Investigation Into France Télécom Over Suicides

Abstract: PARIS — The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday that it was investigating France Télécom over accusations of psychological harassment related to a recent spate of suicides. The preliminary inquiry before a magistrate, or investigating judge, relates to the way the company managed its restructuring, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Senior management will be questioned, it added. The case appears to be the first of its kind in France to examine such claims against a company and to study its system of management, said Dominique Decèze, an author and journalist who has written about work safety in France and France Télécom in particular. More than 40 suicides have been reported since the start of 2008 among people who have worked for France Télécom, said the company, which employs about 100,000 people in France. France has a higher suicide rate than any other large Western country, according to World Health Organization statistics from 2005, the most recent year available. But this spate still stands out. The case has captured the attention of the French media, the public and the government because many of the suicides and more than a dozen failed suicide attempts have been attributed to work-related problems. In response, France Télécom has halted some practices identified as being particularly disruptive, like involuntary transfers, while encouraging more supportive practices, including working from home. Claudia Chemarin, a lawyer for France Télécom, denied that the company had systematically pressured employees to leave. She said the investigation would take time and would examine each case individually. The inquiry will be led by a magistrate, Pascal Gand, who will have to decide whether there is enough evidence for a more formal investigation and possibly an indictment. The judicial inquiry stems from a complaint lodged last year by the union Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques against the company’s former chief executive, Didier Lombard; Louis-Pierre Wenes, who was his deputy; and Olivier Barberot, director of human resources. Mr. Lombard left his position early this year but remains a nonexecutive director. The union said Friday in a statement that its complaint accused the management of France Télécom and its mobile phone unit Orange of conducting a “pathogenic” restructuring. The investigation, first reported on France Info radio, follows a report carried out by a work inspector, Sylvie Catala, and sent to prosecutors in February. The inspector’s report is not public, but excerpts have been published in the French media, which have described it as laying out a case that the company used various forms of psychological pressure in an effort to cut 22,000 jobs from 2006 to 2008. Company doctors had alerted management about the psychological dangers of the accompanying stress. Mr. Decèze, the expert on work safety, said there had been a “peculiarity” about the transformation of France Télécom, which was “especially brutal” as its employee numbers in France dropped by more than 50,000 in 10 years. The spate of suicides has highlighted a quirk at the heart of French society: Even with robust labor protection, workers see themselves as profoundly insecure in the face of globalization, with many complaining about being pushed beyond their limits. High labor costs borne by employers create a reluctance to hire because tough job security rules make it harder to get rid of workers later if business turns down. Since those on the payroll cannot be easily laid off, companies must somehow make a place for them, even if their skills are no longer in demand. At the same time, companies increasingly rely on short-term employment contracts, which put different strains on employees. Though three-quarters of the company has been sold by the state to investors, France Télécom retains vestiges of the lumbering national monopoly that it once was; the work force includes civil servants with lifetime job guarantees. More broadly, stress has risen at several French companies including the rail operator S.N.C.F. and the automaker Renault. Mr. Decèze forecast a surge in work-related problems at S.N.C.F., where union complaints about deteriorating conditions have met with little response from management, leading to several strikes. The French employers’ confederation, Medef, did not respond to a call seeking comment. France Télécom has already announced measures to try to address the problem under a new board, led by of Stéphane Richard, who succeeded Mr. Lombard as chief executive on March 1. Sébastien Audra, a France Télécom spokesman, said the company had completed two of six accords with unions covering a range of workplace issues like mobility and work-life balance and stress, and he said it expected to agree on the others by the summer. The company is also “doing all that it can” to keep open small sites that had been earmarked for closure. Last month, a study commissioned by France Télécom said the new management must move quickly “to take charge and encourage radical change” to put an end to the turmoil created by the suicides. The report, by Technologia, a human resources consulting firm, called for the company to continue its moratorium on reorganization, closely monitor psychosocial risk factors and create an internal network of mediators to make the personnel department more accessible. A final report is expected in May.

Suicides and Suicide Attempts
Executives and Management
France Telecom SA
Suits and Litigation
Layoffs and Job Reductions


At UConn, Being Unbeaten Isn’t Enough

Abstract: Connecticut is indisputably the best team in women’s college basketball this season, but as the N.C.A.A. tournament opens this week, the Huskies are not unanimously considered one of the greatest teams ever. Even if UConn (33-0) wins its sixth national title, the consensus is that this team lacks the depth, versatility and experience of the 2001-2 Huskies. That squad finished 39-0, winning a championship with a lineup that featured Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi , Swin Cash, Tamika Williams and Asjha Jones. On Monday, UConn was seeded first in the Trenton Region. Maryland (28-4) is the No. 1 seed in the Raleigh Region, Oklahoma (28-4) is the top seed in the Oklahoma City Region and Duke (26-5) is top-seeded in the Berkeley Region. The Huskies will open tournament play at home against Vermont (21-11) on Sunday. They have at most six games to persuade others that they deserve comparison with previous UConn champions and with such dominant teams as the 1997-98 Tennessee squad that finished 39-0 with Chamique Holdsclaw and Tamika Catchings. “You’ve got to win a national championship before you compare yourselves to those kind of teams,” said Van Chancellor, the coach at Louisiana State. Chancellor led the Houston Comets to four W.N.B.A. titles and coached the United States women’s team to a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. “Are they the best team this year? Yes,” Chancellor said. “Are they one of the best of all time? I don’t know if they’re at the top of that list. It’s just hard to put any team ahead of that Cash-Bird-Taurasi team. They may do it. But they’ve got to prove it.” The 2001-2 UConn team started four seniors and Taurasi, a sophomore who went on to become one of the best players in women’s college basketball. All five starters were reliable scorers, the front line was overpowering and the Huskies overwhelmed opponents. That team had the nation’s top point guard in Bird. This team has her counterpart in Renee Montgomery. The Huskies also have the consensus best player in the country, Maya Moore, a sophomore forward. But Montgomery is the only senior of note, UConn’s post play is not imposing beyond center Tina Charles, and the bench is relatively thin. The Huskies lost Caroline Doty, a freshman 3-point specialist, to a knee injury in January. Last summer UConn also lost the nation’s top recruit when the 6-foot-5 Elena Delle Donne withdrew from the university , saying she was burned out on basketball. That has cost them depth and talent. “Basketball is a game of runs,” said Oklahoma Coach Sherri Coale, whose team lost to UConn, 82-70, in the 2002 national title game and to the current Huskies, 106-78, in November. “You might be fairly evenly matched for 28 minutes, but there’s an 8- to 10-minute period when you are unreal. Connecticut does that, but I don’t know that their daggers are as sharp as in 2002. “When those guys went on a run, you were buried. Before you could stop the bleeding, you were dead. They were so seasoned, you couldn’t put them in a situation where they panicked. Renee Montgomery is not going to panic, but she’s got some young players around her and some others not as evenly keeled as some in 2002.” Still, the Huskies can become only the fifth Division I women’s champion with an undefeated season. This UConn team can also match the 2001-2 Huskies and the 1997-98 Tennessee squad for most victories in a season. If UConn wins the championship, “it belongs in the discussion” of the greatest teams ever, Coale said. Pat Summitt, who has coached Tennessee to eight national titles, called UConn a “very strong team” but said the 2001-2 Huskies appeared to be UConn Coach Geno Auriemma ’s best. “I don’t see a Taurasi, necessarily,” Summitt said. “Bird at point guard was so great.” Auriemma said it was difficult to compare his UConn teams. He acknowledged that expectations were high and difficult to reach. But, he added: “We’re not afraid to lose. That’s the biggest thing. We might play bad. We might get beat. But, generally, the years we’ve had great teams, we’ve been unafraid.” This season’s UConn team will try to become the N.C.A.A.’s first to finish the season undefeated while winning every game by at least 10 points. The Huskies lead the nation in scoring (83.8 points) and field-goal defense, holding opponents to 32.8 percent shooting. “I think it is one of the great teams,” Villanova Coach Harry Perretta said. “That 2002 team is the best I’ve ever seen. This one reminds me of that team. Great guard play, great inside kids, great athleticism. This team is not as deep, but I think it ranks up there.” Kara Wolters, the center on UConn’s 1995 national title team that finished 35-0, also called the current team “one of the best I’ve ever seen.” Wolters added: “It’s like they’re supposed to win, like they know what their place in history is. They have a certain chemistry. It’s not just five people on the court.” For UConn to lose in the tournament, Perretta said, the Huskies would have to get into foul trouble or have an injury to a key player. Or an opponent would have to play well at a deliberate pace, as Perretta’s team did in ending a 70-game UConn winning streak in 2003, during the Big East tournament. Coale disagreed. “You have to outscore them,” she said, as Stanford did in the 2008 Final Four. “I don’t think you can throttle them down. They have a rare combination of being able to attack with discipline. You are never off the hook defensively; they are never out of control.” Summitt said she thought UConn’s success would depend on its post play. Charles, a junior, has been erratic in previous N.C.A.A. tournaments. “When you have great guards,” Summitt said, “your post play has got to step up in the postseason and bring toughness.”

