Corporate Tax Plan Unveiled in European Union

Abstract: BRUSSELS — A new effort to coordinate corporate tax policy in the European Union introduced on Wednesday has increased tensions between some member states and Ireland, which said it was skeptical about the process. The initiative would develop a common basis for calculating corporate taxes across the bloc and allow companies to opt in to the system. The European Commission , which made the proposal, estimated that the plan could save businesses 700 million euros ($973 million) a year in reduced compliance costs and an additional 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion) in tax benefits. The commission has been trying for years to coordinate the bloc’s corporate tax policy. Previous efforts have come to nothing because changes in tax policy require the agreement of all 27 European Union member states. But this time the politics have changed and — crucially — this plan could work with a smaller group of countries, because some think that those who adopt the proposal could reap competitive advantages rather than lose out. The new plan is a contentious topic within the union, where some countries regard the right to set their own tax rate as a cornerstone of national sovereignty. While the proposals outlined by the commission cover only the tax base, rather than rates, some nations worry that the proposals could be a stepping stone to further coordination of tax policy. If there is no consensus this time, France and Germany are expected to press for an accord among the 17 members of the euro zone. Ireland, which has already come under pressure over its low corporate tax rate of 12.5 percent, struck a noncommittal tone on Wednesday. “We remain skeptical about many aspects,” the Irish Finance Ministry said in a statement. But, it said it would work with member states on the issue. Last week, Ireland failed to secure a reduction in the interest it is paying on its 85 billion euro bailout from the union because it refused to promise to work constructively on tax coordination. In talks among the European Union members, Ireland has always had a powerful ally in Britain. But Britain is not a member of the euro zone, theoretically putting Ireland in a weaker bargaining position. Moreover, if any group of countries goes ahead with the proposals, those that stay outside might, potentially, lose out if large multinational companies moved some of their operations to a nation that took part. A British government spokesman, who asked not to be named, said the plan would be considered on its merits. “We would want to ensure that we are constructively engaged in discussions,” the spokesman said. “However, we will not agree to a proposal that might threaten or limit our ability to shape our own tax policy.” “Obstacles to cross-border activity in the field of corporate taxation hamper business development and the growth potential of the single market,” said Philippe de Buck, director general of Businesseurope, a lobbying group. “The proposal to develop a common consolidated corporate tax base could help and is welcome under the condition that it remains a competitive option for companies and excludes any form of tax rate harmonization.”

Corporations
European Union
Ireland
European Commission
Taxation


Tiger Woods Is Missing, but So Is Dominance in Golf

Abstract: AUGUSTA, Ga. — Four of the six amateurs in the Masters field this week were born after Tiger Woods made his Augusta National debut in 1995. They grew up in a world in which Woods’s contending in a major was a given, like spring following winter. In 75 combined appearances in the four majors, not counting an injury withdrawal during the first round of the 1995 United States Open , Woods missed the cut eight times while recording 37 top-10 finishes. He has 14 major championships. Rory McIlroy, the world No. 2, who can become the first player since Woods to complete a career Grand Slam with a victory this week, has missed the cut four times in 28 major starts while posting 12 top-10s. He has four major titles. Woods, who is missing the Masters for only the second time in 22 years as he recovers from his most recent back surgeries, spent 683 weeks as the world No. 1, including 281 consecutive weeks from June 2005 to October 2010. Led by McIlroy, the 10 players in this year’s field who have ascended to No. 1 have spent a combined 262 weeks at the top. “It is much different than the years Tiger dominated,” McIlroy said, adding, “I don’t know if we’re going to see a 10-year stretch of golf like that in our lifetime. What he did in that time span was amazing.” Adam Scott, who spent 11 weeks at No. 1, also marveled at Woods’s sustained excellence. “What’s hard to imagine is the confidence he must have had going to the golf course to play over that period of time,” said Scott, who won back-to-back starts in late February and early March. “I thought I felt pretty confident rolling around Florida there a couple of weeks ago, but that’s how he felt for 10 years.” Scott, the 2013 Masters champion, added: “It was so good the way he played for such a long period of time. Just getting it done; the more you win, the more you believe in yourself, the more you go for a shot, the more you pull off a shot when it counts. That’s what it was like watching him for that period.” Woods, whose last competitive start was in August, attended the champions dinner Tuesday night. According to one of the attendees, he looked fit. “You know, he’s encouraged,” said Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National. “I could tell the fire is building back up in his belly, and I suspect Tiger’s going to be back fairly quickly, and I’m looking forward to it.” NO. 13 MAY BE LONGER The iconic 13th hole at Augusta National features more than 1,500 azaleas, and it could soon gain several yards in length. The club has acquired land from Augusta Country Club bordering Augusta National’s 12th green and 13th tee, affording it the option of adding roughly 50 yards to the hole, a 510-yard par-5 dogleg-left. A new tee was added in 2002 as part of the club’s so-called Tiger-proofing of the course. Led by Woods, the longer players were hitting short-iron second shots. During the 2014 tournament, the long-hitting Bubba Watson found the green with his second shot using a wedge. “Thirteen is one of the holes we’re studying,” Payne said. “We have made no decision whatsoever.” Jack Nicklaus, a six-time Masters champion, said he thought the hole could benefit from some lengthening. “I don’t think there’s any question about that,” he said. “Guys now take it over the top of the trees. I used to be able to do that, too, but the trees were about half the size.” He added: “I think with the way the guys hit the ball today, it’s a little easier than it needs to be. It’s not really a par 5 the way it is.” WATSON’S SWAN SONG Tom Watson, 66, is bowing out of the Masters after this year. In his competitive swan song at Augusta National, he will be paired Thursday with Charley Hoffman and Lee Westwood, whose 18 combined Masters appearances are 24 fewer than those by Watson, who is making his 43rd start. “When you see these kids play out here and see them carry the ball 280 and 290 yards off the tee, it’s time to say I can’t compete with them,” Watson, a two-time champion, said. Watson, who last made the 36-hole cut in 2010, added, “I didn’t want to take up another spot and shoot scores and just not even sniff making the cut.” PALMER TO JOIN CEREMONIAL STARTERS Arnold Palmer, 86, will accompany the other ceremonial starters, Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player, to the first tee Thursday, though he is not expected to hit a shot. Palmer, who is in frail health, had a diminished presence last month at the PGA Tour event that he hosts in Orlando, Fla. “He’s a hero,” Billy Payne said. “He’s my hero who needs no club in his hands to receive the recognition and the love that he so richly deserves.”

Tiger Woods
Golf
Tom Watson
Arnold Palmer
Masters Golf,Masters
Augusta National Golf Club


Giants (3-3) at Cowboys (5-1)

Abstract: 4:25 p.m., Fox Matchup to watch: Cowboys’ Tyron Smith vs. Giants’ Jason Pierre-Paul The Dallas offensive line has been the strength of the team, and Smith, a left tackle, has been the unit’s most dominant player. Defensive end Pierre-Paul has just one and a half sacks this season, but he has been fearsome against the run and has disrupted many passing plays by forcing the quarterback out of the pocket. Pierre-Paul could be the key to taking the Cowboys’ offense out of its rhythm. But if Smith wins most of the battles with Pierre-Paul, the Giants’ defense is in trouble. Even Perry Fewell, the Giants’ defensive coordinator, was excited about watching the matchup. “Smith is the linchpin of their offense,” he said. “And we’ve got our best guy on him. I think it will be a heavyweight battle.” Number to watch: 6 100-yard rushing games by DeMarco Murray for the Cowboys this season. Murray leads the N.F.L. in rushing. The last Cowboy to lead the league in rushing was Emmitt Smith in 1995. Quotation of the Week ‘We have all known Tony Romo to get out of the pocket and be very dangerous out of the pocket and throw one up and hope. It is not hope anymore; they are connecting.’ PERRY FEWELL, on the Cowboys’ quarterback.

