Madrid Opens (and Closes) a Magic Box

Abstract: Center Court at Wimbledon, Roland Garros stadium in Paris, the Foro Italico in Rome and Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne now have company in Spain. It is time to add La Caja Magica to the grand tour of tennis showplaces. The new, avant-garde home of the combined men’s and women’s event in Madrid is an architectural achievement. It features three main courts with retractable roofs, all in the same arena, and it is a shape-shifting statement of the Spanish capital’s ongoing ambition to become a nexus for international sport. “A tennis Taj Mahal,” Ion Tiriac, owner of the Madrid tournament, said of the arena. “La Caja Magica” is Spanish for “The Magic Box,” although the origins of the nickname for the main arena in the Manzanares Park Tennis Center are French. The architect, Dominique Perrault, used the term “La Boîte Magique” for his successful proposal for the tennis complex. “It’s a box that transforms itself constantly — closed, open or illuminated,” Perrault said in a telephone interview last week. The box’s three adjustable roofs are its signature feature, giving Madrid instant bragging rights over any other tennis tournament. Melbourne Park, home of the Australian Open, has two stadiums with retractable roofs. Wimbledon, no longer finding rain delays quaint, is about to inaugurate a translucent, retractable roof over its venerable Centre Court. But the roofs at the Caja Magica, which can open or close in 20 minutes, are a step beyond in that they are all independent elements of the same structure and, unlike Melbourne’s roofs, they do not simply slide. They also are configured to be lifted in the manner of a box lid, which can make the top of Perrault’s box look like kinetic sculpture. “We can be 100 percent outdoors, and in that case, the roof slides,” Perrault said. “And then there are these intermediate positions that are very comfortable and that give the feeling of being outdoors but also protect the courts from the wind.” “The box is also not constructed with walls,” he added. “It’s constructed with a metal casing that acts like a big curtain that lets the air pass through but stops the sun and the wind and also the rain. At night, the box is a magic lantern. The light comes from the interior of the building, and then, at that moment, it lights up the entire curtain and the facade disappears, and we see the structures of the stadium inside.” The stadium court seats approximately 12,500 and has been named for Manolo Santana, the tournament director and former Spanish men’s champion. The second court seats approximately 5,000 and has been named for Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, the former Spanish women’s champion. Court Three seats 3,000 and might already be named for Rafael Nadal if Nadal were not still in his prime. There are also four other match courts outside as part of the larger complex, with the Caja Magica linked to the surrounding neighborhoods by a pedestrian pathway. Perrault, 56, is no stranger to bold and symbolic projects. He was a youngster by architects’ standards in 1989 when, still in his 30s, he won the competition to design the new French National Library in Paris. His four high-rise towers on the left bank of the Seine did not lack for dissenters, but he has become one of the leaders in his field and has taken on everything from a theater in Japan to a hotel in Barcelona to the Olympic pool and velodrome in Berlin, which, until now, was his most prominent sports-related project. He sounds eager to do more. “I think an arena or stadium is one of the only places in a city where a crowd can experience an event emotionally and physically in a live context,” Perrault said. “There is no Internet, no television, none of these information systems that externalize the event.” “We are physically there, from the moment when the goal is scored or the first ball hit,” he added. “There is a before and after. We live it. There is suspense, real suspense. That is something that is becoming rarer in our society, where so much information circulates and we don’t often experience events in such a personal manner anymore. I think stadiums are places where we have this feeling we are in the moment.” To reach this moment required seven years of planning and approximately €180 million of public funds, provided with the Olympic bids for 2012 and now 2016 in mind. “In tennis, I like to steal a Formula One analogy and say that we’ve drafted off the Olympic movement to an extent,” said Larry Scott, head of the WTA Tour, whose circuit now has a new stadium in Beijing for another of its top-tier events because of the 2008 Olympics there. As the confluence of events would have it, the International Olympic Committee task force that is assessing each of the four candidates for 2016 visited Madrid this week, just as the Caja Magica opened and Perrault confessed to having “le trac” — jitters — as he shared the moment Prime Minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the Madrid mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón.

Tennis
Wimbledon Tennis Tournament
French Open (Tennis)
Australian Open (Tennis)
Madrid (Spain)


Silverman Quits NBC; Gaspin, a Cable Executive, Succeeds Him

Abstract: The deal maker is gone. Now it’s the cable guy’s turn. Ben Silverman , who called himself a “rock-star television executive” and tried to turn around NBC’s struggling prime-time schedule with reality shows and advertising-driven programs like “The Celebrity Apprentice” and “Knight Rider,” announced on Monday that he would leave as co-chairman of NBC Universal Entertainment to start a new venture with the media and Internet mogul Barry Diller. At the same time, NBC said that it would promote Jeff Gaspin, a longtime executive who oversees NBC’s lineup of cable channels, like USA and Bravo; its syndication business; and the Spanish-language network Telemundo, to chairman of NBC Universal Television Entertainment. Mr. Gaspin will run the entertainment operation of the NBC network, including its prime-time schedule. By awarding Mr. Gaspin supervision of the flagship broadcast channel as well as the cable channels, NBC Universal is acknowledging a shift that viewers and advertisers already recognize: that the distinction between broadcast and cable is evaporating. “The distinction is definitely waning,” said David Joyce, an analyst with Miller Tabak & Company. “It makes NBC seem more like a cable network company.” NBC, with its long tradition as the “Must See TV” network, may now be considered just another part of Mr. Gaspin’s large portfolio. The scripted shows on USA now rival those on NBC, especially in the summertime months, when NBC’s only hit is the reality show “America’s Got Talent.” Last Thursday, when NBC struggled to draw three million viewers to its sitcom repeats, a new episode of USA’s most popular show, “Burn Notice,” attracted 6.8 million viewers. “USA has been putting on better original dramas than most broadcast networks,” said Steve Sternberg, a prominent TV analyst and a former executive vice president at the media agency MAGNA Global. Jeff Zucker, the president of NBC Universal, has said that NBC is now primarily a cable company. But he tried to dismiss the notion that Mr. Gaspin’s arrival was a takeover by the cable side. “Jeff has a lot of experience on the broadcast side,” he said. Many of the primary programming decisions will be made by Angela Bromstad, who is president of prime-time programming. In an interview, Mr. Gaspin acknowledged the change in television fortunes. “You can’t dismiss the fact that cable is just much more profitable than broadcast television. I don’t see that changing. Cable is a much superior business model.” Without tipping his hand about particular shows, he added that he would need to re-evaluate NBC’s schedule if the network were to attract higher advertising rates. “Clearly we are going to have to re-message NBC’s brand,” he said. “We have to make shows that are successful enough to charge a premium to advertisers. It’s the only way to do well in network television.” The transition comes at a trying time for both NBC Universal and its parent company, General Electric, which has been hit hard by the recession and is paring back selectively in a strategy to rely more on its strong industrial businesses. NBC has often been mentioned by analysts as a business outside the company’s core of expertise that could be a candidate for sale. The unit’s financial performance has lagged recently. In the second quarter, NBC Universal’s revenue fell 8 percent, to $3.57 billion, and profits fell 41 percent, to $539 million, weighed down by weakness in advertising and a disappointing performance by the movie unit. “Silverman was brought in to add firepower to the creative side of NBC Universal, and clearly they’ve been disappointed,” said Steven Winoker, an analyst at Bernstein Research. “But I do not think this is a signal that G. E. is reducing its commitment to NBC.” Mr. Silverman ran Reveille, an independent production company behind hits like “The Office,” “The Biggest Loser” and “Ugly Betty” when he was hired by NBC two years ago, but with the network stuck in fourth place, his departure was not a surprise. Even two months ago, Mr. Silverman insisted in an interview that he was “a happy worker at NBC” but the network didn’t renew his contract, clearly signaling that he had no future there without formally firing him. Mr. Silverman said that two weeks ago he began serious talks about a new role with Mr. Diller, who had been his partner in two previous ventures. From the start, Mr. Silverman was an awkward fit for NBC, which went after him aggressively to help turn around their prime-time lineup. Under an unusual arrangement, Mr. Silverman was allowed to keep his stake in Reveille, although not a hand in its day-to-day operations, even as the company was selling programs to NBC, an indication of just how prized Mr. Silverman had been. (The company was later sold to Shine, owned by Elisabeth Murdoch.) But the high hopes for his tenure were quickly tempered by programming misses and personal missteps. He saved the reality franchise “The Apprentice,” expanded “The Biggest Loser” and supported edgy comedy like “Parks and Recreation,” but many of his choices, like “American Gladiators” and “Knight Rider” were failures that seemed out of place on the network known for quality dramas like “ER” and “The West Wing.” Mr. Silverman also alienated people in Hollywood by insulting other executives in an interview and became probably the first G.E. executive to throw a party featuring women in bikinis and white tigers in cages. (Even Mr. Silverman’s departure was out of step with the G.E. corporate culture. Twelve minutes before NBC sent out the press release, the news appeared on the Twitter account of Mr. Silverman’s close friend, the “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest.) As his shows struggled, Mr. Silverman’s duties were curtailed and he spent much of his time making deals with advertisers for sponsorships and product placements — the part of the business he promoted as the future of the industry. “Ben did terrific things for us” in the areas of marketing and advertiser integration, Mr. Zucker said, adding that Mr. Silverman, “really didn’t have the time” to turn around NBC’s ratings. Mr. Silverman said on Monday that he would remain at NBC through September to support the transition to Mr. Gaspin, and to back the start of the new fall TV series for the NBC network. “I am invested in what happens in the fall and they are invested in my helping with the transition,” he said. A senior executive at a large production studio who requested anonymity because his company has deals with NBC said that programming, not advertising, still ruled in the television business. “When you’re the head of the network, you live and die by the shows you develop and schedule,” he said. “You can talk all you want about disintermediation and bringing in advertisers, but at the end of the day the measure of success is whether you create shows that people want to watch.”

