Yet all 10 still exist, and largely in their original form. Jon Baron , the president of the Coalition for Evidence-Based Policy in Washington, points out that the social problems addressed by antipoverty programs have not gotten much better in years. School test scores have barely changed. College graduation rates for low-income students have stagnated. The poverty rate is as high as it was in 1981. Median household income is lower than it was in 1998. “If we just keep funding social programs the way we have been,” Mr. Baron says, “there’s not a lot of reason to think we’ll have much success.” The Obama administration’s seven pilot programs would create bonds for, among other areas, job training, education, juvenile justice and care of children’s disabilities. Nonprofit groups like Social Finance could apply. So could for-profit companies, said the White House official, who asked not to be named because the president had not yet released next year’s budget. The $100 million for the bonds would come out of the budgets of other programs, to stay consistent with Mr. Obama’s announced freeze on non-security spending. Officials in Massachusetts and New York are looking at similar ideas but have not yet decided whether they will issue bonds. Beyond the impact of any single program, the bonds have the potential to nudge all government agencies to pay more attention to results. Mr. Obama, after all, campaigned as a reformer who wanted to create a sleek, efficient “ iPod government .” He has had some success, like the expansion of a program — backed by years of solid evidence — in which nurses go to the homes of new at-risk parents to counsel them. Over all, though, the administration has not done enough to improve government efficiency. Put it this way: If someone asked you how Mr. Obama had made government work better, would you have an answer? Making government work better will be all the more important in the years ahead. The free market is not going to solve many of our biggest problems, be it stagnant pay or spotty medical care. And government — in Washington and locally — is going to be financially squeezed for a long time. There never was a good excuse for wasting billions of taxpayer dollars on programs that didn’t work. But now, especially, there’s no excuse.

Social impact bond
Federal Aid
Barack Obama
Great Britain
Ex Cons


Pennsylvania: Convicted Murderer Escapes

Abstract: A convicted murderer sentenced to life was on the loose after escaping from a medium-security prison in Albion, about 20 miles southwest of Erie. Guards conducting a routine inmate count on Sunday afternoon discovered that the prisoner, Malcolm Kysor, 53, was missing. The prison was locked down yesterday while the state police and correction officials investigated how Mr. Kysor was able to get free, the authorities said. Mr. Kysor was convicted in January 1987 of first-degree murder in the beating death of Barney Fenton, 40.

Pennsylvania
Prisons and Prisoners
Murders and Attempted Murders


Baseball Roundup

Abstract: Ubaldo Jimenez pitched eight scoreless innings, helping the host Cleveland Indians defeat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-0, on Saturday. Jason Giambi and Asdrubal Cabrera hit two-run homers in the game, which began about 10 hours after a contest between the teams that ended at 2:53 a.m. because of nearly five hours of rain delays. Giambi’s homer was his third in his last three games. Jimenez (4-3) allowed four hits and struck out seven over eight innings in stopping Tampa Bay’s six-game winning streak. Vinnie Pestano pitched the ninth for Cleveland’s eighth shutout of the season. After being held to one hit by four pitchers in the previous night’s marathon, the Indians woke up against the Tampa Bay right-hander Chris Archer (0-1), called up from Class AAA Durham before the game. He allowed five runs, seven hits and three walks in four innings. TIGERS 10, ORIOLES 3 Miguel Cabrera’s grand slam capped a wild fourth inning in which visiting Detroit hit four home runs and Baltimore pitcher Jason Hammel was ejected. Justin Verlander (7-4) improved to 8-0 against Baltimore in his career. It was the first time the Orioles had given up four homers in an inning, according to Stats L.L.C. TWINS 5, MARINERS 4 Ryan Doumit’s two-run triple off Tom Wilhelmsen in the bottom of the ninth inning won the game for Minnesota. For Seattle, Jason Bay hit two home runs, giving him four in his last five games. ATHLETICS 4, WHITE SOX 3 Hector Santiago walked Josh Reddick with the bases loaded and two outs in the 10th inning to force in the winning run for host Oakland. The A’s had 16 hits, and they failed to score after loading the bases with no outs in the ninth. Image Ubaldo Jimenez, left, earned a win Saturday in the Indians’ eighth shutout of 2013. Credit Mark Duncan/Associated Press ROYALS 4, RANGERS 1 After striking out two Royals with the bases loaded in the top of the 10th inning, Robbie Ross hit David Lough with a pitch to force in the go-ahead run, and George Kottaras added a two-run double. CARDINALS SWEEP GIANTS The rookie pitcher Shelby Miller (6-3) pitched seven shutout innings as host St. Louis beat San Francisco, 8-0, in the day game of a doubleheader after Friday’s game was postponed. Matt Cain (4-3) allowed seven runs in six innings, falling to 0-3 at Busch Stadium with an 8.87 E.R.A. in four starts. All the damage came in the third; in the other five innings he pitched, Cain set the Cardinals down in order. St. Louis won the night game, 8-1, behind Adam Wainwright (8-3), who pitched a complete game, his third this season. Wainwright struck out 10 in the 14th complete game of his career. REDS 2, PIRATES 0 Four Cincinnati pitchers combined for a shutout, with Mike Leake (5-2) getting the win and Aroldis Chapman his 14th save. The host Pirates also used four pitchers. BRAVES 2, NATIONALS 1 B. J. Upton drove in the winning run for Atlanta in the bottom of the ninth inning. It was only his ninth R.B.I. in 47 games for the Braves. The starting pitchers Tim Hudson of Atlanta and Gio Gonzalez of Washington each gave up one run and three hits; the Nationals’ run was unearned. ROCKIES 7, DODGERS 6 Dexter Fowler’s R.B.I. single in the 10th inning lifted host Colorado past Los Angeles. The Dodgers’ Carl Crawford, after his second double of the game, left in the third inning with a hamstring cramp. BREWERS 4, PHILLIES 3 Jonathan Lucroy hit a homer, Wily Peralta (4-6) pitched seven strong innings and Francisco Rodriguez earned the save as Milwaukee held off a ninth-inning rally by host Philadelphia. AROUND THE MAJORS Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper was placed on the 15-day disabled list with bursitis in his left knee. ...The Nationals said an M.R.I. showed that Stephen Strasburg had a slightly strained muscle in the side of his back, and the team is hoping he can avoid the disabled list.

Baseball
Ubaldo Jimenez
Cleveland Indians
Tampa Bay Rays


Soldiers in Yemen Are Killed in Attacks on 2 Military Targets

Abstract: SANA, Yemen — At least 21 government soldiers were killed on Friday in what appeared to be coordinated attacks by people suspected of being Qaeda militants on two military targets in the south of Yemen, government officials said. Earlier in the day, witnesses and local security officials gave a higher death toll, saying at least 33 soldiers were killed. In an official statement issued Friday afternoon, the government said that in the first attack, gunmen opened fire at security headquarters in the town of Mayfaa. That was followed by the explosion of two car bombs at a military camp in Al Nashama, the statement said. Both attacks left a total of 21 soldiers dead and 15 injured, the government said. But security officials on the scene and residents who said they had seen the bodies disputed that number, saying at least 25 soldiers had been killed in the car bomb explosions and at least 8 in the shootings. All of those killed had been assigned to guard the oil and gas fields in southern Shabwa Province, a volatile area and stronghold of Al Qaeda, where there have been frequent skirmishes between security forces and Islamist militants. Image A photo provided by the Adenalghad newspaper shows dead soldiers wrapped in blankets after gunmen opened fire at the military headquarters in Mayfaa. Credit Adenalghad, via Reuters The officials said they believed that members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Qaeda affiliate active in Yemen, were responsible for the attacks. The United States and other Western countries view the group as one of the most dangerous affiliates of the global terrorism network. In recent years, the group has tried to carry out several high-profile attacks, some meant to blow up international airliners, and its militants have assassinated dozens of Yemeni security and military officers. The Associated Press, quoting Maj. Raed Mohammed Nasser, said eight militants had died. Residents who said they had witnessed the attack in Mayfaa reported that the militants had surprised the troops in their barracks at dawn in dense fog. Witnesses in the area near Al Nashama, which is about 40 miles from Mayfaa, said that after the bombs had detonated, a drone had targeted the two Qaeda cars, hitting one and missing the other. They said no bodies had been discovered in the cars. Before the attack, the witnesses said, Qaeda militants were seen driving through the surrounding area, armed with machine guns. A campaign of American drone strikes and a Yemeni Army offensive have intensified pressure against the Qaeda affiliate over the past 18 months, as militants have been pushed out of territory that had been under their control and back into hiding. But despite that pressure, the group has been at the center of a recent intensification in threat levels. Last month, the Obama administration closed nearly two dozen diplomatic missions and issued a worldwide travel alert after the United States intercepted electronic communications in which the head of Al Qaeda ordered the leader of the Yemen affiliate to carry out an attack, American officials have said.