Giants
Jason Pierre-Paul
Tony Romo
Football
Dallas Cowboys


New Communist Party Chief in China Denounces Corruption in Speech

Abstract: BEIJING — In his first speech to the Chinese Communist Party’s elite Politburo, Xi Jinping , the new party chief, denounced the prevalence of corruption and said officials needed to guard against its spread or it would “doom the party and the state.” The blunt remarks by Mr. Xi were made Saturday at a meeting of the 25-person Politburo, which announced a turnover of 15 members last week during the change in leadership at the close of the 18th Party Congress, the state news media reported on Monday. Mr. Xi’s admonitions suggested that he wanted to take a populist tack in shaping his image, but they were also consistent with warnings that Chinese leaders have delivered in recent years and echoed points he made in his inaugural speech on Thursday. Corruption is one of the issues of greatest concern to Chinese, and Mr. Xi even obliquely referred to the problem in Arab countries and the revolutions there. “In recent years, the long pent-up problems in some countries have led to the venting of public outrage, to social turmoil and to the fall of governments, and corruption and graft have been an important reason,” Mr. Xi said, according to a version of the speech posted online. “A mass of facts tells us that if corruption becomes increasingly serious, it will inevitably doom the party and the state. We must be vigilant. In recent years, there have been cases of grave violations of disciplinary rules and laws within the party that have been extremely malign in nature and utterly destructive politically, shocking people to the core.” Mr. Xi used a Chinese aphorism — “worms come only after matter decays” — to stress his point. The phrase is often attributed to Su Shi, a scholar of the Northern Song dynasty, and it was cited on several recent occasions by Bo Xilai, the disgraced former party chief of Chongqing, who was felled last spring by a murder scandal and is expected to stand trial soon on criminal charges related to abuse of power. When Mr. Bo used the phrase in speeches, it was also in the context of denouncing corruption and enhancing his populist image. Ironically, Mr. Xi’s allusion to recent “grave violations” of party discipline appeared to refer in part to Mr. Bo. Both Mr. Xi and Mr. Bo are sons of powerful Communist leaders, and Mr. Bo, a former Politburo member, was seen as a rival to Mr. Xi. Mr. Xi also took the occasion on Saturday to underscore the need to remain true to the party’s founding ideology, and warned that some officials appeared to be heading down a wayward path in this area, too. “Faith in Marxism and a belief in socialism and communism is the political soul of a Communist and the spiritual pillar that allows a Communist to withstand any test,” Mr. Xi said. “To put it more vividly, ideals and convictions are the spiritual calcium of Communists, and if these ideals and convictions are missing or irresolute, then there is a lack of spiritual calcium that leads to soft bones.” A series of scandals and revelations this year have undermined confidence in China ’s leaders and cast greater scrutiny on the prevalence of nepotism and patronage at the top ranks of the party. All that comes at a time when influential voices are rising inside China calling for fundamental changes to the political and economic systems. The Bo Xilai scandal attracted widespread attention last spring inside China and abroad. Then Bloomberg News reported that the relatives of Mr. Xi held investments and assets worth at least hundreds of millions of dollars, and The New York Times published the results of a yearlong investigation that found the family of Wen Jiabao, the prime minister, held investments and assets worth at least $2.7 billion. The Web sites of both news organizations were blocked in China around the time the articles were published. Pu Zhiqiang, a rights lawyer, said in an interview on Monday that “every generation of leaders has mentioned” corruption upon taking office. “No one would neglect paying attention to the problem of corruption,” he added. “It’s common sense. The crux of the matter is how to implement anti-corruption measures.” On Thursday, the party announced that the new head of its anti-corruption agency, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, would be Wang Qishan, a former vice premier with deep experience in the finance sector. Mr. Wang is now the sixth-ranking party official and is on the seven-man Standing Committee of the Politburo. (In other important appointments, the party announced Monday that Meng Jianzhu, a Politburo member, will take charge of the party’s Central Politics and Law Commission, which oversees security and the courts and was previously run by a Standing Committee member, the much-disliked Zhou Yongkang; and Zhao Leji, also on the Politburo, will be the head of the Organization Department, which oversees personnel issues.) There are those who say that relying on the anti-corruption commission and a nontransparent process to ferret out and punish offending officials is not the right way to set the party straight. At a seminar in Beijing on Friday that was attended by liberal scholars and intellectuals, Chen Youxi, a prominent lawyer and former official, emphasized that point. “Our present approach to fighting corruption basically has increasingly relied on turning the legal authorities into party authorities, strengthening the Central Discipline Inspection Commission and using party oversight against corruption,” he said. “But I think this is a dead end. The more powerful the Discipline Inspection Commission has become, the more serious corruption has become, because if you depend on secretively fighting corruption, you only encourage more corruption.”

China
Xi Jinping
Communist Party of China
Corruption (Institutional)


Moody’s Reduces Its Outlook for Europe’s Credit Rating

Abstract: Moody’s Investors Service cut the European Union ’s credit outlook to negative on Monday, reflecting the risks to Germany, France, Britain and the Netherlands, the four countries in the group with AAA ratings, which account for about 45 percent of the group’s budget revenue. Moody’s lowered the outlook on the union’s AAA long-term bond rating from stable, according to a statement released late Monday in Frankfurt. It also changed to negative from stable its outlook on the provisional AAA rating for the European Union’s medium-term note program. The change “reflects the negative outlook on the AAA ratings of the member states with large contributions to the E.U. budget,” Moody’s said. “The creditworthiness of these member states is highly correlated, as they are all exposed, albeit to varying degrees, to the euro area debt crisis .” Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told a crowd of beer drinkers in Bavaria on Monday that Germany must show solidarity with Europe, and indicated that she would back a more active role for the European Central Bank to fight the debt crisis. Her nation shoulders the largest cost of bailing out weaker governments. Risks of a downgrade to the European Union’s sovereign debt rating come from a “deterioration in the creditworthiness of E.U. member states,” Moody’s said. “Additionally, a weakening of the commitment of the member states to the E.U. and changes to the E.U.’s fiscal framework that led to less conservative budget management would be credit negative.” Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, told officials on Monday that he would be comfortable buying three-year government bonds to bring down borrowing costs for nations in financial distress. European leaders are stepping up shuttle diplomacy this week as they brace for Mr. Draghi’s plan to defend the euro from bond market turmoil. Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Union, is traveling to Berlin for talks with Ms. Merkel on Tuesday as Prime Minister Mario Monti of Italy welcomes President François Hollande of Italy to Rome. The yield on Italian 10-year bonds declined 8 basis points yesterday to 5.77 percent. That was still 439 basis points more than the yield on similar maturity German bunds. Spain’s 10-year bonds were yielding 6.85 percent, near the 7 percent level that compelled Greece, Portugal and Ireland to seek bailouts. “The outlook for the E.U.’s ratings could return to stable if the outlooks on the ratings of the key AAA countries with contributions to the E.U. budget also returned to stable,” Moody’s said of the 27-member group.

Credit Ratings and Credit Rating Agencies


In Bosnia, Doubts About Vote, and About Future

Abstract: PRAGUE — The potential for achieving unity in Bosnia appeared in doubt on Monday after preliminary election results showed deep divisions in the ethnically divided country and election officials said they would investigate accusations of voting fraud. Suad Arnautovic, an election commission member, said the commission would begin an inquiry after 10 percent of the ballots in the race for the Serb presidency, one element of the country’s three-member presidency, were voided. The election was being closely watched as a test case of whether Bosnia can overcome deadlock and undertake changes needed to advance the country’s goals of becoming a member of the European Union and NATO. Under a 1995 accord brokered by the United States, what was once a single entity, Bosnia and Herzegovina, was split into a Muslim-Croat Federation and a Serbian Republic. But the decentralized institutional structure that emerged, coupled with strong residual nationalism among the country’s disparate ethnic groups, has made it extremely difficult for Bosnia to move forward. The preliminary election results underlined the risks, with Muslims and Croats favoring leaders advocating national unity and Bosnian Serbs choosing candidates who called for the country’s breakup. Bakir Izetbegovic, the son of Bosnia’s wartime Muslim leader and a proponent of dialogue among the ethnic groups, appeared poised to win the race for the Muslim presidency, ousting the incumbent Haris Silajdzic, whose vociferous opposition to the Serbian Republic has contributed to national deadlock. The current Croat member of the presidency, Zeljko Komsic, a moderate who comes from a multiethnic party, also won another four-year term. However, analysts said that Bosnia’s already fragile cohesion remained under serious threat because of the strong showing of Milorad Dodik, the Bosnian Serb leader, who was elected president of the Serbian Republic and has repeatedly threatened secession. The leading contender to be the Serb representative on the country’s presidency, Nebojsa Radmanovic, also wants Bosnian Serbs to seek independence. Srecko Latal, a Balkan analyst with the International Crisis Group in Sarajevo, said that the moderate inclination of Bosnian Muslims would either isolate Mr. Dodik or magnify his intransigence. If Bosnia’s Muslims “extend a hand to Dodik and he rejects them, then that will pull him out into the open,” he said. He added, “Dodik will have no excuse for his attempts to rip the country apart.”


Sublime Serves Up Big Flavors and Portions - Review

Abstract: WHEN Scott Howlett, a veteran chef for hire, finally opened his own first restaurant in June 2009, he didn’t want to feel locked in to a particular kind of cuisine. So the name he chose — Sublime — deliberately offered few culinary clues, though it did set expectations high. Mr. Howlett’s menu is dotted with the influences of a career spent cooking Japanese, pan-Asian and, to a lesser extent, Latin American and Mediterranean dishes. But that isn’t anything to apologize for. Asian accents, in particular, pop up all over the menu at Sublime, a bustling place sleekly done up in blues and browns — with the odd pair of longhorns nodding to Mr. Howlett’s favorite college football team — in a nondescript building near the Gladstone train station. Mr. Howlett’s own accent is that of Bayonne, and it’s slightly unexpected in horse country; indeed, he confesses to missing being “closer to civilization.” But it’s Somerset County’s good fortune that this 6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound former linebacker chose to serve up his he-man-size portions here. Take his scallops: Mr. Howlett starts with five big diver scallops weighing at least 1.6 ounces apiece, pan-sears them in butter, cooks them through in the oven, then finishes them in the pan with fresh butter to make a glaze worth savoring. He embeds them in a mountain of creamy, buttery mashed potatoes, laced with chives and truffle oil, accompanied by creamed fresh corn with saffron, onions and garlic. The filet is just as generous (if pricey at $38) and just as dangerous: nine ounces of Black Angus, grilled after being wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, and served with mashed potatoes — this time spiced with chipotle peppers — sweet hush puppies and a syrupy maple-and-cider vinegar gastrique. Mr. Howlett delicately balances flavors and takes pains to ensure that his food looks as fresh as it tastes. So the beef tartare is made to order and chopped by hand, not ground. (Grinding, he says, partially cooks the fatty meat, changing its bright red color and turning it to paste.) He mixes in a house-made garlic-ginger-sake ketchup, fresh chives and a hint of Szechuan pepper; sits it atop a toasted brioche; tops the beef with a raw quail egg; and dresses the plate with a mayonnaise made with Thai sweet chili. The mussels, which one of my companions said were the best she had ever tasted, have their roots in a nine-week trip Mr. Howlett made to Japan, where he learned to make a sauce of red Thai curry paste, garlic and ginger, onions, sake, apples and bananas for sweetness, and seasonings including thyme and kaffir lime leaves. Dishes like that make Sublime’s appetizers its strong suit. The baked brie, for another, is uplifted by basil-infused orange-blossom honey and the chopped macadamia nuts baked along with it. The crab and avocado salad grabs one’s attention with its heavily applied tangy dressing of garlic, shallot, thyme, honey and lemon. Yet, while the first courses made good on the promise of the restaurant’s name, entrees did not always deliver the way the scallops and the filet did. The braised short ribs struck me as bland, and they were dry on my first visit (though tender on the second). The mahi mahi and couscous of dashi kombu — Japanese dried fish-and-kelp stock — seemed better on the page than on the plate. But the tuna katsu — breaded, twice fried and surrounded by a flavorful potato hash and that Thai curry sauce — worked nicely. Desserts were plentiful — unnecessarily so, given what had preceded them — but mostly unmemorable. The plate of six house-made truffles stood out, with flavor combinations of exotic teas and fruits. At his best, Mr. Howlett offers zesty, high-spirited cooking, matched by generous portions, in a lively but intimate setting. Sublime? Maybe not. Satisfying? Without a doubt. • Sublime 12 Lackawanna Avenue Gladstone (908) 781-1888 sublimenj.com WORTH IT THE SPACE Seating for 88 in two sleek dining rooms, and 14 seats at the bar; patio for 20 in good weather. Wheelchair accessible. THE CROWD Old-money locals and younger couples from farther away, casually dressed and unperturbed by the loudness. Servers are knowledgeable and prompt. THE BAR Full bar, including specialty cocktails. List of 45 wines by the bottle, $25 to $180, and 10 by the glass, $8 to $12. More than 50 beers, from $5 to $22 for a 750-milliliter bottle of Allagash Curieux . THE BILL A bit steep (though portions are big). Salads and appetizers, $10 to $16; entrees, $18 to $38. Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover accepted. WHAT WE LIKED Mussels, beef tartare, baked brie, crab and avocado salad , tuna katsu, filet mignon, scallops, truffles. IF YOU GO Open Tuesday to Saturday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Sunday, 5 to 9 p.m. (Bar is open later.) Closed Mondays. Reservations recommended. Ample parking in the back. RATINGS Don’t Miss, Worth It, O.K., Don’t Bother.