NBC Universal
Silverman Ben
Suspensions Dismissals and Resignations
Gaspin Jeff
Cable Television
Appointments and Executive Changes
IAC/InterActiveCorp


Researchers Hack Into Cars’ Electronics

Abstract: With a modest amount of expertise, computer hackers could gain remote access to someone’s car — just as they do to people’s personal computers — and take over the vehicle’s basic functions, including control of its engine, according to a report by computer scientists from the University of California, San Diego and the University of Washington. Although no such takeovers have been reported in the real world, the scientists were able to do exactly this in an experiment conducted on a car they bought for the purpose of trying to hack it. Their report, delivered last Friday to the National Academy of Sciences’ Transportation Research Board , described how such unauthorized intrusions could theoretically take place. Because many of today’s cars contain cellular connections and Bluetooth wireless technology, it is possible for a hacker, working from a remote location, to take control of various features — like the car locks and brakes — as well as to track the vehicle’s location, eavesdrop on its cabin and steal vehicle data, the researchers said. They described a range of potential compromises of car security and safety. “This report explores how hard it is to compromise a car’s computers without having any direct physical access to the car,” said Stefan Savage of the University of California, San Diego, who is one of the leaders of the research effort. Given that the researchers were able to do it, they are now trying to pinpoint just how hard it might be for others, he said. The car security study is one of a growing array of safety concerns that are emerging as the Internet comes in contact with almost every aspect of daily life, be it through financial systems or industrial controls. Computer security researchers have long argued that wholesale computerization and Internet connectivity of complex systems present new risks that are frequently exploited first by vandals with malicious intent. The new report is a follow-on to similar research these experts conducted last year, which showed that cars were increasingly indistinguishable from Internet-connected computers in terms of vulnerability to outside intrusion and control. That project tried to show that the internal networks used to control systems in today’s cars are not secure in the face of a potential attacker who has physical access to the vehicle. Their latest study was the first time that independent computer security researchers have tried to show how potential attackers could hack into a car from a remote location. As in their first experiment, the research teams bought a car they described as a representative example of a moderately priced sedan. (They declined to identify the brand, saying that advanced telematics are rapidly becoming commonplace within the automotive industry.) “In the case of every major manufacturer, if they do not have this capacity in their mainstream products, they’re about to,” said Tadayoshi Kohno, an assistant professor in the department of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. For example, services like General Motors’ OnStar system, Toyota’s Safety Connect, Lexus’s Enform, Ford’s Sync, BMW’s Assist and Mercedes Benz’s Mbrace all use a cellular connection embedded in the vehicle to provide a variety of automated and call center support services to a driver. These subscription services make it possible to track a car’s location, unlock doors remotely and control other functions. In their remote experiment, the researchers were able to undermine the security protecting the cellular phone in the vehicle they bought and then insert malicious software. This allowed them to send commands to the car’s electronic control unit — the nerve center of a vehicle’s electronics system — which in turn made it possible to override various vehicle controls. “These cellular channels offer many advantages for attackers,” the report said. “They can be accessed over arbitrary distance (due to the wide coverage of cellular data infrastructure) in a largely anonymous fashion, typically have relatively high bandwidth, are two-way channels (supporting interactive control and data exfiltration), and are individually addressable.” The researchers declined to speculate about the worse situations, such as interfering with a vehicle’s control system to make it crash. However, they noted that their research showed how a next-generation car thief might operate: instead of using today’s so-called smash and grab tactics, the thief might be able to simply dial up a parked car, unlock its doors and turn on the engine, then arrive on the scene and drive off. In addition to the cellular telephone vulnerability, the report details similar weaknesses in other systems that allow remote access, including short range wireless networks like Bluetooth, network ports used for car maintenance and even internal CD players. The researchers noted that their report was about potential vulnerabilities and said there was no evidence that the safety loopholes they discovered had been used by criminals. They also said they believed that the automotive industry was treating the threats responsibly and working to improve the security of modern automobiles. “Everyone has taken this extremely seriously,” said Dr. Savage.

Computer Security
Automobiles
Computers and the Internet
Automobile Safety Features and Defects


Many in Deal, N.J., Feel Betrayed by Solomon Dwek

Abstract: Among the Syrian Jews of Deal, N.J., the legend of Solomon Dwek starts with a fable. When he was a student at a yeshiva, the head of the school told young Solomon — or Shlomo, as he is known — that he would become either a millionaire or a leader of a yeshiva. He would, in a way, eventually become both. By 2006, when he was in his early 30s, Mr. Dwek was the vice president of the Deal Yeshiva, founded by his father, and a multimillionaire real estate mogul known for his philanthropy. But his accomplishments were short-lived. In May 2006, Mr. Dwek, who owned hundreds of properties, was arrested after he deposited two $25 million checks and immediately withdrew $22 million. One check bounced, and the bank refused to accept the second deposit. In the months that followed , he was forced into bankruptcy as angry creditors lodged claims against him totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. He was also charged with bank fraud. If some people in Deal were able to look past those financial sins — because of his largess, or because he had not been convicted in the 2006 case — his role in the charges against 44 people announced on Thursday, including rabbis who were important in the Syrian Jewish community, was seen by many of them as a betrayal. As a confidential informant working for federal investigators in the wide-ranging public corruption and money laundering investigation, Mr. Dwek helped secure charges against politicians and rabbis from New Jersey and Brooklyn, including a relative by marriage: Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim of the Ohel Yaacob Congregation in Deal, who is among those accused of money laundering. Rabbi Ben Haim’s daughter is married to one of Mr. Dwek’s brothers, according to someone who said he knows the family. The arrests seemed to be the focus of every conversation in Deal on Thursday. Some people defended the rabbis who were arrested; others spoke of broken trust. “They don’t know what to believe,” said one resident, one of many who refused to give their names. It was the second time in three years that Mr. Dwek, 36, and the father of five, had focused attention on the insular community of Syrian Jews in Deal. The details of Mr. Dwek’s financial dealings are perhaps as colorful and bizarre as his latest role as government informant. When he deposited one of the $25 million checks, for example, it was at the drive-up window of a PNC bank. And joining the long list of creditors who filed claims against Mr. Dwek — a group that included jewelers, investment firms and architects — was Mr. Dwek’s uncle Joseph Dwek. He accused his nephew of claiming ownership of more than $60 million worth of properties that the uncle said he paid for and had directed Solomon Dwek to buy. Court papers in a civil suit filed against Solomon Dwek provide other glimpses into his dealings. In a letter from April 2006, Mr. Dwek confirmed that he had received a $200,000 investment from Albert Shammah and promised a net return of $240,000 within five months. But eight months later, Mr. Shammah said in a filing, Mr. Dwek had “failed to repay any part of the investment and profit.” Mr. Dwek’s lawyer did not return several calls seeking comment. Yet even as Mr. Dwek was accused of stealing or mismanaging millions of dollars, he was apparently giving away plenty. One beneficiary was the Lumia Theater in Long Branch, home of the New Jersey Repertory Company, which once included the 50-seat Pearl and Solomon Dwek Little Theater, named for Mr. Dwek and his wife. He helped his sister start a yeshiva, and he aided families and students who could not pay their bills. “Before his empire came tumbling down,” said the person who said he knows the family, “he was giving more and more of it away.”

New Jersey
Dwek Solomon
Frauds and Swindling
Federal Bureau of Investigation


Pastor’s Advice for Better Marriage: More Sex

Abstract: GRAPEVINE, Tex. — And on the seventh day, there was no rest for married couples. A week after the Rev. Ed Young challenged husbands and wives among his flock of 20,000 to strengthen their unions through Seven Days of Sex, his advice was — keep it going. Mr. Young, an author, a television host and the pastor of the evangelical Fellowship Church, issued his call for a week of “congregational copulation” among married couples on Nov. 16, while pacing in front of a large bed. Sometimes he reclined on the paisley coverlet while flipping through a Bible, emphasizing his point that it is time for the church to put God back in the bed. “Today we’re beginning this sexperiment, seven days of sex,” he said, with his characteristic mix of humor, showmanship and Scripture. “How to move from whining about the economy to whoopee!” On Sunday parishioners at the Grapevine branch watched a prerecorded sermon from Mr. Young and his wife, Lisa, on jumbo screens over a candlelit stage. “I know there’s been a lot of love going around this week, among the married couples,” one of the church musicians said, strumming on a guitar before a crowd of about 3,000. Mrs. Young, dressed in knee-high black boots and jeans, said that after a week of having sex every day, or close to it, “some of us are smiling.” For others grappling with infidelities, addictions to pornography or other bitter hurts, “there’s been some pain; hopefully there’s been some forgiveness, too.” Mr. Young advised the couples to “keep on doing what you’ve been doing this week. We should try to double up the amount of intimacy we have in marriage. And when I say intimacy, I don’t mean holding hands in the park or a back rub.” Mr. Young, known simply as Ed to his parishioners, and his wife, both 47, have been married for 26 years and have four children, including twins . They have firsthand experience with some of the barriers to an intimate sex life in marriage, including careers, exhaustion, outside commitments, and “kids,” a word that Mr. Young told church members stands for “keeping intimacy at a distance successfully.” But if you make the time to have sex, it will bring you closer to your spouse and to God, he has said. You will perform better at work, leave a loving legacy for your children to follow and may even prevent an extramarital affair. “If you’ve said, ‘I do,’ do it,” he said. As for single people, “I don’t know, try eating chocolate cake,” he said. The sex-starved marriage has been the topic of at least two recent books, “365 Nights” and “Just Do It.” But Mr. Young’s call from the pulpit gave the discussion an added charge. It should not, in his view. This is not a gimmick or a publicity stunt, Mr. Young says. Just look at the sensuousness of the Song of Solomon, or Genesis: “two shall become one flesh,” or Corinthians: “do not deprive each other of sexual relations.” “For some reason the church has not talked about it, but we need to,” he said, speaking by telephone Friday night on his way to South Africa for a mission trip. There is no shame in marital sex, he added, “God thought it up, it was his idea.” Those who attend Fellowship’s location here or one of several satellite churches in the Dallas area and one in Miami are used to Mr. Young’s provocative style. (The real “f word” in the marital boudoir, he says, is “forgiveness.”) But the sex challenge was a bit much for some of his church members, who sat with arms crossed in uncomfortable silence, he recalls, while many in the audience gave him an enthusiastic applause. One parishioner, Rob Hulsey, 25, said his Baptist relatives raised their eyebrows about it, but he summed up the reaction of many husbands at Fellowship Church when he first heard about the sex challenge — “Yay!” A week later, he and his wife, who are expecting a baby and have two older children, could not stop holding hands during the sermon. His wife, Madeline Hulsey, 32, said she was just as thrilled to spend a week focusing on her husband. Usually, “we start to kiss, and it’s knock knock knock, Mom!” she said. Others found that, like smiling when you are not particularly happy, having sex when they did not feel like it improved their mood. Just eight months into their marriage, Amy and Cody Waddell had not been very amorous since Cody admitted he had had an affair. “Intimacy has been a struggle for us, working through all that,” Ms. Waddell said. “This week really brought us back together, physically and emotionally.” It is not always easy to devote time for your spouse, Pastor Young admitted. Just three days into the sex challenge he said he was so tired after getting up before dawn to talk about the importance of having more sex in marriage that he crashed on the bed around 8 p.m. on Tuesday night. Mrs. Young tried to shake him awake, telling her husband, “Come on, it’s the sex challenge.” But Mr. Young murmured, “Let’s just double up tomorrow,” and went back to sleep.