Yemen
Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
Terrorism


Vintage Performance by Pettitte Is Derailed

Abstract: CLEVELAND Any Orkin Man can explain how a termite is capable of destroying even the most expensive superstructures. Any farmer can explain the devastation a weevil can inflict on a field of endless bounty. What about gnats? Are they capable of wiping out the Yankee Empire as we’ve come to know it? Out of nowhere, out of the black sky at Jacobs Field, the insects — were they locusts? — collected last night on the grass and over the dirt and in the eyes of the previously imperturbable Joba Chamberlain . No amount of OFF! repellent or waving of hands or swatting of Yankee caps could prevent them from ravaging a playoff game — and, potentially, a franchise, a megastar and a manager. Until an entomologist’s dream took hold in the eighth inning, spelling doom for the Yankees in a devastating 2-1 defeat in the 11th inning of Game 2 in their American League division series, it had been like old times for the pinstripe pinups. The Yankees had gone wonderfully retro. They had reached into a time capsule, sifted through grunge rock albums and Beanie Babies and Y2K memos, and pulled out Andy Pettitte . He is the Deuce, Mr. Game 2. In his nine years of Yankee living — interrupted by a three-year Texas sabbatical — he has almost always been on the mound for the Yankees in Game 2 of a playoff series. Last night marked his 13th start in that spot. Had his luck ran out? What fate had brought bugs for a 45-minute swath of the game? What wicked destiny could tamper with a vintage Pettitte performance — six and a third innings of shutout ball in a pitch-for-pitch battle with Cleveland’s starter, Fausto Carmona? What star-crossed phenomenon could disrupt Joba the Phenom? Suddenly, the rookie couldn’t pitch straight, not with insects zipping around his eyes and sticking to his sweaty arms and drowning in the bug spray on his jersey. Suddenly, he was unnerved, ultimately throwing a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score in the eighth inning. “I’m never going to make excuses,” Chamberlain said, adding, “They bugged me, but you’ve got to deal with it. I let my guys down and that’s the bottom line. Disappointment is an understatement.” He didn’t lose the game, of course. You can blame an anemic offense led by the new Alex Rodriguez of this season imitating the old Alex Rodriguez of past postseasons. You can blame reliever Luis Vizcaíno’s letdown in the 11th. In truth, it was a surreal loss amid a Yankee version of the movie “A Bug’s Life.” “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Derek Jeter said. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all — bugs.” The insect wave could have a ripple effect in the Bronx if the team fails to recover from a two-games-to-none deficit in this best-of-five series with Cleveland. One more loss, and they’re out in the first round for the third straight year. One more loss, and Joe Torre could be out as the manager after an impressive tenure. One more loss, and everything about the Yankees could change. A-Rod could take flight, for one. Then, Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada could follow. Pettitte, too. What a strange way for Pettitte to go out if he chooses. In his previous 12 Game 2 starts, from 1995 to 2003, the Yankees were 8-4, with Pettitte posting a 6-3 record and a 3.30 earned run average. Many of those victories were to stop panic attacks, to keep the Yankees from plunging into 2-0 holes after Game 1 losses. Here the Yankees were again, in another divot. Here Pettitte was again, the warm glass of milk or brandy — you pick one — to settle nerves. Remember 1996 in the division series against the Rangers, or 2000 against the A’s, or 2003 against the Twins and then Boston? “He got out of every jam,” Jeter said of Pettitte. “He pitched a great game.” He put the team in position to win. And it was all going according to plan. In the seventh inning, Joba had been Joba. He had handcuffed the Indians with his usual stuff. Then his focus became clouded by insects. “The only chance I had was the bug spray,” Chamberlain said. “But again, that’s not an excuse. I wasn’t the only one who had to deal with it. They didn’t just show up for me.” And yet, you knew it would take something bizarre, something supernatural — like locusts, like an OFF night for Joba — to leave the Yankees wondering if their playoff run was jinxed, if it could end abruptly once again. If it does, the foundation of the Yankees will be devastated by the Night of the Gnats. Bugs are more than pesky. Ask an Orkin Man.

Playoff Games
Baseball
New York Times
Chamberlain Joba
Pettitte Andy


New Twitter App Streams N.F.L. Games and Other Sports

Abstract: Twitter is making a play for people’s living rooms, unveiling an app on Wednesday for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Microsoft’s Xbox One that will showcase its bet on live content. Twitter’s new free app includes live streams of 10 National Football League Thursday night games , and all live videos from MLB Advanced Media, the National Basketball Association, Pac-12 Networks, Campus Insiders, Bloomberg News and the business news start-up Cheddar. “We’re excited to introduce this new experience to people, without requiring a pay wall or having to log in to Twitter,” Anthony Noto, chief financial officer of Twitter, said in a statement. Image Mock-ups of the new Twitter live-streaming app for Apple TV. Credit Twitter Twitter, the social media company, wants to draw a large mainstream audience with live-streamed television events after struggling to increase its user base. It also is betting that a larger audience will make it more attractive for advertisers, especially for online video ads, which command a premium. Twitter has bet big on this live-streaming vision. This spring, Twitter beat Facebook and other technology companies to win the rights to live stream the N.F.L. games on Thursday nights. Twitter agreed to pay the league around $1 million a game and to let the N.F.L. handle some of the ad sales. Mr. Noto once was the N.F.L.’s chief financial officer. Last season, each Thursday night football game drew an average of 13 million viewers. Twitter will stream its first N.F.L. game on Thursday. Twitter’s new app will be available in select markets starting Wednesday. Apple TV users will also be able to see live premium video and video clips posted on Twitter side-by-side.

MLB
Computers and the Internet
Tech Industry
Video Recordings
Downloads and Streaming
Mobile Apps
NFL
Super Bowl
Super Bowl 2015
Pacific-12 Conference


How to Manage Google Location Tracking

Abstract: Q. Is it true that Google tracks where you go on a map of its own? A. If you have the settings turned on in your Google account preferences, the site does compile your location data and history for the places you have been when you are logged into your account on a mobile device or computer. The company says this information is used with apps like Maps to improve your search results based on places you go. If you have been logged into your Google account — say, on an Android phone — while you have been traveling, you can see what data Google has recorded and mapped on your Location History page. Some people may find this a helpful documentation of recent travels, while others with privacy concerns may not want to be tracked. The Location History page anticipates both reactions. You have the option to export the data to a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file for use in programs that display geographic data, or you can delete the information from either the time period displayed — or for all of your traveling history. If you would rather not have your location information be collected and recorded, you can change your settings by clicking the cog icon on the Location History page in a web browser to open your History settings . Google’s website also has information on managing your location information on an Android or iOS device. Your location is not the only thing Google takes note of when you are logged into your Google account; things like your web searches and the clips you watch on YouTube are also compiled. The information is used to streamline your search results and get better suggestions when you use Google services, but you see (and manage) much of this data on your Account History page. Editing Yourself on Wikipedia Q. Can I write an entry on myself and post it on Wikipedia? It’s the encyclopedia that “anyone” can edit, isn’t it? A. Wikipedia’s “About” page does say that “anyone with Internet access can write and make changes to Wikipedia articles, except in limited cases where editing is restricted to prevent disruption or vandalism.” However, the site strongly discourages people from composing and posting autobiographies because “it is difficult to write a neutral, verifiable autobiography, and there are many pitfalls.” The neutral point of view policy, along with Wikipedia’s concerns about conflict of interest and guidelines for writing about living persons , could make any autobiography you write and submit get rejected by other editors working on the encyclopedia. Wikipedia administrators will delete articles that do not meet the site’s standards. To fully explain its position on the matter, Wikipedia has a lengthy essay titled “An article about yourself isn’t necessarily a good thing.” If you would like to write about less-personal topics, Wikipedia does have tutorials and an Article Wizard page that guides you through the process.