Restaurants
Cooking and Cookbooks
New Jersey


Miguel Ángel Jiménez Tied for Lead at 10 Under at Hong Kong

Abstract: Miguel Ángel Jiménez of Spain shot a two-under-par 68 to share the third-round lead with New Zealand’s Michael Campbell at the Hong Kong Open on Saturday. Campbell, looking for his first win in seven years, made a 15-foot par putt on the last hole to complete a round of 69 that put him at 10-under 200. Jiménez is trying to win the event for a third time in nine years. Campbell, ranked 339th in the world, has won 15 tournaments in his career but none since the 2005 HSBC World Match Play Championship in England. ¶ Henrik Stenson of Sweden closed in on a first European Tour win in three years, taking a three-shot lead into the final round of the South African Open in Johannesburg despite George Coetzee’s shooting a course-record 63. Stenson had six birdies and three bogeys in a 69 for a 16-under total of 200. Coetzee and Magnus Carlsson were three shots back. Stenson is looking for his first title since the Players Championship in 2009. Coetzee, a South African, had nine birdies and an eagle to break the course record. ¶ Rory McIlroy, the world’s top-ranked golfer, who four-putted the final green Friday and missed the cut at the Hong Kong Open, has vowed to cut back his competitive schedule next year. McIlroy said he had learned a lesson and would spend the coming weeks working out where he will compete in 2013. Counting next week’s European Tour closing event, McIlroy will have played in 24 tournaments this season as well as the Ryder Cup and two exhibition tournaments.

Golf
Jimenez Miguel Angel
Campbell Michael


Former Workers’ Compensation Judge Appointed to Lead System

Abstract: Gov. David A. Paterson has appointed Robert E. Beloten, a longtime workers’ compensation judge, as the chairman of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board, a spokesman for the governor said on Wednesday. Mr. Beloten, 56, was named one of the board’s 12 commissioners in May, after having been a workers’ compensation judge from 1988 to 1996 and from 2000 until he became a commissioner. As a judge, he worked mostly in the system’s office in Jamaica, Queens. He will succeed Zachary S. Weiss, who has resigned to become a judge in the Social Security system. Mr. Weiss was appointed as the chairman less than two years ago with a mandate to bring sweeping change to a system long criticized for its delays and ineffectiveness. Mr. Beloten, who was a law student with Mr. Paterson at Hofstra University, will lead a $5.5 billion-a-year system that has 1,500 employees and handles about 140,000 new cases each year. Mr. Beloten said he would like to continue the changes begun by Eliot Spitzer when he was governor and furthered by Mr. Paterson and Mr. Weiss. “I think all systems have room for improvement,” Mr. Beloten said in a telephone interview. “I think we’ve made substantial strides.” He said his priority would be to shorten the amount of time it took for claimants to receive benefits. “This is an opportunity where you can really touch people and their lives,” he said. “You can help people rise again after they’ve been injured. You can help increase their self-esteem. You deal with the two most important issues that affect these people: medical care and replacement wages when they’re disabled.” Mr. Beloten will assume the chairmanship on July 15, state officials said. Since Mr. Beloten is already on the compensation board, his appointment does not require Senate confirmation. During the four years between his stints as a compensation judge, Mr. Beloten worked for Keating & Klein, a law firm on Long Island that specializes in health care law. From 1985 to 1988, he was an assistant counsel for the New York State Racing and Wagering Board. He has lectured extensively on workers’ compensation and medical law. Three months ago, The New York Times published a series that detailed the shortcomings of the state’s compensation system. The series found that cases dragged on needlessly for months or years, that doctors’ opinions were frequently skewed and that businesses often retaliated against employees who filed claims. Even though the system was conceived as a no-fault process, it has produced workplaces plagued by mistrust. “It’s an area where you can try to make people as whole as possible, to try to put them in the same position they had before they were injured,” Mr. Beloten said.

New York State
Workers' Compensation Board (NYS)
Appointments and Executive Changes
Beloten Robert E


Texas: Recommendation Made on Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl Who Left Post

Abstract: An Army officer’s recommendation on whether Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should face a court-martial for leaving his post in Afghanistan six years ago will remain secret for now. Lt. Col. Mark Visger presided over last month’s Article 32 hearing in Texas that reviewed evidence against Sergeant Bergdahl. Colonel Visger submitted a report with his recommendation on Monday, but the Army has not said what he recommended. Sergeant Bergdahl is charged with desertion and misbehavior before the enemy. Gen. Robert Abrams, the commanding general of the Army Forces Command, will ultimately decide whether the case should be referred to a court-martial. Sergeant Bergdahl’s lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell, says Colonel Visger’s report should be made public. An Army Forces Command spokesman declined to comment on the report. No timeline has been given for a decision from General Abrams.

Bowe Bergdahl
Court-martial
Desertion
Afghanistan War
US Military


Dow-DuPont Deal Seems Impermeable to a Bid by BASF

Abstract: DuPont’s planned union with Dow Chemical, both American companies, looks like a tough nut for interlopers to crack. The German chemical giant BASF is considering a counterbid for DuPont, its rival, according to Bloomberg . But tax benefits alone make the American conglomerates’ merger and expected breakup pretty close to ironclad. Dow and DuPont agreed in December to a multipart transaction in which they would combine, cut costs and then split into three listed companies. The companies’ nearly equal market values and overlapping shareholders allowed them to structure the deal in a way that should avoid taxes on capital gains — a feat that BASF could struggle to match. The tax savings were not quantified but might far exceed the American companies’ target of $3 billion of annual cost savings, according to Reuters sources. Derailing the merger would probably require BASF to offer a significant premium for DuPont — after covering the $1.9 billion breakup fee and any tax savings the Dow deal would have produced. The German conglomerate could struggle to pull all that off without destroying value for its own shareholders. BASF’s strength in pesticides and other kinds of crop protection would complement DuPont’s valuable seeds business. The companies’ otherwise-limited overlap, however, suggests the synergies from any deal between them would fall short of what a Dow-DuPont transaction could produce, according to Bernstein analysts. The potential synergies of a BASF merger with DuPont would be up to $1.1 billion a year, the analysts estimate, while a Dow-DuPont union would, conservatively, produce $1.7 billion. Tax the BASF deal on a blend of the companies’ tax rates, apply a multiple of 10 and subtract $1.9 billion for the breakup fee, and the German company might struggle to justify paying 11 percent above DuPont’s market value before the Dow deal was announced. If BASF is looking for a transaction that stacks up on the raw numbers, it’s unlikely to get there. The better option could be to wait until after Dow and DuPont merge and then bid for the agricultural chemicals business they plan to spin off. There might be complications, though. The spinoff could lose its tax-free status if the Internal Revenue Service concluded that a deal with BASF was discussed in advance. Closing the transaction at hand, rather than taking that risk, still seems the safest bet.

DuPont
BASF
Dow Chemical
Mergers and Acquisitions
Corporate tax


New Studies of Permian Extinction Shed Light on the ‘Great Dying’

