Official Vents Outrage at Shelling of U.N. Schools in Gaza

Abstract: UNITED NATIONS — A senior United Nations official on Thursday forcefully rebuffed suggestions that the organization’s lax security had allowed militants to use its facilities in Gaza as a weapons cache and expressed outrage that three of its schools had been hit by shelling in as many days this week, even though the Israeli military knew their precise locations. John Ging, the director of operations for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in an interview here that his organization had protested vigorously to both sides. He added that the United Nations had given the Israeli military precise GPS locations of all 83 schools that were being used as shelters for 141,000 people who had fled their homes. On Tuesday, one school was hit, wounding one person. On Wednesday, another was hit, wounding five. On Thursday, 16 were killed, the majority women and children, at the school in Beit Hanoun. “There is no justification for the loss of so many innocent civilian lives,” Mr. Ging said. He wondered aloud how Israel’s “sophisticated weaponry” could allow known United Nations locations to come under shelling, though he said the agency did not yet fully know who fired the shells and from where. “They often claim in their public relations that they pride themselves on pinpoint accuracy,” he said. “That’s why when people seek refuge in schools they do expect they would be safe there. But that, as we now know, has tragically not been the case on three different occasions this week. We need accountability around that.” The Toll in Gaza and Israel, Day by Day The daily tally of rocket attacks, airstrikes and deaths in the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Israeli officials have denied intentionally making the Beit Hanoun school a target and said they had warned the United Nations that the school should be evacuated because it was in a combat zone. Asked about the rockets found on two United Nations premises, which critics say point to lax security — even bias against Israel — Mr. Ging said that his colleagues in Gaza had found the weapons themselves in locations they had to abandon because of fighting, and that when they found them, had spoken out strongly about it. “When a school is under U.N. control they are most definitely not being used to store weapons, nor does the U.N. allow any armed person to enter the premises,” he said. In the past, he noted, United Nations facilities had been occupied by Israeli soldiers and militants alike. This week, rockets were found in two separate schools. In the second school where rockets were found, United Nations staff had returned earlier Thursday to see whether it was safe for civilians to come back — only to find that the rockets were missing. In a statement, Samantha Power, the American ambassador to the United Nations, said: “We condemn the use of these facilities to house rockets and launch attacks on civilians in Israel, and we emphasize that civilians seeking shelter in those facilities must be respected and protected.” Mr. Ging directed the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza from 2006 to 2011, including during the conflict that began in 2008. Unlike then, he said, there are no humanitarian pauses in the fighting now: “There is no moment to draw breath, especially for kids.”

Military
Beit Hanoun
Israel
Hamas
United Nations Relief and Works Agency
Gaza Strip
Civilian casualties
Palestinians


California: Kidnapping Suspect Is Ruled Competent

Abstract: A judge ruled Thursday that a man accused of kidnapping and holding Jaycee Dugard captive for 18 years is competent to stand trial. Lawyers for Phillip Garrido had argued that he was not competent to stand trial along with his wife on 18 counts each of kidnapping, rape and false imprisonment . A jury had been set to hear arguments on the competency issue, but both sides agreed to let the judge decide the matter. Judge Douglas Phimister of El Dorado County Superior Court quickly issued his ruling, based on numerous psychiatric reports. Mr. Garrido, a convicted rapist, and his wife, Nancy, are accused of abducting Ms. Dugard from a South Lake Tahoe bus stop in 1991 when she was 11.

Kidnapping
Dugard Jaycee Lee
Garrido Phillip
Sex Crimes
Decisions and Verdicts
South Lake Tahoe (Calif)


Cobbled Effort Seeks to Fill Food Safety Vacuum

Abstract: HURON, Calif. — Clipboard in hand, Debra Anderson spent three hours one recent sunny morning trooping through a field of romaine lettuce looking for trouble. She searched for animal tracks at the Church Brothers field, watched picking crews wash their hands and sampled rinse water to make sure it had enough chlorine to kill germs. Though she is a California state employee, Ms. Anderson was working on behalf of the food industry, part of the latest experiment in improving safety. With huge losses from food-poisoning recalls and little oversight from the federal Food and Drug Administration , some sectors of the food industry are cobbling together their own form of regulation in an attempt to reassure consumers. They are paying other government agencies to do what the F.D.A. rarely does: muck through fields and pore over records to make sure food is handled properly. These do-it-yourself programs may provide an enhanced safety level in segments of the industry that have embraced them. But with industry itself footing the bill, some safety advocates worry that the approach could introduce new problems and new conflicts of interest. And they contend that the programs lack the rigor of a well-run federal inspection system. “It’s an understandable response when the federal government has left a vacuum,” said Michael R. Taylor, a former officer in two federal food-safety agencies and now a professor at George Washington University. But, he added, “it’s not a substitute” for serious federal regulation. Nonetheless, the approach is spreading. After two salmonella outbreaks earlier this decade, the almond industry developed a pasteurization program that is overseen by the federal Department of Agriculture. The Florida tomato industry, implicated in several salmonella outbreaks, persuaded the state to take on the task of regulating food safety on farms and at packing houses. In California, the “leafy greens” industry, which grows spinach and lettuce, was desperate after a 2006 outbreak of a harmful strain of Escherichia coli, the intestinal germ. As Americans stopped eating spinach for weeks, the industry suffered $100 million in losses. It now pays the state money so that auditors like Ms. Anderson can inspect farm fields for safety. The arrangement is called the Leafy Green Products Handler Marketing Agreement. Arizona created a similar leafy greens agreement, and plans are afoot to expand it nationwide. Other food industries have expressed interest in the leafy greens model. “They realize they can’t sit back and wait” for an outbreak to occur, said Thomas A. Nassif, president and chief executive of the Western Growers Association, who recently outlined the leafy greens program to representatives of the peanut industry, subject of another recent recall. “It will be expanded.” The leafy greens agreement and others like it are an outgrowth of the nation’s hodge-podge food safety system, which roughly splits oversight between the Department of Agriculture — responsible for meat, poultry and some egg products — and the FDA, which is supposed to monitor the remaining 80 percent of the food supply. But where the Agriculture Department employs a field force of 7,800 to inspect all the cows, pigs and chickens that are carved into packaged meats, the F.D.A.’s 1,307 inspectors rarely lay eyes on the vast majority of the products they are entrusted with keeping safe. For many years, the food industry lobbied against initiatives that would have strengthened the F.D.A.’s oversight. But industry attitudes are changing as food-borne pathogens turn up repeatedly in foodstuffs once regarded as safe, like peanuts and pistachio nuts, costing those industries millions in lost sales. With public confidence in the food supply on the line and little appetite for new regulations during the Bush administration, industries went looking for other government agencies that might provide a semblance of oversight. California’s leafy greens industry turned to 1930s-era laws, passed at the national level and by some states, that allow produce sectors to work together to solve marketing problems. Called marketing agreements or marketing orders, they allow industry to create regulations that are then enforced by government auditors. Historically, such programs were used to set minimum quality, size and grade requirements for fruits and vegetables and to standardize packaging. But now, they are being adopted to impose safety requirements. While lauding the recent impulse to act, several food-safety experts said they were troubled leaving safety to industry discretion. “Industry self-regulation didn’t protect our money, and industry self-regulation won’t protect our food,” said Carol L. Tucker-Foreman, a safety advocate with the Consumer Federation of America, in an e-mail message. “We want every inspector to be paid by and owe their loyalty to the people who eat, not to the owner of an unsanitary produce packing operation. You can’t work for both.” But defenders of the programs said they were the best option available in lieu of tougher federal regulation, especially given chronic shortfalls in government budgets. Besides, the new approach is working, said Scott Horsfall, chief executive of the leafy greens program. In the two years since it started, there has been no new outbreak tied to California leafy greens. Dr. David Acheson, the F.D.A.’s associate commissioner for foods, said he believed the marketing agreements were a positive step by industry to improve the safety of their products. But he said the new administration was taking a more proactive approach that he hoped would include new food safety standards and more inspectors. “I do see us in a new environment,” he said. “Clearly the direction we are headed, and we need to head, is the government setting the right standards and holding industry to it.” Under the agreement, the produce industry pays the California Department of Agriculture about $1 million a year to perform about 500 inspections, a fifth of them unannounced. Participation in marketing agreements is voluntary, but in California, more than 95 percent of the leafy greens industry signed up, in part because major processors like Dole and Fresh Express agreed to participate. Produce growers had little choice but to follow. While critics maintain that marketing agreements are not tough enough, Ms. Anderson’s audit the other day of the Church Brothers’ lettuce fields appeared to be painstaking. (It was announced in advance, and she had a newspaper reporter and photographer in tow.) Sporting a deep tan and a hairnet, Ms. Anderson, 55, inspected the perimeter of the romaine lettuce field for tracks, because animals can spread germs on produce. She inspected the workers’ toilets. When a field test suggested the water used to rinse lettuce might not be killing germs, she briefly halted the operation. (It turned out a worker had used the wrong test strip.) After completing her field inspection, Ms. Anderson combed Church Brothers’ records. The problems she discovered were minor. Nonetheless, Mr. Horsfall said the company was expected to fix them, and auditors would check again. If violations are serious, a grower can be tossed from the program. So far, six participants have been thrown out, mostly because they repeatedly failed to solve minor problems. “We want them to be successful,” said Steve Thomas, Ms. Anderson’s supervisor. “But the facts are the facts.”