Google
Android
Wikipedia
Computers and the Internet
Tech Industry
Smartphone


Poisonous to Pets

Abstract: Q. I know chocolate is harmful to dogs. What else hurts pets but not people? A. Dogs and cats are commonly poisoned by drugs intended for humans, and several foods are uniquely toxic to dogs, said Dr. Karyn L. Bischoff, a veterinarian and toxicologist with the New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center at Cornell University. Dr. Bischoff listed canine food risks including the artificial sweetener xylitol, macadamia nuts, onions, garlic, leeks and chives. Grapes and raisins sometimes pose a threat; since the consequence could be life-threatening kidney failure, she said, “why would you take the risk?” Image Credit Victoria Roberts As for chocolate, humans seem to be a little more resistant than dogs and cats to stimulants in it that are similar to caffeine, but even humans can get sick after consuming too much, Dr. Bischoff said. Baking chocolate, cocoa and dark or semisweet chocolates are the most dangerous. Part of the problem with drugs is that cats and most dogs are relatively small, so a human dose is far too much. But Dr. Bischoff noted that some drugs, including acetaminophen in cats and ibuprofen in dogs, are toxic to pets because of their unique metabolism. Dogs are often poisoned when they consume spilled medications, she said. Cats do so less frequently, but seem to be attracted to the antidepressant venlafaxine (Effexor), and Adderall, used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. A more complete list of pet poisons can be found on the A.S.P.C.A. website . question@nytimes.com


Twitter Steps Up Efforts to Thwart Terrorists’ Tweets

Abstract: For years, Twitter has positioned itself as a “global town square” that is open to discourse from all. And for years, extremist groups like the Islamic State have taken advantage of that stance, using Twitter as a place to spread their messages. Twitter on Friday made clear that it was stepping up its fight to stem that tide. The social media company said it had suspended 125,000 Twitter accounts associated with extremism since the middle of 2015, the first time it has publicized the number of accounts it has suspended. Twitter also said it had expanded the teams that review reports of accounts connected to extremism, to remove the accounts more quickly. “As the nature of the terrorist threat has changed, so has our ongoing work in this area,” Twitter said in a statement , adding that it “condemns the use of Twitter to promote terrorism.” The company said its collective moves had already produced results, “including an increase in account suspensions and this type of activity shifting off Twitter.” The disclosure follows intensifying pressure on Twitter and other technology companies from the White House, presidential candidates like Hillary Clinton and government agencies to take more action to combat the digital practices of terrorist groups. The scrutiny has grown after mass shootings in Paris and San Bernardino, Calif., last year, because of concerns that radicalizations can be accelerated by extremist postings on the web and social media. Online extremist content includes Twitter accounts like @Musliiiiimah_1. In a Twitter message posted in December, just hours after the San Bernardino attack , the account pointed to the shootings as an example of ISIS retaliation against the United States for its involvement in Syria and Iraq, according to a report from the SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks terrorists’ communications. The account is now suspended. “Twitter works as a way to sell books, as a way to promote movies, and it works as a way to crowdsource terrorism — to sell murder,” James B. Comey Jr., director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said at a news conference in New York in December. Twitter appears to be heavily used by ISIS — so much so that some Twitter accounts linked to the group half-jokingly put the location on their profile as “Wilayat Twitter,” or “the province of Twitter.” When recruiting new members begins to get more serious, ISIS members tend to shift to encrypted messaging services like Telegram, Signal and Surespot, which are less susceptible to being intercepted by intelligence agencies like the F.B.I. The number of suspended Twitter accounts related to extremists is a small fraction of the total number of accounts on the service, which has 320 million monthly active users. Still, the 125,000 suspensions stemming from concerns about terrorist activity is significantly higher than previous studies have suggested — one study released by the Brookings Institution last year estimated that between September and December 2014, at least 46,000 Twitter accounts were used by ISIS supporters. The 125,000 suspensions could include users who have continued creating new accounts after previous ones are suspended, a common practice among ISIS supporters, experts said. In a blog post on Friday, Twitter said violent threats and the promotion of terrorism had long been against its terms of service. For almost three years, Twitter has worked closely with groups that are trying to counter extremist recruitment tactics through positive messaging, the company said. Twitter said it decided to intensify its push against extremist posts on its own. The move drew a supportive response from American officials. Brett H. McGurk, who is President Obama’s special envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State , tweeted that he welcomed Twitter’s action. Representative Adam B. Schiff, Democrat of California and a member of the House’s Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said the company’s announcement was “a very positive development” given that “ISIS has eclipsed Al Qaeda as the foremost terror threat we face.” A senior Obama administration official said Friday that the White House supported Twitter’s efforts against extremism. “The administration is committed to taking every action possible to confront and interdict terrorist activities wherever they may occur, including in cyberspace, and we welcome constructive steps from our private sector partners,” the official said. Still, some lawmakers and technologists have perceived some of Twitter’s efforts to clamp down on terrorist-related posts as toothless. In December, The New York Times wrote about the 335th Twitter account of a pro-Islamic State group that calls itself Asawitri Media, which Twitter repeatedly tried to shut down but that popped back up, often with a similar account name. “Twitter has ramped up its response significantly since June 2014, and again since the Paris attacks, but ISIS has still maintained a notable presence on the platform,” said J. M. Berger, a fellow with George Washington University’s Program on Extremism and author of books on extremist issues. He added that Facebook, the biggest social network, has also “been very aggressive on this issue, about as much as anyone could reasonably expect, but we still see some ISIS activity.” Twitter’s disclosure of the number of terrorist account suspensions sets it apart from its social media peers. Facebook regularly discloses the number of government requests it has received for content takedowns on its service, but the company does not break out the removal of terror-related content. YouTube has given more than 200 outside organizations the ability to flag potentially harmful content, which YouTube can then review and remove from the service if it deems the content inappropriate. Because Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have enormous amounts of user-generated content flowing through their platforms on a minute-by-minute basis, the companies rely primarily on users to report objectionable material. On Twitter, people can flag and report posts to Twitter staff members around the world, who review the material and determine whether or not it should remain on the site. But these companies must walk a fine line between bearing responsibility for their platforms and avoiding becoming the arbiter of what constitutes free speech. Experts said that content related to extremism, in particular, was difficult to parse outside of acts of extreme violence. “It’s one thing to say you won’t accept a beheading video on a site,” said Faiza Patel, co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. “But once you get beyond something that clear, how do you define terrorist content?” Ms. Patel noted that these accounts, left untouched, may be of value to law enforcement officials and scholars trying to study extremist online recruitment methodologies. The question of whether or not to suspend every extremist account immediately, she said, is not so cut and dried. Twitter acknowledged that the issue remained tricky. “As an open platform for expression, we have always sought to strike a balance between the enforcement of our own Twitter rules covering prohibited behaviors, the legitimate needs of law enforcement and the ability of users to share their views freely,” the company said. “There is no magic algorithm for identifying terrorist content on the Internet, so global online platforms are forced to make challenging judgment calls based on very limited information and guidance.”

Terrorism
Social Media
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State


Uncertainty and Helplessness Become a Way of Life in Nepal

Abstract: KATHMANDU, Nepal — I am not the old me. It is not something I would have noticed a month ago. But now I notice it almost all the time. I’ve begun to see it in my friends too, in the topic of our conversations, in the lives that we lead and in what makes us happy. I watch it in the eyes and in the body language of the people I interview. I feel it even in the wild weather, the gale force winds and thunderstorms that have torn across my adopted city this week. I am constantly on edge. I live in Kathmandu, Nepal ’s capital. My life did not change immediately on April 25 when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake tore through central and eastern Nepal, killing more than 8,500 people, injuring thousands and leaving an estimated 2.5 million people homeless. Yes, I remember the fast thuds of my heart and my shaking hands after the interminable 40 seconds of rolling earth, crumbling walls and nearby screams. Then came the more than 240 aftershocks, including a terrifying magnitude 7.3 temblor this month that I weathered on the fourth floor of a swaying building. “This is not my Kathmandu anymore,” my friend Deepesh Das Shrestha told me recently of the city where he grew up. “I don’t recognize it. People will only talk about one thing: It’s the earthquake.” It’s really too easy to call it fear. One word cannot possibly encapsulate this inability to predict or control a force that doesn’t have an end date. “Wouldn’t it be nice,” said my 10-year-old son, Lucas, just after a 6.8 aftershock on April 26, “if the earthquake would send us an email telling us when it would arrive?” Fear for so many of us here is a living, breathing, controlling creature, a domino effect that continues to grow and beat down our rational, intelligent thinking selves. In the past weeks in Kathmandu, panic has spread as astrologers and holy men made public (and incorrect) declarations about the imminent time and date of the next major earthquake. In response, one famous astrologer took to the airwaves to say astrology could not predict natural disasters. Earthquake fear is also a business venture. The police have arrested several would-be thieves who went through neighborhoods predicting an earthquake with the aim of breaking into empty houses as residents fled. It has gotten to the point where the government canceled a public lecture by one of the most respected Himalayan seismologists because it did not want to risk inspiring panic. I’ve noticed the symptoms in my friends and in myself. It is in the camps for the displaced; in the far-flung villages facing hunger and landslides; in the homes for orphans; and even in the semi-destroyed prisons where inmates live under tents like so many other Nepalis. It’s the exhausting hypervigilance. I don’t lock or even close the bathroom door anymore, even if it is in a public washroom, just in case it jams in a quake. I slept outdoors for a week, then on the living room floor close to a door that led to my yard for another week, and I will return there when my husband heads out of town. Many of my neighbors still sleep outdoors. I always wear closed shoes, regardless of the heat, because I know I cannot run through rubble in sandals. I carry a go-bag everywhere, with essentials like bottled water, rain gear, snack food, a hat and several phone chargers. It even sits by my bed every night, alongside a crowbar. One of Kathmandu’s most common complaints is the “earthquake hangover,” which means we feel the ground moving even when it’s not. Apparently it is an inner ear reaction to all the aftershocks, some 240 since April 25. I deal with it by placing a bowl of water near my laptop so that I have a frame of reference. Every crack, car backfire, slamming door makes me stand up and rush to the door. Even when I turn over in bed, I do a double take, thinking the earth is moving. Any post-traumatic stress disorder counselor can list the other reactions. Avoidance, trying to bury the trauma, is one of them. That is not my problem. Intrusive thoughts, yes. I have lost count of the hours spent awake in the middle of the night trying not worry about how I would react if another major earthquake hit. My stress hormones really hit a new high last week when I dropped my son off at school and noticed that many of the other parents were nervously talking about reports that a British seismologist had predicted another large earthquake and that this had supposedly prompted a sizable group of European nationals to leave the country. (International schools in Kathmandu are open, but all Nepalese schools in the affected districts remain closed by order of the government. More than 10,000 schools were destroyed.) I immediately dashed off an email to my husband, who was in Bangladesh, typing it entirely in the subject line: “Am I missing something? There is an imminent big quake?” Of course, I searched for the seismologist on Google, and to make myself feel better have since refused to mention his name. I just call him Nostradamus. What became my saving grace, my first successful effort at learning to control what I alone can control, was meeting Roger Bilham, another British seismologist, a professor at the University of Colorado and one of the world’s experts on Himalayan tectonic, who with a mix of humor and unbridled enthusiasm explained to me the unmistakable beauty in the word “creep.” Earthquakes cannot be predicted. Seismologists work with facts and history and provide hypotheses that they change when they are proved wrong. This is what we need to know. The April 25 earthquake did not break the earth’s surface. The Kathmandu Valley moved only 1.5 meters. It could have moved as much as six more meters, but it got stuck and not enough energy dissipated. This situation is very similar to the Kathmandu earthquake of 1833 that had a violent sequel in 1835. Yes, there could be another earthquake, but it could happen tomorrow, in a year, in a decade or beyond. If you evacuated for the next big one, you might have to wait a long while to return. Another earthquake could happen out in western Nepal. In a far less violent scenario, the Indian plate could gently creep or slide under the Eurasian plate, or an earthquake could take place deep inside the Indian plate. Or the stuck plate could push and raise the Mahabharat mountains just south of Kathmandu. With my introduction to creep (and all the other options), my fear level dropped from a nine to a five out of 10. I am where I am. I live where I live. I can only control certain parts of my life. Yes, I have my nervous hypervigilant moments, and it will take a while before I wear sandals again. I live in a country above a stuck tectonic plate. I cannot control that. “We are reading a book but have reached only Page 32 out of 65,” explained Professor Bilham, who with colleagues is laying GPS monitoring stations where the earthquake got stuck. “We don’t know what will happen, but it is such an exciting seismological time.”