Abstract: It may never be as well known as the Cretaceous extinction, the one that killed off the dinosaurs. Yet the much earlier Permian extinction — 252 million years ago — was by far the most catastrophic of the planet’s five known paroxysms of species loss. No wonder it is called the Great Dying: Scientists calculate that about 95 percent of marine species, and an uncountable but probably comparable percentage of land species, went extinct in a geological heartbeat. The cause or causes of the Permian extinction remain a mystery. Among the hypotheses are a devastating asteroid strike, as in the Cretaceous extinction; a catastrophic volcanic eruption; and a welling-up of oxygen-depleted water from the depths of the oceans. Now, painstaking analyses of fossils from the period point to a different way to think about the problem. And at the same time, they are providing startling new clues to the behavior of modern marine life and its future. In two recent papers, scientists from Stanford and the University of California, Santa Cruz, adopted a cellular approach to what they called the “killing mechanism”: not what might have happened to the entire planet, but what happened within the cells of the animals to finish them off. Their study of nearly 50,000 marine invertebrate fossils in 8,900 collections from the Permian period has allowed them to peer into the inner workings of the ancient creatures, giving them the ability to describe precisely how some died while others lived. “Before, scientists were all over the map,” said one of the authors, Matthew E. Clapham, an earth scientist at Santa Cruz. “We thought maybe lots of things were going on.” Dr. Clapham and his co-author, Jonathan L. Payne, a Stanford geochemist, concluded that animals with skeletons or shells made of calcium carbonate, or limestone, were more likely to die than those with skeletons of other substances. And animals that had few ways of protecting their internal chemistry were more apt to disappear. Being widely dispersed across the planet was little protection against extinction, and neither was being numerous. The deaths happened throughout the ocean. Nor was there any correlation between extinction and how a creature moved or what it ate. Instead, the authors concluded, the animals died from a lack of dissolved oxygen in the water, an excess of carbon dioxide, a reduced ability to make shells from calcium carbonate, altered ocean acidity and higher water temperatures. They also concluded that all these stresses happened rapidly and that each one amplified the effects of the others. That led to a wholesale change in the ocean’s dominant animals within just 200,000 years, or perhaps much less, Dr. Clapham said. Among the hardest hit were corals; many types, including the horn-shaped bottom-dwellers known as rugose corals, disappeared altogether. Sea sponges were also devastated, along with the shelled creatures that commanded the Permian reefs and sea. Every single species of the once common trilobites, with their helmetlike front shells, vanished for good. No major group of marine invertebrates or protists, a group of mainly one-celled microorganisms, went unscathed. Instead, gastropods like snails and bivalves like clams and scallops became the dominant creatures after the Permian. And that shift led directly to the assemblage of life in today’s oceans. “Modern marine ecology is shaped by the extinction spasms of the past,” Dr. Clapham said. So what happened 252 million years ago to cause those physiological stresses in marine animals? Additional clues from carbon, calcium and nitrogen isotopes of the period, as well as from organic geochemistry, suggest a “perturbation of the global carbon cycle,” the scientists’ second paper concluded — a huge infusion of carbon into the atmosphere and the ocean. But neither an asteroid strike nor an upwelling of oxygen-deprived deep-ocean water would explain the selective pattern of death. Instead, the scientists suspect that the answer lies in the biggest volcanic event of the past 500 million years — the eruptions that formed the Siberian Traps, the stairlike hilly region in northern Russia. The eruptions sent catastrophic amounts of carbon gas into the atmosphere and, ultimately, the oceans; that led to long-term ocean acidification, ocean warming and vast areas of oxygen-poor ocean water. The surprise to Dr. Clapham was how closely the findings from the Great Dying matched today’s trends in ocean chemistry. High concentrations of carbon-based gases in the atmosphere are leading to warming, rapid acidification and low-oxygen dead zones in the oceans. The idea that changes in ocean chemistry, particularly acidification, could be a factor in a mass extinction is a relatively new idea, said Andrew H. Knoll, a Harvard geologist who wrote a seminal paper in 1996 exploring the consequences of a rapid increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere on the physiology of organisms. “In terms of the overall pattern of change, what we’re seeing now and what is predicted in the next two centuries is riding a parallel track to what we think happened in the past,” he said. Dr. Clapham noted that Permian and modern similarities are not exact. The Permian ocean was easier to acidify than today’s ocean because it had less deep-water calcium carbonate, which offsets the acid. But he said that corals are the most vulnerable creatures in the modern ocean for the same reason they were during the Permian extinction. They have little ability to govern their internal chemistry and they rely on calcium carbonate to build their reefs. Chris Langdon, a University of Miami biologist who is a pioneer in ocean acidification research, said corals are undoubtedly in danger across the globe. “Corals, I think, are going to take it on the chin,” he said. In a recent study , Dr. Langdon examined the effects of naturally high acidification on coral reefs in Papua New Guinea. They showed drastic declines in coral cover at acidity levels likely to be present in the ocean by the end of this century, especially among branching corals that shelter fish. Hans Pörtner, an animal ecophysiologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Bremerhaven, Germany, said his work showed that a warmer ocean with less dissolved oxygen and greater acidity had an array of negative physiological effects on modern marine animals. The Permian extinction provides an archive of effects suggesting how modern marine creatures will fare as the carbon load in the atmosphere increases, he said. Like Dr. Clapham, he cautioned that the trends between the two periods were not exactly comparable. Back in the Permian, the planet had a single supercontinent, Pangea, and ocean currents were different. And he and Dr. Langdon noted that carbon was being injected into the atmosphere today far faster than during the Permian extinction. As Dr. Knoll put it, “Today, humans turn out to be every bit as good as volcanoes at putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.”

Coral
Paleontology
Fish and Other Marine Life
Oceans and Seas
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Global Warming
Endangered and Extinct Species


Old Carriages on Display in Renovated Galleries at Long Island Museum

Abstract: STONY BROOK, N.Y. — A fire seems to be blazing inside a wooden row house. Flames crackle and alarmed voices cry out as visitors enter a newly refurbished gallery on the lower level of the carriage museum, part of the Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages in Stony Brook. It is one of two renovated spaces that complete a decade-long refurbishment, in stages, of the entire carriage museum. The galleries, housing vehicles that were mostly elsewhere in the museum or in storage, will be unveiled beginning Thursday. As visitors approach the house, a motion sensor sets off sound and lighting effects and what appear to be rippling flames, which are actually fabric strips blown by a hidden fan behind shattered windows, said Joshua Ruff, curator of the carriage and history collections. They create a dramatic backdrop for a display of three 19th-century firefighting vehicles. Image The Tally-Ho. Credit Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times “You want to try to have an exciting entry, to kind of wake people up, pull them into the gallery and immerse them into a different world,” Mr. Ruff said. The gallery, which shows off 23 other vehicles in other settings, is called The Streets of New York. The adjacent gallery, called Driving for Sport and Pleasure, holds 20 more vehicles, including sleighs, a stagecoach and a recently acquired 19th-century English carriage named the Tally-Ho that launched a driving craze among wealthy Americans. Before visitors reach the Tally-Ho, in a room formerly used for storage, they pass the fire scene. “This is our showstopper,” said Sam Morse, who designed and installed the exhibitions with his Brooklyn company, Southside Design and Building , which makes museum shows. “We wanted that theatrical punch.” Each sequence of sound, light and movement lasts two minutes, he said, and changes slightly over time so that people lingering in the gallery won’t see and hear the same things over and over. (There are also short breaks.) Image A phaeton. Credit Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times The firefighting equipment looks quaint by today’s standards: an 1870 hose cart that was used by the Patchogue fire department until 1904 and was pulled by firemen, not horses, as an accompanying photograph shows; an 1807 gooseneck pumper, which could emit a pressurized stream of water and was used in Manhattan and Queens; and a more advanced 1874 steam pumper, which, weighing 9,000 pounds and standing 10 feet tall, proved too big for the narrow streets of New Orleans and was sent back to be used in New Hampshire, where it had been made. Beyond the fire scene, visitors enter a Manhattan streetscape of the late 1800s and early 1900s lined with replicas of old-fashioned lampposts and a variety of original vehicles, from a 1900 Standard Oil delivery wagon to a 1907 popcorn wagon that, according to signs painted on its sides, sold freshly popped corn and roasted peanuts at 5 cents a serving. Popcorn, an explanatory panel notes, was a brand-new snack food when it was introduced at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. Behind the stream of wagons, buggies and carts are large blowups, stretching from the floor nearly to the ceiling, of period photographs showing the streets of New York during those turn-of-the-century years. At several audio stations, visitors can punch a button to hear recorded descriptions of the era, like a reminiscence drawn from the memoir of a “cartman,” who made pickups and deliveries. Image An 1870 hose wagon. Credit Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times That one is near a hand-pulled cart used by a painter to carry his supplies, which is parked in front of a large photograph showing a similar cart piled with produce, and other vendors peddling their wares, on a crowded street in Lower Manhattan. The refurbishing of all eight carriage galleries, Mr. Ruff said, was meant to provide “a new, fresh and innovative stage for people to appreciate the collection, to bring in social history and compelling people stories, and to put the vehicles into a context, a setting, so that people can see them as a link to that era of transportation that served America before the automobile.” One elegant small carriage that appears in the street scene is a coupé made about 1860. As one of the exhibition’s informative panels explains, it was used in the funeral procession for President Abraham Lincoln in New York on April 25, 1865, which was attended by more than 75,000 mourners. Image A 1900 oil wagon. Credit Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times It stands near what is called a gypsy wagon from around 1870, decorated with landscapes, seascapes and other paintings. A panel says it belonged to Phoebe Stanley, sometimes referred to as Gypsy Queen Phoebe, from West Natick, Mass. Vehicles used for public transportation, including a hansom cab from around 1895 and an omnibus from around 1890, are grouped in the middle of the gallery. In the Driving for Sport and Pleasure gallery, the vehicle in the center of the room is the yellow and black Tally-Ho, America’s first sporting coach, made in London in 1875 and brought to the United States by Col. DeLancey Astor Kane. It sparked a new pastime, popular among the wealthy, called road coaching. Image A gypsy wagon. Credit Kathy Kmonicek for The New York Times Across the aisle is the 1867 Crawford House coach, a large stagecoach that brought well-to-do summer visitors from a train station to the Crawford House, a resort in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. A period photograph shows about 20 passengers perched precariously in and atop the coach, which had an early shock absorber system that allowed it to sway with the terrain. A vehicle made on Long Island, the East Williston cart, designed and patented by Henry Willis, a farmer, carriage maker and inventor, stands nearby. It had a spring and shafts that reduced road shock and made for a smoother ride, according to the information panel. Willis manufactured about 1,000 of them, but the Valentine Company in Hempstead made this one around 1895. Next to it is a phaeton made in Albany around 1780 and first owned by the Revolutionary War hero Peter Gansevoort. Herman Melville , who was Gansevoort’s grandson, described the phaeton in his 1852 novel “Pierre.” Seeing a real carriage is increasingly rare, Mr. Ruff said. Young people, including students who visit the museum for educational programs, “may be encountering a carriage for the very first time,” he said. “There are more of those as we move forward in time,” he said, “many people who have encountered a carriage only in a movie and have no idea that this physical artifact still exists and is important to treasure.”