Marriage
Sex
Ed Young
Fellowship Church
Texas


Jake Arrieta Shuts Down the Pirates and Propels the Cubs to Victory

Abstract: PITTSBURGH — It happened again for the Pirates, the very same ending that had haunted them for a year. They earned the right to host the National League wild-card game yet could not even score a run. The Chicago Cubs’ Jake Arrieta continued his extraordinary run of dominance on Wednesday, throttling the Pirates with a four-hitter and striking out 11. Dexter Fowler and Kyle Schwarber battered Pittsburgh’s Gerrit Cole, and the Cubs survived with a 4-0 victory at PNC Park. “It’s tough because we definitely feel like we have the team to be able to go,” the Pirates’ Andrew McCutchen said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up in the World Series.” The Cubs have not been there since 1945 and have not won it all since 1908. Their next task: a division series matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals, who won 100 games this season, capturing the N.L. Central title and forcing the Pirates (98-64) and the Cubs (97-65) to fight for the right to face them. Those teams had the second- and third-best records in the majors, but by not finishing first, one was guaranteed to be ushered cruelly into the winter after a summer of success. The Pirates are getting used to the feeling. Last October, they lost here to the San Francisco Giants’ Madison Bumgarner. This time they fell to Arrieta, whose E.R.A. since the start of August is 0.37. He ended his night leaping into the arms of first baseman Anthony Rizzo. “I didn’t want to see anybody in the bullpen,” Arrieta said. “I wanted to finish what I started and be the guy to get the last out. That was the mind-set.” Arrieta issued no walks but did hit two batters. When the Pirates’ Tony Watson hit him with a pitch in the seventh, the benches and bullpens emptied. The Cubs shook it off and soon were partying in their clubhouse, dousing one another in Champagne and smoking cigars with celebrity fans — John Cusack, Eddie Vedder — along for the fun. “We moved past it,” Arrieta said, “and after that, it was baseball as usual.” The managers took opposite approaches to lineup construction. The Pirates benched their slugging first baseman, Pedro Alvarez, for a better defender, Sean Rodriguez. The Cubs prioritized offense, with Joe Maddon tucking his power-hitting rookies, Kris Bryant and Schwarber, in the outfield corners and using Tommy La Stella at third. Maddon conceded it was not his best defensive lineup, but he could change that as the game moved along. More important, he said, was the setting. While he saw no competitive advantage to playing at home, Maddon said, there is a benefit to playing on the road. “If you’re on the road, if you get on the board first, that might take a little bit of steam or wind out of somebody’s sails,” Maddon said. And so they did, before Cole recorded an out. Fowler singled, stole second and scored when Schwarber lashed a fastball to left for a single. Maddon had his early lead, and the Pirates fans tried gamely to rattle Arrieta, as they had in 2013 with Cincinnati’s starter, Johnny Cueto. But Arrieta was ready for the taunting. When a Pirates fan tweeted at him Sunday, promising a sea of black in the stands and predicting “#crowdIsGoingToEatYoualive,” Arrieta responded, “Whatever keeps your hope alive, just know, it doesn’t matter.” Predictably, as the crowd chanted his last name while he faced the first batter, Gregory Polanco, Arrieta calmly notched his first strikeout. McCutchen rapped a clean single up the middle that inning, but it was harmless. Arrieta fanned the cleanup man, Starling Marte, with 96-mile-an-hour heat. A soaring two-run homer by Schwarber gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead in the third, and a Fowler home run in the fifth made it 4-0. Cole was pulled after the inning. “It just happens,” Cole said. “One of those off nights. I got burned on a couple of bad pitches in some key situations.” The barrage scrambled Clint Hurdle’s plans. He pinch-hit for Rodriguez before he even had a chance to hit. But Alvarez proved no help, striking out three times. The Pirates squandered their best chance in the sixth, when Marte hit into a double play with the bases loaded. Arrieta, McCutchen said, continued to masterly work the corners. “Taking advantage of the strike zone — that’s it; that’s what he does,” McCutchen said. “If he’s locating, he’s going to get those calls that are a little off the plate. He’s going to take advantage of it; that’s what makes him difficult.” The Pirates’ tension boiled over in the seventh, after Arrieta was hit, and perhaps it had been building between these teams. A September slide by the Cubs’ Chris Coghlan had wrecked the knee of the Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang, who was wheeled onto the field for pregame introductions. That had inspired the fans, who rose and yelled again as the players jostled on the field in the seventh. But there was really nothing they could do. Arrieta was in charge — he even stole a base — and Rodriguez, who said he was grabbed around the neck by the Cubs’ David Ross, was left to reflect the city’s frustration, attacking a Gatorade cooler with his fists in the dugout. “I was pretty heated,” he said. “I couldn’t control myself at that point.” Officially, Rodriguez was ejected from the game. But it was pointless, a formality, because he was already out of the game. So, too, were the Pirates, by then. Arrieta was carving up their hitters and carving out their hearts.

Jake Arrieta
Chicago Cubs
Baseball
Playoffs
Pittsburgh Pirates


Letter by Adolf Eichmann to President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi of Israel

Abstract: Handwritten in blue ink on lined paper, the 1962 letter from Adolf Eichmann , the Nazi war criminal who oversaw the lethal logistics of the Holocaust, to the president of Israel, Yitzhak Ben-Zvi, repeats part of Eichmann’s defense from his four-month trial: He was a lower-level official following orders, and he should not be held accountable for the crimes of his superiors. The letter was written in German on the day that Eichmann’s appeal was denied by Israel’s Supreme Court. Here is an English translation: To Mister President! I join the appeal of my defense lawyer and allow myself to point out the following: The judges made a fundamental mistake in their judgment of me, because they are not able to empathize with the time and situation in which I found myself during the war years. The mistake was caused by the fact that at the time of my trial, only individual documents were presented, which, without being seen in connection with the general documents of the orders, gave an incorrect picture. Adolf Eichmann’s 1962 Letter to President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi of Israel A handwritten letter dated May 29, 1962, by Adolf Eichmann to the president of Israel asking for a pardon and commutation of his death sentence for war crimes was released to the public for the first time on Wednesday. It is not true that I was personally of such a high rank as to be able to persecute, or that I myself was a persecutor in the pursuit of the Jews, in the face of such an abundant rule it is clear the judges in their ruling ignored the fact that I never served in such a high position as required to be involved independently in such decisive responsibilities. Nor did I give any order in my own name, but only ever acted “by order of.” Even had I been as the judges assessed the driving, zealous force in the persecution of the Jews, such a thing would have been evident in my promotion and other awards. Yet I received no such advantages. It is also incorrect that I never let myself be influenced by human emotions. Specifically after having witnessed the outrageous human atrocities, I immediately asked to be transferred. Also, during the police investigation I voluntarily revealed horrors that had been unknown until then, in order to help establish the indisputable truth. I declare once again, as I did in the presence of the court: I detest as the greatest of crimes the horrors which were perpetrated against the Jews and think it right that the initiators of these terrible deeds will stand trial before the law now and in the future. Video This archival footage shows Adolf Eichmann standing trial in 1961 for war crimes committed during World War II in Germany. He was executed by hanging the next year. Credit Credit British Movietone, via Associated Press Notwithstanding, there is a need to draw a line between the leaders responsible and the people like me forced to serve as mere instruments in the hands of the leaders. I was not a responsible leader, and as such do not feel myself guilty. I am not able to recognize the court’s ruling as just, and I ask, Your Honor Mr. President, to exercise your right to grant pardons, and order that the death penalty not be carried out. Adolf Eichmann Jerusalem, 29.5.1962

Letters
Adolf Eichmann
Yitzhak Ben-Zvi
Israel
World War II
Amnesties Commutations and Pardons
Holocaust and Nazis
Capital punishment


California: Climate Change Law Signed

Abstract: Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed a law to bolster California’s use of renewable energy and make buildings more efficient, but it does not include a reduction in gasoline use that he had promoted. The law will require the state to generate half its energy from renewable sources by 2030, up from a current target of 33 percent by 2020. The centerpiece of the law was a mandatory 50 percent reduction in the use of petroleum across the state, but that piece of the legislation was withdrawn amid opposition from the oil industry.