Connecticut
Basketball
NCAA Basketball Tournament (Women)
College Athletics
University of Connecticut
Auriemma Geno
Montgomery Renee
Moore Maya
Taurasi Diana
Bird Sue


Potential Risk in a Move to Give Investors More Say on Boards

Abstract: The Securities and Exchange Commission is worried about shareholder democracy. Again. The commission is asking for comment on proposed rules that would make it easier for institutional shareholders to propose board candidates to be listed on the proxies that every public company sends to its shareholders. If a rule is adopted — and it looks as if Mary L. Schapiro , the chairwoman, and her two Democratic colleagues are determined to make changes before next spring’s proxy season — then shareholders will get something they have never seen before: ballots with more candidates than jobs to be filled. This is an issue that has been around for decades, and that may have cost one of Ms. Schapiro’s predecessors his job. Corporate managements hate the idea, but some institutional investors, including public pension funds, love it, claiming they will be able to improve corporate governance. Companies warn the rule will lead qualified director candidates to refuse to serve rather than face the possibility of rejection by the shareholders. While Washington has debated the idea off and on since at least 1977, the world has changed. On the one hand, the need for such a rule has ebbed as markets and technologies made it a lot easier and cheaper for dissatisfied investors to try to replace individual directors or whole boards by running traditional proxy fights. On the other hand, the expansion of derivatives markets has made it easy to separate a share’s vote from the economic interest that used to be a fundamental part of owning a share. There have been shareholder votes dominated by “owners” whose own financial interests ran counter to those of shareholders. Now there are worries that bondholders, whose votes can be critical in bankruptcy reorganizations, may want a company to fail so they can collect on their much larger positions in credit-default swaps . In retrospect, shareholder democracy issues should have been considered when these derivative securities were being invented and allowed to trade. But they were not. Just why that happened is a question that Congress and the Obama administration should ponder as they revamp the American regulatory structure. Perhaps the S.E.C. would have considered the effects of divorcing votes from economic interest when the derivatives began trading. But some of these products were completely unregulated, and others went through the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, which in recent years was uninterested in regulating anything. In other words, if they are going to make it easier for shareholders to cast meaningful votes, perhaps they should also do something to assure that the voters have no financial interest in the company’s failure. Henry T. C. Hu, a law professor at the University of Texas who has written extensively on this question, told me this week that it might make sense to require those casting large blocks of votes to certify they did not have an economic interest contrary to that of the company. But defining that could be treacherous. The proposal put forth by the S.E.C. this week would let any holder, or group of holders, of at least 1 percent of the shares in large companies nominate a director candidate. To do that, the nominating group would have to certify that it was not interested in a takeover of the company, and that it had owned the shares for at least one year. How many directors could be so nominated? Up to a quarter of the board, so two seats could be contested if the board had eight members. And if two groups want to make nominations for one seat? The first one in gets on the ballot. That holding period could raise its own questions. If an institution lends out shares for shorting, it at least theoretically also lends out the voting rights. Does that loan stop the holding period? If so, would that cause some institutions to stop lending shares, making it harder to short stocks and perhaps contributing to market volatility? If a director contest does emerge, the proxy sent out by a company might end up listing five candidates for four seats. We’re all used to that in political campaigns, but it is unheard of in corporate contests. In conventional proxy fights, each side sends out its own ballot. If you support management, sign the white card, which lists only its candidates. If you support the insurgents, sign the blue card. Decades ago, it was very expensive to mount such a proxy fight, given the cost of mailings to individual shareholders who collectively dominated many companies. Now, however, a majority of votes is often held by a relatively small number of institutions, and a proxy fight can be mounted for much less, with communications done by phone and e-mail with major holders. The individual investors may never be contacted. A few years ago, it appeared to be a sure thing that a much milder rule on shareholder access would be adopted. That rule, endorsed by William H. Donaldson, then the S.E.C. chairman, set up a lot of hoops to be leaped through before an institutional shareholder could nominate a rival candidate to appear on the company’s proxy. Mr. Donaldson, a Republican, had the support of two of the other four commissioners and could have forced through a rule. But his supporters were Democrats. Republicans bemoaned his lack of party loyalty and he did not bring the issue to a vote. He was eventually succeeded by Christopher Cox, who pronounced “consensus” to be his goal. Shareholder access was dead. Since then, some companies have made it easier for shareholders to reject directors by requiring majority voting for elections. If an unopposed candidate is opposed by more owners of most shares being voted, no one is elected to the seat. A pending rule of the New York Stock Exchange would bar incumbents from being backed by brokers who are voting shares owned by clients who did not bother to vote. Had that rule been in effect this year, two Citigroup directors would have been denied re-election. In principle, shareholder access seems to be an obvious good idea. Companies do, after all, belong to their shareholders. We will see if this does become, as its advocates forecast, a rarely used instrument to change companies whose boards have failed to perform adequately, or if it will lead to a series of bitter battles — sometimes instituted by institutions with ulterior motives — that result in divided boards and divert both directors and managers from running companies to benefit all shareholders.

Securities and Exchange Commission
Boards of Directors
Appointments and Executive Changes
Schapiro Mary L


New Uniforms for Turkish Airlines Create Uproar

Abstract: ISTANBUL — When flight attendants first rode aboard Turkish Airlines in the late 1940s they wore cotton blouses under blue suits tailored to accentuate “the contours of the body,” as a fashion history of the airline puts it. In the ’60s and ’70s the trend continued with fashions straight off the Paris runway, designed to show Turkey’s European flair on its flagship airline. Now, the country’s shifting mores are reflected in a proposed new look : long dresses, skirts below the knee and Ottoman-style fez caps. This being Turkey, where seemingly trifling matters can become bitter contests over identity, mock-ups leaked to the news media have caused quite a stir, eliciting passionate reactions from the secular and the pious, and from those who support the traditions of modern Turkey and others who are nostalgic for the days of the Ottoman Empire. On Twitter, some Turks mocked the new uniforms as reminiscent of the costumes worn in “Magnificent Century,” a popular Turkish soap opera about the decadent reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century. The dispute was only heightened after the airline said it was banning alcohol on some domestic and international flights. Others slammed the new look as too conservative, a transparent effort to please the Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The party’s decade-long run in power has wrought changes in the traditionally secular culture, like the acceptance of Islamic head scarves in public and on college campuses and restrictions on alcohol in certain places. “It is a reaction against imposing a certain lifestyle to all institutions in Turkey,” said Ayse Saktanber, a sociologist at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. “Turkey is a pragmatic society which doesn’t like to fall behind the world. These new costumes came with the alcohol ban on planes.” Image Turkish Airlines flight attendants in 1974. Credit Turkish Airlines She added, “even my students with head scarves find these ridiculous.” In a statement to the local news media, Turkish Airlines tried to mute the uproar, saying that the design was leaked prematurely and that it is just one option among many being considered. “Among those that reinterpret traditional Turkish designs, there are also others that stick out with their modernist approach.” That Turkish Airlines has now become a locus of the country’s culture wars is perhaps not surprising, given that the airline is considered something of a national treasure by many Turks. This is particularly true of secularists, who see it as presenting the face of Turkey to the world. They recall that it was founded under Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the father of modern Turkey who instituted secularism with an iron hand and banned the fez, among other symbols of Ottoman times. With Turkey’s rise as an economic and political power over the past decade, tourism has soared. Feeding some of the backlash against the new uniforms is the fear that tourists, many of whom form their first impressions of Turkey on a Turkish Airlines flight, will get the wrong impression. And for all the talk of Turkey pivoting from the West and becoming a new leader of the Muslim world, the flight schedules tell a different narrative: in January nearly four times as many passengers flew to Europe as to the Middle East. Some feel that Turkish Airlines, nearly 50-percent-owned by the government, is simply trying to please Mr. Erdogan, who, when he is not being accused by his opponents of being a strict Islamist, is referred to as a latter-day sultan for his accrual of power. “Turkish Airlines is leaning toward a more conservative line,” said Serdar Tasci, a sociologist who also works as a consultant to the main secular political party, the Republican People’s Party, or C.H.P. “On the one hand it is trying to be a global brand, and on the other it is allying with the neoconservative policies of the political power.” In a written statement, the chairman of Turkish Airlines’ board of directors did not deny that the airline was doing the government’s bidding. In fact, he adamantly confirmed it. “The Turkish Airlines vision matches with our government’s vision,” said the chairman, Hamdi Topcu. “There is no difference between them and us. It is the government that appointed us.” He added, “The Turkish Republic’s government, which came to power with democratic elections and gained the confidence of its people, represents this country’s values.” Image The designer Dilek Hanif’s proposed uniforms, which have caused an uproar over how the country’s flagship carrier is perceived. Credit Dilek Hanif Fashion Company, via European Pressphoto Agency In a sense, Mr. Tasci said, the stir caused by the uniform designs is just a new twist in a perpetual conflict here. “There has been a cultural clash here” for the last 200 years, Mr. Tasci said. “But now they are bringing back the old as something new, and that is increasing the conflict.” Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the chairman of the C.H.P., said in an interview that “it’s just not possible for them to go ahead with the designs that were leaked to the papers. This airline represents Turkey’s image.” The uproar has cast a spotlight on the Turkish designer Dilek Hanif, who was commissioned by the airline to redesign the uniforms. Ms. Hanif seems to encapsulate the divides and diversity of Turkey’s culture. A favorite of the Paris haute couture scene, her clothes are often inspired by Ottoman fashions, and she is said to be a favorite of Turkey’s head-scarf-wearing first lady, Hayrunnisa Gul. In an interview, Ms. Hanif said the uniform designs that appeared online were not final. She attributed the negative reaction — especially from those who found no deeper cultural meaning and simply called the designs ugly — to the callousness of the fashion industry, apparently as fierce in Istanbul as it is in New York, Paris and Milan. “Contrary to the photos that were leaked,” she said, “we are also working on a range of modern designs.” Yildirim Mayruk, another Turkish designer, was quoted in the Turkish news media as saying, “even if they are not finalized I think it is a disgrace to design them.” Evoking the legacy of Ataturk’s secularist ideology, referred to as Kemalism, he added, “how right is it for a Kemalist woman to design such clothes?” Ms. Hanif said her designs have always been a “synthesis of East and West,” and is none too happy about being thrust to the front lines of Turkey’s culture wars. “I am still working on different designs, colors and alternatives,” she said. “When the designs are finished, they will be presented to Turkey and the world.”