Carriage
Museum
Long Island Museum of American Art
History and Carriages
Stony Brook NY
Cars
NYC


Ehud Olmert, Israeli Ex-Premier, Is Convicted of Fraud

Abstract: JERUSALEM — Ehud Olmert, the former Israeli prime minister who was forced from office under a cloud of corruption, was convicted on Monday of fraud and breach of trust in a retrial of a case involving an American businessman, whose sensational testimony in a Jerusalem court in 2008 was instrumental in Mr. Olmert’s downfall. This was Mr. Olmert’s third conviction on corruption charges since 2012, and he is already facing jail time. The American businessman, Morris Talansky , said at the time of his testimony that he had provided Mr. Olmert with about $150,000 over 13 years, mostly in cash stuffed into envelopes, an assertion Mr. Olmert vehemently denied. Mr. Talansky, known as Moshe, had said that much of the money was earmarked for election campaigns but that some was for Mr. Olmert’s personal expenses. The prosecution said then that the money had been funneled to Mr. Olmert from 1992, when he first ran for mayor of Jerusalem, to late 2005, when he was minister of industry and trade. He became prime minister in early 2006, and his three-year tenure of that office was dogged by police investigations. Court documents subsequently said that Mr. Talansky had transferred a total of about $600,000 to Mr. Olmert, including a small amount in donations from Mr. Talansky’s relatives. “The battle against corruption is long and stubborn,” a lawyer for the prosecution, Uri Korb, told reporters outside the courtroom after the verdict on Monday. “It takes a long time, but, at long last, justice prevails.” He added, “Seven years after Moshe Talansky’s testimony, the court determined that Olmert certainly got envelopes of money and that his behavior was breach of trust and damaged public trust and is true corruption.” Eyal Rosovsky, a lawyer for Mr. Olmert, said the defense team was “very disappointed” with the ruling and would decide whether to appeal after studying the verdict. Mr. Olmert left the court building without making any statement. He is due to be sentenced in May. The court said that the maximum prison term for fraud under aggravating circumstances, which Mr. Olmert was found guilty of, is five years. Monday’s conviction in the Jerusalem District Court came a year after Mr. Olmert was convicted of taking bribes in another case involving the construction of a huge housing complex in Jerusalem. A judge sentenced Mr. Olmert to six years in prison in that case, dashing any hopes the former prime minister might have had of a political comeback. The start of that sentence has been postponed pending an appeal. Mr. Olmert was acquitted in July 2012 of corruption charges in the Talansky case and in another case involving travel expenses. At the time, a panel of three judges ruled unanimously that the evidence did not prove beyond doubt that Mr. Olmert had acted with criminal intent in the Talansky case. They said that Mr. Talansky was a problematic witness whose testimony proved correct in part while also containing statements that were “incorrect and even false.” Mr. Olmert was convicted of breach of trust in a separate matter in 2012, but it was the least serious of the charges he faced at the time, and he was not sentenced to prison. The retrial in the Talansky case came after Shula Zaken, Mr. Olmert’s longtime aide and confidante, became a state witness and testified against him, providing the police with her diaries and tapes she had made of apparently incriminating conversations she had had with Mr. Olmert. According to the latest court documents, Mr. Talansky provided $153,950 from 2003 to 2005 for a fund run by another Olmert aide while Mr. Olmert was serving as minister of industry and trade. Twice during that period, money from the fund was used to supplement Ms. Zaken’s salary. “Talansky and others gave Olmert money for years as a political contribution,” the court documents said, adding, “Olmert made private and even forbidden use of it” by giving Ms. Zaken, his office manager and a public servant, “tens of thousands of dollars.” Mr. Olmert came to a verbal agreement with Ms. Zaken under which she would receive money annually from the fund in return for continuing to work for Mr. Olmert. Eli Zohar, a high-profile lawyer who represented Mr. Olmert in this case and previous ones, told reporters outside the courtroom on Monday that Ms. Zaken’s tape recordings were “selective” and that many parts of the conversations were missing. When Mr. Talansky testified against Mr. Olmert in 2008, he said, among other things, that the money he gave Mr. Olmert included at least $25,000 meant for a vacation in Italy and almost $5,000 to cover Mr. Olmert’s bill at a Washington hotel because Mr. Olmert’s own credit card was “maxed out.” Mr. Talansky added that some of the money was intended as a loan but was never repaid.

Ehud Olmert
Fraud
Corruption
Morris Talansky
Politics
Bribery and Kickbacks
Israel
Judiciary


Eleanor R. Adair, Microwave Safety Researcher, Dies at 86

Abstract: Eleanor R. Adair, a scientist who spent decades exposing monkeys and eventually people (including herself) to microwave radiation to determine whether it posed serious health risks — she concluded, emphatically and somewhat controversially, that it did not — died on April 20 in Hamden, Conn. She was 86. The cause was complications of a stroke, her daughter, Margaret Adair Quinn, said. In the early 1970s, Dr. Adair, who had done her doctoral work in sensory psychology, was pursuing an interesting but not necessarily provocative topic: how people and animals react physiologically to external heat sources. Yet over the next three decades — after her research led her to study heat generated through microwave radiation, which is used in microwave ovens and emitted at low levels by things like cellphones and electrical transmission lines — Dr. Adair became an increasingly prominent and firm voice of assurance that microwave radiation posed no health risk. “All the emphasis that we need more research on power line fields, cellphones, police radar — this involves billions of dollars that could be much better spent on other health problems,” Dr. Adair said in an interview with The New York Times in 2001. “Because there is really nothing there.” For some people close to the issue, those were fighting words. Even as numerous studies have found that microwave ovens are safe and many scientists say there is no evidence that cellphones cause cancer or other health problems, the rising use of cellphones, wireless Internet signals and some medical and military devices has continued to raise questions about their risk. Last year, a panel of the World Health Organization listed microwave radiation as “possibly carcinogenic.” In March, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it would review its standards for cellphone use for the first time since 1996. Some scientists do not use the term microwave radiation because they are concerned it is misleading and scares people unnecessarily. Microwave radiation is far weaker than the radiation in X-rays or gamma rays. Advocates for more research count Dr. Adair in to a camp that focuses too much on heat or thermal effects from microwaves and is too quick to dismiss other ways microwaves might affect health. “There’s something going on, and the question is what that is and whether it’s dangerous,” said Louis Slesin, the editor of Microwave News , a Web site that is often skeptical of the role industry and the military play in influencing health standards related to the issue. “Don’t let anyone tell you they know the answer to that question.” Although Dr. Adair said she did not receive money from cellphone makers or industries whose products released microwave radiation, she served for five years late in her career as a senior scientist at the Air Force Research Laboratory in San Antonio. The Air Force uses radar that emits microwaves. Dr. Adair was indisputably an innovator in studying microwave radiation, work she began in the mid-1970s while a fellow at the John B. Pierce Laboratory in New Haven. First with squirrel monkeys and then with human volunteers, she placed subjects in a chamber into which she released relatively high levels of microwaves for about 45 minutes, followed by a cool-down period. She focused on what impact the heat generated by microwaves might have — and she said she never found much more than perspiration. She said the monkeys and the people mostly enjoyed the experience. “Particularly if the environment is cool, they love it when the field comes on,” she told The Times. She said: “It is very easy to sense it and it feels good. If they are in a warm environment, and the field is strong they may start to sweat and they may feel quite uncomfortable. They always have an option of getting out of the chamber at any time, saying, ‘I’ve had enough.’ ” Richard A. Tell, who consults for cellular companies and other industries and who served with Dr. Adair on a committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers that helps set standards for permissible microwave levels, said she “did the first and only studies that have ever been done so far in which humans were studied under controlled conditions.” Eleanor Campbell Reed was born on Nov. 28, 1926, in Arlington, Mass. Her father owned a Dodge dealership near Boston and her mother worked as a fashion illustrator before she married. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1948 and received her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin in 1955. In 1952 she married Robert K. Adair, who would later become a prominent physicist at Yale. Mr. Adair became involved in his wife’s work in her later years and sometimes appeared with her at conferences. Besides her daughter, survivors include her husband; her son, Douglas; two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. “She would always be the first human subject in all of her experiments,” including those involving exposure to microwaves, her daughter said. “She said it was absolutely the most comfortable heat that she ever experienced. She described it once as like having the sun come out — you just suddenly feel all warm and cozy. You’re warm on the inside, not overly hot on the outside.”


Donald Trump Asks for Evangelicals’ Support and Questions Hillary Clinton’s Faith

Abstract: Donald J. Trump met privately with evangelicals on Tuesday in New York, asking for their support and questioning Hillary Clinton’s faith. Before meeting with a larger group, Mr. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, spoke to a small number of evangelical leaders from around the country, and, according to video posted to Twitter by a minister in attendance, Mr. Trump said that “we don’t know anything about Hillary in terms of religion. Now, she’s been in the public eye for years and years, and yet there’s no — there’s nothing out there.” In response to Mr. Trump’s comment, the Clinton campaign released a statement from Deborah Fikes, who had been an executive adviser to the World Evangelical Alliance. “Mr. Trump’s proposals are not just un-Christian — they’re un-American and at odds with the values our country holds dearest,” her statement read. Ms. Fikes also stated that Mrs. Clinton, whom she said was known as Sister Hillary by organizations she worked with, “is embraced by many evangelical sister churches as a trustworthy and respected political leader because she lives the Golden Rule in her private life and in her public policies.” In response to whether Mr. Trump was questioning Mrs. Clinton’s faith, Hope Hicks, Mr. Trump’s spokeswoman, said there was “no intention” of doing so. Instead, Ms. Hicks said, Mr. Trump “should be praised” for responding to a question about Mrs. Clinton’s faith by saying that he was not aware of Mrs. Clinton’s ties to religion. Mrs. Clinton, a Methodist, has rarely talked about her faith on the campaign trail, but at a rally in January in Iowa, she offered a lengthy reply to a question about her Christianity. “My study of the Bible, my many conversations with people of faith, has led me to believe the most important commandment is to love the Lord with all your might and to love your neighbor as yourself, and that is what I think we are commanded by Christ to do,” she said. Her support of Planned Parenthood and of abortion rights, however, clashes with the views of many socially conservative Christians. It was on these issues that many of the evangelicals sought assurances from Mr. Trump, telling him that they wanted to see him choose a socially conservative running mate with a good relationship to the Christian community, eight members of the group said at a news conference after the meeting. Mr. Trump has seemed to struggle at times in his attempts to court the evangelical vote. In November, Mr. Trump scheduled a news conference saying that a large group of black pastors would endorse him, but the group replied that although they were willing to listen to him, they were not ready to endorse. Mr. Trump canceled the news conference for a private meeting instead, then called an impromptu news conference after the meeting, where none of the pastors offered a formal endorsement. On Tuesday, one attendee, Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said she was impressed by three commitments Mr. Trump said he would make if he were elected president. She said he promised to defund Planned Parenthood, to pass H.R. 36, or the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, and to appoint a “pro-life Supreme Court justice.” Attendees were quick to acknowledge that Mr. Trump had not completely bridged a gap with social conservatives and evangelicals. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said that conservatives “don’t completely understand him because he comes a little bit from a different world, but they identify with him.” Mark Gonzales, a pastor and founder of the Hispanic Action Network, said Mr. Trump also might find it difficult to reach out to Hispanics. Mr. Gonzales said he had discussed immigration with Mr. Trump, but concluded that the “conversation will continue.” “The verdict is still out as he continues to try to create that narrative that we hope will be more welcoming, and won’t be as harsh,” Mr. Gonzales said. During the news conference, a reporter asked which of the eight attendees were ready to endorse Mr. Trump. None raised a hand.