California
Climate Change
Jerry Brown
Renewable energy
Global Warming
Oil and Gasoline
Energy Efficiency


Gates, Buffett Say China Charity Meeting a Success

Abstract: BEIJING — After a night of wining and dining 50 of China ’s richest people in the name of promoting philanthropy, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates told a horde of journalists on Thursday that the biggest difference between eating with Chinese tycoons and Western ones was the food. Thus ended the two billionaires’ mission to promote charity in China, a journey that provoked weeks of breathless speculation here about whether this nation’s much resented class of superrich was too miserly to measure up to Western philanthropic standards. At a news conference, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates said the answer was an emphatic “no.” “I was amazed last night, really, at how similar the questions and discussions and all that was to the dinners we had in the U.S.,” said Mr. Buffett, who had wisecracked about the food. “The same motivations tend to exist. The mechanism for manifesting those motivations may differ from country to country.” Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates, two of the best known and most admired Westerners here, announced last month that they planned to invite 50 wealthy Chinese entrepreneurs to dinner in Beijing to encourage philanthropy among China’s new rich. The mission became the subject of feverish news coverage — and something of a litmus test of Chinese generosity — after it was reported that some tycoons were turning down the invitation because they feared they would be pressed to donate money. The two men have made headlines worldwide for enlisting Western tycoons in a public promise to give away their fortunes either during their lifetimes or in bequests after their deaths. To date, 40 people have taken the pledge, and at least one Chinese multimillionaire has said he will join them. On Thursday, the two men pronounced the dinner an unqualified success, saying that two-thirds of those who were invited had shown up, and that more than half of them had offered their own ideas on how Chinese philanthropy should work. The guest list was not made public, but the Chinese news media reported that it included Jet Li, the movie star; Niu Gensheng, the founder of a Chinese dairy business; and Pan Shiyi and Zhang Xin, who control the SOHO China real estate empire. As with four earlier dinners held in the United States, Mr. Buffett and Mr. Gates said, no one at the Beijing event was asked to donate money or to promise to engage in charity. While they have made follow-up telephone calls to some previous guests, Mr. Buffett said: “Bill and I will not be calling anybody. What happens in China will depend on what the Chinese people feel about a project of this sort.” China is widely reported to be second only to the United States in the number of dollar billionaires. Mr. Gates and Mr. Buffett said the nation was unique in that its wealthy class had arisen almost wholly in the past 30 years, so philanthropic practices that are entrenched among European and American dynasties are new here, and open to change. “What you have is a first generation of fortune,” Mr. Gates said, “and it’s natural that they’re thinking through, in this society in particular, ‘What do you do?’ ” The two said the dinner was not a long planned matter, but an offshoot of a trip that Mr. Buffett had already scheduled to Guangdong and Hunan Provinces, where BYD Company, a maker of clean-energy automobiles, has factories. Mr. Buffett’s investment conglomerate, Berkshire Hathaway, holds a 10 percent stake in the company. “Bill and I did not sit down, take a map of the world, and say, ‘We’re going to go to that one and that one and that one,’ ” Mr. Buffett said. But Mr. Gates suggested that their philanthropic globetrotting was not yet over. “We may do an event in India,” he said.

China
Philanthropy
Buffett Warren E
Gates Bill


Shaking Off the Horror of the Past in India

Abstract: He is a talented Indian, who lives in the United States with his talented wife. He is an engineer with an M.B.A. and works in a credit ratings agency. He is a law-abiding man, a good father and a good husband. Ten years ago it might have been unthinkable that such a person would admire a man whom some have accused of responsibility for the violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of people, who were stabbed, beaten or burned alive. But the talented Indian does, even as the 10th anniversary of the carnage falls this month. That is the achievement of Narendra Modi , the chief minister of the prosperous state of Gujarat, the most popular face among the leaders of the rightist Bharatiya Janata Party, and the man who the talented Indian believes will one day become the prime minister of India . Mr. Modi has managed to endear himself to a vast section of India’s economically powerful urban middle class and business community, at home and abroad, by resurrecting Hindu pride as a form of patriotism. Mr. Modi’s rise is a consequence of two horrific events, which occurred in Gujarat months after he was appointed chief minister of the state. On Feb. 27, 2002, almost 60 people, most of them Hindu pilgrims, were burned alive in a train compartment near the town of Godhra. Various investigations into the event came up with conflicting conclusions as if to suit every ideology and associated theories. Secular Indians, whom Mr. Modi sometimes refers to as “pseudo-secularists,” wanted to believe a report that determined that the fire was a tragic accident. Others wanted to believe the reports that said a Muslim mob had planned the attack and set the train on fire, a line that Mr. Modi took in the aftermath of the incident. Last year, a special court convicted several people of murder and sentenced them to death or to life in prison. In the days that followed the burning of the coach, riots broke out in Gujarat that left hundreds dead, most of them Muslims. As the massacre continued, journalists, activists and several senior police officers in Gujarat who spoke to the news media on the condition of anonymity said that Mr. Modi’s government was complicit in the violence. Mr. Modi, for his part, asserted that the violence was “a spontaneous reaction of the Hindus.” While reporting from Gujarat on the aftermath of the riots, I stumbled upon the fact that a senior minister in Mr. Modi’s cabinet, Haren Pandya, had testified in a shroud of secrecy before a tribunal that was investigating the cause of the riots. When I approached Mr. Pandya about this, he told me that he had told the tribunal that on the night of Feb. 27, Mr. Modi held a meeting with senior police officers and bureaucrats during which he is alleged to have instructed the police to allow the mobs to vent their anger on Muslims. It is a charge that Mr. Modi has consistently denied. Mr. Pandya, who was a political adversary of Mr. Modi, told me that he did not attend that meeting, but that other people who were present had told him what had happened. Months later, Mr. Pandya was found shot dead in his car. When Mr. Modi went to his house to pay his respects, Mr. Pandya’s widow told him he was responsible for her husband’s death and asked him to leave. But a few months later, several Muslim youths were arrested in connection with Mr. Pandya’s killing, and their motive was said to be vengeance for the riots. Twelve of them were later convicted of murder by a special court and sentenced, but the Gujarat High Court overturned the murder convictions, alleging flaws in the investigation. The Gujarat government and an investigating agency have since challenged this in the Indian Supreme Court. Last year, a senior police officer in Gujarat, Sanjiv Bhatt, alleged in an affidavit to the Indian Supreme Court that he had evidence that pointed to Mr. Modi’s involvement in the killings of Muslims. But, a few days ago, the Special Investigations Team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate Mr. Modi’s role said that it had no “prosecutable evidence” against him. It is unlikely, though, that the matter will be allowed to rest. When the violence had just subsided in Gujarat, I met Praveen Togadia, a leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, a rightist Hindu organization, at his home in Ahmedabad. But he told me he would not let me enter his house because, he presumed, I was Christian. (Weeks later, in a telephone conversation, he seemed friendlier.) He gave the interview sitting on a swing outside. He said that the English language news media had demonized Mr. Modi, but that he was happy about that portrayal. Every minute of criticism on the television channels, he said, would win Mr. Modi thousands of votes in the approaching state elections. He was right. In 2002, Mr. Modi emerged from the polls stronger than before. Mr. Modi has grown in stature since. He has portrayed himself as a man who can get things done fast for the people in his care — a man who could be prime minister. He has even reached out to Muslims through public meetings, though recently, when a Muslim leader offered him an Islamic cap, Mr. Modi refused to wear it. Still, nothing has diminished the popularity of Mr. Modi, which has only continued to grow. More than ever, the talented Indian sees a modern leader in Mr. Modi — an efficient man who can build roads and industries with great speed, even though, somehow, 10 years ago he was not efficient enough to save hundreds of Muslims from the “spontaneous reaction of the Hindus.” Manu Joseph is editor of the Indian newsweekly Open and author of the novel “Serious Men.”

India
Modi Narendra
Politics and Government
Hinduism
Muslims and Islam
Deaths (Fatalities)
Religion and Belief
Economic Conditions and Trends