Food
California
Food and Drug Administration
Agriculture
Food Contamination and Poisoning
Regulation and Deregulation of Industry


Where Parties Look for an Audience

Abstract: WASHINGTON — “Dancing With the Stars,” where Bristol Palin hopes to fox trot and quick step her way to a disco ball trophy, has the most political ad purchases on prime-time television among both Democratic and Republican media buyers. But the bipartisan consensus on America’s TV habits apparently ends there. Republican ad buyers favor sports programming (“Saturday Night College Football”) and crime dramas (“NCIS”), while their Democratic counterparts are more likely to place ads on comedies (“Two and a Half Men”) and talk programming (“The Dr. Oz Show.”) “Republicans are more likely to buy certain types of crime dramas that skew Republican,” said Will Feltus, the senior vice president of National Media Inc., a Republican political media buying organization. “Republicans tend to like shows where there are good guys and bad guys, and where the good guy prevails. On ‘NCIS,’ the good guys just so happen to work for the Navy.” Political spending on television advertising is set to hit $3 billion for this year’s Congressional elections, breaking all previous highs, and political ad buyers from both parties have expanded their ad placement to focus on voters watching prime time. An analysis by The New York Times of the ad buys for Senate and governors’ campaigns over a one-month period between mid-September and mid-October — using data provided by the Campaign Media Analysis Group, a political ad tracking firm, and with help from National Media Inc. — found that while Democrats and Republicans advertise roughly equally on the top-rated prime-time shows, some differences do emerge. Republicans bought nearly three times as many ads as Democrats on “Saturday Night College Football,” more than twice as many on “Sunday Night NFL Football” and Nascar racing, and almost twice as many during Major League Baseball games. According to demographic data from the Nielsen Company, the sports shows most favored by Republican buyers — “Saturday Night College Football,” “NBC Sunday Night Football,” “NFL Sunday Kickoff,” Nascar racing and Major League Baseball — have an audience that is nearly two-thirds or higher male. “College sports is probably the cleanest buy for Republicans, or the buy where they’re getting the biggest advantage,” said Ken Goldstein, the research director for the Midwest Media Research Foundation. “Republicans think their base is more likely to be watching sports, and if they’re looking for younger males, or younger white males, it’s college football.” Republicans also out-advertised Democrats on crime shows, placing roughly one-third more ads on shows like “Detroit 1-8-7,” “Medium,” “Cops,” “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” “48 Hours Mystery” and “NCIS.” Democrats tended to focus on talk shows, placing roughly two-and-a-half times as many ads as Republicans on “The Dr. Oz Show” and “Rachael Ray,” and almost twice as many on “Dr. Phil.” They also advertised at a higher rate on what Mr. Feltus called “situational comedies” and “contemporary humor” — slightly edgier comedies like “Outsourced,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Cougar Town” and “30 Rock.” “Republicans are trying to get men, who are more likely to be Republican than Democratic, especially the 35- to 64-year-old, middle-age man, who doesn’t watch as much television as women do,” Mr. Feltus said. “So Republicans are trying to reach Republican men and Republican-leaning men with sports. Democrats are advertising more to women.” Evan Tracey, the president of the Campaign Media Analysis Group, said that talk programs were “the opposite of sports.” “Women and especially single women are a very reliable voting bloc for Democrats,” he said. “That’s why you see a lot of Democrats being aimed at in those programs. That’s an important turnout audience for them.” Both Democrats and Republicans seem to love “Dancing with the Stars,” running a combined 1,773 spots at roughly an equal rate. Despite Bristol Palin’s star turn, the show’s audience is bipartisan, two-thirds female and one of the older audiences in prime time — 69 percent are 45 and older, compared with 51 percent of all adults. Older adults are more likely to be voters, and women generally make up their minds later in a campaign cycle, Mr. Feltus said, which might account for some of the show’s popularity with political ad buyers. The top 25 shows for Republicans and Democrats overlap considerably, as they both tended to buy time on highly rated programs, according to the Nielsen data. The list shows a distinct preference for crime and law-related dramas, with 13 of the top 25 in that category. Only one sitcom, Fox’s “Glee,” made the cut. While spending on prime time has increased — on average, 10 percent to 20 percent of political spending will go to that time slot this year — media buyers like to buy time on news shows. “News is the oceanfront of real estate politics,” Mr. Tracey said. “If you can afford it, you buy it.”

Television
Advertising and Marketing
United States Politics and Government
Political Advertising
Nielsen Media Research
Republican Party
Democratic Party


N.H.L. Chooses All-Star Coaches

Abstract: The N.H.L. picked Peter Laviolette of the Nashville Predators and Darryl Sutter of the Los Angeles Kings as the head coaches for the All-Star Game in Columbus on Jan. 25. Laviolette was chosen because the Predators have the N.H.L.’s highest points percentage at .725. Sutter guided the Kings to the Stanley Cup champions last season.

Peter Laviolette
Darryl Sutter
Ice hockey


Ex-Lobbyist’s Messages Draw Scrutiny From City

Abstract: The city is investigating whether its former chief lobbyist in Albany violated lobbying rules when he exchanged e-mail messages with senior City Hall advisers shortly after leaving the city payroll in November, the authorities said yesterday. City employees are prohibited from lobbying the city within a year after they leave its employ. The law is intended to limit the ability of former officials to exploit their contacts and experience in city government on behalf of paying clients. The lobbyist, Anthony P. Piscitelli, through e-mail messages, contacted Kevin Sheekey, the deputy mayor for government affairs; Jeffrey Kay, the mayor’s director of operations; and a senior aide to Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development, in a series of exchanges that began less than a week after leaving City Hall, The Daily News reported yesterday. The newspaper reported that it obtained at least 127 e-mail messages under the Freedom of Information Act. Stu Loeser, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said that the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board and Department of Investigation had been notified of the matter. Steven Greenberg, a spokesman for Mr. Piscitelli, said yesterday, “We don’t believe in any way, shape or form that any violation of the letter or the spirit of the law has taken place.” Mr. Piscitelli, a lawyer, was named the city’s top Albany lobbyist in 1998 by Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani and retained the position until July 2006. He then served briefly as an aide to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and resigned on Nov. 30 to join Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, a law firm engaged in extensive lobbying. Mr. Piscitelli’s e-mail messages to City Hall began less than a week after he resigned from his city job. In some of them Mr. Piscitelli made requests on behalf of his law firm’s clients, including a bankers association, a technical college and an investment group hoping to gain control of the Aqueduct, Belmont and Saratoga thoroughbred racetracks. In one instance, Mr. Piscitelli contacted Mr. Sheekey shortly before Mr. Bloomberg was to speak before a State Assembly committee on a proposal to close state tax loopholes. The change “would be particularly harmful to the banking industry (in case he gets a question),” Mr. Piscitelli wrote. In an e-mail message to Mr. Kay, Mr. Piscitelli sought a City Hall meeting with representatives of another of his firm’s clients, the Rochester Institute of Technology, as Mayor Bloomberg was preparing his announcement in December of a huge 25-year investment in environmental sustainability. Mr. Piscitelli forwarded the e-mail message, written by another member of his firm, which said the institute was planning a “sustainability institute.” “Jeff — Who should they meet with?” Mr. Piscitelli wrote at the time. Mr. Kay’s response said, “You could send them my way,” but Mr. Loeser said yesterday that neither Mr. Kay or anyone on his staff had met with anyone from the institute. Mr. Loeser said yesterday that “Mr. Piscitelli’s requests were fruitless, except for requests for the same public information anyone is entitled to.” He said the matter was being investigated by the city “not because our staff did anything wrong, but because of the possibility that Mr. Piscitelli did.” Mr. Loeser said no city officials who communicated with Mr. Piscitelli had gone too far, even in creating the appearance of a conflict of interest. “Members of our staff appear to have engaged in social banter and distribution of public information, both of which are entirely permitted,” he said. Gene Russianoff, senior lawyer for the New York Public Interest Research Group, which has advocated even more stringent restrictions on lobbying by former city employees, said the current law “is clear that you can’t communicate on behalf of a paying client for one year.” Mr. Piscitelli, who is known as Skip, gained a reputation as an affable, low-key and effective lobbyist for the city in Albany. He has deep roots in the field, having worked as a legislative lobbyist for the city from 1990 through 1994. His father, Peter A. Piscitelli, was the city’s chief lobbyist under Mayor Edward I. Koch in 1978 and 1979.

Piscitelli Anthony P
Lobbying and Lobbyists
Albany (NY)