Supreme Court Blocks Louisiana Abortion Law

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a Louisiana law that its opponents say would leave the state with only one abortion clinic. The court gave no reasons, though it did say that its order was “consistent with” one last June that blocked part of a Texas abortion law. The move came two days after the Supreme Court heard arguments in the Texas case, and abortion rights groups said they hoped that the development Friday was a sign that they had secured five votes to strike down the Texas law. Only Justice Clarence Thomas noted a dissent from the order Friday, suggesting that the vote had been 7 to 1, but justices do not always disclose their dissenting votes on such orders. In the order blocking the Texas law in June, the court’s four most conservative members noted their dissents, making it clear that the vote had been 5 to 4. The order Friday suggested that the Louisiana law would remain blocked until the court renders its decision in the Texas case, Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, No. 15-274. Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s attorney general, said in a statement that “we disagree with the Court’s unexplained decision,” adding that he would “continue to defend Louisiana’s pro-life and pro-woman laws.” Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement that the Supreme Court had again “stepped in to preserve women’s ability to get the constitutionally protected health care they need.” “Just two days after arguing our case before the Supreme Court to strike down a similar sweeping law in Texas,” she added, “we look to the justices to put an end to these sham measures threatening women’s rights, health and lives across the U.S.” The Louisiana law, enacted in 2014, requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals. A trial judge blocked the law, saying that such doctors were often unable to obtain admitting privileges for reasons unrelated to their competence and that the law created an undue burden on a woman’s constitutional right to abortion. On Feb. 22, the federal appeals court in New Orleans stayed that ruling , allowing the law to go into effect. The two sides disagree about the law’s impact. The challengers — three clinics and two doctors — said that the appeals court’s ruling caused one of the state’s four remaining clinics to close the next day, while a second began providing only consultations. A third, in Shreveport, is operating but may not do so for long, they said. If it closes, according to the challengers, the state would be left with a single abortion doctor at a single clinic, in New Orleans. “That lone doctor, working in one clinic, cannot meet the need for approximately 10,000 abortions in Louisiana each year, a need that was previously met by six physicians in five clinics across the state,” the clinics challenging the law told the Supreme Court in an emergency application on Feb. 26. “As a result, many women will be unable to exercise their constitutionally protected right to choose abortion at all, and others will face unreasonable delays and therefore increased risks of complications, or will turn to self-performed, unlicensed or unsafe abortions.” In their own brief, state officials said things were not that dire. Three doctors, they said, have admitting privileges “that allow them to continue to provide abortions in two of the major population centers in Louisiana — Shreveport and New Orleans.” “At worst,” the state told the justices, the law “would still leave over 90 percent of Louisiana women within 150 miles of an operating abortion clinic.” Louisiana laws impose other restrictions, including a 24-hour waiting period after a first trip to a clinic, at which a doctor must describe an ultrasound to the woman seeking an abortion. The admitting-privileges provision at issue in the case, June Medical Services v. Gee, No. 15A880, is similar to one in the Texas law the Supreme Court considered on Wednesday. The Texas law has a second contested provision, that one requiring abortion clinics to meet the demanding standards of ambulatory surgical centers. At arguments on Wednesday, at least four justices seemed prepared to find both provisions unconstitutional. The order on Friday may indicate that Justice Anthony M. Kennedy agrees.


Red Cross Suspends Operations in Yemen Port

Abstract: CAIRO — The International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday that it was temporarily suspending its operations in Yemen’s southern port city of Aden after gunmen stormed the organization’s offices and demanded money, vehicles and other equipment. The attack highlighted Aden’s growing instability despite pledges by Yemen’s exiled government to restore order there. Forces allied with the government drove Houthi rebels from Aden in July and declared that the city had been liberated. The Houthis and security units loyal to them had besieged Aden for months, reducing neighborhoods to rubble during some of the bloodiest street fighting of the nation’s civil war. The battle for the city turned decisively after an Arab military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that backs the exiled government funneled weapons, equipment and troops into Aden, retaking the city while securing neighboring provinces. Since July, attacks in the city have raised questions about the ability of the Saudi-backed forces to maintain order, even as the Houthis retreat toward their strongholds farther north. Aden has been hit by a series of recent bombings, and over the weekend militants belonging to Al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate tried to seize control of several government buildings in the city. Analysts have long warned that the assortment of forces that united to fight the Shiite-led Houthi movement — including southern separatists, hard-line Sunni Islamists and foreign-trained Yemeni troops — could eventually fracture and burden the country with heavily armed militias fighting with competing goals. The attack on the Red Cross was one of at least 10 recent security breaches it has faced in Aden, according to Rima Kamal, a spokeswoman for the organization who is based in Sana, the capital. She said that a group of men stormed the Red Cross compound about 2 p.m. on Monday and held the staff at gunpoint. They took keys to vehicles and cash from safes as well as laptops and other equipment, Ms. Kamal said. Fourteen international Red Cross staff members who were working in Aden were relocated, the organization said. With the Red Cross supporting a surgical hospital in the city and helping to provide clean drinking water, any halt in its operations has the potential to affect nearly a million people in and around Aden, Ms. Kamal said.


Ukraine’s Latest Peace Plan Inspires Hope and Doubts

Abstract: MINSK, Belarus — The coming days will provide a quick, tangible test of whether a new peace agreement announced Thursday will prove any more effective in calming the nearly year-old war in Ukraine than a similar cease-fire last September that was widely ignored. Optimists point to the presence and personal imprimatur of Europe’s two most important leaders, as well as President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and his Ukrainian counterpart, Petro O. Poroshenko, as a sign that this agreement, called Minsk II, would prove more resilient than the version reached here last September, Minsk I. Pessimists — some would say realists — believe this latest accord only papers over many of the nagging problems that sparked the fighting in the first place. Critical questions were left ambiguous or kicked down the road, including the status of the breakaway territories, a calendar for Ukraine to regain control over its border with Russia and even the truce line itself. “Minsk II raises tough questions and leaves difficult issues for later,” said Steven Pifer, a former American ambassador to Ukraine. “It is a fragile arrangement, requiring good faith and follow-through from parties that have shown little of that in the past.” The Obama administration, which has indicated that it would send antitank missiles, surveillance drones and other far more serious battlefield weapons to Ukraine, said those plans would be shelved, for now, but would be revived if the parties failed to honor the agreement. Given the fierce fighting in the railroad junction of Debaltseve in recent weeks, American officials said it would be evident immediately after the cease-fire comes into effect at midnight on Saturday whether the two sides were more serious this time than they were in September. “Any effort to grab more land between now and Saturday night will seriously undercut this agreement,” one of the officials said. Nevertheless, Secretary of State John Kerry expressed guarded optimism, saying, “If the full agreement sticks, the United States will consider rolling back sanctions.” The participants in the talks did not try to disguise the hurdles ahead. In Brussels on Thursday night, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, who steered the overnight negotiations along with President François Hollande of France, called the 13-point agreement outlining the steps needed to end the war “a glimmer of hope, but of course words must be matched by deeds.” She also stressed its fragile nature, saying, “There are a lot of possibilities that there may be difficulties on the ground.” Video The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, the main players in the cease-fire negotiations in Minsk, discuss the talks. Credit Credit Pool photo by Tatyana Zenkovich Body language alone might prove a telling indicator. Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko avoided eye contact as they shook hands at the outset of what proved to be more than 16 hours of difficult negotiations. At the end, each man stood wanly in a different room of the grandiose Independence Palace to announce that a deal had been reached. None of the leaders themselves signed the agreements — that was left to other representatives of the antagonists and the European truce observers — sending a discreet signal that they were not taking full responsibility for the outcome. Ms. Merkel did note that Mr. Putin had to pressure the rebel leaders to sign. The agreement also states that the Ukrainian military and its separatist opponents will complete the withdrawal of heavy weapons — with the largest missiles pulled back more than 40 miles — no later than two weeks after the start of the cease-fire. Russia has been accused of trying to create a so-called frozen conflict that it could heat up in order to destabilize Ukraine any time it draws too close to the West. Critics of the new agreement said it would help Moscow achieve that over the long run, even while Ukraine took financial responsibility for the rebel regions. “The practical, realistic expectation is a frozen conflict with no effective control by Kiev over those areas, but no formal responsibility of Russia,” said Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs. Moscow said border control from Kiev should come only after other issues — including a constitutional amendment to allow greater autonomy in the east and local elections — had been settled, which the compact says should be by the end of the year. That seemed to Ukraine and its allies to be an open invitation to Russia to keep the border open, allowing soldiers and weapons to move across at will. Dalia Grybauskaite, the president of Lithuania, one of the Baltic States feeling threatened by Russia’s treatment of Ukraine, called the agreement weak. “There is no agreement on border control at all, and this is the weakest part,” she told reporters in Brussels during a European Union summit meeting. “It’s a very partial solution,” she added. “We already had a very bad experience of not implementing Minsk 1. We’ll see what Minsk 2 will mean.” Aside from the cease-fire, the agreement called for a dialogue between the two sides on holding elections in the east, with the talks to start the day after all heavy weapons were withdrawn, or roughly two weeks from this Sunday. Kiev has refused to negotiate directly with the separatists. The agreement also said that the Ukrainian Parliament should define by law the territory of the areas to have self-rule and should pass an amnesty for the separatist leaders. Kiev should pay pensions and other social benefits that it cut off last year, the agreement said. The Kremlin is seeking to establish autonomous republics in Donetsk and Luhansk with their own economic and foreign policies — a model established during conflicts with Georgia and Moldova — while Ukraine has talked only about decentralization. The compact says that decentralization will be carried out, but the degree of autonomy was ambiguous. Russia denies accusations from Ukraine and its Western supporters that it supplies men, money and war matériel to the separatists. Image President François Hollande of France, left, and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, right, at the Ukraine peace talks in Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday. Credit Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters Analysts suggest that until now, Russia has committed minimal resources to southeastern Ukraine, an important consideration at a time when a severe drop in oil prices combined with Western sanctions is slowly draining the Kremlin’s coffers. “The Russians have fought what is largely a proxy war in eastern Ukraine — and on the cheap, too,” Mark Galeotti, a military analyst, wrote in Foreign Policy magazine . “Even the government in Kiev, which is prone to alarmism, estimates that Russia has deployed, at most, some 9,000 troops.” But the conflict has also reached a point where Russia would have to commit significant new resources for any further advance, which helped clear the way for a settlement to consolidate its gains, Mr. Lukyanov said. The separatists “cannot advance very much without direct Russian involvement, and Russia does not want to get directly involved,” he said. Mr. Putin and Mr. Poroshenko, in their separate briefings, highlighted those parts of the agreement that matched their demands, while noting crucial outstanding questions. “Despite all the difficulties of the negotiating process, we managed to agree on the main things,” Mr. Putin said. Those issues included the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, a promise of constitutional changes and some variety of “special status” for the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk, he said. Mr. Putin said that Mr. Poroshenko refused to acknowledge that the separatist forces had surrounded up to 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Debaltseve, but the Russian leader said he hoped that consultations between military commanders would settle that matter. Mr. Putin warned that the situation there carried the potential for renewed fighting, but he called on both sides to stop the bloodshed. Mr. Poroshenko, for his part, emphasized humanitarian issues, like the release of all prisoners, including Lt. Nadiya V. Savchenko , a helicopter navigator who was elected to the Ukrainian Parliament while facing trial in Moscow. All foreign troops, military equipment and mercenaries should be withdrawn from Ukrainian territory, he said. Even as all sides endorsed the pending cease-fire, there was only a slight drop-off in the fighting that has left more than 5,400 people dead since last spring. Ukrainians greeted the news with much the same skepticism as the experts, though mingled with relief. “We had a cease-fire before, but it was not observed, almost from the beginning, so how can we have much faith?” said Dmitri Kolesnik, 18, a student in Kharkiv, a city in southeastern Ukraine that has been touched sporadically by violence. He paused on the steps leading down to a subway station, and said he put the odds of peace at no better than 50-50. “Putin is a very aggressive person,” Mr. Kolesnik said, as bustling throngs made their way home in the late afternoon. “You cannot always trust that just because he says something that it will happen.”