After Barrage of Personal Attacks, Indonesian Presidential Election Tightens

Abstract: JAKARTA, Indonesia — The allegations have been flying thick and fast as Indonesia’s presidential election campaign nears its end. One candidate has been accused of lying about his ethnicity, his religious affiliation and even whether he is the biological father of one of his children. The other has been branded a murderous “psychopath,” and has faced rumors that he has been debilitated by a stroke. Smears have had a place in previous Indonesian elections, but this year’s contest, fueled by social media, has hit new lows amid fears that the mudslinging is actually swaying voters. Indonesians will go to the polls on Wednesday to elect a successor to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who won the country’s first direct presidential election in 2004 and then re-election in 2009. Joko Widodo, 53, the populist governor of Jakarta, is running against Prabowo Subianto, 62, a former army general during the administration of the dictator Suharto, his father-in-law. Mr. Prabowo is popular among urban and middle- and upper-class voters despite widespread allegations of human rights abuses during his military career. Mr. Joko, a former mayor with no link to Indonesia’s authoritarian past, had been leading the race by a comfortable margin over the past few months. But Mr. Prabowo has narrowed the gap in recent weeks, and now the race is too close to call. Though analysts believe Mr. Prabowo has won over many voters because of strong campaign appearances, they say smears against Mr. Joko have also helped. Those analysts, as well as a large study of social media, say Mr. Joko has been the target of most of the attacks during the campaign. A nationwide survey released on June 29 by Indo Barometer , a respected polling company, found that a 13-point lead Mr. Joko had over Mr. Prabowo before official campaigning began in early June had shrunk to 3 points. Some of the most damaging accusations — made anonymously online — suggest Mr. Joko is ethnic Chinese and a former Christian, which would turn off many in this Muslim-majority country where resentment of often-wealthier Chinese Christians runs high. Mr. Joko has repeatedly asserted he is Javanese and a Muslim, and Mr. Prabowo has not questioned that. “Smear campaigning is difficult to detect in surveys, but I have found that people who identify themselves as ‘Muslim voters’ are now equally supporting each candidate, while before the campaign, the majority of them supported Joko Widodo — almost 50 percent to 37 percent,” said Muhammad Qodari, executive director of Indo Barometer. “Now it’s equal at 44 percent,” he said. “I can’t think of any other conclusion except that Muslim voters are being influenced.” The poll found that Mr. Joko’s lead among rural Indonesians — his political base — had narrowed to 5 percentage points from 13, Mr. Qodari said. Image Prabowo Subianto, in Central Java Province last week, was a military leader under Suharto. Credit Idhad Zakaria/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images It is unclear who is behind most of the accusations that have become the topics of daily gossip among many Indonesians. Many of the rumors have been put forward in tabloid news reports, anonymous text messages and countless comments on social media sites slamming the two men. The rumor about Mr. Joko being a Christian started online in May, when a photograph of a certificate purportedly belonging to him began circulating on social media sites stating that he was of Chinese descent and was a former Christian. A separate message that made the rounds online claimed that Mr. Joko was unable to properly perform Muslim prayers. In early June, Obor Rakyat, a tabloid newspaper that began publishing in April, made similar allegations and later added that Mr. Joko was not the biological father of his first child. Mr. Joko has denied the stories. Mr. Prabowo has been a target of negative campaigning as well. In early June, A. M. Hendropriyono, a retired army general who is serving on Mr. Joko’s campaign team and who was once Mr. Prabowo’s superior officer, called Mr. Prabowo a “psychopath” during a news conference and claimed that he had failed a mental health evaluation while in the military. The military has refused to say if Mr. Prabowo passed or failed an evaluation. Last month, after rumors spread that Mr. Prabowo had been debilitated by a stroke, journalists peppered his campaign for information. Mr. Prabowo’s campaign denied that he had had a stroke and that he had failed the mental health evaluation; his campaign team denounced the claims and filed a complaint against Mr. Hendropriyono. Mr. Prabowo, who did have at least one stroke several years ago, has been mentally sharp during the campaign. Still, Mr. Joko and Mr. Kalla appear to have been the target of most of the personal attacks. PoliticaWave, an Indonesian social media study group, examined 24,000 social media conversations in May and found that the ticket was targeted by a ratio of eight to one, compared with Mr. Prabowo and Hatta Rajasa, his running mate. The intensity of the attacks, analysts say, has been fueled in part by this year’s two-ticket race. When Indonesia held its first direct presidential election in 2004, there were five tickets. In 2009, there were three. In both contests there were limited instances of smear tactics. This time, with only Mr. Joko and Mr. Prabowo contesting — offering vastly different choices amid a charged political atmosphere — the electorate is polarized, analysts said. Mr. Joko has been campaigning on the issues that made him a popular mayor and governor, including fighting corruption and improving education and health care. Mr. Prabowo has been more nationalistic, promoting an Indonesia-first approach to foreign investment and elaborate development projects, and promising decisive leadership. “Like the United States, Indonesia has complex politics with high stakes, so people are willing to do a lot to win the election, including defaming their opponents,” said R. William Liddle , an emeritus professor of political science at Ohio State University, who closely monitors Indonesian and Southeast Asian politics. “If I was an Indonesian, I would be worried about how destabilizing these things could be.” A pugnacious campaigning style appears to have become the norm in Indonesia, said Effendi Gazali, a Jakarta-based political scientist and communications analyst. “Our politicians gradually have embraced the spirit of attacking rival campaigns, though they’ve needed to adjust to what level they think society could stand or accept,” he said.

Indonesia
Election
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono
Joko Widodo
Prabowo Subianto
Campaign advertising


Man, 84, Dies After Being Found Unresponsive at Queens Spa

Abstract: An 84-year-old man died on Sunday after he was found unresponsive in a hot tub at a popular spa in Queens, the police said. The man, Hock Ma, of Forest Hills, was found floating in a hot tub at Spa Castle in College Point around 6:20 p.m., the police said. He was taken to Flushing Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. The police were investigating Mr. Ma’s death, and the city’s health department was investigating the spa, which has several pools, baths and saunas. The health department said it would review the spa’s safety plan, which includes policies for personnel. Mr. Ma was unconscious when he was pulled from a shallow pool called a Bade pool, said Stephanie Chon, a spokeswoman for Spa Castle. A manager performed CPR on him, she said. Safety is a priority at all of the spa’s facilities, Ms. Chon said in a statement. “Safety precautions are clearly posted in our facilities, and the staff in the area is CPR certified,” she said. “Our thoughts are with the family at this time.” Mr. Ma, who was retired after running a dry cleaning business, had visited the spa with several family members on Sunday, his daughter Mary Ma said. Her father was healthy, she said, and his family did not know what led to his death. “We’re in shock right now,” she said.

Hock Ma
Spa Castle
Accidents and Safety
College Point Queens
Fatalities,casualties


Public Enemy? At Home in Mexico, ‘El Chapo’ Is Folk Hero No. 1

Abstract: CULIACÁN, Mexico — When José Antonio Sevilla and his three brothers learned that the notorious drug trafficker known as El Chapo had escaped from prison, they jumped out of their chairs and shouted with glee. “El Chapo got out! He’s the greatest of them all,” said Mr. Sevilla, 19, a self-professed fan of the drug kingpin, whose full name is Joaquín Guzmán Loera . “He was famous before, but now he’s even more famous.” Mr. Sevilla, an auto mechanic, was so excited that he attended a march through the streets of Culiacán, the capital of Mr. Guzmán’s home state, this week to celebrate. He carried a sign that a woman gave him, which read, “El Chapo is more of a president than Peña Nieto,” a reference to Mexico ’s president, Enrique Peña Nieto. Here in Sinaloa State, where Mr. Guzmán was born, and even in other parts of Mexico, the drug trafficker’s stunning escape through a hidden tunnel under what was supposed to be the country’s most secure prison has enhanced his status as an outlaw folk hero. Image People gathered on Thursday in Culiacán, Mexico, in anticipation of a rally on behalf of the escaped drug kingpin Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo. Credit Brett Gundlock for The New York Times There are few illusions about the damage Mr. Guzmán has done. American officials accuse him of contributing to “the death and destruction of millions of lives across the globe through drug addiction, violence and corruption.” Yet for many Mexicans, he is an unusual combination of Robin Hood and billionaire, a source of mirth, grudging respect and even outright reverence because of his repeated ability to outfox the country’s deeply unpopular government. He fought the law, and he won. He beat what many Mexicans see as a corrupt and feckless governing class. And Mexico, just like America, loves an outlaw. “Why do people admire him?” said Adrián Cabrera, a blogger in Culiacán wearing a black T-shirt with a picture of El Chapo. “Because he’s a living legend. He’s like Al Capone. He’s like Lucky Luciano. Like Tony Soprano. Like Scarface. He’s like a character on a television show, except that he’s alive, he’s real.” Image Mr. Guzmán headed the Sinaloa drug cartel, named for his home state. Above, a view of Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa. Credit Brett Gundlock for The New York Times In the cultural center in Badiraguato, the main town in the municipality where Mr. Guzmán grew up, there is a list of the “notable people” born in the area, including a general in the Mexican Revolution, a journalist, a lawyer and a congressman. There is no mention of its most famous son, Mr. Guzmán, but the center’s director of events argues that El Chapo deserves to be on the list, too. “He has never had any problems with people here,” said the events director, Guadalupe Olivas. “He was poor, and now he has lots of money and lots of power.” Mr. Guzmán was born in the 1950s in a remote hamlet in the lumpy green mountains that are the backdrop to the state capital, in an area known as the Golden Triangle, which today is Mexico’s prime marijuana growing region. How Mexico’s Most-Wanted Drug Lord Escaped From Prison (Again) See the route that Joaquín Guzmán Loera, a drug kingpin known as El Chapo, used to escape from Mexico’s most secure prison. Over the years, Mr. Guzmán rose through the ranks of Mexican drug gangs until he came to head the largest of them all, the Sinaloa cartel, named for the state where he continued to spend a good deal of time even as a wanted man. When he was arrested last year, the authorities found him at the Sinaloan beach resort of Mazatlán. Mr. Guzmán operates a vast international organization. Forbes magazine has included him in its list of the world’s richest people, with an estimated net worth of more than $1 billion. He escaped from prison once before, by some accounts hiding in a laundry cart, and his most recent breakout was highly elaborate: He passed through a sophisticated tunnel about a mile long, one equipped with lights, ventilation and even a motorcycle on rails to excavate the dirt. “It took a lot of intelligence to do that,” said Erica Lara, who sells shaved ice in the plaza of Badiraguato. “There are powerful people who have to serve their entire sentences. But he escaped two times.” Image A man walked through Jardines Del Humaya in Culiacán, home to various large mausoleums. Dead cartel members are buried here, giving the location some notoriety. Credit Brett Gundlock for The New York Times Many here said that Mr. Guzmán helped residents, often in small ways. A family with a sick member might receive a visitor delivering money for treatment, they said, although none could point to a specific example. While Sinaloa is Mexico’s tomato-growing capital, the area around Badiraguato has the distinction of being the cradle of the Mexican drug trade. Besides Mr. Guzmán, several other major traffickers were born here or in the nearby hills. Many here say that the streets were paved using money from traffickers. While buying a shaved ice in the Badiraguato plaza, Amairany Avilez, 20, called Mr. Guzmán “my hero.” She said that the economy in the region depended on Mr. Guzmán, and that people might now get work on land he owns or could grow more marijuana to sell to his organization. “When they arrested him, people around here had to go back to growing corn,” Ms. Avilez said. “Now the corn will turn into marijuana.” Experts say that drug production does not depend much on whether a single trafficker, no matter how influential, is in or out of jail. Beyond that, Sinaloa last year ranked second in the government’s measure of intentional homicides per capita, at a level more than two and a half times the national average. Yet many people here said that their state was relatively calm thanks to Mr. Guzmán’s influence. Scarlett López, 22, who works at a finance company in Culiacán, said that while she disapproved of Mr. Guzmán’s drug trafficking, she was glad he was out of prison because it meant that even worse drug gangs — the Zetas, for instance, known for cutting off people’s heads and other acts of graphic violence — would be less likely to try to encroach on the state. “I feel better because we’re protected,” she said. “There are people who are a lot worse.” Near a government office building here in the state capital is an elaborate shrine dedicated to a folk saint known as Jesús Malverde. He is often called the narco-saint because he is worshiped by many drug traffickers. Malverde is supposedly based on a local man who lived from 1870 to 1909, and was known as a bandit who stole from the rich to give to the poor. He is also worshiped by poor people, farmers, fishermen and others. Image Mr. Guzman is something of a folk hero in his home state. Credit Brett Gundlock for The New York Times This week, a stream of devotees visited the shrine, some lighting candles, some kneeling to pray before a plaster bust of Malverde, portrayed with black hair and mustache, a white western-style shirt and black neckerchief. There were flowers on either side, and the air was dense with the smell of hot wax. A statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe stood by the entrance. The walls were covered in plaques left by devotees, thanking Malverde for favors or miracles. The government has offered a reward of about $3.8 million for information leading to Mr. Guzmán’s capture, but people visiting the shrine said they would not lend the government a hand. “The drug dealers do more for the people than the government does,” said Eric Reyes, 33, a systems engineer from Mexico City, who stopped by the shrine out of curiosity while on vacation. “If you live in a dealer’s territory he treats you well. The government won’t do anything for you. It’s all bureaucracy and red tape.” Such sentiment appears to prevail through much of the country and across social strata, including in the more upscale districts of Mexico City, where many people displayed a grudging admiration for Mr. Guzmán. Driving the private enjoyment of his escape is a deep cynicism about the government, which has such low credibility among Mexicans that many refuse to believe the official story about how El Chapo got away. Many assume that he could not have escaped without help from within the prison, and others question whether the tunnel was not simply an elaborate ruse to hide corruption that extends to the highest levels. Conspiracy theories are rife. The fact that the breakout occurred as the president was starting a trip to France is seen as indicative of higher-level collusion. The fact that a picture released by the authorities shows Mr. Guzmán with a shaved head, while video of his escape shows that he had a full head of hair, is also cause for suspicion. The escape and the humiliation it has heaped on the government have set off a kind of national catharsis. And the fact that Mr. Peña Nieto did not cut short his lengthy visit to France, where he has gone to Napoleon’s tomb and received medals, only confirmed to many how out of touch the government is. “The government is Chapo’s,” said Genero Reyes Martínez, 30, in Mexico City. “I bet he walked straight out of the main gate. That tunnel was an illusion.”