Donald Trump
Evangelical
Hillary Clinton
2016 Presidential Election


Paterno’s Testimony No Longer Admissible

Abstract: STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The death of Joe Paterno on Sunday will partly weaken the state’s prosecution of two former university officials who have been charged in connection with the child sexual abuse case involving Jerry Sandusky. Paterno was expected to testify at the trials of Tim Curley, the former Penn State athletic director, and Gary Schultz, the university’s former senior vice president for finance and business. However, it is unclear how much of an effect the lack of that testimony will have on the state’s case against Curley and Schultz. Paterno testified before a grand jury in January that he met with Curley and Schultz about Sandusky. Paterno told Curley and Schultz that Mike McQueary, a former graduate assistant, reported to him that he had witnessed a sexual assault involving Sandusky and a boy, known as Victim 2, in the shower of Penn State’s athletic facility in 2002. In a separate meeting, McQueary testified, he told Curley and Schultz about the graphic sexual nature of what he had witnessed. Curley and Schultz were charged for failing to report to the authorities what they knew about the incident. Curley is on administrative leave; Schultz has retired. “Now that Paterno is deceased, this charge will have to stand only on the report by McQueary,” said Geoff Moulton, a former federal prosecutor and an associate professor at Widener School of Law. “With respect to Victim 2 and the charges against Curley and Schultz, McQueary’s testimony, which has always been critical, is even more so.” Paterno’s grand jury testimony is inadmissible, according to several lawyers, because he was not cross-examined in that proceeding. The Sixth Amendment’s confrontation clause guarantees criminal defendants the right to confront the witnesses against them. Wick Sollers, who was Paterno’s lawyer, said in an e-mail that Paterno’s statements before the grand jury constituted his only under-oath testimony in the case. With Paterno’s death, the lawyers for Curley and Schultz no longer have the opportunity to challenge his credibility. Curley and Schultz were also charged with lying to the grand jury, but it appears from the grand jury report that those charges stem only from their account that McQueary did not tell them that the incident was sexual in nature. That would mean Paterno’s inability to take the stand is perhaps not as critical in prosecuting the perjury charges. But his absence could have some effect. “Why would he have told it to Paterno and not told them?” said Howard Bruce Klein, a former federal prosecutor who is a criminal defense lawyer in Philadelphia. “McQueary becomes more credible when you hear Paterno tell his version of it. On the perjury charge, I would say Paterno would be a corroborating witness.” It is unknown whether the Pennsylvania attorney general has uncovered additional evidence that would bolster the case against Curley and Schultz. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said that there would be no comment about the case. Sandusky, a former Penn State defensive coordinator, has been charged with more than 50 counts of sexual abuse against boys. Paterno’s failure to report to the authorities what he knew about the 2002 incident contributed to the Board of Trustees’ decision to fire him Nov. 9, in his 46th season as the coach. He was not charged in the case. There will be public viewings of Paterno, who died of lung cancer, on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center, to which he and his wife made a significant financial contribution in 1998. He will be buried Wednesday, and there will be a public memorial service Thursday at Penn State’s 16,000-seat Bryce Jordan Center.

Paterno Joe
Curley Tim
Schultz Gary
Sandusky Jerry
McQueary Mike
Pennsylvania State University
Child Abuse and Neglect
Sex Crimes
Football (College)


For Emerging-Markets Investors, a Stronger Comeback

Abstract: UNTIL recently, emerging-markets funds have looked a lot like commodity funds. When the prices for raw goods tumbled last fall, emerging-markets funds fell on a nearly identical trajectory. When commodity prices picked up this spring, these funds rose along with them. But in the third quarter, emerging-markets funds made a stronger comeback than either natural resources funds, which own stocks, or commodity funds, which use futures contracts to bet on rising commodity prices. Many developing economies like Brazil are based on commodity exports, and rapidly growing countries like China and India are stoking the global demand for steel, coal and soybeans. Investment strategists point out, though, that many emerging markets benefit whenever there is demand for their manufactured products — while commodity investors make money only when the prices for raw materials rise. “Emerging-markets funds are closely aligned with commodities, but they do have some additional exposure, certainly to technology and manufacturing,” said Jeff Tjornehoj, a senior research analyst at Lipper, the fund tracker. He said that there was a lot of overlap between these types of funds, though, and that some investors who owned both might have less portfolio diversification than they thought. To be sure, all three categories have regained ground since the global markets hit bottom in March. But only the emerging-markets fund category finished the third quarter higher than it had been a year earlier. An investor who put $1,000 into an emerging-markets fund on Sept. 30, 2008, would have had $1,167, on average, a year later, according to Lipper. But a $1,000 investment in a typical commodities fund a year ago would have been worth around $900 at the end of September. And a similar investment in a natural resources stock fund would have been worth $828. Edward E. Yardeni, an independent investment strategist, said that China had kick-started the global economic recovery when it created a huge public works program last fall, and that he thought developing countries would continue to lead the way. “That’s very positive for commodities,” he added, “because these emerging economies spend a great deal on roads and bridges and airports, and their consumers are spending more on homes and cars.” Mr. Yardeni said that with commodity prices already driven up, he would rather own emerging-markets stocks at this point. Most commodity prices, he said, accurately reflect current supply and demand — except for oil, which he said was more expensive than it should be because of concerns about geopolitical risks. He added that current prices would allow both commodity exporters like Brazil and importers like China to prosper. But Mr. Yardeni did not object to the idea of an individual investor owning both a commodity fund and an emerging-markets fund in the same portfolio, “as long as you know that you’re doubling down on the same fundamental trade.” Gonzalo Pangaro, the manager of the T. Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock fund, predicted that the gap between the growth rates of the developed world and the developing world would widen over the next decade. “I think it will take the developed world some time to deleverage,” he said. Mr. Pangaro, who previously managed the T. Rowe Price Latin America fund, has put a strong emphasis on Latin America, which makes up 28 percent of the emerging-markets fund, and particularly on Brazil, at 18 percent of the portfolio. Petrobras, the Brazilian state-run oil company, at 6.2 percent of the portfolio, is the fund’s largest holding. “We’ve owned Petrobras for a very long time,” Mr. Pangaro said, “but in the energy and materials sector, we generally focus on midcaps and small caps.” The portfolio does not hedge the currencies of countries in which it invests. So investors will be exposed to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates, including those for the Brazilian real and the Mexican peso. The fund rose 21.7 percent in the third quarter and returned 12.5 percent in the 12 months through September. The Van Eck Emerging Markets fund also does not hedge for currency risk, and it tilts toward small and midsize companies rather than the large, formerly state-owned companies that dominate the stock markets in many developing countries. David Semple, the portfolio manager, said that small companies were more likely to benefit from rising consumption in their local markets, which should bolster demand for commodities, “whether it’s steel for cars or crocodile skin for Gucci shoes.” In the energy and basic materials sectors, this has led Mr. Semple to focus on some stocks that would not be on the radar screen of many natural resources funds, which tend to own larger energy companies. For example, the second-largest holding in the Van Eck fund, recently at 2.2 percent of the portfolio, is KazMunaiGas Exploration Production, which is majority owned by the government of Kazakhstan. “It has decent assets, and cash in the bank,” Mr. Semple said. But he said the key attraction was its relationship with the government, which gives it preferential rights for oil and gas drilling in Kazakhstan, a central Asian country with vast energy reserves. Another large holding is the KNM Group, which is based in Malaysia and works on refinery projects for major oil and gas producers worldwide. Its shares trade only on the Malaysian stock exchange. Van Eck Emerging Markets rose 25.1 percent in third quarter and 23.45 percent during the last 12 months. THE similarities between emerging markets and commodities are also apparent in the world of exchange-traded funds , said Paul Justice, the E.T.F. strategist at Morningstar, the fund tracker. Among E.T.F.’s owing emerging-markets stocks, Mr. Justice says, he likes the Vanguard Emerging Markets E.T.F. because of its diverse portfolio and low cost. It rose 21.2 percent in the third quarter and charges 0.2 percent in annual expenses. If investors already own one or two emerging-markets funds, he said, they might consider an E.T.F. focused on small-cap stocks, like WisdomTree Emerging Markets Small-Cap Dividend. It was up 22.9 percent in the quarter. But after six months of robust returns, Mr. Justice cautioned investors not to expect emerging markets to continue to grow by leaps and bounds. “I’m not saying that it’s going to go negative,” he said. “But I’m not predicting anything like the returns that it’s had this year.”