Ukraine
Russia
France
Germany
Francois Hollande
Vladimir Putin
Petro Poroshenko


Rival Marches After Legislative Brawl in Venezuela

Abstract: LA PAZ, Bolivia — Venezuela stumbled deeper into political chaos this week as legislators brawled in the National Assembly and government supporters and opponents took to the streets for rival marches amid continuing tensions over the narrow election victory of President Nicolás Maduro. Government supporters and opponents held separate May Day marches in Caracas, the capital, on Wednesday that many had initially feared could turn violent. But the routes were changed to keep the rival bands apart — and attention focused instead on the violence that erupted in the National Assembly a day earlier. Tensions have remained high following the April 14 election that Mr. Maduro, the handpicked heir of President Hugo Chávez, won by less than two percentage points over Henrique Capriles Radonski, an opposition governor. Mr. Chávez died in March . Mr. Capriles and his backers claim that Mr. Maduro stole the election and have refused to recognize his victory. In response, Diosdado Cabello, the president of the National Assembly, has vowed not to allow opposition legislators to speak during sessions of the legislature. That set the scene for Tuesday’s melee. The fracas in the capital broke out after opposition lawmakers held up a banner protesting Mr. Cabello’s gag order and tooted on vuvuzelas, plastic horns often used by fans at soccer games. Both sides accused the other of throwing the first punches and said they suffered casualties. A cellphone video posted on news media Web sites showed swarms of lawmakers shoving and swinging haymakers. One man, in a jacket in the colors of the national flag — yellow, blue and red — could be seen in the video throwing punches with both hands, wildly twisting his body back and forth like the inside of a washing machine. One opposition legislator, Julio Borges, appeared later on television with his face bloodied and bruised while another, María Corina Machado, said her nose was broken and she walked in Wednesday’s march wearing a neck brace. “The hardest blows have been to the country,” Ms. Machado said. “It is the terrible pain of seeing how they seek to trample on an institution that is indispensable for the working of the democratic system.” On the same day as the legislative rumpus, Mr. Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, attended a performance of Cirque du Soleil, prompting Mr. Capriles to quip during Wednesday’s march that his rival wants to “turn the country into a circus.” Mr. Maduro gave a speech at his followers’ Wednesday rally in which he called Mr. Capriles a crybaby and said the National Assembly dust-up was an ambush planned by the opposition. Mr. Capriles has insisted on an audit of the electronic voting tallies and handwritten precinct logs showing who voted, alleging that would provide evidence to back up his claim. But the National Electoral Council has agreed to conduct only a limited review of records, which Mr. Capriles has called a sham.

Venezuela
Politics
Election
May Day
Henrique Capriles Radonski
Assault
Nicolas Maduro
Hugo Chavez


Menendez Says U.S. Charges Violate Independence of Congress

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Senator Robert Menendez told a federal judge on Monday that corruption charges against him should be thrown out because prosecutors trampled on the independence of Congress and unfairly treated campaign donations as crimes. In hundreds of pages of court documents, Mr. Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, provides an aggressive response to his indictment in April , in which the Justice Department accused him of trading political favors for luxury vacations, free airfare and campaign donations. He was charged alongside his longtime friend and political benefactor, Salomon E. Melgen , a wealthy Florida eye surgeon. But much more than the fates of Mr. Menendez and Dr. Melgen are at stake. Their lawyers have made the indictment a test case over how far the Justice Department can go when investigating graft on Capitol Hill. The outcome could have ramifications in corruption investigations for years to come. Mr. Menendez is the first senator to face federal bribery charges since another New Jersey Democrat, Harrison A. Williams Jr., was indicted in 1980 as part of the federal corruption investigation known as Abscam . In 2002, an ethics scandal deterred Senator Robert G. Torricelli, Democrat of New Jersey, from a re-election bid. And Ted Stevens, Republican of Alaska, was convicted in 2008 of lying about gifts on Senate ethics forms. A federal judge set aside the conviction, citing prosecutorial misconduct. The heart of the case against Mr. Menendez amounts to an accusation that he intervened on Dr. Melgen’s behalf in a dispute over how Medicare reimburses doctors for eye medication and also pushed for a port security deal in which Dr. Melgen had a financial interest. Prosecutors used those acts, as well as closely timed donations and gifts from Dr. Melgen, to bring bribery charges. But Mr. Menendez says his actions were part of his congressional oversight responsibilities. That is significant because the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause prohibits the Justice Department from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with the legislative process. “The prosecution has no direct evidence (no witnesses, no recording, no letter, no email) that there ever was a quid pro quo agreement between Senator Menendez and Dr. Melgen (because no such agreement ever occurred),” lawyers for both men wrote in a filing to Judge William H. Walls of Federal District Court in New Jersey. “Instead, the prosecution wants to introduce Senator Menendez’s legislative acts into evidence — something the speech or debate clause flatly precludes.” The Constitution’s framers wrote that clause as a way to guarantee the separation of powers. But the document is vague about what qualifies as speech or debate. The Justice Department said Mr. Menendez’s meetings with administration officials did not qualify. If the courts agree, it would give prosecutors more leeway in future cases. The case is also significant because it is the first major corruption charge to stem from the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which provided new ways for rich donors to pour money into campaigns. Dr. Melgen donated about $600,000 to an independent political action committee meant to elect Senate Democrats. Prosecutors said that was a bribe. But the Supreme Court concluded that independent donations “do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.” And lawyers for Mr. Menendez and Dr. Melgen seized on that to argue that the Justice Department was trying to criminalize political donations that should be considered free speech. They said the Supreme Court had made “such a bribery charge impossible as a matter of law.” Prosecutors have argued that, because Dr. Melgen earmarked his contribution to be spent in New Jersey to help re-elect the senator, it amounted to a direct benefit to Mr. Menendez. The indictment suggests that the senator was well aware that the contributions were intended as a personal favor: Within days of the first check, the senator began pressing federal officials about the Medicare issue. Dr. Melgen stood to make millions if the Obama administration changed its billing policy. The federal investigation began with a tip — unproved and vehemently denied by Mr. Menendez — that Dr. Melgen had helped hire under-age prostitutes for the senator in the Dominican Republic. In their latest filings, Mr. Menendez’s lawyers argued that, in the absence of evidence to prove that accusation, the Justice Department became obsessed with finding something to charge him with. “The government was not investigating a crime, it was investigating a person,” the lawyers wrote. They said investigators coerced and intimidated witnesses and inaccurately summarized evidence in front of a grand jury to get the indictment. Peter Carr, a spokesman for the Justice Department, said prosecutors would respond to those accusations in court documents next month. No trial date has been set. The breadth and complexity of the issues laid out in the documents presage a court fight that could land at the Supreme Court before Mr. Menendez ever goes to trial.