Nepal
Kathmandu
Earthquake
Fear
PTSD
Anxiety and Stress


After Botched Execution, Oklahoma Is to Resume Lethal Injections

Abstract: A federal judge in Oklahoma City on Monday said that the state can resume executing prisoners this winter, rejecting the argument by some medical experts that using the same sedative involved in the bungled execution of Clayton D. Lockett in April amounted to an illegal experiment on human subjects. Judge Stephen P. Friot of Federal District Court, ruling against condemned prisoners who sought to delay new executions, said that lethal injection was more humane than historical methods like hanging, and that since the sedative in question, midazolam, had been successfully used in a dozen executions elsewhere, it should not be considered new or experimental. “Federal courts should not sit as a board of inquiry as to best practices,” Judge Friot said, adding, “The plaintiffs have failed to present a known and available alternative.” An occasional isolated episode does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, he said. Also Monday, in a separate ruling on another prolonged execution by lethal injection, a report commissioned by corrections officials in Arizona said the killing of Joseph Wood in July had been conducted properly. Mr. Wood appeared to gasp for nearly two hours before dying, but the report concluded that he was unconscious during that time and did not feel pain. The unusually protracted and, in the view of many witnesses, agonizing executions in the two states led to new questions about the reliability of lethal injection and whether it can be performed humanely. These states and others have also been forced to try new drugs and combinations as manufacturers have refused to supply the barbiturates traditionally used in lethal injections. Dale A. Baich, a lawyer for the Oklahoma prisoners, said they would appeal Judge Friot’s decision. “We are still concerned about Oklahoma’s ability to carry out executions humanely using midazolam,” Mr. Baich said. Mr. Lockett visibly gasped and writhed during a procedure that took 43 minutes, rather than the expected 15 minutes, after a doctor failed to insert the intravenous line properly. Lawyers for the Oklahoma prisoners said that even when administered properly, midazolam, the sedative used in a three-drug sequence, cannot reliably protect against excruciating pain when the second two drugs are injected, and they point to other unusually prolonged executions this year involving midazolam in Arizona and Ohio. But Oklahoma officials noted that Florida has conducted numerous executions using midazolam without evidence of problems or suffering. The Arizona report, by consultants hired by the State Department of Corrections, cited the Pima County medical examiner’s statement that Mr. Wood’s “gasps, snorting and body reflexes are the normal bodily responses to dying, even in someone highly sedated.” Arizona used midazolam in a different combination from Oklahoma, pairing it with the opiate hydromorphone. Medical experts cited in the report said they could not determine why it took so long for Mr. Wood to die. Still, Arizona’s director of corrections, Charles L. Ryan, said Monday that the state would abandon that two-drug protocol. The state will continue to search for supplies of the barbiturates of choice, pentobarbital or sodium thiopental, Mr. Ryan said. But if they remain unavailable, Arizona will use midazolam in the same three-drug regimen planned in Oklahoma, with the sedative followed by a paralyzing agent and a caustic heart-stopping drug. Oklahoma has had a moratorium on executions since April 29, when the lethal injection of Mr. Lockett went awry. Now, saying that improved procedures are in place and that they will boost the dosage of midazolam, they plan to execute four men in three months, starting with Charles F. Warner on Jan. 15. In the case of Mr. Lockett, after a medical technician repeatedly failed to place a line in a vein, the attending doctor tried to insert a needle through Mr. Lockett’s groin, to the femoral vein, without an ultrasound machine to guide him and using a shorter needle than is standard. He missed the vein but did not realize it, and the three drugs diffused locally rather than entering the bloodstream. Oklahoma officials said that in the future they will inject 500 milligrams of midazolam, compared with 100 milligrams given to Mr. Lockett. But medical experts testifying on behalf of the condemned prisoners last week said that midazolam is inherently unsuited to executions, even if the catheter is properly inserted. Multiplying the dosage beyond a certain point does not cause more sedation because of a “ceiling effect,” in which the relevant cell receptors are saturated, they said. And the drug can cause a “paradoxical reaction,” restlessness instead of sedation, in certain groups, including “the elderly, people with a history of aggression, impulsivity, alcohol abuse or other psychiatric disorders,” said Dr. David A Lubarsky, chairman of anesthesiology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Oklahoma
Prison
Stephen P. Friot
Arizona
Capital punishment
Clayton Darrell Lockett
Pharmaceuticals
Joseph R. Wood III


3 Held in Connection With Paris Attacks in January and November

Abstract: PARIS — Three people are being questioned by French investigators in connection with terrorist attacks in the Paris area this year, including two suspected of supplying the guns used in the deadly siege of a kosher supermarket in January, the Paris prosecutor’s office said Tuesday. The three people were detained as part of investigations by the French police to retrace the links to the sets of attackers responsible for the rampages, which left 17 people dead in January and 130 people dead after an assault on Nov. 13. Image Claude Hermant is suspected of supplying the weapons used by Amédy Coulibaly in a siege at a kosher grocery store in January. Credit Philippe Huguen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images One of the suspects, Claude Hermant, 52, has a history with France’s far right. He was identified this year by the French news media as a possible source of the weapons used by Amédy Coulibaly in the siege at the kosher supermarket. That attack, which left four people dead, occurred two days after a shooting at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which was carried out by another group. The Paris prosecutor’s office also confirmed that a person was being questioned in connection with the shooting and bomb attacks last month at seven locations in and around Paris, including at the Bataclan concert hall, a stadium and several restaurants and cafes in the 10th and 11th Arrondissements. The name of that suspect and the reasons for the questioning were not made public. Mr. Hermant was already in detention for his role in an arms trafficking ring. He and a female companion, who has not been named, are being questioned on suspicions that they supplied the weapons to Mr. Coulibaly through a company managed by Mr. Hermant’s companion. According to French news reports, several of the weapons used by Mr. Coulibaly in the attacks were traced to the company. Mr. Hermant has been portrayed as a sometime adventurer and mercenary with ties to the French far right. He had been one of the leaders of the Maison du Peuple Flamand, a nationalist group in the Lille area, according to news reports. The organization closed in 2012, according to French news reports, but it was not clear why. Unraveling the Connections Among the Paris Attackers As many as six of the assailants in the coordinated Islamic State terrorist assault in Paris were Europeans who had traveled to Syria. Before that he was part of a military wing of the far-right National Front party, which is now led by Marine Le Pen. An article in 2001 in the French newspaper Libération quoted court documents in which Mr. Hermant testified that he was a member of a paramilitary organization within the National Front that provided security for senior party members. He also described a subgroup he called “the Ghosts” — a secret paramilitary force of which he was a member. The group’s mission, he said, was to disrupt the National Front’s “enemies,” which included groups that worked against hate crimes. He said the “ghosts” also stirred up trouble in the suburbs. Mr. Hermant also said he had been a mercenary in the Republic of Congo, where he was imprisoned for seven months. The National Front denied the existence of the “ghosts.” Under French terrorism laws, Mr. Hermant and his companion can be held for up to six days, although Mr. Hermant is likely to remain in custody as part of the arms trafficking investigation.