A Sharper Michael Pineda, and Lively Bats, Lifts the Yankees Over the A’s

Abstract: OAKLAND, Calif. — When Athletics catcher Stephen Vogt hit a tailing liner down the left-field line that bounced toward the wall for a double on Sunday afternoon, Yankees starter Michael Pineda followed the drill and ran to back up catcher Brian McCann. As Jake Smolinski crossed the plate and Billy Burns followed him, giving Oakland the lead in the fifth inning, Pineda hopped up and down several times. While walking back to the mound, he shook his head and waved his hand in disgust. The frustration was understandable, given how well Pineda had pitched to that point. But unlike much of this season, one mistake — or even two — did not leave Pineda with a day’s regret. The Yankees rallied to regain the lead on sixth-inning singles by Mark Teixeira and Starlin Castro, then hung on for a 5-4 victory over the Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. The win, which completed a four-game sweep of Oakland, was the Yankees’ season-high fifth in a row and the 12th in their last 17 games, allowing them a chance to enjoy their day off on Monday — the only break in a stretch of 40 games. The turnaround comes at a good time: The Yankees play 12 of their next 13 games against division teams. “It’s a lot better,” Manager Joe Girardi said of the team’s mood after the Yankees began the season losing 16 of 24 games. “There was a lot of frustration in our clubhouse, whether it was from pitchers or whether it was from position players who were struggling with the bat. Everyone seems to be doing their part now.” The Yankees’ about-face mirrors a more recent one by their starting pitchers. It was only on Tuesday, after losses in back-to-back games in Arizona to begin this trip, that the rotation looked tattered: C. C. Sabathia and Luis Severino were on the disabled list, Masahiro Tanaka was in a funk, and Pineda was a mess. Pineda’s habit of hanging sliders — slightly spinning cookies that sat invitingly in the middle of the plate when he had two strikes on hitters — had confounded the pitching coach, Larry Rothschild. In Arizona last week, Rothschild’s even temperament gave way to exasperation after Pineda struck out nine but also gave up five runs and made two fielding blunders in five innings. “It would be easy to sit here and say it’s going to turn and things will change, but it’s too long,” Rothschild said on Tuesday. “We’re almost a quarter of the way through his starts, so we need that straightened out.” Rothschild was modestly encouraged on Sunday after Pineda allowed six hits, struck out six and walked one in six innings. Pineda had stayed more upright and kept his shoulder and elbow elevated, resolving problems that had led to his inconsistency. “He made some strides today — he just needs to keep making more strides,” Rothschild said, citing Pineda’s consistency with his fastball and slider, the latter of which still needs to be better. Pineda, who improved to 2-5 and lowered his E.R.A. to 6.34, had himself to blame in the first inning, when Burns singled, stole second and then third when Pineda — as he had with Arizona’s Paul Goldschmidt last week — never looked back at Burns as he took a huge, walking lead off second. Burns scored on a groundout by Vogt. The Yankees regained the lead, 2-1, on homers by McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury, and Pineda had the misfortune of losing it in the fifth. Smolinski reached down to pull a slider into left for a one-out single, and with two out, Burns bounced a chopper over the head of third baseman Chase Headley, who had been drawn in. Vogt followed by slicing a 95-mile-per-hour fastball that was on the outside edge, scoring both runners. Pineda’s performance was heartening, although it was the worst performance by a starter during the win streak. Nathan Eovaldi, Ivan Nova, Sabathia and Tanaka each pitched at least six innings and gave up a lone run. Rothschild was baffled by how a rotation that does so well in critical statistical categories — fewest walks in the American League, fourth in strikeouts per nine innings and first in groundball-to-fly ball ratio — had a 4.71 E.R.A., 11th best in the league, entering Sunday. “Some numbers are just hard to comprehend,” he said. “None of it makes any sense to me.” Equally baffling has been the slide of Teixeira, who has not homered in 120 at-bats, the worst stretch of his career. Teixeira had a small and significant victory on Sunday: He reached on a grounder when second baseman Chris Coghlan — playing in short right field — could not throw him out. It ended an 0-for-19 slump and brought Brett Gardner sliding headfirst into home with the tying run. “You just make sure you’re running hard, because you don’t know what’s happening behind you,” said Gardner, who began the play at second and kept running when he heard the third-base coach, Joe Espada, shouting, “Go hard, go hard, go hard.” Castro followed with a single that scored Carlos Beltran, who added a run-scoring double in the seventh. That run proved important when shortstop Didi Gregorius and Castro booted consecutive grounders in the eighth that allowed the A’s to close to 5-4. When the Yankees return to Yankee Stadium, they expect that Alex Rodriguez, out since May 4 with a strained hamstring, will be in the lineup, although Girardi would not say if Rodriguez would be slotted into his usual No. 3 spot. “Can you worry about today?” Girardi said. “We don’t even know if we’ll be here on Tuesday.” That may be true, but with the way the Yankees have begun to play, and with their starting pitchers rounding into form, it no longer seems as if their world is coming to an end.

Michael Pineda
Yankees
Baseball
Oakland Athletics


With ‘Annapolis,’ a Warning to Israel

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Watchers of Middle East politics were quick to take note of a line in President Obama ’s address before the Turkish Parliament on Monday in Ankara , in which he mentioned “Annapolis.” By bringing up the word, Mr. Obama was sending a warning to the government of new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that reneging on the goals outlined during the Annapolis Middle East peace conference in 2007 would put Mr. Netanyahu on the wrong foot with the Obama administration. The issue sprouted last week when Israel ’s hawkish new foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman , said that agreements reached at the American-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Md., have “no validity.” Mr. Lieberman said that the Israeli government “never ratified Annapolis, nor did Parliament.” The aim of the Annapolis process, as it became known, was to agree on the framework for a Palestinian state alongside Israel by the end of 2008, a goal which was never reached. Mr. Obama had not referred to the Annapolis conference in any of his major public remarks on Mideast peace since he took office. But there he was on Monday, directly rebutting Mr. Lieberman’s comments in his most high-profile address about America’s relationship with the Muslim world, before Turkish legislators. He would push for a two-state solution, Mr. Obama said, despite the view of many foreign policy experts that such a goal will be even more difficult to reach because of the makeup of the new Israeli government under Mr. Netanyahu, not to mention the fractured state of internal Palestinian politics. “Let me be clear: the United States strongly supports the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” Mr. Obama said. “That is a goal that the parties agreed to in the road map and at Annapolis. That is a goal that I will actively pursue as president.” The road map refers to a 2003 outline of steps toward a peace agreement. Asked why Mr. Obama suddenly decided to start tossing the word “Annapolis” around, Denis McDonough , the deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, did not elaborate much, apparently deciding to let his boss’s statement speak for itself. “I think the president is speaking directly about his views and his hopes for relations among Israelis and Palestinians, as well as his hopes for a broader Arab-Israeli peace,” Mr. McDonough said. But privately, several administration officials and Middle East experts said that Mr. Obama is girding for a protracted showdown with the new Israeli government over the pursuit of Palestinian statehood. Taken by themselves, Mr. Lieberman’s comments are not that significant, many foreign policy experts said, because most Israeli foreign ministers are not that relevant to the peace process; that portfolio is usually held by the prime minister. Tzipi Livni , the former foreign minister, broke that mold somewhat, when she demanded the portfolio and got it, but even she was eventually usurped there by Ehud Olmert , a former prime minister. The bigger issue for the Obama administration is whether Mr. Lieberman is channeling Mr. Netanyahu, the man who is likely to control the peace process file. Mr. Netanyahu is viewed as a hawk, but one who is capable of being dragged to the peace table, as President Clinton did when he pushed and prodded him to continue peace negotiations at the Wye River Plantations after former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated. By forcefully rebutting Mr. Lieberman’s repudiation of Annapolis, and in such a public fashion, Mr. Obama is issuing a warning to Mr. Netanyahu that the United States will push for a two-state solution, and will expect him to publicly articulate his own support for such an initiative, many experts said. “At a minimum, Bibi will need to disown these statements and come out explicitly in support of the two-state solution before his meeting with President Obama,” said Ghaith Al-Omari, a former Palestinian negotiator who now works with the American Task Force on Palestine. “If not,” Mr. Al-Omari said, “the issue will become the focus of the meeting.” Fresh from his first overseas trip as president—a weeklong trip in which he drew stellar reviews—Mr. Obama may soon be jetting off again. He has a series of trips, both announced and unannounced planned, and will also be hosting several overseas visitors to the White House. Somewhere in all of that will be a first meeting between Mr. Obama and Mr. Netanyahu; it’s bound to be pretty interesting.

Israel
Benjamin Netanyahu
Avigdor Lieberman
Barack Obama
US Foreign Policy


Food Workers in Hunts Point Criticize a Commission’s Scrutiny

Abstract: The day after Jonathan Sanchez was released from prison in 2010 after serving three years for a burglary, he walked into Down East Seafood in Hunts Point in the South Bronx and asked for a job, and a second chance. He got both. But now Mr. Sanchez must document the past he has tried to leave behind, in an 11-page application for a photo identification card issued by a city agency that is responsible for ferreting out organized crime. He is one of hundreds of food workers who have come under scrutiny in recent years by the agency, the New York City Business Integrity Commission , not because of any known ties to mob bosses but simply because they work for a company in Hunts Point. The commission, which regulates the wholesale meat, seafood and produce markets operating on city-owned land in Hunts Point, has increasingly looked outside those markets to companies on private property nearby. Since 2009, the agency has registered 54 companies in the area adjoining the markets and has collected applications for background checks and identification cards from their employees. The applications ask for detailed personal information, like the names and addresses of former spouses, every residence over the past decade and any criminal offenses or testimony given in criminal and civil investigations. If workers refuse to complete the applications or do not carry their identification cards, their employers can face heavy fines. “This was my brand new start,” said Mr. Sanchez, 26, who makes $40,000 a year packing lobster orders. Mr. Sanchez said he worried that his past crime will follow him from job to job and brand him as an ex-con. “I feel violated because I don’t think those things have to be asked,” he said. “I feel that it could stigmatize me.” The applications have also raised concerns among recent immigrants who fear their information could be shared with other government agencies, and have drawn protests from many companies that see the requirements as an unnecessary burden. More than three dozen local companies voiced complaints about the commission last week at a meeting organized by the Greater Hunts Point Chamber of Commerce, which represents about 700 local businesses. “When people hear this, they don’t want to move here,” said Josephine Infante, president of the chamber, who said the commission continued to perpetuate a negative image of Hunts Point. “They think there must be a criminal element here, when in fact the environment has truly changed.” The commission, created in 2001 to consolidate earlier efforts to combat organized crime in the wholesale food markets, commercial garbage hauling and shipboard gambling, has long collected personal information about those working in the markets. The applications and other requirements have been a sore point for the Hunts Point wholesale produce market, which recently cited the commission’s regulatory efforts as a reason that it was unable to come to terms with the city on a new long-term lease. Commission officials said they started focusing on workers outside the public markets in 2009, after a state court decision mandating equal treatment of companies inside and outside the market walls. They added that they stepped up their efforts this year after receiving an anonymous complaint that many companies had not complied with the registration and identification cards. Image “They’re picking on my employees,” Edward Taylor, the president of Down East Seafood, said, referring to the commission. Credit Uli Seit for The New York Times Shari C. Hyman, the commissioner of the Business Integrity Commission, said her agency sought to ensure a safe, fair and competitive business climate for all food companies in Hunts Point. Since 2011, the agency has closed three companies outside the markets with ties to the Genovese crime family, and a fourth company whose owner was found to have embezzled from a former employer. “Requiring the application is a balancing act,” she said, “one that requires us to look at the information collected in the most narrowly focused way so that corruptive influences are kept at bay, business needs are met and a clear path to employment for those who need it most is provided.” The commission charges each company $4,000 to register, which is good for three years, and an additional $100 per employee for the identification cards. Commission officials said the fees covered the cost of reviewing the applications and performing background investigations of the companies and their staffs. At Il Forno, a bakery that paid $7,000 for its registration and identification cards, many of the workers said they were intimidated by all the questions about their backgrounds. “It’s not right,” Ramon Eduardo, the owner, said. “They’re acting like immigration, but I think immigration would ask you less questions.” Foster Maer, senior litigation counsel for LatinoJustice PRLDEF, which was formerly known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, said the commission had overstepped its authority. “They aren’t authorized to ask these incredibly invasive questions,” said Mr. Maer, who has written a letter on behalf of more than four dozen workers, calling on the commission to review and revise the applications. Ms. Hyman said her agency did not ask about immigration status or share the information collected about workers, though it could be provided to law enforcement officials in limited and specific cases. She added that the agency did not automatically deny applications from those who had committed crimes, citing recent approvals for a company in which 15 percent of the workers had criminal records. Commission officials also said no company outside the markets had yet been fined for workers who did not submit applications or wear identification cards. Even so, many workers said the detailed questions made them uncomfortable and put them in an embarrassing or awkward position. Allen Luke, 60, a sales manager at Down East Seafood who has been divorced since 1992, said his ex-wife would not want him to include her name and address in his application, as requested, because “her business is her business, and my business is mine.” “I could understand if it was homeland security. But this is just a fish business. That’s all we do,” Mr. Luke said. Edward Taylor, the president of Down East Seafood, said more than half of his 60 employees had told him they did not want to complete the application. A couple of them have even said they would instead quit. Mr. Taylor, who had to answer similar questions himself to register the company, said he would not have moved to Hunts Point from Manhattan in 2005 if he had known about the commission. The company, which he started in 1990 with $500 borrowed from a friend, supplies more than 700 establishments, including Dean & DeLuca, the Harvard and Yale Clubs and the dining rooms at the United Nations. “They’re picking on my employees,” he said. “I didn’t open my own company to have someone else tell me how to run it.”