Congress
Senate
Robert Menendez
Corruption
New Jersey
Justice Department
Bribery and Kickbacks
Salomon E Melgen
US Politics


Vieira’s ‘Today’ Contract Extended to Fall 2011

Abstract: NBC ’s prime time is still a problem, but at least the network can rest assured that its morning show is safe for another year. A co-host of “Today,” Meredith Vieira , whose contract was set to expire this September, has extended her contract by one year, to the fall of 2011, a person briefed on the matter said Wednesday. In a closely watched transition, Ms. Vieira, 56, replaced Katie Couric on “Today” four years ago. Ms. Vieira chose not to make another long-term commitment this year. Still, her renewal is a sign of stability for “Today,” the top-rated morning show, at a time when its two chief competitors, ABC’s “Good Morning America” and CBS’s “The Early Show,” are featuring new hosts. Ms. Vieira’s contract renewal was first reported Tuesday by TV Guide magazine. “For her to say, ‘I embrace these hours, I embrace these people,’ really talks about the strength of the franchise and the power of the franchise,” said the person briefed on the contract extension, who requested anonymity because the network was not publicly acknowledging the deal. “Today” is a steamroller for NBC, a hugely profitable program at a time when the network is trying to regain its footing in prime time and late night. In mid-February, before the Olympics inflated its viewership, “Today” averaged 5.7 million viewers, nearly a million more than “Good Morning America,” its closest competitor. In 2006 Ms. Vieira’s co-host, Matt Lauer, 52, renewed his NBC contract for five more years, taking him through 2011. A person briefed on his deal said Wednesday that it had been extended beyond that date. An NBC spokeswoman said the network declined to comment on contracts. The agents for Mr. Lauer and Ms. Vieira did not respond to requests for comments about their clients.

Television
Vieira Meredith
National Broadcasting Co
Today (TV Program)


Controversial Indiana Law Puts Pressure on N.C.A.A. and Other Leagues

Abstract: A new law in Indiana allowing businesses to refuse service to same-sex couples in the name of religious freedom has put sports officials under pressure to evaluate whether to hold major events in Indianapolis. The law’s passing comes as the N.C.A.A. , the Indianapolis-based governing body of college sports, prepares to hold one of the most visible events on the college sports calendar, the Final Four, next week in the Colts’ Lucas Oil Stadium. Gov. Mike Pence, a Republican, signed the bill Thursday. Soon after, the N.C.A.A. president, Mark Emmert, said in a statement that the association was “deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events. We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees.” Emmert also hinted at the possibility of refusing to stage competitions in the state going forward, saying that the N.C.A.A. will “closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our work force.” Jason Collins, the recently retired center who was the first openly gay N.B.A. player, wrote to Pence on Twitter earlier this week, “Is it going to be legal for someone to discriminate against me & others when we come to the #FinalFour?” Outsports, the SB Nation site that covers gay issues in sports, began tracking negative reactions to the law, including from the L.G.B.T. Sports Coalition. A co-founder of the site, Cyd Zeigler, called for all sports leagues, including the N.C.A.A. and the Big Ten, to “steer clear” of the state in the future, while acknowledging it was unrealistic to expect the N.C.A.A. to move next week’s Final Four. Indianapolis is an attractive host city for major sporting events because of its central location and relatively compact downtown, which includes the N.C.A.A.’s headquarters; Bankers Life Fieldhouse, the home of the Pacers; and Lucas Oil Stadium. It annually hosts the N.F.L. scouting combine and the Big Ten conference championship in football. It hosted Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 and the Final Four in 2010. It is scheduled to host the women’s Final Four next year and the men’s Final Four again in 2021.

Indiana
Indianapolis
Discrimination
College basketball
Same-Sex Marriage,Gay Marriage
Gay and Lesbian LGBT
NCAA
NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness


F.B.I. Accused of Abuse of Power in Clinton Case

Abstract: WASHINGTON — A former director of the Secret Service said Friday that the F.B.I. had engaged in an “abuse of power” by trying to pressure him to “give us the president” during the investigation of President Bill Clinton ’s interactions with Monica Lewinsky a decade ago. The official, Lewis C. Merletti, who headed the former president’s protective detail and later became the agency’s director, said in an interview that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had grilled him just days before Mr. Clinton left office in a last-ditch effort to prove that his agents had covered up and even facilitated extramarital flings. Mr. Merletti said that the F.B.I. alleged that he and Mr. Clinton had concocted this deal: in exchange for Mr. Merletti’s stonewalling questions about Ms. Lewinsky, Mr. Clinton would not only appoint him director of the Secret Service but would also provide him women for sexual encounters. “They said to me, ‘You’re the last person who can give us the president, and you’re going to give him to us,’ ” Mr. Merletti recalled. He called it “disgraceful” and said of the F.B.I., “They became involved in a political game, and in the end they tarnished themselves beyond belief.” The sensational accusation surfaced first in a new book on the long battle between Mr. Clinton and Kenneth W. Starr, the independent counsel who investigated the Whitewater land deal and the president’s involvement with Ms. Lewinsky, a young White House aide. Mr. Starr’s investigation into the Lewinsky matter led the House to impeach Mr. Clinton in 1998 for perjury and obstruction of justice, but the Senate acquitted him in 1999. Mr. Merletti confirmed the book’s account in an interview on Friday and further described his interactions with the bureau. The F.B.I. special agent who interrogated him, Jennifer Gant, could not be reached Friday but was quoted in the book saying she could not recall making the accusations Mr. Merletti recounted. Paul Bresson, an F.B.I. spokesman, declined to comment. Reached in California, where he is now dean of the law school at Pepperdine University, Mr. Starr said he did not want to talk about interactions between the F.B.I. and the Secret Service during his investigation. Robert W. Ray, who succeeded Mr. Starr, did not respond to telephone or e-mail messages late Friday. The new book, “The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr,” written by Ken Gormley, a law professor at Duquesne University, and published by Crown, re-examines the scandals and investigations that marked Mr. Clinton’s presidency and adds new details to the public understanding of them. Mr. Gormley secured unusual cooperation from nearly all of the main players, including Mr. Clinton, Mr. Starr and Ms. Lewinsky. As first reported by Politico, the book quotes Ms. Lewinsky as saying that she believed Mr. Clinton did lie under oath to a grand jury and asserts that the former president, while he was Arkansas’s governor, did have a romantic affair with Susan McDougal, his onetime Whitewater partner who went to jail rather than testify against him. It also reports that Susan Webber Wright, the federal judge who oversaw the Paula Jones sexual harassment case in which Mr. Clinton was asked about his relationship with Ms. Lewinsky under oath, considered finding Mr. Clinton in criminal contempt during the Senate trial, a move that could have changed the outcome. Instead, Judge Wright waited until two months after the trial to find him in contempt. And the book says that Mr. Starr’s successor, Mr. Ray, had been prepared to indict Mr. Clinton right after he left the White House if he did not agree to admit misconduct. On his last full day in office, Mr. Clinton acknowledged that he had given false testimony about Ms. Lewinsky and agreed to the suspension of his law license. Aides to Mr. Clinton, who gave the author three interviews, declined to comment on Friday, as did Ms. Lewinsky. In an interview, Mr. Starr said he had not read the book yet but expressed faith in the author. “I have the highest regard for Ken Gormley,” he said. “He’s very intelligent, he’s very comprehensive and he’s very thorough.” The book rejects the image of Mr. Starr as a rabid zealot out to get Mr. Clinton, but concludes he deferred to his prosecutors and should have followed his instinct to turn the Lewinsky matter over to Congress without summoning the president to testify before a grand jury. Mr. Starr said Friday that “reasonable minds can differ on that” but added, “All things considered, we took the best course.” The battle between investigators and the Secret Service led all the way to the Supreme Court. Mr. Starr wanted agents to testify about what they saw to prove that Mr. Clinton was lying about his interactions with Ms. Lewinsky. The Secret Service, led by Mr. Merletti, argued that forcing agents to testify would destroy the trust necessary to protect the president’s life, but the Supreme Court rejected the argument. Mr. Merletti, now a senior vice president for the Cleveland Browns, revealed more details about the fight in the book and the interview. He said he believed that the F.B.I. was trying to “set up” the Secret Service or the president. He recalled that in August 1998, the F.B.I. told him a dress owned by Ms. Lewinsky did not have the president’s DNA on it, even though it did, apparently to try to catch Mr. Merletti in a conspiracy if he passed along the false information to Mr. Clinton. The meeting where he said he was accused of trading silence for a promotion came in January 2001, long after the Senate trial. “They came up with this theory that I entered into a deal with the president where I would keep my mouth shut about Monica Lewinsky — which I had no idea was going on — and in return I would become director of the Secret Service,” Mr. Merletti said Friday. “They then went on to say that I went on to tell the president, ‘Well, I not only want to be director, but you have to supply me with women.’ ” Mr. Merletti said he was still flabbergasted. “I’m not kidding,” he said. “It was like, ‘Are you out of your mind?’ ”

Special Prosecutors (Independent Counsel)