Paris Attacks
Terrorism
Claude Hermant
France
Charlie Hebdo
Amedy Coulibaly


Earthquakes’ Frank Yallop Is M.L.S. Coach of the Year

Abstract: Frank Yallop of the San Jose Earthquakes was honored as Major League Soccer ’s coach of the year. The Earthquakes finished with the 14th-best record in 2011, but improved to first in 2012. They lost in the first round of the playoffs.

San Jose Earthquakes
Major League Soccer
Yallop Frank
Coaches and Managers


Li Falls; Cetkovska Will Face Wozniacki in Final

Abstract: The Czech qualifier Petra Cetkovska upset the French Open champion Li Na in a third-set tie breaker to reach the final of the New Haven Open. Cetkovska, ranked No. 40, won, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (9), on her fifth match point. She will play the three-time defending champion Caroline Wozniacki, who topped Francesca Schiavone, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Li Na
Tennis
United States Open (Tennis)
Wozniacki Caroline


I.O.C. Approves Sweeping Reform Package

Abstract: MONACO — The International Olympic Committee approved a wide-ranging reform package Monday, including a more affordable bidding process, the creation of an Olympic television channel and a more flexible sports program that could bring baseball and softball into the 2020 Tokyo Games. The committee also approved the rewording of its Principle 6 on nondiscrimination to include sexual orientation — a move that followed the controversy over Russia’s law against gay “propaganda” ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The committee voted in favor of the new rules on the opening day of a special two-day session to adopt the 40-point “Olympic Agenda 2020” program of its president, Thomas Bach. They represent the biggest changes in the I.O.C. in decades. With the debate moving quickly and reforms receiving unanimous backing, Bach said the meeting could wrap up in one day. The committee abolished the cap of 28 sports for the Summer Games to move to an “events-based” system that would allow new competitions to come in, while keeping to about 10,500 athletes and 310 medal events. Host cities will also be allowed to propose the inclusion of one or more additional events for their Games. The new rules clear the way for Tokyo organizers to request that baseball and softball be included in the 2020 Games. Both sports, dropped after the 2008 Beijing Games, are highly popular in Japan. “Today, there is excitement circulating around the baseball and softball world and there is great hope that our athletes will now have a real opportunity ... to play for their country, aiming to win an Olympic gold medal,” said Riccardo Fraccari, president of the World Baseball Softball Confederation. Other sports like squash and karate are also hopeful of joining the Tokyo program. In addition, new disciplines and events within existing sports could also be considered. Some events may need to be dropped to make room for new ones. “This is a major breakthrough,” Dick Pound, a senior Canadian member, said. “We were at a dead-end situation with 28 sports. This provides the flexibility we need.” Bach said host cities asking for certain sports must make a proposal to the committee and present an operational and financial model for their inclusion. “This includes, in special cases, the number of athletes would go beyond the 10,500,” he said. The new bidding process, meanwhile, is aimed at making the system cheaper and more flexible to attract future candidates — including the option of holding events outside the host city or country. The votes came at a time when many countries have been scared off by the costs of hosting the Olympics, including the reported $51 billion associated with the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi. Several cities withdrew from the bidding for the 2022 Winter Olympics, leaving only Beijing and Almaty, Kazakhstan, in the running. The new system makes the process more of an invitation and allows prospective candidates to discuss their plans in advance with the committee to tailor games to their own needs — and keep them affordable. In the most radical change, cities will be allowed to hold events in both the Summer and Winter Games outside the host city or country, notably for reasons of geography and sustainability. This opens the door to joint bids by cities, neighboring countries or regions. John Coates, the committee’s vice president, said holding events outside the host country would only be considered in exceptional circumstances. He said the idea would have to be raised in the early phase of bidding and would need approval from the committee’s executive board. “The compactness of the bid is always important,” Coates said. “But the compactness of the Games has to be weighed up with the cost benefit of being able to use existing venues rather than build new venues.” The committee backed the start of a digital channel — possibly as early as next year — to promote Olympic sports between Games and engage young viewers. The channel will feature material from the I.O.C.'s archives, transmit some international sports competitions and offer a promotional platform for bid cities. “This is really a historical step,” Bach said. The committee said the channel — to be run by Olympic Broadcasting Services, based in Madrid — will cost $600 million to operate over the first seven years, with the goal of breaking even in the first decade. The new Principle 6 clause says the Olympics should be free of discrimination “of any kind, such as race, color, sex, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.” “This is a pivotal moment for equality in sport,” said Andre Banks, executive director and co-founder of internal gay rights group All Out.

International Olympic Committee
Olympics
Thomas Bach


Anna Pump, Chef and Author Famed for Hamptons Store, Dies at 81

Abstract: Anna Pump, a chef and a cookbook writer whose national reputation for deceptively simple gourmet fare emanated from her place of business, the Loaves & Fishes Foodstore, a humble-looking fixture of high-end living in the Hamptons on Long Island, died on Monday after she was hit by a pickup truck in Bridgehampton, N.Y. She was 81. Ms. Pump was struck as she crossed a street and taken to a hospital in Southampton, where she was pronounced dead, said her daughter, Sybille van Kempen, a chef and a co-owner with her mother at Loaves & Fishes. The driver of the pickup was identified by the police as Luis Ortega, 40. He was charged with driving without a license, failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk and disabling a court-ordered interlock device on his truck that is meant to prevent drunken driving. Loaves & Fishes, in Sagaponack, N.Y., is known for its breads, desserts, cheeses, salads and other prepared takeout foods — not to mention its well-heeled (and sometimes celebrity) clientele and premium prices. The lobster salad has been famously priced at $100 a pound. “Some people call this place Loaves and Riches,” the radio personality Joan Hamburg, a frequent customer, told The New York Times in 1997 . Ms. Pump opened her store in 1980 after buying it from its previous owners. A German-born chef who trained with James Beard, among others, she moved with her family to the Hamptons in the 1970s from New Jersey because the area reminded her and her husband, Detlef, of the Baltic region of northern Germany, near the Danish border, where they grew up. For a time, she cooked for the Barefoot Contessa store in Westhampton Beach, the specialty foods business that propelled its owner, Ina Garten, to television fame on the Food Network. Image Anna Pump, along with the writer Gen LeRoy, published several cookbooks of sophisticated, unpretentious recipes. Credit Simon & Schuster “She was a great home cook,” Ms. Garten said in a phone interview on Friday, describing Ms. Pump as a tireless worker and generous advice giver, with wide-ranging kitchen instincts and expertise. Ms. Garten added: “Her food was very earthy but served with unbelievable style; she understood the simple elegant country style. From growing up on a farm she knew the importance of quality, fresh ingredients — people here caught up to her — and she always knew the ingredient that would unlock a flavor.” In 1985, with the writer Gen LeRoy, Ms. Pump published “The Loaves and Fishes Cookbook,” the first of several volumes of recipes and kitchen advice that earned her a following among cooks whose aspirations lean toward sophistication and away from fussiness and pretension. “I love simple foods as well as grand,” she wrote. “Dinners that take a half-hour from skillet to plate are as important as a five-course dinner. A meal that can materialize in an hour and be presented with care, love and pride is something every busy person longs to be able to do. You can; the recipes in this book will show you how.” Anna Heitweg Tutjer was born on April 11, 1934, on a 70-acre farm in Tarp, Germany, where her parents, Harm Tutjer and the former Sophie Johannsen, grew potatoes, rutabagas and other vegetables; raised cattle, pigs, chickens, ducks and geese; and smoked their own meats and made their own sausages. During the winters, when the business of farming slowed, the family entertained frequently. She married Detlef Pump, who became a master stonemason, shortly after graduating from school, and they immigrated to the United States in 1960, settling in Frenchtown, N.J. They moved to the Hamptons in the late 1970s, after spending a two-week vacation there. Mr. Pump died in 2007. Ms. Pump, who lived in Sag Harbor, not far from Bridgehampton and Sagaponack, had joined with her daughter to create something of a small kingdom of cultivated, tasteful living in the Hamptons. Along with the food store, they operated a 12-room hotel and fine dining room, the Bridgehampton Inn & Restaurant, and in 2003 opened a kitchen and dining store, the Loaves & Fishes Cookshop. In addition to her daughter, Ms. Pump is survived by a son, Harm; three sisters, Johanna, Dienchen and Thea; and four grandchildren.