Mexico
Sinaloa Cartel
Joaquin Guzman Loera,El Chapo
Drug Abuse
Prison escape
Culiacan Mexico


Joyous Return to Torrey Pines for Golfer Pat Perez

Abstract: SAN DIEGO — Not many players on the PGA Tour sport a boxing glove head cover on their driver. There are an odd assortment of animal head covers, like lions (John Daly, Ernie Els) and tigers (Tiger Woods) and bears (Jack Nicklaus), oh my. But a boxing glove? Pat Perez is the only golfer on tour who has that symbol of a hardscrabble sport jutting out of his golf bag, like a cactus in a rose garden. His choice of head covers fits him the way a linen cap fit Ben Hogan. It is appropriate because, less than a month from his 33rd birthday, Perez has finally punched his way into the winner’s club. Two weeks ago at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, he slew all the old demons that once held him back — self-doubt, perfectionism, a quick temper and nerves down the stretch — and shot 33 under par to win his first tour event. On Wednesday at Torrey Pines Golf Course, on the eve of the Buick Invitational, Perez sat in a spot not far from where he once picked up range balls while in high school and talked about what it was like to finally raise his hand in victory after seven winless years on tour. “It was a lot of things,” he said, smiling and leaning back in a wing-backed leather chair in the media tent. “It was relief, it was excitement, it was, You did it and you proved yourself.” Even though Perez has been labeled a natural since his Little League baseball and junior golf days in San Diego, days when he beat a youngster named Tiger Woods, nothing has ever come easily to him. His family was not poor, but he was no country-club kid. To be able to play and practice, he earned his way. “I did it all,” he recalled last June, after battling through a qualifier just to get a spot in the United States Open here. “I cleaned the carts, put away the carts, picked up balls, picked up balls on the outside of the range, picked up baskets, set up the balls in the ball shed. Sometimes I took money. I did it all. Any outside job I had. I was the gofer.” Back in the familiar surroundings of Torrey Pines as a tournament winner Wednesday, Perez still seemed to relish the recollections from those days when he would do anything at all just for the joy of playing golf. “I remember when the range was over here,” he said. “The range was here where the Hilton is. You had to drive over, and it was a terrible range, and go back. Yeah. We used to park — Jake, my buddy, was the starter — and we used to pull in and then just go right to the tee.” He gestured toward the opening in the tent, pointing west, and continued: “Say we’re here, and go out to the tee. Then from 18 we’d go right to the car and leave. It was kind of a secret parking spot that nobody knew about. I remember what this place looked like forever.” Just three years after winning the 1993 world junior title, eight strokes clear of Woods, Perez played on Arizona State’s N.C.A.A. championship team. He won early in 2000, his rookie season on the Nationwide Tour, and appeared well on his way to stardom on the PGA Tour during his rookie season two years later, when he had the lead during the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach. But it was not going to be that easy. Perez’s four-stroke lead evaporated on a windy day at Pebble, and his composure melted right along with it. He slammed his driver into the ground at one point, repeatedly pounding it into the turf like a man flailing at a log with an ax. The images have followed him since, but he buried them in the desert two weeks ago. “I don’t think people realized how tough it was that day, blowing off the ocean 50 miles an hour,” he said after his win at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. “And I hadn’t been used to that. I only played Pebble when it was perfect, and it was a completely different course. But I wasn’t really ready to be thrown in that situation where I had to hit great shots and contend with the best in the world.” Now he is. His recent marriage has had a calming effect on his on-course demeanor. His work that began last year with the swing coach Mike Abbott has flattened his swing, making his ball-striking more solid with the driver and irons. It has been a fight to get where he is. Perez wants to keep punching away so he does not go backward. “The thing that drives me the most is to never be where I was,” he said. “I think that’s why I’m so critical and hard all the time, because I always want to move forward.”


25 Years With Manchester United, and Still Itching for a Fight

Abstract: PAHIATUA, NEW ZEALAND — It is perhaps apt that Alex Ferguson, a man driven to accept challenge, faces the daddy of tests as he reaches his 25th anniversary in charge of Manchester United . He signed up as team manager on Nov. 6, 1986. He has built and rebuilt the side many times over. He needed time in the beginning to put his attacking philosophy, his fighting spirit, into players and into all levels of a club that expects to be the best in England, and one of the best in the world. “Managing change,” he once said, “is the hardest challenge there is.” For one man to manage the changes of a club for five years is an achievement. To sustain five five-year spans is exceptional. And to approach, as he does, his 70th birthday still enthusiastic about the daily challenge of bringing fresh youth into play is unheard of. But around the corner, goading him, stimulating him, is a challenge like none before it. Manchester City, United’s closest neighbor, has spent a Gulf oil sheik’s fortune buying its way toward parity, and 10 days ago City handed United its biggest hiding in Ferguson’s time as manager. “I’d never lost 6-1 before — as a player or manager,” Fergie said. “It’s all right playing the history books, but common sense has to come into it. Having a player sent off was a killer blow, but after that we kept attacking. We went 3-1 down, 4-1 down, and we should have settled for that. But we kept attacking — our full backs were playing like wingers. “It was suicidal, crazy.” Yet it was the very instinct that Ferguson preaches. His 38 trophies in the quarter century have come through forward thinking and largely through going forward as a team that does not dull itself or the audience with too much emphasis on defense. Ferguson’s best speech was his shortest: “Go for their bloody throats.” He said that while managing Aberdeen in his native Scotland, urging young players not to be afraid of the Scottish giants Celtic and Rangers. He even breathed that fiery defiance into Aberdeen when it went for the throats of famous Real Madrid players to win the European Cup Winners Cup. Ferguson, the son of a Glasgow shipyard manual worker, was summoned south to Manchester United where another Scot, Matt Busby, had retired after making United great. Sir Matt, knighted by the British realm, built the base. Sir Alex, as Ferguson eventually became, took on that chalice in a different era. Ferguson’s players become millionaires in their teens. He manages those egos, sometimes with fieriness known as The Ferguson Hairdryer, the rage directed at players who let the team down — especially lazy or big-headed players. The Hairdryer, says Ferguson, is a myth. He reckons he has mellowed; the temper only simmers now. It undoubtedly did after City’s 6-1 victory at United’s Old Trafford stadium. A soothing glass of red wine, the short drive home to his wife, Cathy, and, he maintains, the ire is gone. One doubts that. The City challenge will smolder for the rest of his time. The players will know it, feel it, hear it. They come nowadays from 15 nations spanning all creeds, cultures and continents. Going for the throat is simple enough to translate. The standard United sets is also unequivocal. The team’s history demands that it be among the best, and in the best style. And whoever comes into the squad sees what it takes in the form of Ryan Giggs who, as a boy and now the most senior player, has reached those standards every season that Ferguson has ruled. But the boss has been ruthless, too, in moving out players or moving in new ones. Managing change is his business, the key to life. This weekend pits Ferguson’s chastened team against Sunderland, a club coached by his former stalwart defender and captain, Steve Bruce. Bruce is under pressure because Sunderland has spent its entire budget and has yet to see good value for that expenditure. For 90 minutes, Ferguson will go through every emotion from childlike joy if his forwards strike to grumpy old rage if his defenders slip up. Patience is not his virtue, and pity for an opponent he knows like a son will be nonexistent, while the points are at stake. If United can score six, possibly endangering the employment of his former most dependable defender, Fergie will dance on the sideline. If Bruce needs a stiff drink, a word of advice or consolation, his old boss will provide it. “I’m lucky I’ve been here such a long time,” Ferguson said in a recent BBC interview. “Nobody talks of sacking Alex Ferguson, or any of my staff because we’ve been here more than 20 years. “So I can look years ahead and visualize the youngsters coming in. We’ve got years on our side. You look at other clubs, and they’re sacking the manager after a year.” He was born into Calvinist trade unionism, where the workers had to stand together to earn, in his father’s time and in his own, when he briefly apprenticed in the shipyard to be a toolmaker for a weekly stipend of £7, or about $10 He works now for millions. In the business of soccer, at the level he maintains by winning the English Premier League more seasons than not, he earns his wage several times over with his judgment of when to sell, whom to buy and which members of the club’s famed academy to push at the right time into a team followed in more than 200 countries. When Ferguson reached age 50, he wondered how much longer he could manage his job. When he reached 65, he talked of retirement. Indeed, he announced his retirement date, and then reneged after his wife asked him daily what would he do with his time, with his unspent emotions, his rage, his desire, his spirit to face challenge. Now, he says, three, maybe four more years. The youngsters are growing, and he will leave his successor a better team going forward than looking back. But there is a challenge out there that appeals to him. It is not, per se, City. It is Barcelona, the team that has twice beaten United in Champions League finals in three years. Ferguson has never seen a better style, and better players to carry it out, than Barca’s. He sets United’s ambition by that measure. Twenty-five seasons on, 2,050 matches under his belt, and the boss is bent on winning the next one. And on improvement.