To ‘Mover and Shaker,’ Add ‘Job-Jumper’

Abstract: In the last year, Wall Street’s five biggest investment banks — Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs — did a vanishing act, whether failing, selling themselves or morphing into bank holding companies. At the same time, many of the Street’s most powerful figures have been engaged in a high-stakes game of musical chairs — the kind with big paychecks attached. Again and again in recent months, top bankers and executives have left their firms, sometimes after spending decades or even their entire careers there, to switch to rival banks. A few jumped even further, joining the private equity crowd. Whether they left willingly or with a shove from above, many of these financial professionals quickly found a new place in the Street’s altered landscape. Below are some of the job-jumpers and where they landed. MARK SHAFIR Days after Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy, it emerged that Mr. Shafir, a global cohead of mergers and acquisitions, was leaving for Citigroup. Mr. Shafir stayed long enough to help sell Lehman’s United States capital-markets business to Barclays. GEORGE H. YOUNG III As head of Lehman’s communications banking group, Mr. Young, known as Woody, was that firm’s biggest rainmaker. After abruptly leaving Lehman in early 2007, he resurfaced last month at Merrill Lynch, just a week before Merrill agreed to be sold to Bank of America. OLIVIER SARKOZY A banker’s banker, Mr. Sarkozy, the halfbrother of the French president, brokered transactions as joint global head of UBS’s financial institutions group. In March, he became co-head of the global financial services group at CarlyleGroup, the private equity giant. PETER KRAUS In his 22 years at Goldman Sachs, Mr. Kraus rose as high as co-head of its investment management division. But in May, he left to become head of strategy at Merrill Lynch, where another Goldman alum, John Thain, had recently taken the helm. ERIN CALLAN As chief financial officer at Lehman Brothers, she was one of Wall Street’s most powerful women. But she was demoted after her defense of the firm’s health failed to comfort skittish investors. In July, she jumped to Credit Suisse to run its global hedge fund business. ALAN D. SCHWARTZ Mr. Schwartz became chief executive at Bear Stearns a few months before its sale to JPMorgan Chase & Company. He decided in July to leave JPMorgan and has not announced his next move. He has reportedly talked to investment banks and private equity firms.

Wall Street (NYC)
Executives and Management
KRAUS PETER
CALLAN ERIN
SARKOZY OLIVIER
YOUNG GEORGE H. III
SHAFIR MARK


Cheap Rooms, and 'a Drug for Every Floor'

Abstract: The Greenpoint Hotel is still listed in a few tourist guides, which promise cheap rooms and warn of the brusque if efficient staff. But few map-carrying bargain-hunters stay there these days. The hallways stink of marijuana and urine; the bathrooms -- one per floor -- are caked in dirt, and hot water is rare. The front desk is barricaded shut with sheets of plywood. Theft and violence are a constant threat. "My room is a box -- it's the size of a prison cell," one resident, Jaime Rodriguez, said as he stood outside a deli near the hotel recently, swaying slightly, his eyes cloudy. Mr. Rodriguez said he had lived at the Greenpoint for a decade, paying rent with disability checks. "This whole place is a prison," he said. Single-room-occupancy establishments like the Greenpoint have long occupied the bottom end of the lodging food chain in New York. Renting rooms by the week or month, the better ones serve as cheap housing for the old or ill, or for those who have fallen out of the middle class and are struggling not to fall further. Others mostly house a mix of addicts, AIDS sufferers, the recently homeless, and those who are all three. The Greenpoint falls into this category. It is on the northern end of Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn, where the antiques stores and Polish delis of the otherwise gentrifying neighborhood shade into bodegas and check-cashing establishments, a few blocks from the brackish Newtown Creek. Even as flophouses go, the Greenpoint Hotel has an unenviable distinction. According to a motion for foreclosure that federal prosecutors filed last month, the hotel has decayed in recent years into one of the most dangerous S.R.O.'s in the city, a Brooklyn version of Manhattan's notorious Kenmore Hotel, where drug dealers and prostitutes ruled until a federal takeover in 1994. About 20 deaths have occurred in the Greenpoint since 1998. Most of those were due to drug overdoses, but at least one was a drug-related murder, according to the motion filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn by the office of the United States attorney, Roslynn R. Mauskopf. Federal prosecutors say most of those were casualties of a sophisticated drug-dealing operation that was run out of the hotel for more than a decade by Rafael Perez, known as Macho, who is awaiting trial. The United States attorney's office is seeking to take over the hotel. "I'm surprised it took them so long," said Richard Santos, 44, who lived in the Greenpoint for two years and who still hangs around Manhattan Avenue, drinking beer out of brown paper bags and asking strangers for change. "Drugs were rampant back then. Management always had a hand in it. There was a drug for every floor." Workers at the hotel, he said, turned the security cameras on and off to allow dealers and prostitutes to enter the building without being caught on tape. The bodies of those who had overdosed were taken out a back entrance, put into a car trunk, and dumped elsewhere. "With addicts, one dies, another one takes their place," said Mr. Santos, who said he was a former heroin addict, onetime crack smoker and an alcoholic. The hotel's current owners, Max Starck and Sam Pearl of Brooklyn, who bought the hotel in 2003, did not return numerous phone calls, to their homes and offices, requesting comment. The Greenpoint has nearly 200 rooms, crammed into a maze-like four-story structure. Room numbers are stenciled on with spray paint, and typewritten signs ask residents to refrain from throwing bottles of urine out the windows. (A quick inspection of the neighboring backyards suggests that the request has frequently gone unheeded.) The three-foot-wide hallways dip and slope where they connect the hotel's four buildings. Rent at the Greenpoint is $450 for four weeks. It is not clear when drug dealing first became a major problem at the hotel. A hotel for more than 70 years, the Greenpoint was bought in 2001 by Praxis Housing Initiatives, a provider of housing and services for people with H.I.V. and AIDS. Praxis was founded by G. Sterling Zinsmeyer, a film producer, and the Rev. Gordon H. Duggins, an Episcopal priest with a degree from Harvard Divinity School who became a street minister and has been praised by some for his outreach to gang members, delinquents and felons. It was the first of several S.R.O.'s the pair acquired -- with the help of hundreds of thousands of dollars in public financing -- where they aimed to offer on-site counseling and other social services to residents. According to some residents and former employees, however, some workers the two partners hired to operate the Greenpoint made it a haven for drug-dealing and prostitution. "When I was there, I told Sterling and Gordon many times that the kids they put in there were drug dealers and were Latin Kings," said Hugo Puya, a former controller for Praxis and now an accountant in private practice. "It got much worse," he added. "It basically just became a distribution center for drugs." Former and current residents said the occasional dealing became systematic, and a population that tended to seek its pleasures in the bottle turned toward the pipe. Within a few years, Praxis came under investigation by city and state authorities in connection with suspicions that it had used some of its public financing to buy and operate commercial hotels. In at least one case, according to a settlement reached in November with the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, Mr. Zinsmeyer and Father Duggins took over the lease of a Bronx hotel after it had been rehabilitated with Praxis money. The nonprofit group is now under new management. A spokesman for Mr. Zinsmeyer, Ronn D. Torossian, said of the Greenpoint: "We felt we managed the building as best we could, and we never got enough city funding to stabilize the building to our satisfaction. We sold it in 2003 and we left a million dollars in the coffers for Praxis. In terms of our responsibilities, we more than met both the moral and the legal obligations." Phone messages left at Father Duggins's home on Friday were not returned. Mr. Stark and Mr. Pearl bought the Greenpoint from Praxis more than two years ago, but the change in ownership does not appear to have improved conditions much, even after the new owners imposed rent increases of up to $200. One resident, who gave his name as Mickey but would not give a last name, said that during the 12 years he has lived at the Greenpoint, he has seen "loansharking, drug-dealing, bootlegging, black-market cigarettes -- you name it." "It's always been dangerous," he added. "But it's worse now." Federal prosecutors have charged that Mr. Perez -- who was indicted in 2004 on drug-trafficking charges and is awaiting trial -- and his crew employed some residents as dealers, storing heroin and crack cocaine in their rooms and working one of three eight-hour shifts to keep customers supplied at all hours. Other residents worked as runners, ferrying purchases from the dealers' rooms to customers inside and outside the hotel, the government says. When police officers showed up -- between 911 calls and regular patrols, officers from the 94th Precinct made 70 to 80 visits to the Greenpoint last year -- staff members would use an intercom system to alert the dealers with the code word "Nikita," said Mr. Santos, the former resident. The system was not always perfect. "I was walking home one night and I got hit on the head with a dime bag of heroin," said one neighbor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I don't want any retaliation," he explained. Despite the legal issues concerning the hotel, for some people the Greenpoint offers nothing less, and nothing more, than a lock on the door and a cheap room of one's own. "I think it's all right," one resident, who goes by the name T-Rocker and sings in a heavy-metal band, said in an interview on Wednesday. "Where else you going to get in New York City for $450?" he added, surveying the bathroom-size room where he keeps a twin mattress, a fan, his leather pants, and a couple of LP's from the 1980's metal band W.A.S.P. Smoking a cigarette and sipping a can of Budweiser, T-Rocker said that he painted black stripes on the worn linoleum floor with a cotton swab -- his hands were still stained with black paint -- and that a neighbor helped install a loft for the mattress. Most of his clothes, along with his leopard-print blanket, were lying on the roof outside his window, casualties of a late and raucous night of drinking. "I got a little out of pocket last night, man," he said, leaning out the window and examining the pile of clothes. "If I hadn't trashed my room last night, it wouldn't be too bad." He sucked on his cigarette, pondering the chair. "I'm going to put a loveseat in here," he said, "with, like, some mosaic tiles."