Anna
Pump
Hamptons
Cooking
Ina Garten
Loaves and Fishes
Obituary


Chief Fights for G.M.’s Future and His Reputation

Abstract: DETROIT — Rick Wagoner cannot afford to leave Washington this week without at least $10 billion in federal aid to keep General Motors in business. But a major question for Mr. Wagoner, G.M. ’s chief executive for the last eight years, is whether he will return to Detroit with his job as well. While the heads of the Ford Motor Company, Chrysler and the United Automobile Workers are scheduled to also testify before Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, it is Mr. Wagoner and his company that have become the lightning rods of the debate over whether Detroit should get a bailout . G.M., the largest American automaker, is in desperate need of cash to survive the worst vehicle market in the United States in 15 years. Mr. Wagoner has, so far, led the industry’s intensive lobbying effort to get federal loans for all three companies. Like Lee Iacocca, Chrysler’s chief in 1979, Mr. Wagoner has the tall task of convincing skeptical Republican lawmakers to back a Democratic plan to save Detroit. But unlike with Mr. Iacocca, Mr. Wagoner’s 31-year career at G.M. has not been built on personal charisma and the art of the deal. Instead, he is seen as the leader of a company that has lost $20 billion in the first nine months of this year alone, as its stock price has dropped into the low single-digits from more than $30 a share a year ago. The company’s cash cushion is shrinking so fast — by more than $2 billion a month — that it has said federal help is needed to keep it from running out of sufficient cash for its operations by the end of the year. Mr. Wagoner has said that despite its perilous financial condition, G.M. has no plans to file for bankruptcy, or even prepare for the possibility that it may need to seek Chapter 11 protection. But that is the clear threat. “G.M. is the biggest of the three and it’s in the worst shape,” said John Casesa, principal in the auto consulting firm Casesa Shapiro Group. “I think it would be a pretty big blow to Rick if they don’t get the money.” The debate on Capitol Hill will focus on whether the Detroit automakers can get $25 billion in aid immediately from either the Treasury Department’s $700 billion financial rescue program, or from an existing loan program aimed at improving the fuel-efficiency of Big Three vehicles. Ford and Chrysler, however, have not made the same dire predictions about their businesses — putting the urgency of the bailout squarely on the shoulders of Mr. Wagoner and G.M. Some members of Congress have suggested that a management change is necessary at G.M. before any loans can be made. “I do not support the use of U.S. taxpayer dollars to reward the mismanagement of Detroit-based auto manufacturers,” said Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Banking Committee, which holds its hearing on the bailout on Tuesday afternoon. The lanky, 6-foot-4-inch Mr. Wagoner, a 55-year-old former Duke University basketball player and Harvard Business School graduate, has refused to consider resigning even if it would help G.M.’s chances of getting emergency aid. G.M. has declined to make Mr. Wagoner available for interviews. In a Nov. 10 interview with the trade journal Automotive News, however, he said that a change in management at G.M. would not be wise at such a crucial time for the company. “I don’t think it’d be a very smart move,” he said. “I think our job is to make sure we have the best management team to run G.M. It’s not clear to me what purpose would be served.” A spokesman for G.M., Tony Cervone, said Monday that the G.M. board remains supportive of Mr. Wagoner, who became G.M. chief in 2000 and added the chairman’s title three years later. Mr. Wagoner was paid about $24 million a year in 2006 and 2007 from a combination of salary, stock option grants and other forms of compensation. His 2008 base salary is $2.2 million. “A solid management team is the most important thing you need in the time of a crisis,” Mr. Cervone said. But Mr. Wagoner has some convincing to do in Congress to show that G.M.’s team can pull it out of a downward spiral of shrinking market share and mounting losses. Stoic and unemotional in public, Mr. Wagoner has been rigidly protective of G.M.’s strategy to expand internationally while downsizing its North American operations. A few years back, Mr. Wagoner said G.M.’s goal was to be “both big and fast.” Yet the company has made agonizingly slow progress in reshaping its product lineup in the United States to focus less on large vehicles and more on the smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. Moreover, G.M.’s startling admission on Nov. 7 that it was spending down its cash reserves by more than $2 billion a month caught analysts and investors by surprise. As recently as July, G.M. said it had a plan to bolster its liquidity by $15 billion through cost cuts, asset sales, and new borrowing. Wall Street has responded to G.M.’s sudden cash crisis, and its plummeting sales, by driving its stock price to levels not seen in more than 60 years. “In the eyes of the street, G.M. is now in a permanent liquidity crisis,” Mr. Casesa said. Mr. Wagoner is saying that without federal aid, G.M. could run out of money and drag down Ford, Chrysler and countless suppliers, dealers and small businesses. “This is an issue of the whole auto industry, if that becomes under severe pressure, the impact on the whole U.S. economy will be devastating,” Mr. Wagoner said in an appearance Sunday on a television news program in Detroit. Yet in the same appearance, Mr. Wagoner also said, “Our basis business is in as good a shape as it’s been for 30 or 40 years.” If Mr. Wagoner cannot sway Congress this week to come to G.M.’s aid, the company will be forced to hang on until President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January and presents his own auto bailout strategy. “That might be the most rational approach, to see what type of plan Mr. Obama and the new Congress will take,” said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mich. Mr. Cole, who has known Mr. Wagoner for nearly 30 years, said he hopes that any decision on his future with G.M. is not taken lightly by officials in Washington. “I hope they take a deep look at what G.M. has done to fix its business, make an assessment, and then pass judgment,” he said. “Knowing Rick, whatever is best for the company is what he will do.”

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (2008)


Teachers Defy Gravity to Gain Students’ Interest

Abstract: NORWALK, Conn. — Before showing a video to the 11th and 12th graders in his physics class, Glenn Coutoure, a teacher at Norwalk High School, warned them that his mouth would be hanging open, in childlike wonderment, almost the whole time. Mr. Coutoure then started the DVD, showing him and other science teachers floating in an airplane during a flight in September. By flying up and down like a giant roller coaster along parabolic paths, the plane simulated the reduced gravity of the Moon and Mars and then weightlessness in 30-second chunks. The teachers performed a series of experiments and playful stunts, like doing push-ups with others sitting on their backs and catching in their mouths M & M’s that flew in straight lines, that they hoped would help them better explain to their students the laws of motion that Sir Isaac Newton deduced centuries ago. “You see the ball just hangs there,” Mr. Coutoure said. “That’s hot,” a student interjected. The Northrop Grumman Foundation has sent science teachers on these flights of weightlessness in the last four years to excite teachers and students about science and mathematics. “All of a sudden, this teacher becomes a superhero,” said Sandra Evers-Manly, the foundation’s president. When the foundation polled the 205 teachers who flew in 2005 and 2006, nearly 92 percent reported an increase in overall interest in science among their students. About 75 percent said more students expressed a desire to continue studying math and science. The flight on Sept. 29, aboard a modified 727 operated by Zero Gravity Corporation , which offers commercial weightless flights at $5,000 a ticket, took off from Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, N.Y., and headed south. Off the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City, the jet began its up-and-down gyrations — one parabola at Martian gravity, two at the lesser gravity of the moon and then a dozen weightless ones. Anyone can feel weightless by falling. During the zero-gravity portion of the flight, the plane flies toward the ground at the same free-falling speed and acceleration as the passengers. The plane has few windows for viewing the approaching ground, and passengers feel as if they are floating in level flight instead of a downward plummet. When the plane pulls out of the dive, the passengers, who were told to lie down on the floor quickly, felt twice their usual weight. For most of the teachers like Mr. Coutoure, this mouth-open experience was the closest they would ever get to space. (One, however, Rachael Manzer, a Suffield, Conn., middle school teacher, might get there. She has been chosen as a candidate to fly on one of the suborbital spacecraft being designed and built by private companies.) As President Obama did last month when announcing $260 million in public-private education initiatives to generate interest in math and science, the teachers on the flight repeatedly spoke about engaging and inspiring their students. They talked specifically about those in grades six through eight, who typically seem to lose interest and proficiency. Geoffrey Bergen of Whisconier Middle School in Brookfield, Conn., a teacher on the flight, said traditional teaching methods struggled to hold students’ interest in the age of video games and fast-paced technology. “It’s really hard to teach out of a textbook when you consider the world we live in,” Mr. Bergen said. The zero-gravity flight, he said, “gives you a new tool for Newton’s laws.” Seeing their teachers performing astronautlike feats, the students, he added, “certainly are engaged.” After the flight, Adrienne Manzone, a teacher at Captain Nathan Hale School in Coventry, Conn., beamed. “My coolness factor will go up 100 percent,” she said. Francis Q. Eberle, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association , said programs like Northrop Grumman’s zero-gravity flights were helpful in improving science education. “It helps revitalize educators’ passion for science,” Dr. Eberle said. “The goal is to help them take that excitement back and work with their students.” But others, like Grover J. Whitehurst, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former head of the federal Institute of Education Sciences , wonder if the emphasis on engagement and inspiration for students can be somewhat misplaced. “It certainly does no harm to do this,” Dr. Whitehurst said of the Northrop Grumman program. But, he added, the $5.1 million that the foundation spent on the program the last four years perhaps could have been more effective elsewhere. “If they had hired me as a consultant, I wouldn’t have imagined spending it on zero-gravity flights,” he said. “The question is, Does it really improve their teaching? Does it have an impact? Those questions are not asked and answered with nearly enough frequency.” Dr. Whitehurst said the efforts to make math and science more appealing to more students could even be counterproductive if the message that hard work is needed to master the subjects was diluted. He pointed to the tests called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study , or Timss. Countries in which a higher fraction of students said they liked math generally performed poorly, while some countries where students disliked math, like South Korea, scored among the best. (There are a few exceptions like Singapore, where students liked math and also did well.) The notion that American science and math education is in crisis is overblown, Dr. Whitehurst said. In the most recent Timss tests, American students performed well above average and have improved over the past decade, although some other international comparisons show American students in the middle of the pack. In Mr. Coutoure’s classroom, the video of the weightless flight was shown toward the end of class, after he had lectured about the physics of motion, from Aristotle’s mistaken belief that heavier objects fall faster to Galileo’s more rigorous observations and deductions. He also performed simple demonstrations to illustrate the concepts, dropping a softball and a piece of paper, then crumpling the paper into a ball and showing it then dropped as quickly as the softball. Jamie Heverin, one of the students, said, “I’m curious about what he will pull out next time.”