Food
Jobs
Organized crime
Business Integrity Commission NYC
Hunts Point Bronx
Privacy


Seattle Mariners Win in Arbitration as Teams Come Out on Top

Abstract: The Seattle Mariners defeated pitcher Tom Wilhelmsen in baseball’s final salary arbitration decision this year. Eligible for arbitration for the first time, Wilhelmsen was awarded the team’s $1.4 million offer rather than his $2.2 million request. A 31-year-old right-hander, Wilhelmsen was 3-2 with a 2.27 E.R.A. last season in 57 relief appearances and made $528,800. He saved 53 games in 63 chances during the previous two years but had command problems and lost the closer’s job. Teams won eight of 14 decisions this year, the largest number of cases since they also went 8-6 in 2001, and are 301-221 since arbitration began in 1974. In addition, the Baltimore Orioles defeated outfielder Alejandro de Aza, who will receive $5 million rather than his $5.65 million request. RED SOX EXTEND MANAGER Boston extended Manager John Farrell’s contract through the 2017 season, with a team option for 2018, Red Sox General Manager Ben Cherington said. Farrell, 52, took over in Boston after a last-place finish in 2012 and guided the team to the World Series title in 2013. Boston slid back to the bottom of the American League East last year at 71-91. The Red Sox made several big moves in the off-season, including the signing of the All-Star free agents Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez. NATIONALS PICK UP OPTION The Washington Nationals picked up the 2016 option on Manager Matt Williams’s contract. As a rookie manager last year, Williams guided the Nationals to a league-best 96 victories. Washington lost in a National League division series to the San Francisco Giants. Williams was chosen as the N.L. manager of the year last season. Williams, a former All-Star third baseman, became the fourth manager to win the award during his first season, and the first to do it since the current Yankees manager, Joe Girardi, did so with the Marlins in 2006. BOCHY’S RETURN The Giants said they expected Manager Bruce Bochy to return to the team Sunday, three days after undergoing a heart procedure. Bochy, 59, was released from a hospital late Friday. He had two stents inserted into arteries leading to his heart a day earlier. The Giants bench coach Ron Wotus supervised Saturday’s workout involving pitchers and catchers in Scottsdale, Ariz. He said Bochy should return to the World Series champions Sunday, barring any setbacks. The Giants’ medical staff began to monitor Bochy’s heart after he experienced discomfort following a physical exam last week. BLUE JAYS SIGN OUTFIELDER Toronto signed the free-agent outfielder Chris Dickerson to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training. Dickerson, 32, hit .224, with two home runs and six R.B.I., in 41 games for the Cleveland Indians last year. Dickerson is a career .257 hitter in 355 games during the past seven seasons while playing for the Indians, the Orioles, the Yankees, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds. DODGERS INK PITCHER Los Angeles signed the free-agent pitcher Brandon Beachy, hoping he can recover from his second Tommy John operation. The Dodgers said they had a one-year contract with Beachy, a right-hander, that includes a team option for 2016. Beachy, 28, went 14-11 with a 3.23 E.R.A. as a member of the Atlanta Braves from 2010-13. He missed last season after having elbow surgery in March. Beachy was leading the majors in E.R.A. through 13 starts in 2012 before needing his first Tommy John operation.

Mariners
Arbitration
Tom Wilhelmsen
Baseball
Orioles
Red Sox
American League
Free agent
National League
John E Farrell


Gary Locke, Commerce Secretary, to Be Ambassador to China

Abstract: WASHINGTON — President Obama plans to nominate Gary F. Locke, the commerce secretary and one of the highest-ranking Chinese-Americans in the administration, as the next American ambassador to China , administration officials said Monday. Mr. Locke, 61, would succeed Jon M. Huntsman Jr., who is stepping down next month to explore a bid for the Republican nomination for president. Mr. Locke, a former governor of Washington, was both the first Chinese-American commerce secretary and the first Chinese-American governor, serving for two terms, from 1997 to 2005. He was born in Seattle, the son of immigrants from Hong Kong, and traces his Chinese ancestry to southern Guangdong Province. Before going to Washington, Mr. Locke built a reputation as an expert on trade relations with China. While governor, he made several trade trips to China on behalf of Washington, which is often referred to as the nation’s most trade-dependent state, as the manufacturing base of Boeing, among other exporters. After leaving the governor’s office, Mr. Locke helped run the China practice at a law firm in Seattle, Davis Wright Tremaine . He also helped organize a visit to Washington State in 2006 by China’s president, Hu Jintao. He is one of two Chinese-Americans in the Cabinet, along with Steven Chu, the energy secretary. The news of Mr. Locke’s appointment was reported on Monday by ABC News. The White House did not return a call seeking comment. Mr. Locke’s appointment would need to be confirmed by the Senate. Like Mr. Locke, Mr. Huntsman was a governor of a western state, Utah. Mr. Huntsman learned to speak Mandarin Chinese from his time as a Mormon missionary in Taiwan. But Mr. Huntsman, a Republican, has emerged as a potential rival to Mr. Obama — a turn of events that has led to a few awkward moments. Mr. Obama was asked about Mr. Huntsman’s future in January at a White House news conference with Mr. Hu, while Mr. Huntsman sat in the front row. Mr. Obama said he was sure Mr. Huntsman would be successful “in whatever endeavors he chooses in the future.” Then, grinning, he added, “And I’m sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in any Republican primary.” Some critics have questioned whether Mr. Huntsman should remain in his post, even temporarily, with political rumors swirling around him. Last month, he was recognized at an antigovernment rally in Beijing, and asked by people in the crowd whether he wanted to undermine the Chinese government. He said he had been out with his family and was merely observing the gathering.

China
Chinese-Americans
Locke Gary
Appointments and Executive Changes
United States International Relations
Obama Barack


Giants Lose Safety Antrel Rolle to Bears

Abstract: The Giants’ search for help at safety began in earnest on Thursday after Antrel Rolle, a defensive mainstay for the last five seasons, left to sign a three-year contract worth $11.25 million with the Chicago Bears. He received $5 million in guaranteed money. Rolle’s departure not only creates a gaping hole at a critical position but also leaves a leadership void. He was a strong supporter of Coach Tom Coughlin, and Coughlin was drawn to Rolle by his intelligence, intensity and willingness to fight through injuries. Rolle, 32, was one of the veterans chosen by Coughlin to make certain he was communicating well with the players. If the coach had a message to be sent, it was often Rolle who delivered it. Yet there is no evidence that the Giants came close to retaining him. He had indicated a desire to stay but also a determination to shop his considerable skills in a push for what would most likely be the last big contract of his career. He never indicated a willingness to accept less money to remain with the Giants. Rolle visited Chicago on Tuesday and was a primary free-agent target for new general manager Ryan Pace and John Fox, in his first year as coach after leaving the Denver Broncos. Pace, in responding to questions about how he wants to build his roster, had said, “We want passionate football players.” Rolle is certainly that. Rolle spent the first five years of his career with the Arizona Cardinals. The Giants moved quickly to sign him after the Cardinals made the surprising decision to release him; he is regarded as one of their finest free-agent additions. He is a three-time Pro Bowl selection who twice gained that distinction with the Giants, in 2010 and 2013, when he made six interceptions. He played a key role throughout the postseason as the Giants made their run to Super Bowl XLVI and defeated the New England Patriots to close the 2011 season.