KENMORE HOTEL
BROOKLYN (NYC)
COCAINE AND CRACK COCAINE


Virginia’s Governor Restores Voting Rights for 13,000 Ex-Felons

Abstract: Virginia’s governor said on Monday that he had signed papers restoring the voting rights of nearly 13,000 ex-felons, accomplishing on a case-by-case basis what the state’s Supreme Court last month had barred him from doing with a single executive order. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, cast the move as a civil rights victory in a state whose constitutional ban on voting by ex-felons has disenfranchised roughly one in five African-Americans. In a post on Twitter , the governor said, “We will continue to fight to ensure that our fellow citizens are not marginalized forever.” State Republicans had called Mr. McAuliffe’s effort to restore voting rights a political plot to put more Democrats on the voting rolls. On Monday, Donald J. Trump, campaigning in Fredericksburg, Va., accused Mr. McAuliffe of “getting thousands of violent felons to the voting booth in an effort to cancel out the votes of both law enforcement and crime victims.” “They are letting people vote in your Virginia election that should not be allowed to vote,” Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, said. In fact, however, the governor is empowered by the state’s Constitution to grant ex-felons the right to vote, and earlier studies suggest that most of those whose rights were restored had committed nonviolent crimes. Almost all states deny felons the right to vote, but many automatically restore voting rights after a violator has completed a prison term, probation, parole or all three. Virginia is one of four states that permanently strip felons of voting rights unless the governor lifts the prohibition, which Virginia governors had done sparingly. Only Kentucky and Florida, which also disenfranchise felons for life, have a higher share of African-Americans whose felony convictions deny them the right to vote. Mr. McAuliffe’s Republican predecessor, Gov. Bob McDonnell, moved to soften the lifetime ban in 2013, ordering that any nonviolent felon who had completed a sentence and paid all fines or restitution be automatically considered for voting-rights restoration. But Mr. McAuliffe caused a sensation in April when he went well beyond that, signing a sweeping executive order reinstating rights for nearly everyone who had completed prison sentences and met the terms of any supervised release: 206,000 ex-felons in all. Those whose crimes were nonviolent — about eight in 10 — were immediately given the right to cast a ballot; violent ex-felons were barred from voting until three years after successfully completing supervised release. “I want you back as a full citizen of the commonwealth,” Mr. McAuliffe said then of the ex-felons. “I want you to have a job, I want you paying taxes, and you can’t be a second-class citizen.” Republicans denounced the move as a transparent effort to help Mr. McAuliffe’s close friend and ally, Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential nominee, in what was likely to be a swing state in the 2016 presidential election. A 2014 study by political scientists concluded that ex-felons in a handful of states were much more likely to register as Democrats than as Republicans, although the authors said race and poverty, not criminality, were the likely reasons. After Republicans sued to block the executive order, Virginia’s Supreme Court ruled last month that Mr. McAuliffe could restore voting rights only on a case-by-case basis rather than with a blanket order. Monday’s announcement of restored rights for nearly 13,000 residents was the beginning of what the governor’s office has said is an effort to address the voting status of all ex-felons. Officials will address restoration of other ex-felons’ rights in chronological order, starting with those who have been freed from supervision the longest, the governor said. William Howell, the Republican speaker of the State House and a plaintiff in the lawsuit opposing Mr. McAuliffe’s executive order, said in a written statement that legislators would study the new process for restoring voter rights to ensure that it abides by the Supreme Court’s ruling in July.

Virginia
Terry McAuliffe
Voter registration
Ex Cons


Former Blackwater Guards Charged With Murder

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Two former Blackwater security guards were arrested Thursday on murder charges stemming from a shooting in Afghanistan last May that left two Afghans dead and a third wounded, the Justice Department said. The arrests came just days after a federal district judge dismissed a separate criminal case against five other former Blackwater security guards involved in a 2007 shooting in Nisour Square in Baghdad that left at least 17 Iraqi civilians dead. In that decision, Judge Ricardo M. Urbina offered scathing criticism of the prosecution’s handling of the case. Thursday’s arrests seemed to signal that the Justice Department did not plan to abandon its scrutiny of Blackwater despite its defeat in the Nisour Square case. Separately, some of the victims of the Nisour Square shooting have reached a settlement with Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, in several civil lawsuits. The survivors and families of the victims agreed to drop their case in return for an undisclosed financial settlement. In the criminal case involving Blackwater in Afghanistan, the two former guards — Justin Cannon, 27, of Corpus Christi, Tex., and Christopher Drotleff, 29, of Virginia Beach, Va. — were arrested after being indicted in federal court in Virginia on charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and firearms violations. At the time of the May 5 shooting in Kabul, the men were working for Paravant LLC, a subsidiary of Xe Services, and under a contract they were assigned to train Afghan soldiers. Mark Corallo, a spokesman for Xe Services, said the company “immediately and fully cooperated with the government’s investigation of this tragic incident and terminated the individuals involved for violating company policy.” In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Mr. Drotleff defended his actions in the shooting, saying: “I feel comfortable firing my weapon anytime I feel my life is in danger. That night, my life was 100 percent in danger.” In Iraq, victims of the Nisour Square shooting said they had accepted the settlement because they worried that it was their last chance for compensation. Abdel Amir Rahim Jihan, who was shot three times in the legs, said he would receive $30,000. “Our rights were not redressed,” said Mr. Jihan, 45. “We didn’t achieve victory. But the legal procedures take a long time, and we were given the choice to either settle or not. I did.” He is among at least 10 other victims who accepted the settlement. Susan Burke, a Washington lawyer representing the victims, declined to comment about the settlement. Xe Services said that the settlement “enables Xe’s new management to move the company forward free of the costs and distraction of ongoing litigation, and provides some compensation to Iraqi families.” Another group of 10 victims represented by a different law firm said they had not yet been offered settlements. The Iraqi government, furious that the criminal case in the Nisour Square shootings was dismissed, is considering filing a civil lawsuit against Blackwater in American courts, Iraqi government officials said this week. Meanwhile, the security company’s involvement in clandestine operations with the Central Intelligence Agency surfaced this week after the disclosure that two of its employees had been killed along with five officers of the C.I.A. and a Jordanian intelligence agent in a suicide bombing at a base in Khost, Afghanistan . The company’s employees were identified as Jeremy Wise, 35, a former member of the Navy Seals, and Dane Clark Paresi, 46, who had served for years in the Army’s Special Forces. They had been assigned to provide security to C.I.A. officers at Forward Operating Base Chapman in Khost, where a Jordanian double agent acted as a suicide bomber and killed eight people, including the C.I.A.’s chief of the base. A former Blackwater employee who worked for the company in Pakistan and Afghanistan said that the security personnel were assigned to that base to provide personal security for the C.I.A. officers, especially when they left the base to gather intelligence. The former Blackwater employee, who asked not to be identified in order to discuss the firm’s operations, said: “The B.W. guys’ only role is to protect the agency personnel when they go downrange to investigate and disseminate intelligence. But they are not used for any of the actual interrogations .” The C.I.A. has used the Chapman base in Khost to gather information from paid informants on members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, who are then attacked either by Predator drones or by more conventional American or Afghan forces.

Private Military Contractors
Afghanistan War (2001- )
Murders and Attempted Murders


Edie Falco: Meditate. Then It’s Time to Play.