Space
Gravitation and Gravity
Teachers and School Employees
Education and Schools
Northrop Grumman Corp
Science and Technology


Moscow Activists Find Apathy in Astrakhan

Abstract: ASTRAKHAN, Russia — Yulia Morozova did not vote for Oleg V. Shein, the opposition politician who has waged a four-week hunger strike to protest alleged ballot fraud in last month’s mayoral election here. But Ms. Morozova once worked at a polling station and said she did not trust the election results — no matter who was declared the winner. “Let’s say not quite honestly,” Ms. Morozova, 25, replied when asked if she had gotten a firsthand look at how ballots were counted. “I don’t think it was different this time.” Mr. Shein, a member of the Just Russia party, insists that if the results had not been falsified he would be mayor of this regional capital in southern Russia, a fishing mecca in the Volga River delta, best known as one of the world’s major suppliers of caviar. But if residents have little faith in the election system, they also seem to have little interest in Mr. Shein’s plight. Their indifference poses a major challenge for antigovernment activists from Moscow who have flocked south in recent days to lend him support, and are hoping to use his case to build wider momentum for political reform. Even as more organizers of this winter’s huge street protests in Moscow arrived here on Thursday — ahead of a protest set for Saturday afternoon —residents seemed not to care. Aleksandr Kulbatsky, 45, a small-business man, said that he voted for Mr. Shein and believed that he won the race, thanks to strong support among retirees. But he said he had not attended any rallies to protest and had no intention of doing so. “I work and I have no time for this,” Mr. Kulbatsky said. “I thought he would be the mayor, but it turned out this way.” He added, “I am sure the elections were not fair.” According to the official tally, Mikhail Stolyarov, a member of Vladimir V. Putin’s United Russia party, won 60 percent of the vote, while Mr. Shein won about 30 percent. Mr. Shein said he had won a majority at polling places that used a new electronic counting system, but was overwhelmingly defeated in districts that counted by hand. The source of voters’ apathy seems to be a combination of the mayor’s relative lack of power compared with regional and federal officials and a jaded expectation that elections in Russia are always rigged, one way or another. On Tuesday, regional prosecutors said they had fully investigated Mr. Shein’s complaints and found them insignificant. On Thursday, at the urging of the Just Russia leader, Sergei M. Mironov, who arrived in Astrakhan from Moscow, Mr. Shein and his supporters softened their stance, and began drinking juice, though he said they would still refuse to eat solid food. Mr. Shein said the decision was also in response to an announcement by the Central Election Commission in Moscow that it would review videos of ballot counting in Astrakhan that Mr. Shein says prove his case. But later in the day after several of his supporters were detained in confrontations with the police, Mr. Shein said he had changed his mind and would have only water. “I made a statement that we were ready to start the softening of the hunger strike and I had a drink of juice,” he wrote on his blog. “I was wrong. The gesture was not taken as a sign of openness, but as a sign of weakness.” Still, even some of the government’s fiercest critics acknowledged the lack of local interest. “We don’t see any great resonance here,” said the well-known anticorruption blogger, Aleksei Navalny , who has been in Astrakhan since Monday and has been saying for weeks that the main challenge for the Moscow-based opposition is to inspire action elsewhere in Russia. Mr. Navalny said that there were historical reasons, and that the huge protests in Moscow had proved that a previously apathetic public could be shaken into newfound fervor. “Southern cities like Rostov, Astrakhan, Volgograd — they have always been less lively because everybody here got used to the situation that the mafia rules everything,” Mr. Navalny said. “Everybody thinks that it’s impossible to change anything. But it should not be underestimated.” He noted that several hundred people attended a rally for Mr. Shein on Tuesday. “Five hundred people at a rally was a rare thing in Moscow a year ago,” he said. For now, however, Mr. Shein’s crusade appears to be generating far more attention in Moscow than in Astrakhan. Mr. Navalny said a good-government group in Moscow called the Voters League had offered $10,000 to buy plane tickets for people who could not afford to fly to Saturday’s rally. Artemy Troitsky, a prominent journalist and music critic, said that Mr. Shein’s case was important because it represented a wider pattern of injustice. “It is erroneous to think that the point is only in one small Astrakhan,” he wrote. “The point is that this system snubs, kills, tortures, rapes, humiliates — most importantly humiliates — on an especially mass scale, tens of millions people in our country.” Just Russia’s faction in Parliament has also risen to Mr. Shein’s defense. President-elect Putin, addressing Parliament in his current capacity as prime minister, seemed to dismiss Mr. Shein’s action on Wednesday as a political stunt, noting that the hunger strike began even before he had exhausted all options for legal recourse. Responding to a question by Yelena Drapeko, a member of Parliament from Just Russia, Mr. Putin said that assessing the validity of elections, particularly in local races, was not part of his portfolio. “If the violations may call into question the election outcome, the court should invalidate it,” he said, adding: “As far as I know, Oleg Shein has gone on a hunger strike but has not filed any lawsuits. Honestly speaking, it’s even strange. Why is he on a hunger strike? Maybe the court will make a decision and everyone will agree with it.” Mr. Putin’s comment rang hollow, however, given that even well-founded allegations of ballot fraud in Russia are typically ignored. And his remarks infuriated members of the Just Russia delegation. They walked out of the Duma in protest. Mr. Mironov, the Just Russia leader, criticized the hostile attitude toward political opposition by the governing authorities. “There will never be civil society without opposition, and we should learn to listen to and hear each other, not see an enemy in those who think differently, who have other thoughts and probably even ideals but work for a common cause,” Mr. Mironov said. “Unfortunately, today we see that we are very far from such an ideal.” Ms. Drapeko said Mr. Putin clearly did not care. “The premier of the country is quite indifferent to what is happening in Astrakhan,” she said. But so are many people who live in Astrakhan. Sergei Parkhomenko, a radio host who arrived Wednesday to join the growing contingent of Moscow media personalities here, said he went with Mr. Navalny and Dmitry Gudkov, a visiting member of Parliament, to a large local university, where they found many students oblivious. “We arrived at the largest university in Astrakhan,” he wrote in a post on Facebook. “Gudkov and Navalny gathered students at the entrance and told them about Shein. In general, they were not aware. And more precisely they did not understand why there is a need to go somewhere and protest something.”