Giants
Antrel Rolle
Chicago Bears
Football


G.O.P. Lawmakers Want Iranian Group, M.E.K., Off U.S. Terror List

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Republican legislators pressed the Obama administration on Wednesday to remove an Iranian opposition group known as the M.E.K. from its list of terrorist organizations and to do more to resettle about 3,400 members of the group who are confined in a camp in Iraq. The lawmakers said Iraq’s close ties to Iran put the residents of the camp, Camp Ashraf, in danger, pointing to two incursions by Iraqi security forces that left dozens of people dead. And they demanded that the administration commit to guaranteeing the safety of the camp’s residents as Iraq prepares to close it by the end of the year. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, Republican of California, said that without such guarantees, the entire camp was at risk of being massacred by Iraqi forces, adding, “the blood in the sand will stain the Gucci shoes of those in the State Department.” Ambassador Daniel Fried, who was recently appointed to oversee United States efforts on this matter, said diplomats were working to persuade Iraq to keep the camp open long enough to allow the United Nations to resettle residents to other countries. Mr. Fried said the State Department was reviewing its terrorist designation against the M.E.K. He reminded lawmakers that during the 1970s, the M.E.K. had been involved in a campaign of attacks, including the assassination of six Americans and the bombings of American companies in Iran. He also called on the M.E.K.’s leaders in Iraq and around the world to do their part to resolve the conflict over the camp in a peaceful and orderly way. “A humane and secure relocation is possible,” Mr. Fried said, “but it will take intense and serious efforts by all parties.”

Iran
Terrorism
State Department
Camp Ashraf (Iraq)
Republican Party
Politics and Government
People's Mujahedeen of Iran


NATO Bombs Tripoli in Heaviest Strikes Yet

Abstract: TRIPOLI, Libya — In the heaviest attack yet on the capital since the start of the two-month-old NATO bombing campaign, alliance aircraft struck at least 15 targets in central Tripoli early Tuesday, with most of the airstrikes concentrated on an area around Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi ’s command compound. The strikes, within a 30-minute period around 1 a.m., caused thunderous explosions and fireballs that leapt high into the night sky, causing people in neighborhoods a mile or more away to cry out in alarm. Just as one strike ended, the sound of jet engines from low-flying aircraft in the stormy skies above the capital signaled the imminence of another. Huge plumes of black smoke rose and converged over the darkened cityscape. “We thought it was the day of judgment,” one enraged Libyan said. The intensity of the attacks, and their focus on the area of the Bab al-Aziziya command compound in central Tripoli, appeared to reflect a NATO decision to step up the tempo of the air war over the Libyan capital, perhaps with a view to breaking the stalemate that has threatened to settle over the three-month-old Libyan conflict. Libyan officials have accused NATO of repeatedly trying to assassinate Colonel Qaddafi with airstrikes on and near the compound, and Colonel Qaddafi himself has mocked the attacks, saying NATO cannot reach him as he “lives in the hearts of millions.” In a familiar pattern, the accounts of the latest attacks given by NATO and the Qaddafi government varied widely. A government spokesman, Moussa Ibrahim, said the strikes had hit a compound housing units of an auxiliary army force known as the Popular Guard. He said military commanders had largely cleared the compound in anticipation that it would be hit, and that casualties — which he gave as 3 dead and 150 wounded — were civilians from a nearby neighborhood. NATO’S account, issued from the alliance’s southern European headquarters in Naples, Italy, said the target was a government vehicle storage facility adjacent to the Qaddafi compound. It said the facility had been used by the Qaddafi forces since the revolt against the government began in February, “and has remained so ever since, resupplying the regime forces that have been conducting attacks against innocent civilians.” Reporters taken to the Tripoli Central Hospital were shown three dirt-strewn male bodies in civilian clothes with gaping shrapnel wounds to their heads, and half a dozen other men being treated for what appeared to be light wounds. Mr. Ibrahim said that the other wounded had been treated and released before reporters arrived, or had been treated at another hospital. It was one of the few instances in recent weeks when reporters who have been told of civilian casualties from a NATO attack have seen any casualties, a pattern that has led to persistent uncertainties about official accounts. Most NATO attacks are launched late at night, and many of the buildings struck appeared to have been empty. NATO has called the targets military, and often designates them as “command-and-control” centers; Qaddafi government spokesmen say the bombs and missiles have hit civilian structures. Despite more than 2,500 NATO airstrikes, and an increasing focus in the past two weeks on targets in Tripoli, there have been few signs of an imminent collapse of the Qaddafi government, and rebel forces in the east, despite recent gains around the city of Misurata, have shown no sign of a broader breakthrough to the west. In a sign that the Obama administration was seeking ways of providing fresh impetus to the rebel cause, the State Department’s highest-ranking Middle East official, Jeffrey Feltman, visited the rebel headquarters at Benghazi on Monday. His visit coincided with an announcement by France’s defense minister, Gérard Longuet, that Britain and France would introduce attack helicopters into the NATO force as soon as possible, a move that appeared intended to go at least some way toward meeting rebel appeals for stronger attacks on Qaddafi loyalist fighters. Low-flying helicopters, including Britain’s fleet of American-built Apaches and France’s Tigre gunships, would give allied air commanders more flexibility to strike at government targets than the fast combat jets used until now.

Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )


A Victory for the Visitors, but a Celebration for the Fans

Abstract: HAVANA — The ball soared off the bat of Tampa Bay’s James Loney in the top of the fourth inning and headed toward the stands in right field that were painted with the slogan “Sport, Conquest of the Revolution.” The crowd stood and watched as the drive sailed over the wall, and then came the cheering. Not as loud as it might have been if the home run had been hit by someone on the Cuban national team, but loud enough, with the many thousands of Cuban fans on hand clapping in unified respect with their American guests. Impressive as the moment was, the cheering was a more modest version of the reception that had greeted President Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba when they entered the stadium before the first pitch, waving to the crowd and shaking hands and then sitting down behind home plate to watch the first game in 17 years between a major league club and Cuba. The sight of the two of them seemed to leave many Cubans present filled with a mix of pride and amazement. “This is such a unique opportunity for me,” said Angel Daniel Cardenas Gomez, an 11-year-old fan with “Cuba” painted on each cheek. “I know my mom and aunt have waited a long time to see this.” Image President Obama stood beside President Raúl Castro of Cuba during a moment of silence for victims of the attacks in Brussels. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Baseball in Cuba, of course, is not what it once was. The teams are weaker, sapped by dozens of defections, and the Cuban fans who filled Estadio Latinoamericano on Tuesday seemed to have realistic expectations for what might occur. Many of them were probably not surprised that the Rays came away with a workmanlike 4-1 victory. But the fans, made up mostly of Cubans given tickets by their bosses at government jobs, yelled loudly for what they could: simple strikes by the Cuban pitcher, a fine defensive play in center field in the top of the first and, finally, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, a home run that put Cuba on the scoreboard. That drive, by Rudy Reyes, was followed by a pinch-hit double. The crowd was on its feet, but Tampa Bay got the final two outs. A thrilling comeback would not be part of the script, but then again, it didn’t really need to be. Baseball still matters here in a particularly Cuban way. It is a pastime in the strictest sense possible (Cubans may not have much money, but they are rich in time). It is an activity that provides a sense of control in a society where the government decides mostly everything. And it is something to talk about, which is exactly what Mr. Obama seemed to be doing during the first part of the game. Image Most fans on hand were Cubans who were given tickets. Credit Stephen Crowley/The New York Times Though a visitor, he seemed very much the host, jumping out of his seat early on to wave over Rachel Robinson, the widow of Jackie Robinson, and their daughter, Sharon, so they could meet Mr. Castro, and getting up to talk with Derek Jeter, the former Yankees star, and Joe Torre, who won four World Series titles managing Jeter and is now a top executive with Major League Baseball. Mr. Obama even playfully tapped Mr. Castro on the shoulder after the Rays scored the first run of the game on a fairly close play at the plate in the top of the second. Mr. Castro shook Mr. Obama’s hand in return. Mr. Obama did not stay for the whole game, leaving in the third inning to head to a state visit to Argentina. But while he was there, Mr. Obama was clearly the game’s main attraction, for those on hand and for those watching the game in the United States on ESPN, with which Mr. Obama did an extended interview during the game. It has been 88 years since an American president visited Cuba, and when Calvin Coolidge paid a visit, baseball wasn’t on his itinerary. But for Mr. Obama it was, and the crowd in the stadium was the largest of his three-day visit. Image The Rays’ Dayron Varona, who defected from Cuba in 2013, was the first batter. Credit Joe Raedle/Getty Images South America The pregame festivities included Rays players throwing baseballs into the stands to the accompaniment of American pop songs from the 1980s. Like so many things here, the experience quickly became communal. Orlando Rodriguez, 46, one of the few to catch a ball in the seats behind third base, immediately shared his prize with anyone who wanted to snap a photo with it. Later, the Tampa Bay pitching star Chris Archer, who seemed more energized by the occasion than any other player on either team, reached through the netting behind home plate to give Mr. Obama a baseball glove as a gift. Meanwhile, four new billboards in the outfield showed famous Cuban players from the past while promoting Cuban values. Libres. Firmes. Dignos. Unidos. (Free. Firm. Dignified. United.) The game itself got off to an interesting start. The first batter, Tampa Bay outfielder Dayron Varona — who defected from Cuba in 2013 — popped out. The next hitter, shortstop Brad Miller, lined a ball to center, but Cuba’s Roel Santos made a sliding catch to rob him of a hit. “Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!” chanted the crowd. There was no beer on hand — a policy put in place a while back — but it hardly mattered. Cubans shouted happily, started the wave a few times (Mr. Obama joined in early on) and rooted for a comeback that never materialized. In the bottom of the sixth, trailing, 3-0, Cuba put a runner on and the crowd stood, hopeful. But the rally fizzled and the inning ended quietly. Salsa music came from the speakers; everyone sat back down. Many Cubans said they were thrilled to see the stadium looking and sounding so good. With fresh coats of bright blue paint and new flags waving in the breeze, the place — which has a listed capacity of 55,000 — seemed to glow compared with the run-down El Cerro neighborhood just beyond the stadium’s gates. Baseball, one of the few American imports beloved by Fidel Castro, seemed once again to bring some joy to the struggle of Cuban life. “We’re content,” said Kenia Triguero, 34, wearing bright red as a sign of her loyalty to the Cuban team. “I’ll never catch a foul ball from where I’m sitting, but I’m happy.” Just by playing, she added, “both teams win.” She paused and seemed flush with emotion. “What a great gift,” she said. “I hope it happens again.”