Commodities
Futures and Options Trading
Prices (Fares Fees and Rates)
Stocks and Bonds
Third World and Developing Countries


To Reduce Costs, Warner Brothers Closing 2 Film Divisions

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — Warner Brothers announced Thursday that it would shut two troubled film divisions, a cost-cutting move rooted in the changing economics of the specialty film business. Picturehouse, known for art films like “Pan’s Labyrinth,” and Warner Independent Pictures, which distributed “March of the Penguins,” will cease operations in the coming weeks, Warner Brothers said. About 70 people will lose their jobs. What will happen to the projects in development at the two companies must still be decided, said Alan F. Horn, the studio’s president. “This reflects the reality of a changing marketplace and our need to prudently run our businesses with increased efficiencies,” Warner said in a statement. Together, Picturehouse and Warner Independent released 12 films in 2007. Mr. Horn said that Warner would release “overall fewer movies” but declined to specify a goal. The two labels were intended to tap a growing market for cerebral, low-budget films — and to make Warner competitive at the Oscars. But the company was late to the game. By the time Warner Independent was founded in 2003, every other major studio had already established a specialty division. Warner Independent never found a niche and suffered from executive infighting. Meanwhile, a glut of movies in the marketplace — about 600 films were released in 2007, up from 450 in 2002 — has dented the profitability and reliability of specialty divisions. No longer can these units produce films on the cheap, apply a little marketing and watch the cash roll in. As competition has increased, advertising costs have soared. Recent flops by Warner Independent include “In the Valley of Elah,” which took in a scant $6.7 million at the box office. Picturehouse managed to squeeze two Oscars out of “La Vie en Rose” in February, but the picture sold only about $10 million in tickets in North America. In an interview, Mr. Horn said that Warner, part of Time Warner, remained committed to making specialty films, though he would not say how many. “We are not abandoning the independent marketplace,” he said. The closures come after Time Warner’s recent decision to fold its New Line studio into Warner Brothers, eliminating 500 jobs. Under this configuration, New Line will use the main studio’s infrastructure to release about six films a year. Warner will release the last pictures from the two labels over the next six months. Picturehouse, created in 2005 after Time Warner acquired Newmarket Films, the company behind “The Passion of the Christ,” is set to release a remake of “The Women” in September. Warner Independent’s releases include “Towelhead,” about a Lebanese teenager growing up in Texas.

Warner Brothers
Warner Independent Films
Layoffs and Job Reductions


Maine Loses His Composure and the Mets Lose a Game in Chicago

Abstract: CHICAGO, Aug. 4 — There were still six innings of baseball to be played Saturday when the Mets lost. Their afternoon unraveled in the time it took for John Maine to pound his glove against his hip, a visceral reaction to what would have been an inning-ending call at first base that instead went against his team. Maine faced five more batters. He did not retire any of them, and the Cubs rolled to a six-run third inning that fueled their 6-2 victory at Wrigley Field. When Maine was replaced by Aaron Sele, after Jacque Jones lined his 44th pitch of the inning for a run-scoring single, he walked slowly toward the dugout. He stared at the ground, cap pulled low on his head, as if he knew he had done something wrong. On a certain level, Maine could tolerate six runs, four hits, three walks and a hit batsman. But he could not handle what he viewed as lapses in concentration: after the close call at first, and during the previous at-bat, when Alfonso Soriano hit a comebacker that Maine did not field cleanly, costing him a chance for a double play. “I hurt myself,” Maine said. For all of Maine’s numerous accomplishments — a team-leading 12 victories and a 2.92 earned run average entering Saturday, for starters — every once in a while he supplies a reminder that he is pitching in only his second full major league season. He has, for the most part, maintained his focus throughout his starts, a problem that plagued him last season. Manager Willie Randolph said, “When you do it for a while and then get away from it, you have to get back to it.” Maine’s counterpart on the mound, the left-hander Ted Lilly, stymied the Mets over seven and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs and seven hits and striking out eight before leaving to a standing ovation. Lilly had spent all but his rookie season in the American League, and the Mets’ starting lineup had a combined 24 at-bats against him. Moises Alou made the only lasting impression on Lilly, slamming two bases-empty home runs to double his season output. Even with Sele, Jorge Sosa and Scott Schoeneweis combining to hold the Cubs scoreless the rest of the game, the Mets could not bail out Maine. Shortly after the game, Maine sat engrossed in a conversation with the pitching coach Rick Peterson. When that ended, Maine stood in front of his locker, arms folded across his chest, and did not much care to re-create how the miserable third inning unfolded. “I couldn’t find it,” Maine said. “I kept trying to find it, but it wasn’t there.” The first two Cubs reached base in the third, but Maine recovered to retire the next two hitters. Up came the No. 2 hitter, Ryan Theriot, who tapped a slow grounder toward José Reyes. The league’s other shortstops surely would have gotten to the ball, but Reyes is among a few with an arm strong enough to make a play on Theriot. The first-base umpire, Marty Foster, called Theriot safe, although slow-motion television replays appeared to show that Reyes’s throw arrived a half-step ahead. “The boys in here were saying we had him, but at the moment I couldn’t tell,” first baseman Carlos Delgado said. Standing on the edge of the mound, Maine recoiled when the call was made, but it was only one run, and he had two outs. But Maine walked Derrek Lee on four pitches to load the bases. He walked Aramis Ramírez to force in a run. He hit Cliff Floyd on the right knee to force in another. Singles by Mark DeRosa and Jones doubled the Cubs’ lead to 6-0 and knocked out Maine after his shortest start of 37 as a Met. “That was the first time all year in a key situation with runners on when I couldn’t help myself and get out of it,” Maine said. “I know that tomorrow I’m going to wake up and think about it.” INSIDE PITCH The longer Paul Lo Duca sits, the more he wonders why. But Lo Duca, who missed his sixth consecutive game Saturday while recovering from a right hamstring injury, does not make the decision. The man who does, Willie Randolph, said Lo Duca would be re-evaluated in New York on Tuesday; thus he will miss another chance to catch Tom Glavine’s potential 300th victory Sunday night. “I appreciate him wanting to play,” Randolph said. “But I’m the manager. I have to be smart enough not to react to the will of the player.”... Damion Easley said his head still hurt a few hours after he fell backward against the brick wall in right field to catch a fly ball hit by Aramis Ramírez in the second inning. ... Randolph scrawled the initials “B.R.” on the left side of his cap to honor Bill Robinson, the hitting coach of the 1986 Mets and a mentor of Randolph’s, who was buried Saturday morning in Washington Township, N.J.

Baseball
New York Mets
Chicago Cubs
Maine John


A Desert War on ISIS, Fought From a Floating City

Abstract: ABOARD THE U.S.S. CARL VINSON, in the Persian Gulf — More than a dozen Navy F/A-18 warplanes roar off this aircraft carrier every day to attack Islamic State targets in support of Iraqi troops battling to regain ground lost to the militants in June. These Navy pilots face an array of lethal risks during their six-hour round-trip missions. Surface-to-air missiles and other enemy fire lurk below, as the downing of an Iraqi military helicopter late Friday underscored. About 60 percent of the aircrews are still learning the ropes on their first combat tours. The United States-led coalition improvises how the Iraqis call in airstrikes: Iraqi troops talk by radio to American controllers at Iraqi command centers, who in turn talk to the Navy pilots to help pinpoint what to hit. Senior commanders have said that placing American spotters with the Iraqi troops would be more effective, but they have yet to recommend that step knowing that President Obama opposes it. In the initial weeks of an air campaign that started in August, Iraq’s troops were tentative. Fighters from the Islamic State, also called ISIS or ISIL, quickly learned not to move in large numbers to avoid being struck. Three out of every four missions still return with their bombs for lack of approved targets. But in recent days, the Iraqis have been advancing, forcing ISIS to fight more in the open. The airstrikes are severing the militants’ supply lines, killing some top leaders and crimping their ability to pump and ship the oil that they control. “It wasn’t going so well there for a while, but the momentum seems to have reversed,” said Cmdr. Eric Doyle, a 41-year-old F/A-18 Hornet pilot from Houston who also flew combat missions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. About one quarter of the 1,200 total airstrikes in Iraq and Syria so far have been flown off a carrier — the other missions began from bases around the gulf — an enduring symbol of American power in the Middle East. After ISIS fighters rolled south into Mosul six months ago and threatened Baghdad, the Pentagon rushed the carrier George H.W. Bush to the Persian Gulf from the coast of Pakistan, where it was flying missions in support of American troops in Afghanistan. Iraqi Army Retakes Government Complex in Central Ramadi Efforts to stem the rise of the Islamic State. Within two days, the carrier was sending surveillance and reconnaissance flights over Iraq and Syria. It was weeks before the United States ironed out arrangements with regional allies to allow land-based planes to carry out strikes. The Vinson relieved the Bush in mid-October, and will stay until next spring. “You don’t have to ask anybody for permission to use a carrier,” said Vice Adm. John W. Miller, commander of the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. “It’s five acres of sovereign U.S. territory.” This ship has an unusual place in the annals of the campaign against terrorism. Some of the first airstrikes of the Afghan war in October 2001 were by jets from the Vinson; nearly a decade later, it was here that Navy SEALs brought Osama bin Laden’s body after the raid in Pakistan, and buried it at sea after religious rites on the lower hangar deck. The flight deck is the bustling hub of this nuclear-powered behemoth, which is home to 5,200 sailors and officers for nearly 10 months at a time. Sailors in light helmets and goggles, mostly in their early 20s, scurry about in vests and long-sleeve shirts color-coded to their jobs — red shirts handle bombs, purple shirts handle fuel, yellow shirts handle the flights. Racks of bombs and missiles rise from elevators below deck amid the din. MH-60 Seahawk search-and-rescue helicopters buzz overhead on their way out to sea. It is like a crowded suburban parking lot, except these are $57 million jets taxiing for takeoff with 500-pound laser-guided bombs tucked under their wings. The slightest misstep around these high-performance jets and turboprop planes could be fatal. “Beware of Jet Blast, Propellers and Rotors” is emblazoned in large yellow letters on the ship’s superstructure, lest anyone forget. It is a dangerous business, even when the ship is not at war. In September, while training in the western Pacific, two F/A-18s from the Vinson collided in midair soon after takeoff. One pilot was rescued in the accident, but the other was killed. His body was never found in waters nearly three miles deep. About 20 percent of the 100 daily flights are strike missions into Iraq and Syria. The others are a mix of training, supply, reconnaissance and other flights, usually between 10:30 a.m. and 11 p.m. About an hour before takeoff, fighter pilots in flight suits stride to their planes for a final inspection. Tiny black bombs are stenciled below the cockpit for each weapon dropped from that aircraft. A giant steam-powered catapult then hurls the jets off the ship, from a dead start to more than 125 miles an hour in less than three seconds. Video How has ISIS, a 21st-century terrorist organization with a retrograde religious philosophy, spread from Iraq to Syria, Libya and beyond? By then, the pilots have studied their routes, the weather and the targets assigned by an American air command center in Qatar, a tiny gulf state. Targeting specialists have selected bombs big enough to do the job but mindful of the risk to civilians. The allied jets are operating under some of the strictest rules intended to prevent civilian casualties in modern warfare. “If there’s any doubt, we do not drop ordnance,” said Capt. Matt Leahey, a 44-year-old Naval Academy graduate from Lewiston, Me., who commands the 2,100 personnel and 63 aircraft in the carrier’s air wing. The Vinson has steamed to the northern part of the gulf to shorten flight times as much as possible, but it is still 450 miles to Baghdad and much farther to Syria. The F/A-18s burn 5,700 gallons of fuel on a typical mission, and pilots must refuel in midair three or four times. The jets fly well above 20,000 feet, out of the range of most antiaircraft guns. ISIS has surface-to-air missiles and has downed a few Iraqi helicopters, so pilots cannot fly as low as they would like to get the best look at their targets. “Manpads are a real threat,” said Commander Doyle, referring to Man-Portable Air Defense Systems. In some cases, pilots are striking specific, planned targets such as headquarters buildings. But most of the Vinson’s missions are targets of opportunity while safeguarding Iraqi troops below. Pilots fly over designated grid areas, typically 60 miles square, searching for fighters, artillery and other signs of the enemy. An aerial armada of surveillance planes with names like Joint Stars and Rivet Joint track militant movements on the ground and intercept their electronic communications, feeding a steady stream of information to pilots. “It can be pretty boring, then all of sudden it gets heated and you’ve got a whole lot of work to do in 120 seconds,” said Commander Doyle, who has flown eight strike missions so far. “We’re trying to find things and kill them.” Working with the American air controllers in the Iraqi command centers — special operations troops in contact with Iraqi or Kurdish ground troops — pilots say they are aiming to weaken ISIS’ war machine in a fight they caution could take months or even years. “We’re taking away the enemy’s ability to reinforce and resupply,” said Lt. Adam Bryan, 31, an F/A-18 Super Hornet pilot from northwestern Connecticut. “It’s a pretty dynamic situation.”