Russia
Hunger Strikes
Mayors
Elections
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Politics and Government
Shein Oleg V
Astrakhan (Russia)
Frauds and Swindling


In Alabama, a Top Prospect Responds to Tugs From Home

Abstract: GADSDEN, Ala. — The University of Alabama flags and license plates are hard to ignore in this working-class town of about 37,000. Football is king here, and fans clad in crimson would have roared had they been in the home of Dre’ Kirkpatrick when he woke up Wednesday morning, walked into his living room and shared two simple words with his parents: “Roll Tide.” It is the rallying cry for Alabama, where Kirkpatrick signed a letter of intent later Wednesday on national signing day to play for Coach Nick Saban. Kirkpatrick, an 18-year-old who is considered the nation’s top-ranked high school cornerback, brings a rare combination of size and speed to the position. He can move his 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame 40 yards in 4.5 seconds. So with a sling on his left arm — he had an operation last week to repair a torn labrum — Kirkpatrick signed his name to join the nation’s top recruiting class, according to Rivals.com . In front of a packed auditorium at Gadsden City High School and a national television audience, he demonstrated his flair for showmanship. With Alabama and Texas hats on a table, he reached into a red velvet box, removed a black bag and put on a black-and-red cap with a white A. There was boisterous approval from the crowd. “Roll Tide,” Kirkpatrick said once again. His decision ended a dizzying month in which he made official visits to Alabama, Florida and Texas. But it was not until Wednesday that Charles and Kim Kirkpatrick learned where their son would play. “I wanted him to make the right decision,” Charles Kirkpatrick said. “Really, really in my heart, I didn’t want him to go out of state.” Tuscaloosa is 122 miles away, and Dre’ Kirkpatrick ultimately wanted to remain close to his 2-year-old son, Dre’ Jr., who he said likes riding around with him while listening to Lil’ Wayne and Lil’ Boosie. Before leaving for his school Wednesday, Kirkpatrick reflected on how close he had been to choosing Texas. He said he did not inform either program of his decision before announcing it. “It was too close,” he said. “Matter of fact, if it was like a state over, I’d have been a Longhorn.” Just 36 hours earlier, he had been sprawled out in a blue recliner in the family’s living room. He shook his head, and his eyes became teary while he was talking to his parents and his sister Apriele about his future. “Something’s just going to have to show me, like, that’s the school,” Kirkpatrick said. He had been leaning toward Texas until Sunday night, when he received a final pitch over the phone from Bobby Williams, an Alabama assistant coach. Kirkpatrick said Williams told him, “Make a wise decision, because this decision may affect a lot of people outside of your family.” Will Muschamp, the defensive coordinator and head coach-designate at Texas, called with a more straightforward approach. “We feel good about you,” Kirkpatrick recalled Muschamp saying. “We feel like you got all the tools to bring to the team. You can be a big impact player here. Just give me a chance.” It was Williams’s call that stuck with Kirkpatrick. “Who could it affect?” he said Monday night. “I’m still thinking on that. What could that really mean?” It ended up overshadowing the memories from his official visit to Austin, Tex., nearly two weeks ago. He joined his parents and an assistant high school coach on a 13-hour drive there, with a stop in Houston to visit an aunt. Over a breakfast of waffles, eggs and grits at a restaurant in North Houston, he declared that Alabama and Texas were even in his mind. Once he arrived, Kirkpatrick hit it off with Jeff Madden, the Longhorns’ assistant athletic director for strength and conditioning, who is known to many as Mad Dog. On the Saturday of his visit, Kirkpatrick and his parents toured the football facilities and met with Coach Mack Brown. Kirkpatrick said Brown acknowledged that it would be difficult to choose between Texas and Alabama, then made his best case for the Longhorns. “I really need you,” Kirkpatrick recalled him saying. In the office, Kirkpatrick noticed a photograph of Brown and President Obama. Brown told him that he had promised to put up the picture in the event of Obama’s election and that he had sent a text message to Obama after his victory, “You’re up on the wall.” That night, Kirkpatrick said, he attended a “rocking” party in Austin to celebrate the Longhorns’ Fiesta Bowl victory over Ohio State. “A couple of girls knew who I was, too,” he said, describing some of them as “cleat chasers.” “We ask all of our guys to handle themselves with class and within the N.C.A.A. rules, when prospects are on campus,” Brown said through the football spokesman John Bianco. “We have full faith that they do that.” Kirkpatrick said he was “blown away” by his Texas visit, though reality hit him during the drive back to Alabama. Tide linebacker Jerrell Harris, a former high school teammate and his best friend, called and said: “Come on home. Come back home.” Kirkpatrick made his official visit to Alabama with his parents and an assistant high school coach Jan. 9-11. A Florida fan growing up, Kirkpatrick had originally wanted to play for the Gators. But he quickly became impressed with Saban, who offered him a scholarship after his junior season. “He talks to me sometimes — more than just football,” Kirkpatrick said. “He talks basically real life stuff to me that will help me out.” Crimson Tide coaches took him and other recruits to a seafood restaurant. Kirkpatrick does not like seafood, so he grabbed a McDonald’s hamburger. That night, he spent time in Harris’s dorm room and went back to his hotel at 1 a.m. Later that day, he toured the campus and the football facilities. He said Saban stressed academics and noted that he would have opportunities for early playing time. Afterward, Kirkpatrick toured the Paul W. Bryant Museum, where a photo of the 1971 team stood out most to him. “There was one black, and then they started growing,” Kirkpatrick said. At one point, he said, he was handed a No. 13 Alabama jersey, which he wore onto the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The big screen flashed highlights, and he posed for photographs with other recruits. On that Saturday night, he and his parents ate at the stadium. His parents then had cheesecake and carrot cake at Saban’s home with the parents of other recruits. There, Charles Kirkpatrick played spades and Saban’s wife, Terry, played the piano for her guests. Afterward, the recruits attended a sorority party near the Alabama dorms. It was highlighted by freestyle rapping by Alabama tailback Mark Ingram and the dancing of D. J. Fluker, a 6-7, 350-pound offensive tackle who also signed Wednesday to play for Alabama. “For a big guy, he did pretty good,” Kirkpatrick said of Fluker. “He had a little move on him.” The next morning, Kirkpatrick went to Saban’s house for breakfast. He was playing billiards when Saban asked if he wanted to ride all-terrain vehicles. Kirkpatrick did not, but Saban had the other recruits take him anyway. Kirkpatrick said Saban became nervous riding with Fluker, who spun out one of the vehicles. So he hitched up with Kirkpatrick to ride trails. “It was cool,” Kirkpatrick said. In the days after his visit to Texas, Kirkpatrick said he wanted to commit to the Longhorns but never found time to talk to his parents. On Tuesday afternoon, the sign that he had sought finally came at a gas station here. He said he was stopped by an older woman who asked if his name was Dre’. “I’m so proud of you,” she told him. “I see you on TV all the time. You keep it up. You’re going to be something in life. You don’t need to go nowhere far. You got plenty of fans here.”

University of Alabama
Football
Draft and Recruitment (Sports)
College Athletics
Saban Nick


Austin Makes a Splash, but U.S. Team Stays Afloat

Abstract: Woody Austin provided some comic relief that instantly became part of Presidents Cup lore yesterday when he lost his balance and fell face first into the lake along the 14th fairway. But he picked himself up, dried himself off and found redemption with three consecutive birdies to earn a half point on a day the International team dominated. The International team won four matches to cut the Americans’ lead to 7-5 after two days at Royal Montreal. Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby led the way by handing Tiger Woods his worst loss in team competition, 5 and 4, although there was not much Woods and Jim Furyk could do. Singh holed out from a bunker and chipped in for an eagle, Appleby made a long eagle putt at No. 12, and they combined to go 11 under through 14 holes. Retief Goosen chipped in for a par and Ángel Cabrera made a 10-foot birdie on No. 18 for a 1-up victory over Phil Mickelson and Hunter Mahan. It was the first match since 2003 that the International team won on the 18th hole. Geoff Ogilvy picked up another point with a 5-foot birdie on No. 18, right after Lucas Glover had made a 15-foot birdie. The cheers again belonged to the Canadian Mike Weir, who made seven birdies as he and Ernie Els won on the 17th hole. The jeers? Those belonged to Austin and his dive, which was shown on the large video screens across Royal Montreal, along with images of his own teammates doing everything they could to keep from laughing. “You couldn’t see who it was because his head was underwater,” Steve Stricker said after teaming with Scott Verplank to deliver the only victory for the United States team. “But you figured it had to be Woody.” The enduring image of Austin used to be the time he walked off the green banging his putter against his head until it broke. Now that has changed. “It’s funny,” Goosen said as he watched the replay from behind the 16th green. “For years he was known as the guy who banged his head against his putter. And now he’s the guy who banged his head against the water.” The Canadian gallery hounded him the rest of the match, alternating chants of “Marco” and “Polo” down the 15th hole and screaming out, “Get in the water!” when he hit a putt. But Austin got the last laugh. Rory Sabbatini and Trevor Immelman were 2 up with three holes to play when Austin put his approach shot 6 feet from the hole on the 16th hole. He made a birdie, then holed a 15-foot birdie putt on No. 17 to square the match. With the pressure on, Austin’s approach on No. 18 settled 5 feet from the hole. After Sabbatini made a birdie from 8 feet, Austin closed out the match with his third birdie in a row. That kept the score tight going into a pivotal round today, with five matches in the morning and five in the afternoon. SURGERY FOR LOVE Davis Love III tore ligaments in his left ankle when he stepped into a hole playing a practice round and will miss at least two months after having surgery. Love withdrew earlier this week from the Viking Classic in Jackson, Miss. He plans to have surgery in 7 to 10 days, his doctor said yesterday. Love hopes to return in time to play in the Father-Son Challenge on Dec. 1 with Dru, his 13-year-old son.

United States
Golf
Austin Woody
Singh Vijay
Appleby Stuart
Montreal (Quebec)