Cuba
Baseball
Barack Obama
Raul Castro
US Foreign Policy
Tampa Bay Rays


Anderson: Buddy Ryan Established the Move, and His Sons Run With It

Abstract: As young coaches, Rex Ryan and Rob Ryan were known as Buddy Ryan’s twins but now, with Rex the Jets ’ coach and Rob the Dallas Cowboys ’ defensive coordinator, Buddy is better known as their father. With a thud heard round the world of pro football, each of these swaggering apples fell not far from the tree. Loud and clear, Rex keeps saying the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl . Also loud and clear, Rob , who earned two Super Bowl rings as a Patriots assistant, keeps saying that he has been an assistant of the year in professional football and in college football, “so apparently I’m pretty good.” He adds, “No one else believes it, but they will after this game,” the Cowboys-Jets season opener Sunday night. To complete a rare football family reunion, Buddy will be there. At 80, the ol’ Army sergeant in the Korean War seldom leaves his Kentucky horse farm. He’s scheduled for cancer surgery Friday on a salivary gland, but his doctors told him he could travel. Not that they could have stopped him. Whenever Buddy got a head coaching job, he would modestly introduce himself to that team’s fans with “You’ve got a winner in town.” And when he joined the Jets in 1968 after three impressive college stops, he was an instant winner. As their defensive line tutor, he measured Gerry Philbin, Verlon Biggs, John Elliott and Paul Rochester for Super Bowl III rings. He moved to the Vikings as a line coach, then to the Bears, with whom he established his 46 defense. After their Super Bowl XX rout of New England, he was the first coordinator carried off on players’ shoulders. The offense carried off Coach Mike Ditka. When the Eagles hired Buddy as their coach in 1986, he won. Over five seasons, he had a 43-35-1 record built on a pass rush featuring Reggie White and Jerome Brown, but after a third first-round playoff loss, he was suddenly fired. At liberty in 1991, he was a Sunday morning TNT pro football voice out of an Atlanta studio. On a Sunday afternoon that season, after covering an Evander Holyfield fight, I was walking through the Atlanta airport when a familiar voice boomed. There was Buddy, perched high in a bootblack’s chair, getting his black cowboy boots shined before catching a flight home.  After a few friendly words, Buddy said, with a smile, “You know, you got me fired in Philly with that column you wrote.” I knew what he was talking about. The morning of the Eagles’ third first-round playoff loss, I had written how George Allen, for all his winning seasons as a N.F.L. coach, so annoyed the Rams’ owner, Dan Reeves, that he moaned, “I had more fun losing.” Norman Braman, the Eagles’ owner, evidently read that column. When he fired Ryan a day or two later, he mentioned how he felt the way Reeves had. “But it’s O.K.,” Buddy said. “When I was with the Bears, you wrote a column about me that got me the Eagles job. I guess we’re even.” I guess we were. But I knew that what I had written didn’t get Buddy Ryan fired any more than what I had written got him hired. He was capable of getting himself fired just as he was of getting himself hired. As the Houston Oilers’ 62-year-old defensive coordinator two years later, he even was capable of throwing a punch on the sideline at 42-year-old Kevin Gilbride, the team’s offensive coordinator, who is now in his eighth season as the Giants’ play-caller. The Houston quarterback had fumbled deep in Oilers territory, but when they won, 24-0, Buddy excused his punch with, “I got that shutout.” Despite that punch, or maybe because of it, the Arizona Cardinals named him their coach in 1994, and when he arrived, he said, “You’ve got a winner in town.” Not quite. With his twins on his staff, he was 8-8 the first year, then 4-12 and fired again. Not to return. The twins have been on their own ever since, but neither uses the 46 defense the way Buddy did with the Bears and the Eagles.  “Buddy had guys coming off each edge,” recalled Mike Pope, the Giants’ tight end coach then and now. “His defense was pie-shaped to your deepest back. Most people gave up running the ball against him. You had to figure out ways to chip away.” Rex said: “We’re both quite a bit different now. I think Rob’s got his own trademark, just like we do here.” Somewhere at newly baptized MetLife Stadium, their father will be watching. He has often said that the Jets are “my team” because Jets Coach Weeb Ewbank gave him his chance in pro football more than four decades ago. Even though one twin will lose, one will win. More than ever, Buddy Ryan will be a winner in town.

Dallas Cowboys
Football
Coaches and Managers
Ryan Rob (1962- )
Ryan Rex
New York Jets


Three International Veterans Keep Islanders Loose and on Task

Abstract: UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Islanders have a reason to be grateful for the four-month N.H.L. lockout: the bond between their captain, Mark Streit, and their budding star John Tavares. Streit persuaded Tavares to join him on S.C. Bern , his hometown team in Switzerland, during the lockout. Tavares, 22, led the team in scoring, preparing the way for a breakout N.H.L. season. Streit, 35, had the chance to savor a return home at the pinnacle of his hockey career. Their shared experience may also help the Islanders reach the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2007. The Islanders have won 8 of 10 games to move into seventh place in the Eastern Conference, 2 points ahead of the rival Rangers. The teams meet Saturday night at what is sure to be a raucous Nassau Coliseum for the final time in the regular season. With only two weeks left in the abbreviated 48-game schedule, it is arguably the most important game between the teams in years. Tavares, the top overall pick in 2009 draft, has elevated his game in his fourth N.H.L. season, leading the Islanders and tying for third in the league with 24 goals, Thanks to Streit, Tavares experienced all he could of life in the Swiss Alps. Streit is tremendously popular off the ice at home and arranged for Tavares to meet Switzerland’s brightest star, Roger Federer. “I thought Roger would just say hello and that would be that, but we all ended up spending two and half hours talking,” Tavares said. “His generosity was amazing. And to see his focus and competitive nature up close was incredible for me, a thrill.” While Tavares leads on the ice, he credits the professionalism and relentless levity of the teams’ veteran defensive core for keeping the young team in the right frame of mind. Augmenting Streit’s fortitude and experience on the blue line and in the locker room, the Islanders have the 37-year-old goaltender Evgeni Nabokov of Kazakhstan and 36-year-old defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky of Slovakia. “They never stop,” said Tavares, who has a perfect view of the banter between the international threesome from his corner stall in the Islanders’ locker room. “They are always joking with each other, which keeps us loose. But the bottom line is we all have immense respect for those guys and what they’ve accomplished.” Streit’s path to the N.H.L. was most unusual. He played nine seasons in the top Swiss league, helping Zurich win the league championship in 2001 and Continental Cup titles in 2001 and 2002. He later captained Zurich and the Swiss national team. He briefly ventured to North America in 1999 as a 22-year-old free agent to watch and learn, playing for three minor league teams. Image The Islanders’ John Tavares joined his teammate Mark Streit on S.C. Bern in Switzerland before the lockout ended. Credit Brian Blanco/Associated Press Streit participated in the Winter Olympics and many junior and world championships for Switzerland, but he went undrafted by N.H.L. teams until 2004 when the Montreal Canadiens picked him in the ninth round, 262nd over all. “That year I didn’t even know the draft was going on,” Streit said. “A journalist called to ask if I’d heard the news, that I was drafted by Montreal. It caught me off guard, a good positive shock. Since that day, I have been working even harder to get better.” After three seasons in Montreal, where he also played forward occasionally, Streit signed a five-year, $20.5 million contract with the Islanders in July 2008. His work ethic and a surplus of international experience made him the natural choice for the captaincy in September 2011 after Doug Weight retired. “The guys see the commitment level of a leader like Mark and that is worth a lot,” Islanders Coach Jack Capuano said. “Anytime you have guys like him, Nabby and Lubo in the room, that represents another important voice on the ice. Mark has done a lot with his opportunity. You have to give him credit.” Nabokov came to Long Island after 10 years with the San Jose Sharks, and the chance to inspire a young team from the crease has given him a burst of energy this season. He has started all but 6 of the Islanders’ 41 games, and his 20 victories put him among the league leaders. The jovial Nabokov also leads the team in banter. “If the locker room is too serious, everyone is tight and that’s not good,” he said. “Just because I’m an older guy I don’t sit here and tell the younger guys to do this and do that. I try to lead by example. I think all three of us do.” Nabokov, Visnovsky and Streit often gather for meals on the road, and amid their myriad languages, conversation and laughter easily flow. “Lubo likes to interrupt a lot and he’s not as funny as me,” Nabokov said. “We’ll joke about that, too. Look, winning cures everything because you forget that you might be tired or hurting. But you have to have fun, too.” A skilled passer and skater, Visnovsky played 11 seasons for Los Angeles, Edmonton and Anaheim before joining the Islanders. After arriving three weeks into the season from the Kontinental Hockey League, he has thrived with the young defense, bolstering the power play. While Streit and Nabokov can become unrestricted free agents this summer, Visnovsky has decided to stay with the Islanders, having signed a two-year, $9.5 million extension last month. “For me, it is special to have these guys with me here because it takes off some of the pressure,” Visnovsky said. “Since the three of us are about the same age, we stay together. Nabby always likes to tell jokes and say funny things. I am happy to be more quiet.” For Tavares, the confluence of his European adventure, the Islanders’ revival and the prospect of his first playoff appearance came at a perfect time. “Playing for Bern really gave me an appreciation for what guys go through when they come over here,” Tavares said. “And definitely the enthusiasm and intensity surrounding the team there helps me now with the Islanders because every game for us is huge.”