Soccer
Hughes Rob
Manchester United (Soccer Team)
Coaches and Managers


In Divide Over Health Care Overhaul, 2 Major Unions Withdraw From a Coalition

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Two labor unions have pulled out of a broad coalition seeking agreement on major changes in the health care system. The action, by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union , shows the seeds of discord behind the optimistic talk at a White House conference on health care this week. It also illustrates the difficulty of reaching agreement on two of the knottiest issues in the health care debate: whether to offer a new government-sponsored insurance option, and whether to require employers to help pay for employee health benefits. Labor unions and leading Democrats in Congress support both ideas. But insurers and many employers oppose them. The coalition, known as the Healthcare Reform Dialogue, is led by the president of the American Hospital Association, Richard J. Umbdenstock, and includes representatives of doctors and nurses, patients and consumers, insurers, drug companies and employers of all sizes. Peter S. Adler, president of the Keystone Center, a nonprofit group facilitating the discussions, said the dialogue started with 20 participating organizations and now had 18. “S.E.I.U. and Afscme have left the table,” Mr. Adler said Friday in an interview. “They have voluntarily pulled out at this moment. We are trying to keep the lines of communication open.” Mr. Adler, a professional mediator with 30 years of experience, said the coalition had been meeting since September. It tentatively plans to issue recommendations later this month on how to rein in health costs and help achieve the goal of universal coverage. Congress is grappling with the same issues and is struggling to find bipartisan consensus. Members of the dialogue said they had been unable to reach agreement on proposals for a new public insurance plan or a requirement for employers to contribute to the cost of coverage. Steven Kreisberg, director of collective bargaining and health care policy at the federation of state, county and municipal employees, said: “I can confirm that we did drop out of the dialogue last week. We are no longer part of the group.” Mr. Kreisberg said his union had withdrawn for “various reasons,” which he declined to discuss. The federation has flooded Congress with petitions supporting affordable health care for all. The petitions say Americans should have “the choice of a public plan, so we’re not left at the mercy of the same private insurance companies that have gotten us into this mess.” In the past, the federation has suggested that a public plan option could “build both public support and the infrastructure for a single-payer system” at some distant point in the future. Insurance companies and many Republicans resist the idea of a new public plan, saying it would have unfair advantages and could ultimately drive some private insurers from the market. One participant in the dialogue, speaking on condition of anonymity because the talks were supposed to be secret, said, “The final report will be a consensus product reflecting the lowest common denominator.” Another participant, Ronald F. Pollack, executive director of Families USA, a liberal-leaning consumer group, said the two unions “wanted a more robust, expansive agreement.” In the campaign, Mr. Obama proposed a public plan option and said he would require large employers to contribute to the cost of coverage for their employees or to the cost of the public plan. Lori Lodes, a spokeswoman for the Service Employees International Union, said: “We support the public insurance option. We strongly support the health care proposal President Obama laid out in the campaign.” Ms. Lodes declined to discuss her union’s relationship with the coalition. She referred questions to Mr. Adler, the mediator. The most active participants in the coalition include Karen M. Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, a trade group, and Billy Tauzin, president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents drug companies. Top executives from the American Medical Association, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and the United States Chamber of Commerce have also been participating. In a further effort to build consensus, the Obama administration announced on Friday that it would hold five regional forums on health care. They will be held in California, Iowa, Michigan, North Carolina and Vermont.

American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees


Denmark: A Claim to the North Pole

Abstract: Scientific data shows that Greenland’s continental shelf is connected to a ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, giving Denmark a claim to the North Pole and any energy resources beneath it, Denmark’s foreign minister has said. Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said Denmark would deliver a claim on Monday to a United Nations panel in New York that would eventually decide control of the area, which Russia and Canada also covet. The five Arctic countries — the United States, Russia, Norway, Canada and Denmark — all have areas surrounding the North Pole, but only Canada and Russia had indicated an interest in it before Denmark’s claim. Mr. Lidegaard said he expected no quick decisions. From 2007 to 2012, Danish scientists, with colleagues from Canada, Sweden and Russia, surveyed a 1,240-mile-long underwater mountain range that runs north of Siberia, concluding that Greenland, a semiautonomous Danish territory, is geologically attached to the ridge. That prompted the Danes to claim the right to exploit an area of 345,600 square miles.

Denmark
North Pole
Greenland
Arctic Ocean
Martin Lidegaard
Energy industry


Defense Rests in Jerry Sandusky Case

Abstract: STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — With the news that the child sexual abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky will go to the jury Thursday, after just nine days of testimony and arguments, whatever sense of relief people here feel is matched by the knowledge that the ordeal of the scandal that rocked the major institutions in this corner of Pennsylvania is far from over. Defense lawyers rested their case Wednesday morning, ruling out a prospect that people here had viewed with a mix of fascination and dread: that Sandusky, a former Penn State assistant football coach, would take the witness stand to answer charges that he sexually abused 10 boys. The prosecution and the defense will make closing arguments Thursday. But lurking ahead are the pending criminal charges against two former top Penn State officials, the possibility of further revelations leading to more indictments, potential lawsuits by Sandusky’s accusers, and an investigation commissioned by the university’s board of trustees, conducted by a former F.B.I. director, Louis J. Freeh. In a region where emotions and livelihoods rise and fall with the university, people voiced eagerness to put the trial and the entire scandal behind them, but they are in for more news coverage, more accusations, more court cases. “This trial is the big thing that people want to have resolved,” said Eddie Magulick, owner of Eddie’s, a bicycle shop across College Avenue from the Penn State campus. “It’s been devastating for this region, no question.” Eric Silver, a sociology professor, said: “My sense of the situation is that the community is following the trial quietly but intently, and that folks here will be relieved when it is all over. I would guess that most people also are worried about what might come next.” While some people here wanted Sandusky to testify and endure cross-examination by prosecutors, others were grateful to be spared that spectacle — in his few media interviews, he has been awkward and ineffectual in defending himself — or just glad that the trial might wrap up that much sooner. “Let justice be done, and let’s get past it as soon as possible,” said Lynn McCoy, a hair stylist. When the charges against Sandusky were made public last fall, several university officials were accused of not taking action to stop him when they should have. Graham B. Spanier, Penn State’s president, and Joe Paterno, the legendary head football coach who died in January, lost their jobs. Gary Schultz, a senior vice president, and Tim Curley, the athletic director, were indicted on charges of failing to report one episode to law enforcement, and lying to a grand jury about it. On Wednesday, in the Centre County courthouse in nearby Bellefonte, Sandusky’s defense team called its final witnesses, still trying to sow doubt among jurors about the prosecution’s case on 51 criminal charges. One of the most dramatic prosecution witnesses last week was Mike McQueary, the only witness aside from the accusers who said he saw Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy. McQueary testified that in 2001, when he was a young graduate assistant coach, he saw Sandusky pinning a young boy against the wall of a locker room shower at Penn State, his arm wrapped around the boy’s midsection, and claimed, “He was having sex with a minor.” But on Wednesday, a McQueary family friend, Jonathan Dranov, testified that on the night of the incident, McQueary told him a somewhat different story. At the request of McQueary’s father, John, Dranov said, he drove to their home and found Mike McQueary “visibly shaken and upset.” “His voice was trembling; his hands were shaking,” said Dranov, who is a doctor. He said Mike McQueary told him that in the locker room, “he heard some sexual sounds,” but did not claim to see any physical contact. He said McQueary told him that a boy stepped out of the shower, not seeming upset, and then “an arm reached out and pulled the boy back.” A little later, he saw Sandusky step from the shower. Asked by a prosecutor, Joseph McGettigan, if McQueary was someone who was easily shaken, Dranov said, “Certainly not.” A defense lawyer, Karl Rominger, asked, “Did he describe any particular sex act?” “No, he did not,” Dranov said. “He implied that it had gone on with what he had heard, sexual sounds,” but, he said, McQueary was too upset to elaborate on what kinds of sounds he meant. The defense called as a witness Sara Ganim, the reporter for The Patriot-News of Harrisburg who won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking the story of the scandal. But after her lawyer conferred with both sides in the case and Judge John M. Cleland, she did not take the stand. Instead, McGettigan explained to the jury that all sides agreed on two things: first, that Ganim would have been asked whether she spoke to the mother of one accuser before any charges were filed against Sandusky and told her how to contact law enforcement authorities; and second, that she would have answered “yes.” The defense has repeatedly suggested that the abuse stories were suggested to the accusers by others, or that they were motivated by hopes of lawsuit payouts.