Aircraft carrier
Iraq
Syria
Military aircraft
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State
US Military


Getting Your Gmail Just the Way You Like It

Abstract: Q. What exactly is the difference between Gmail and Inbox? I have both apps on my phone and am not sure which one to use. A. Gmail, initially released as an invitation-only service in 2004 , is Google’s official web-based email service and a competitor to Microsoft’s Outlook.com (formerly Hotmail.com), Yahoo Mail and Apple’s iCloud mail service, among others. Inbox, first released as an invitation-only service in 2014 , is a program that attempts to sort and organize your Gmail messages into logical groupings so they are easier to manage — especially on a mobile device. You do not need an invitation to use either service anymore, but you need to have a Gmail address to use Inbox. Google makes both a Gmail app and an Inbox app for devices running Android and iOS. If you like the way Inbox organizes your messages, you can also use it with your desktop web browser after you have set it up on your mobile gadget; point your Chrome, Firefox or Safari browser to inbox.google.com to use it there. If you have both apps installed and set up, your messages (and the actions you take with them) are synced between Gmail and Inbox . Messages you archive, delete, create or mark as spam are handled the same way in both apps, no matter which one you are using at the time. Some features appear in only one app, though. You need to create your vacation response messages and certain filters in Gmail, while Inbox Reminders are not visible in Gmail. People who like the traditional approach to dealing with email may prefer Gmail’s more straightforward message view. However, those who like anything that saves time — or automatically organizes information for quick perusal on the go — may favor Inbox. If you want to get to know the newer app a little better, Google has created an Inbox Help Center online and has a brief demo video on YouTube .


Switzerland Stuns Canada in Hockey World Championships

Abstract: Switzerland stunned Canada in a penalty shootout to win, 3-2, at the hockey world championships in Stockholm. Switzerland is 2-0 after upsetting Sweden in its opener. Ilya Kovalchuk’s three goals led Russia to a 4-1 victory over Germany in Helsinki, Finland. Also in Helsinki, the United States beat Latvia, 4-1, to improve to 2-0.

Switzerland
Canada
Ilya Kovalchuk
Russia
Germany
Ice hockey


Raising Ghosts Long Thought to Be Laid to Rest

Abstract: BERLIN — The air filled with noise, and the aircraft’s payload spiraled downward, sometimes black against a clear blue sky, sometimes catching a glint of sunlight. The moment was meant to revive modern Europe’s fading memories not simply of war, but of conflict so enormous that entire cities were razed by aerial bombardment in the rush for conquest or the slide to defeat before peace in 1945. But here, on a late August evening in 2010, the airplane was not an American B-17 or a British Lancaster or a Soviet Ilyushin — airplanes from the three air forces that bombed the German capital at various stages in World War II. And the payload was not hostile, either. Coinciding with a regular all-night opening of the city’s museums, the “bombing” was an airdrop from a helicopter of 100,000 poems by 80 writers printed on silvery bookmarks — replicating similar rains of verse over cities once shattered from the air, Guernica, Spain, and Warsaw among them. Conceived by Chilean and German artists, it was a kind of street theater designed to inspire musing on what has really changed in the 65 years since the end of World War II and what has simply been transplanted to other arenas of conflict. Berlin is a good place for such rumination. The city’s very architecture — rebuilt apartment houses interspersed with the ponderous, imperial baroque of an older Germany — offers testimony to the postwar ruin presided over by those who inherited a divided city in 1945. Indeed, the sight of the cards fluttering across the ornate facade of the Berliner Dom, the Berlin Cathedral, had a particular poignancy: The building’s grand cupola was destroyed by Allied firebombing in 1944, only to be rebuilt in the postwar era. The city, though, is not always so eager to resuscitate its history. Barely seen amid the frenetic construction since the end of communism, traces of the Berlin Wall — the very emblem of the Cold War in a divided Europe — linger in the rebuilt city center like chimera, strips of sometimes anonymous cobblestone along its erstwhile route. Was this the cusp of East and West? Was this the concrete enforcer of global division with its death strip, enfiladed by machine guns in the watchtowers before the wall came down in 1989 and a reunified Germany began burying its memory under a forest of glittery high-rises? Only a fraction of its 105-kilometer, or 65-mile, length remains, some as an open-air art gallery. “They should have kept a whole stretch of the Wall, 500 meters, so people would see what it was like,” said Harry Hampel, a photojournalist who has chronicled Berlin’s before and after in black and white and sells his work from the taxi cab he drives to fund the enterprise. Then, finally, there is the new Berlin rubbing shoulders with the old. As nations have made the voyage from world war to cold war to a war of hearts and faiths, so Berlin has moved into a new century, seeking the self-confidence to cease apologizing so frequently for a past that will not fully release it. Last month, the defense minister, Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, announced plans for a military overhaul including the abolition of the draft — an acknowledgement of NATO’s changed landscape since the end of the Cold War. No longer do military strategists contemplate tank battles across the north German plain or massed infantry maneuvers along the Iron Curtain. Instead, the effort to combat the Taliban and Al Qaeda has supplanted the Cold War as the existential fight propelling a new generation since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 (although its seeds were sown much earlier). Germany itself has sent 4,500 soldiers to Afghanistan — an unpopular deployment that set the needs of the U.S.-led coalition ahead of the nation’s profound aversion to the militarism of its past. And that remote conflict mirrors divisions closer to home. Just as jihadists depict Western soldiers as unholy warriors, so, too, in the West, suspicion of Islam seems often to trump government protestations of evenhandedness toward the Muslim minorities that have become part of Europe’s social fabric. President Barack Obama has signaled a drawdown of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in mid-2011 after formally ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq. But it seems unlikely that Western leaders will find a way anytime soon to unlock a riddle as baffling and enduring as the Kremlinology of the past: How do affluent Western societies counter the gravitational pull of radical Islam that stirs not only in distant Muslim societies but also among their own citizens? Only this month, a German newspaper reported that a German citizen was arrested by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, accused of belonging to a group of Islamists from Hamburg who had traveled to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border area in 2009 to train as militants. Just a few days earlier, Thilo Sarrazin, a board member at the German central bank, ignited a fury over an assertion that Germans could become “strangers in their own land” as the land’s large Turkish minority expands. Those might have seemed familiar words in the vocabulary of fear generated by Europe’s unresolved debate over immigration — the common strand linking such disparate phenomena as the expulsion of Roma from France or Britain’s resistance to the undocumented arrival of fugitives from Afghanistan or Iraq. But, in a new book, Mr. Sarrazin, who has since quit the bank under intense political pressure, also argued that all Jews share a common gene differentiating them from other people. Berlin, of course, is a city of monuments to a past that struck fear within and far beyond its frontiers. So dropping poems among those symbols the other day betokened a newer striving for a kind of normalcy — for fun, even. As the cards fell from the sky, children scrambled to catch them in midflight or retrieve them from the cobblestones while older citizens looked on with benign and sometimes inscrutable expressions. One poem by Timo Berger, called “What Comes From Above,” described the cards of verse sailing “into your hand, with a smile.” It was not ever thus.

Germany
Islam
Berlin (Germany)
World War II (1939-45)


Nigeria: Militants Attack Town

Abstract: Gunmen opened fire in a town in northeast Nigeria, killing at least 15 people, witnesses and a security source said. The attack by men believed to be Islamist militants targeted Kautikari, near the Cameroon border, on Monday night. It is just six miles from the village of Chibok, where more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted in April. Most remain captives. Boko Haram militants, who are fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, have killed 10,340 people this year, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Nigeria
Islam
Boko Haram
Africa
Murders and Homicides