Abstract: For Edie Falco , star of the Showtime series “Nurse Jackie,” Sunday is a day for “free-floating time” with her son, Anderson, 9, and her daughter, Macy, 6. The children’s godfathers may pay a visit. There may be a movie or a play. There’s usually a meditation class. Ms. Falco, 50, has won four Emmys, one for “Nurse Jackie” and three for her role as Carmela Soprano in “The Sopranos.” A single mother, she lives in the West Village with her children and the family’s rescue dog, Sami, a Brussels griffon. Ms. Falco often rides around town on her electric bike. UP TOO EARLY I wake up at 6:30 or 7. I’m so quickly snapped into action mode. When the kids are up, which is pretty much immediately, it’s just about getting them fed, getting the dog taken care of, getting everyone sort of stable, and then coming up with a shape for the day. If it was up to me, it would be 9 o’clock. In a perfect world, I will meditate briefly. Image Preparing cinnamon toast at home in the West Village, with her daughter, Macy, 6. Credit Dave Sanders for The New York Times COFFEE, RUMMAGING Everybody goes downstairs. I put the coffee on. They almost immediately dive into the toy drawers and start rummaging for things. He’s going to read something; she’s going to play some doll game. What they want to do is go on their electronics, but there’s no electronics before 10, which they know. SWEET START Then they’re like, “Cinnamon toast!” So I start making them cinnamon toast and a protein shake — frozen berries, yogurt, almond milk and a little protein powder. Since we’re vegetarian I’ve always got my eyes on making sure they’re getting enough of what they need. I’ll have the shake or oatmeal. FREE PLAY At some point the sitter will come. The neighbor kids will come out or we’ll see them in the courtyard. The kids will run outside. It’s a little bit of a free-for-all. Image At Kadampa Meditation Center on 24th Street. Credit Dave Sanders for The New York Times QUIET TIME At 11 o’clock I go to my Buddha class at the Kadampa Meditation Center on 24th Street. I meditate and take a class. On Sunday mornings, a lot of families go to church. This is my version of that, I suppose. It’s made me calmer, quieter, more peaceful. There is also a children’s class from 11 to 12:30. I have taken them along, but I don’t want to push it on them. If they seem interested, they come. If they don’t, they don’t. SCOOT AROUND Then we’ll probably go for a little scooter ride over to the pier park on the water. The sitter may come. I have a bunch of young men babysitters. They call it Artist Babysitting . They’re these kids who are actors and stage managers and writers who do this as their part-time job. CURTAIN UP Then we’ll come back to the house and maybe go up to the theater. We’re seeing “Les Miz” this Sunday. We’ll see “The Lion King” in a couple of weeks. Or I’ll see a movie with a friend. My friend Stephen Wallem , who works on “Nurse Jackie” with me, is a good buddy. Image Leaving Kadampa Meditation Center. Credit Dave Sanders for The New York Times OPEN HOUSE My kids have godfathers. Sometimes they’ll be over on a Sunday. They’re two friends of mine, Eric Mendelsohn and Bill Sage , who are a huge part of my kids’ lives. If Bill and Eric are there, and maybe a sitter is over, and maybe my assistant comes by, the house is full of people. The door is open. The kids are running. The neighborhood kids are yelling about something. It feels like the suburbs. TV; BED PREP I like being home with the kids on Sunday nights. We might order some sushi. I’ll send the sitter home and we’ll start watching some ridiculous kids’ show on TV, like “SpongeBob.” Then it becomes getting-ready-for-bed time and teeth and pajamas and a bath if that’s what’s called for. I’ll let them sit up with me until bedtime. Macy goes to bed at 8; he goes to bed at 8:30. ALONE TIME And that’s that. I’m alone for a bit to watch TV, and I’m happy as a clam. The stuff that I love to watch is not kid-friendly, so I very much look forward to having some time alone to watch shows like “The First 48,” which is a show I’m crazy about. TIDY UP Then I make sure the house is in order. I can’t go to bed unless all the kids’ toys and stuff are put away. I set up the coffee maker. I check the kids on the way up to my room. Then I go to sleep. Every night, no matter what, how hard I try, I’m like: “I’m not going to get enough sleep again. I don’t know how this happens.” I close my eyes and I think, “Oh my God, I have to be up in five hours.”

Edie Falco
Nurse Jackie
TV
West Village Manhattan


A Suicide, a Last Request, a Family’s Questions

Abstract: SUNNY ISLES BEACH, Fla. — The words came up on Alicia Duerson’s cellphone as blithely as text messages typically do, but this one was different: her former husband, the former Chicago Bears star Dave Duerson, asked her to donate his brain for research. She texted back and heard nothing, then called their son, Tregg, who was just ending his workday as a bank analyst in Chicago . They called again and got voice mail. The next and last message they received from Dave Duerson was meant for them, their family and perhaps all of professional football. It was written in his hurried hand, repeating his text message in case it had not been received, and found in the South Florida condominium where he placed a gun to his chest and shot himself to death last Thursday. “Please, see that my brain is given to the N.F.L. ’s brain bank.” Alicia and Tregg Duerson cannot know and do not care to guess what his intentions were in this final request. What they do know is that, they said, it brings them some solace in a sad and confusing time. “I think it’s just an example of the type of person he is,” Alicia Duerson said. “In his time, he put the future in front of him — future generations of football players in front of him. I’m just so proud of him at this moment.” His family said that Duerson, the 50-year-old former Bears safety who graduated from Notre Dame, had been finding it hard to remember names and to put words together. They described a devoted father of four who had spent countless hours with the football players union, where he became familiar with the plight of retired players dealing with physical decline and dementia . Sitting with his mother on the deck of his father’s building Monday night, Tregg Duerson sobbed. “He was looking for an answer,” Tregg said. “And he was hoping to be a part of an answer.” The pertinent question is whether Duerson had chronic traumatic encephalopathy , the degenerative brain disease recently found posthumously in about 20 retired players, a disease that has been linked to depression , cognitive impairment and occasionally suicide. That determination will be made over the next several months by doctors at the Boston University Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy, who recently began receiving financial support from the N.F.L. The broader issue, given the growing number of football players developing dementia or other cognitive problems, is what the cost of football will eventually be for generations of retired players, and how the game might be made safer for active players, from professionals to children’s leagues. Duerson’s final letter, consisting mostly of personal comments that relatives declined to make public, did describe blurred vision and pain, Alicia Duerson said, “on the left side of his brain.” The implication, by pledging his brain to research, was that his problems, and perhaps his suicide as well, stemmed from his football career. “I would have to guess it was a statement about football and its impact on the brain,” said Robert Smith, a former N.F.L. running back, who served with Duerson on the panel that considers former players’ disability claims. “It had to be. And, his belief that it contributed to his final despair.” A hard-hitting but nimble defensive back from Muncie, Ind., Duerson was an all-American at Notre Dame and a two-time Super Bowl champion, first as part of the 1985 Bears’ famed 46 defense, then five years later with the Giants. He met Alicia during his freshman year at Notre Dame; they divorced last year. “He was hitting so strong and hard, and he was so aggressive as a defensive back that after the game I was really afraid to go up to him,” she said of their first meeting, after a Notre Dame football game. “He was like: ‘What’s wrong with you? Come over here, let me give you a hug.’ He was so sweet and kind. He could leave the game on the field and go back to being Dave.” When Duerson left the field for good after the 1993 season with the Arizona Cardinals , he was succeeding in the food service business. He also stayed active in players union affairs. Duerson eventually joined the six-man volunteer panel that considered retired players’ claims under the N.F.L.’s disability plan, in addition to the 88 Plan, a fund that has assisted more than 150 families caring for retired players with dementia since its inception in 2007. Duerson read applications, testimonies and detailed doctors’ reports for hundreds of players with multiple injuries, including those to the brain that in some cases left players requiring full-time care. He had to vote on whether these people received financial assistance. In 2007, two Congressional committees held hearings into whether the disability board was unfairly denying benefits. Duerson testified before the Senate Commerce Committee alongside Brent Boyd, a former Minnesota Vikings lineman whose depression and cognitive impairment had been ruled unrelated to his playing career, therefore warranting significantly lower benefits. It is unknown how Duerson voted on Boyd’s case. He did get into a testy exchange when Boyd, then 50, asserted that his condition — and that of other players with dementia — was caused by football. “In regards to the issue of Alzheimer’s , my father’s 84, and, as I had mentioned earlier, Senator, spent 30 years at General Motors ,” Duerson said, according to the hearing transcript. “He also has — he also has Alzheimer’s and brain damage, but never played a professional sport. So, the challenge, you know, in terms of where the damage comes from, is a fair question.” Around this time, Duerson’s life began changing course. His company, Duerson Foods, was forced into receivership. His 17-room home in Highland Park, Ill. — the one with “NFL22” carved on a driveway pillar — went into foreclosure. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor domestic-battery charge after pushing Alicia during an argument, leading him to resign from Notre Dame’s board. Duerson filed for personal bankruptcy last September. Few close to Duerson appear to have noticed anything wrong with him. Miki-Yaras Davis, the union’s director of player benefits, said that at a disability board meeting last November, Duerson was his usual joyous, cigar-smoking self. Other union officials said they did not see any signs of cognitive impairment, although one, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Duerson once spoke plaintively that he might someday develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy. Alicia Duerson, who kept in touch with him, said that he developed a hesitancy in putting words together on paper and in conversation. He also had short-term memory loss that, she said, “got worse as time went on.” “I think David knew that inside of him there was something wrong,” she said. As much as Duerson loved football, she said, his final gestures were his way of saying: “I’m a veteran of the game. Something is wrong. Somebody has to step up and acknowledge that.” Duerson asked that his brain go to “the N.F.L. brain bank,” an indication that he recognized the league’s support of the Boston University research. After denying and discrediting evidence of football’s long-term impact on the brain for several years, the N.F.L. has increased its efforts to make the game less dangerous through concussion -treatment protocols and rule changes. “It is a tragic situation that has everyone in the football community feeling both saddened and concerned,” the N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello wrote Tuesday in an e-mail. “Dave Duerson was a leader, a doer and a giver. He made great contributions to the N.F.L. and to many others. The human tragedy is gut-wrenching, and Dave’s family and friends have been in our thoughts. On the medical side, we will stay in close contact with our medical advisers and the B.U. research group to understand the facts and their significance.” Smith said that after joining the disability board last year, he never sensed skepticism from Duerson that players’ cognitive problems were related to football. He acknowledged Duerson’s personal and financial problems must have contributed to his final act, and that his brain might in fact not show the protein deposits and damaged neurons indicative of C.T.E. “He devoted so much to retired players and their problems,” Smith said, “you wish that the information that he had received from all those other cases would have led him to seek the help that could have saved him. That’s what I will have to deal with as my time on the board continues — to do what I can to help get his message across.” Alicia said that some of Duerson’s ashes, per his longtime wishes, would be spread at Notre Dame and Soldier Field, the sites of his finest days. A public memorial service is scheduled for Saturday in Chicago. Tregg Duerson also played football at Notre Dame, until he decided after one year to concentrate on earning his management degree. “I just wish he had played baseball,” Tregg blurted angrily at one point during the interview. But a few minutes later, asked if his father might have had the same second thoughts, he broke into a knowing smile and actually laughed. “My dad’s not a second-guess type of guy,” he said. “If he makes up his mind, it’s on, baby. There’s no looking back.”

Suicide
Chicago Bears
Dave Duerson
Football
Concussion
NFL Super Bowl Super Bowl 2015