Islanders
Mark Streit
Rangers
Evgeni Nabokov
Lubomir Visnovsky
Ice hockey


Worries Hit Commodity Finance Sector as China Opens Investigation

Abstract: QINGDAO, China — Is the metal stored in a Chinese warehouse really there? Has the peanut oil shipment that a bank loaned money against been swapped for worthless water? Basic questions like these have begun to play on the minds of traders and bankers doing business in China, the world’s largest importer of raw materials, after an investigation began at Qingdao Port, a huge trading hub in the northeast, into whether more than one license had been issued for the same material. The duplication, which leaves buyers out of pocket when they claim what they thought was theirs, may be a result of deliberate fraud by a company using the same metal to raise multiple loans. The case of Qingdao has yet to play out and could be an isolated problem involving one or a handful of companies, rather than an endemic problem at ports. But for many Western traders watching the gargantuan growth of China’s demand for commodities, credit is a touchy issue that brings back memories of the 2008 financial crisis, making them especially jumpy when credit-related problems arise. On Friday, Qingdao Port said it had been asked by China’s Public Security Authority to help with an investigation relating to aluminum and copper products. It did not say how much metal was involved, but said that it was an “immaterial proportion” of its total annual throughput, and added that none of its employees were under investigation. Yet in a country where oversight of commodity warehousing is generally accepted as weaker than in developed financial centers, the case is making people nervous. A full-blown scare at Qingdao and beyond would not only affect the supply chain and price of commodities. Raising money using copper, iron ore or soybeans as collateral for relatively cheap loans is big business in China, a ready source of credit for investors who can then pour the funds into other ventures like property. It is also increasingly important in China as banks become stricter in extending credit. Commodity finance deals in China are worth as much as $160 billion, about 31 percent of the country’s total short-term foreign exchange loans, Goldman Sachs said in March. The immediate fallout from the investigation could make such financing in China — already under scrutiny by the authorities — even harder and costlier. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange hit one-month lows on Friday, amid concerns that owners of physical metal in China who have been spooked by events in Qingdao will look to sell, while others may shift their stocks to the exchange’s warehouses elsewhere.


Bringing Leopold Seyffert’s Paintings Out of the Dark

Abstract: Faces of great men, and a grande dame or two, peek out from the linseed-scented clutter of Robert Seyffert’s studio in the South Bronx. Their portraits, rendered in luminous oils or bold strokes of charcoal, resonate with life, though they were made almost a century ago. To Mr. Seyffert, they are a testament to their creator — his grandfather, Leopold Gould Seyffert — and the distinguished businessmen, philanthropists, politicians and artists who sat before him for portraits that graced boardrooms and mansions from New York to Newport, R.I., and beyond. But today, the paintings are as likely to be found in basements and storage rooms, the victims of faded memories and changing tastes. Formal oils that once lined company hallways went the way of the three-martini lunch, replaced by photographic portraits that take up less space and smack less of corporate excess. And though the names of many Seyffert subjects — Mellon, Taft, Lindbergh, Frick — are part of American history, that has not always guaranteed the images a place in homes or galleries. A Baltimore bank that lent Robert Seyffert a portrait of its founder for a retrospective told him he could keep it. No one seems to know what became of a portrait of Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics company founder. Mr. Seyffert, 57, is out to change all that. He has spent the last few years tracking down the paintings and the descendants of his grandfather’s many sitters to enlighten them about the artist, who is considered one of the best American commercial portraitists of the early 20th century. “I want to have them feel there was a human being that did the portrait, rather than just have a picture on the wall,” said Mr. Seyffert, himself a painter. “It’s developing this idea that there was a human connection to those paintings. That connection and that sense of history is important to me.” History has not entirely abandoned Leopold Seyffert (pronounced SIGH-fert), whose work is in the collections of the National Academy of Design, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Portrait Gallery, among other museums. In his heyday in New York, he attracted a wide circle of well-connected subjects, like the composer Fritz Kreisler , the labor leader Samuel Gompers and the corrupt Boston mayor James Michael Curley . He socialized with some, including the conductor Leopold Stokowski, and was at ease with the powerful and accomplished despite his humble background as the son of German immigrants. The Seyfferts settled in Missouri, then Colorado. After his father died in a construction accident, Leopold moved with his mother to Pittsburgh, where he worked as an office boy for John Worthington, a geologist for Standard Oil. In a twist worthy of Dickens, Mr. Worthington noted the young man’s artistic talent and became his benefactor, helping him attend the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he studied with celebrated artists including William Merritt Chase. Leopold later traveled to Spain and studied the paintings of Goya and Velázquez, returning about 1915 to embark on a career as a portraitist. Robert Cozzolino, the curator of modern art at the Pennsylvania Academy, sees Leopold Seyffert as a bridge between the Gilded Age portraitists of the late 19th century and the artists of the 1920s and ’30s who nudged the boundaries between the real and the imagined. The painter, he said, distinguished himself with bold brushwork, or portraits in which the body blends into the background. “Seyffert put more of himself and more art into those portraits,” Mr. Cozzolino said. “It was the subtle things that set him apart, the way the sitters posed, the things he included in the portrait. He treated the paint not as this descriptive thing, but there are all these little flourishes he gets away with. It just set him apart from the deadpan realist style that persisted in the ’20s.” Changes in art and corporate culture eventually pushed Seyffert to the side, well before his death in 1956. “Modern art sort of killed my grandfather,” Robert Seyffert said. “He was seen as too traditionally academic.” Yet it never killed the grandson’s curiosity about the artist, who in addition to his more than 400 oils, drew scores of charcoal portraits, many while summering in Maine. One was of Julius Rosenwald, who helped build Sears Roebuck into a merchandising giant, then became a generous benefactor to African-American colleges and other causes. With little more than some Internet sleuthing, Mr. Seyffert located Rosenwald’s granddaughter, Sandra Stern McIver, and e-mailed her a photograph of the sketch. “I never knew it existed,” Ms. McIver said. “I have a lot of photographs of him, but none captured his humanity the way this does.” She bought the drawing and hung it in her home office in Mendocino, Calif. “When I look at it from my desk, he’s looking in my eyes,” she said. “Sometimes he stops me from being childish. Sometimes he picks me up when I’m discouraged. Sometimes he teaches me not to be selfish. And other times I just feel love, which is pretty interesting, since it’s from somebody I never met.” More recently, Mr. Seyffert connected with Harper Sibley 3rd, a descendant of the founder of Western Union. Leopold’s portrait of Mr. Sibley’s grandfather, who shared his name, is still treasured by the family. “It speaks to a bygone time that Leopold Seyffert was able to capture in this portrait,” said Mr. Sibley, who lives in Westchester County and Florida. “This was a class of men who really tried to spend their time in community activities, as his wife did. That portrait reminds us of the obligation we all have to do that, regardless of our station.” Working with only a catalog from a 1914 show in Rochester, Mr. Seyffert hunted down a portrait of Dr. Franklin Mall, a renowned professor of anatomy at Johns Hopkins University. The painting, which was in storage at the university, had vexed archivists. “We were very interested to have the identity of the artist,” said Nancy McCall, director of the archives for the Hopkins Medical Institutions. “It is an extraordinarily well-done portrait. The head and hands are exquisite.” Some portraits have landed in even more surprising places. Mr. Seyffert recalls visiting a West Hollywood antiques shop in the late 1990s and mentioning his grandfather’s work. The owner said he had a painting in that style, and showed him. “There was my grandfather’s painting of Elsie Whelen,” he said. “She had once been married to a wealthy real estate mogul who owned several blocks on Fifth Avenue. I couldn’t afford to buy it. He sold it to Ralph Lauren, and it’s now hanging at his Milan store.” Still, Mr. Seyffert has about 30 paintings by his grandfather. A stunning full-length portrait of Frances Maris, whose husband was president of Du Pont Motors, greets visitors to his Hunts Point studio, where he paints Hopperesque streetscapes. High on one wall is a large canvas of country life that Leopold painted in Spain. Below, a Spanish dandy in a red jacket stands ready to go to the fair. Mr. Seyffert says he can feel the life that pulsed through his grandfather’s brushes. “I wish I could speak with my grandparents now,” said Mr. Seyffert, who was only 4 when his grandfather died. “I have so much more to say to them now than in my 20s. Before, I was in a hurry. But now I could sit with them in a room and talk with them for hours.”

painting
Art
Seyffert Leopold
Seyffert Robert
Hunts Point (NYC)


Rangers Sign Jeff Halpern

Abstract: The Rangers added another veteran forward, agreeing to terms with center Jeff Halpern. A 12-year veteran, Halpern, 36, had 4 goals and 12 assists in 69 games with the Washington Capitals last season, but shined in the face-off circle with a winning percentage of 58 percent, fifth best in the N.H.L. Terms of the deal were not announced. Since the free-agent signing period began, the Rangers have also added forwards Arron Asham and Taylor Pyatt.