Sandusky Jerry
Sex Crimes
Pennsylvania State University
Child Abuse and Neglect


Aging Jet Fleets an Added Strain on U.S. Airlines

Abstract: An aging fleet is catching up with domestic airlines, and the maintenance issues that inevitably arise are likely to worsen as the industry’s jets grow older and its finances weaken. The airlines’ long-running problems have put them in a fix that many car owners can appreciate: the carriers have been too financially squeezed to buy new planes, so they held onto old ones. And now the repair bills are mounting. Many of the older planes are also gas guzzlers, making them even more expensive to operate as fuel prices hit record highs. “As planes get older, they just have more and more intense inspections,” said David G. Neeleman, the founder of JetBlue Airways, a carrier he started with new planes to keep operating costs low. “All those landings take a toll.” The problem that led American Airlines to ground its fleet of 300 MD-80s this week and cancel more than 3,000 flights was a mundane service issue: how to wrap and attach wiring bundles inside wheel wells. Had American done the work correctly the first time, the turmoil would have been avoided. But it points to a bigger problem. That fleet, with jets averaging 18 years in age, is subject to hundreds of Federal Aviation Administration airworthiness directives, so maintaining the planes is expensive and a logistical and paperwork nightmare. Some newer planes, by comparison, are covered by just a handful of directives, making it much simpler and cheaper to keep them in compliance. The F.A.A. crackdown, along with calls for an overhaul of the agency, threatens to increase maintenance expenses just as the industry is entering yet another financial downturn. On Friday, Frontier Airlines of Denver became the latest carrier to file for bankruptcy protection, the victim of fuel prices and jittery financial markets. Fuel costs and an inability to raise fares much have sent most of the industry back into the red after a brief two-year period of profits. For the nine months ended Dec. 31, for instance, Frontier managed to raise its average fare just 21 cents over the prior period, to $102.97. Now, losses for the industry are expected in 2008, and there could be more bankruptcies. Frontier, with 6,000 employees and 62 Airbus jets, plans to keep flying its normal schedule. But it has struggled to stay aloft in recent weeks, agreeing to sell off four planes to raise cash. Its cash position had dwindled to $170 million last December. Its filing follows bankruptcy filings by Skybus Airlines, ATA Airlines and Aloha Airgroup in recent weeks. American, meanwhile, said late Friday that it had 231 of its 300 MD-80s back in service. It expects to cancel about 200 flights Saturday and run a normal schedule on Sunday, with all the MD-80s in service. To cut costs and reduce payrolls, airlines have increasingly sent maintenance work out to contractors in recent years. Roughly two-thirds of maintenance was outsourced as of 2006, according to testimony last year by the Transportation Department’s inspector general, Calvin L. Scovel III. That was up from a decade earlier, when about one third of the maintenance work was outsourced. The F.A.A., however, has not moved as swiftly to shift its inspectors to monitor these hundreds of contractors, causing concern that the agency is not scrutinizing some of the highest-risk work on planes. Much of the work is sent overseas. But at the time of Mr. Scovel’s remarks before a House subcommittee, just 103 of the F.A.A.’s 3,865 inspectors were devoted to international field offices. “The issue is not where maintenance is performed but that maintenance requires effective oversight,” Mr. Scovel said. Domestic carriers have bought few new planes in recent years and their fleets have aged, hitting an average of 12.2 years at the end of 2006, versus 10.6 years at the end of 2002. Only two domestic carriers, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines, have orders in for the fuel-efficient Boeing 787, while dozens of overseas carriers have ordered the plane. And even if domestic carriers made big orders today, they would have to wait because Boeing and Airbus are booked solid for years. The disclosure in recent weeks of breakdowns in compliance with government safety directives at Southwest Airlines and American is helping to create an odd coalition of groups calling for stricter regulation of airliner maintenance. Consumer aviation advocates, some airline labor unions and a group representing corporate travel departments are among those calling for stricter control over repairs. Kevin Mitchell runs the Business Travel Coalition, representing travel departments of major corporations, not traditionally a group given to calling for increased federal regulation. But he has managed to get scores of major companies — McDonald’s, Accenture and R. J. Reynolds among them — to sign a letter to Representative James L. Oberstar, Democrat of Minnesota and chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, asking for a stronger F.A.A. “When exposed to an increasingly unforgiving marketplace, some airlines will subordinate passenger safety to other commercial priorities, just to survive,” the group’s letter said. “That’s why there is a federal regulator.” The group is particularly distressed about the increase of outsourced work to overseas contractors, and the F.A.A.’s failure to shift resources rapidly to monitor the work. “There’s nothing wrong with outsourcing,” Mr. Mitchell said. “It’s a useful business practice.” But the inspectors need to follow the work and scrutinize it as carefully as work done at airlines, he added. Mr. Mitchell on Friday called for the removal of the F.A.A.’s acting administrator, Robert A. Sturgell. “The traveling public has had its trust broken,” Mr. Mitchell said.

American Airlines
Federal Aviation Administration
Bankruptcies
Skybus Airlines
Labor
Airlines and Airplanes
Accidents and Safety
Prices (Fares Fees and Rates)
Frontier Airlines Inc


Time for Action on Freddie and Fannie - Reuters Breakingviews

Abstract: A year after passage of the Dodd-Frank act, the $10.5 trillion American mortgage market remains in limbo. One big reason is that the law scarcely touches Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration — the government-run lenders that dominate the home loan market. The consequences of lax mortgage lending were central to the crisis that Dodd-Frank was intended to make unrepeatable. But rather than tackle the huge and highly political issue of Fannie, Freddie and the F.H.A., the law narrowly focused on one part of the market. That’s the private-label mortgage-backed securities area, source of more than $3 trillion of mortgage bonds from 2002 to 2007. The most significant new rule could require private sector financial institutions to hold at least 5 percent of securities they create by repackaging loans. Giving them some incentive to ensure the securities are creditworthy isn’t a bad idea, but it reinforces the notion that the private sector is at a competitive disadvantage to government lenders if it returns to the mortgage-backed business. That’s because Fannie and other government-run programs would be exempt from this requirement. The risk retention rule plays into another Dodd-Frank initiative: the creation of standards for safer home loans known as qualified residential mortgages. Such loans, in which the proposal is that homeowners must put 20 percent down, among other criteria, would be exempt from risk retention requirements. Banks, real estate lobbyists and consumer groups want looser standards because mortgages that don’t qualify could be costlier. That hardly seems catastrophic for borrowers when 30-year mortgage rates are as low as 4.5 percent. But it’s easy to see the point when federally backed housing agencies sometimes allow homeowners to borrow 96.5 percent of the value of their homes. In short, the reform effort so far seems to make it harder for the private sector to re-establish itself while entrenching the cost, and risk, with taxpayers. Congress and regulators must assess housing finance as one market. Until the future of the hulking government mortgage finance companies is mapped out, the worthy goals of Dodd-Frank don’t mean much. Dealing With Greece Europe’s banks can mostly withstand serious losses on their holdings of Greek sovereign debt. Officially, just eight banks failed the European Union’s latest stress tests, with a capital shortfall of 2.5 billion euros ($3.5 billion). But the exam had a major flaw: it did not require banks to apply a haircut to the majority of their holdings of euro zone peripheral debt. That’s at odds with reality. Any revised bailout package for Greece is likely to force banks to recognize at least some losses on their debt. An analysis by Breakingviews examined what would happen under such a case. It takes the banks’ holdings of sovereign debt in their banking books and applies losses to Greek, Portuguese, Irish, Spanish and Italian debt based on where the countries’ five-year bonds were trading last Friday. The value of Greek bonds, for example, is slashed in half. As a result, this analysis shows 27 banks failing, with a capital shortfall of about 25 billion euros, or 10 times the official number. That sounds scary. But the biggest problem is in Greece itself, where the hole is 13.6 billion euros. This is not much more than the 10 billion euros Greece has already set aside to recapitalize failing lenders. Portugal and Spain also take a hit under the analysis, with capital shortfalls of 3.3 billion euros and 6 billion euros, respectively. But in the context of their economies, the amount isn’t huge. Investors may quibble with some of the Breakingviews assumptions. In particular, the pass mark of 5 percent for a bank’s core Tier 1 capital ratio may seem too low. Raise it to 6 percent, and the number of failing institutions jumps to 38, and the capital hole to 45 billion euros. None of it means euro zone leaders can merrily let Greece default. They need to recapitalize banks sufficiently to deal with such an event, not merely any stresses anticipated by the official tests. And they need to put in other firewalls to prepare for any second-order impacts. But if they do, a Greek default need not be a disaster. AGNES T. CRANE, GEORGE HAY and PETER THAL LARSEN

Federal National Mortgage Assn (Fannie Mae)

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp (Freddie Mac)

Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (2010)