Hockey Ice
New York Rangers
Halpern Jeff


That Devil on Your Shoulder Likes to Sleep In

Abstract: It is often asked why good people do bad things. Perhaps the question should be when . More likely, it’s in the afternoon or evening. Much less so in the morning. That’s the finding of research , published in the journal Psychological Science, which concludes that a person’s ability to self-regulate declines as the day wears on, increasing the likelihood of cheating, lying or committing fraud. This so-called morning morality effect results from “cognitive tiredness,” said Isaac H. Smith , an assistant professor at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University and co-author of the article with Maryam Kouchaki, an assistant professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern. “To the extent that you’re cognitively tired,” Dr. Smith added, “you’re more likely to give in to the devil on your shoulder.” The findings draw from four experiments that convened two groups of subjects, one in the morning and the other in the afternoon. In the first experiment, undergraduates looked at different images of dots on a computer screen and reported whether the dots in each image were concentrated on the left side or the right side. If subjects said the dots were bunched on the right, they earned 5 cents, with a chance to earn up to $5. They could earn the money even if they “cheated” by saying that the dots were concentrated on the right when they were not. Image Credit Michael Waraksa In the first experiment, subjects cheated 25 percent more often in the afternoon. That finding was reinforced in subsequent experiments. The results conform to other research showing the effects of taxing a part of the brain responsible for “executive control.” When that region is worn down — say, by a task as simple as memorizing numbers — it can impinge decision-making, and, by extension, moral judgment. In a related study , published in 2011, scholars at Harvard and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania showed that participants who performed a task that involved resisting temptation were much more likely to “impulsively cheat” in a subsequent task. Having already used up cognitive energy to resist, the theory went, they were more susceptible to giving in. The latest findings are not without detractors. In July, another group of scholars offered a commentary arguing that the morning morality effect was an oversimplification. They said the research failed to recognize that some people are night owls and might resist temptation better as the day goes on. Their point was that some brains start out tired, then ramp up during the day. Dr. Smith and Dr. Kouchaki countered , in essence, that no matter when you felt most alert, brain depletion happened bit by bit over the course of the day. In fact, Dr. Smith says, brain depletion can come from everyday tasks like choosing what to wear or eat — and the number of these decisions may be mounting as technology creates new choices to be made around the clock. (Do I “like” this Facebook status? Do I write one of my own?) Add these to the economy’s global nature (events happening any time of day), and it suggests to Dr. Smith a simple solution: “Don’t waste time on menial decisions that don’t matter.”


U.S. Considers Financial Pay Rules

Abstract: Obama administration officials are contemplating a major overhaul of the compensation practices in the financial services industry, moving beyond banks to include more loosely regulated hedge funds and private equity firms. Federal policymakers have been discussing ways to ensure that pay is more closely linked to performance. Among the ideas under consideration are incorporating compensation as a “safety and soundness” concern on official bank examinations as well as expanding the existing regulatory powers of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Reserve to obtain more information regarding compensation. The policymakers are also expected to publish formal guidelines regarding Wall Street pay. Any overhaul is likely to be tied to the Obama administration’s broader efforts to curb systemic risks to the economy. That means the new rules could apply to financial firms like hedge funds or private equity firms that never accepted money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program , or TARP. It would also mean greater oversight on compensation for banks that are seeking to return the TARP money in an effort to avoid the new strings attached to pay. Administration officials have been contemplating broad-based pay reforms since early this year. In February, the Treasury Department was instructed to write detailed guidelines to the new executive pay rules for banks accepting TARP money, rules that were inserted at the 11th hour into the economic stimulus bill. But the effort was apparently put off after the furor over bonuses at the insurance giant American International Group in March. Financial policymakers had hoped for things to cool down, and have also been preoccupied with a number of other issues, including the highly-anticipated stress tests for the nation’s biggest banks. Just as the tests aimed to give the markets more clarity on the financial condition of the banks, the compensation guidelines may be designed to give the market more clarity over pay. Wall Street pay has long been a hot-button issue in Washington, but the public outrage over excessive compensation has erupted in recent weeks. Bank executives have been pressing for more clarity on the pay issue, fearful that talented managers and traders might flee their companies for overseas institutions and boutique firms. But President Obama and lawmakers on both parties have been looking for ways to rein in excessive pay packages and make sure that compensation does not encourage them to take more risk. Treasury officials have said new executive compensation rules could be released shortly, with some bankers and lawmakers expecting them to be formally released before the Memorial Day recess.

Hedge Funds
Private Equity
Executive Compensation
Banks and Banking
Obama Financial Stability Plan
Obama Barack
Regulation and Deregulation of Industry


New York Housing Commissioner Arrested on D.W.I. Charge

Abstract: The New York State housing commissioner, Darryl C. Towns, was arrested over the Fourth of July weekend on a charge of driving while intoxicated after he crashed his car in Westchester County, the police said. Mr. Towns, a former state assemblyman and the scion of a powerful Brooklyn political family, spent the night in jail and has since made his initial court appearance on the charge. A spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Mr. Towns informed the governor’s office of his arrest the day it happened. “Obviously it is disturbing news, but as this is an open and ongoing matter before the court, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the spokesman, Josh Vlasto, said in a statement. Around 1:40 a.m. on July 3, the police in Westchester were alerted that a car had driven off the ramp connecting the eastbound Cross County Parkway to the southbound Hutchinson River Parkway. A police officer then came across Mr. Towns — who was not injured but whose car had sustained minor front-end damage — and suspected he was under the influence of alcohol, the authorities said. The police said Mr. Towns failed a field sobriety test and registered a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit, which is 0.08. He was charged with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, and was taken to the Westchester police headquarters in Hawthorne, where he was released about 9:30 a.m. A spokesman for the Westchester police, Kieran O’Leary, said Mr. Towns had cooperated with officers. Mr. Towns made his first court appearance on July 14 in Mount Vernon City Court, court officials said, and is due back in court on Aug. 2. Mr. Towns, 50, was named in February by Mr. Cuomo, a fellow Democrat, to serve as commissioner and chief executive officer of the state housing agency, known as New York State Homes and Community Renewal. Mr. Towns, who could not be reached for comment on Friday, previously served for 18 years as an assemblyman from Brooklyn. While an assemblyman, he was chairman of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. Mr. Towns is the son of Representative Edolphus Towns, a Democrat, who last year won election to his 15th term.

Towns Darryl C
Drunken and Reckless Driving
Politics and Government


A Twisting Road on the Fast Track, From Farm Boy to Formula One Racer

Abstract: Aussie Grit: My Formula One Journey. By Mark Webber. 320 pages. Macmillan. $16. In the early years of Formula One racing, the drivers were a diverse group of men with widely varying interests. But none of them came from the homogenized background shared by today’s racers: go-karting as children, racing cars in their early teens, then climbing the lower categories to the top, with very little experience in life beyond their sport until they find themselves at the end of a Formula One career, wealthy and famous — and lost. The result is that many of today’s drivers are such perfect professionals that they have little to say beyond the one-line responses provided by their teams and sponsors. Mark Webber, the Australian driver who left Formula One at the end of 2013 after 12 seasons, never quite fit that picture. In both his public image and in his dealings within the paddock, he was one of the most vocal and expansive drivers. He would say what he thought. And unlike the few others who also spoke their mind, Webber’s responses were rarely bitter, rarely went too far, and were almost always pertinent. So it is no surprise that Webber’s autobiography is a fabulously readable story told in his conversational voice, with the help of Stuart Sykes, an Australian journalist. We find Webber, now 39, saying what he thinks and, in the process, displaying why he seemed so much more human than his contemporaries. Although he candidly addresses his contentious relationship with Sebastian Vettel, the German driver who won the world title four times while he and Webber were teammates at Red Bull from 2009 to 2013, how Webber fared once he arrived in Formula One is not the most compelling part of the story. The inspirational tale lies in Webber’s rise from Queanbeyan, a small town in a country that can count the number of influential people it has given to the elite sport on a single hand. (Jack Brabham and Alan Jones are the only world champions from Australia.) Webber grew up driving tractors, starting at age 10, unlike most of his contemporaries in the series, who at age 4 were already driving go-karts. And while most modern Formula One drivers have had coddled lives, Webber was a country boy, farming and working odd jobs. He delivered pizzas, worked as a ball boy and, once he discovered go-karting as a teenager, worked at a go-kart track, where after the would stay until 2 a.m. driving the karts himself. Even while racing in England, he needed to earn extra cash as a driving instructor. He owes his career in no small part to Ann Neal, whom he met in the Formula Ford series in Australia and who had worked extensively in media and promotional work in her native Britain. Neal had been looking for a driver to manage and Webber was there. The two managed to lift the Australian country boy to the highest level of international racing and wealth. “Looking back, we were pretty naïve,” Webber writes. “We weren’t short of people telling us we were crazy even to entertain the idea of making it to F1. In fact if we’d known back then what we know now I doubt we would even have contemplated it. But now Ann and I had a plan and our assumption was that if we worked hard and refused to take no for an answer we would succeed. It never occurred to us that things beyond our control might stand in our way, but then perhaps our naïveté worked in our favor. And anyone who expressed doubts was doing us a favor as well: they simply made us all the more determined to show them what we could do.” They also eventually became a couple in life, too. “Aussie Grit” charts Webber’s path from his first outings in Formula Ford in Australia, to winning the prestigious Formula Ford Festival in England, to British F3 and not having the money to complete the 1997 season. It follows the shy young man as he was pushed by Neal to speak to Norbert Haug, director of the Mercedes motor sports program. Webber was then asked to replace a driver in the Mercedes program, before being hired to race full-time in 1998, and Mercedes agreed to pay the rest of his financially strapped F3 season. In 2000, he returned to single-seat racing, joining the F3000 series. He finished third the first year and was second the next year. In 2002, he was hired to race in Formula One at the Minardi team, which was Australian-owned at the time. In his first race, the Australian Grand Prix, Webber, racing for one of the weakest teams on the grid, finished fifth and was feted like a hero. He went on to win nine Grands Prix, scoring 13 pole positions, 19 fastest laps and 42 podiums. He arrived at the final race of 2010 in second position in the series, just a few points behind Fernando Alonso, with Vettel in third. Webber and Alonso had problems in the race, but Vettel won it and the title. It was the first of Vettel’s four titles, while Webber would never win one. In his view, team dynamics had something to do with that. “When engines were routinely tested on the dynamometer, the unit showing the higher readings — the strongest engine — would systematically go to Vettel’s side of the garage, rather than alternating as had been the practice previously,” Webber writes. “The crux of it was that we were always free to race when my teammate was behind, never free to race when I was behind.” But Webber is not bitter. “I can say with absolute honesty that he is a better all-round F1 driver than I ever was,” he concludes of Vettel.

Formula One
Mark Webber
Australia
Red Bull
Car Racing