Novak Djokovic Advances to French Open Quarterfinals

Abstract: PARIS — On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic held an umbrella and danced along the baseline. On Wednesday, he wore a yellow rain hat in a postmatch interview. Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, was in good spirits as he overcame intermittent downpours, heavy conditions and a sluggish start to defeat 14th-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5, over two days to advance to the quarterfinal round. It is the 10th time Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals at the French Open, one shy of Roger Federer’s record for the Open era. It is also the 28th consecutive time Djokovic has reached the quarterfinals of a major tournament, passing Jimmy Connors, who made it to 27 straight. Federer leads that category with 36. More important, the top-ranked Djokovic is seeking his first French Open championship to go with his 11 other Grand Slam singles titles. For the last two days, though, all he wanted was just a few hours without rain. “I remember early in my career I played a match against Kiefer in Wimbledon for five days,” Djokovic said. “That was the longest I have played one match. This is probably the second longest. Same reason. Raining.” Djokovic was referring to his four-set marathon against Nicolas Kiefer in 2007. His match against Bautista required only two days, but it featured a few key momentum swings coinciding with the interruptions. On Thursday, weather permitting, Djokovic will play seventh-seeded Tomas Berdych, who beat 11th-seeded David Ferrer, 6-3, 7-5, 6-3. In the other quarterfinal matchup that was finally settled on Wednesday, 13th-seeded Dominic Thiem will face 12th-seeded David Goffin. Goffin finished off Ernests Gulbis, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3, in a continuation of their suspended match from Tuesday. Thiem did the same to Marcel Granollers, 6-2, 6-7 (2), 6-1, 6-4. In quarterfinal matches Wednesday, second-seeded Andy Murray won his 10th straight match on clay, overcoming No. 9 Richard Gasquet, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2. In the semifinals, he will face the defending champion, Stan Wawrinka, who beat Albert Ramos-Viñolas, 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7). Now the big issue for the men is whether they will be able to cram in all their matches and conclude with a Sunday final, as scheduled. Or will the final will be pushed to Monday? Djokovic said he had spoken with tournament and tour officials about the scheduling, which could include his playing four days in a row with a day of rest before the final. “That’s an ideal scenario right there,” he said. “Let’s see, first of all, whether or not I can win my quarterfinals and put myself in a position to play semis and maybe final. That’s No. 1. And No. 2 is whether we’re going to have rain or not.” On Tuesday, Djokovic played very poorly and lost the first set. He seemed perfectly happy when play was suspended for about three hours because it gave him a moment to relax and reassess. During the rain delay, he had fun with the umbrella, but once back on court with a racket, he dominated Bautista, at least until the next delay caused a suspension for the remainder of the day. Back on court Wednesday under dark clouds but no real rain, Djokovic wrapped up the third set but found himself in trouble in the fourth. The key game came after Bautista broke Djokovic to take a 4-2 lead. Had he been able to consolidate that by holding serve and eventually winning the set, it would have put tremendous pressure on Djokovic in the fifth. But Djokovic broke back when Bautista double-faulted at 0-40. The rest was fairly routine. “It was a great mental test for all of us, really, yesterday, the entire day,” Djokovic said of the rain Tuesday. “I’m, in a way, glad to have a match like this because it’s a challenge that you need to overcome mentally, mostly.”


European Ministers Agree to Stricter Tobacco Laws

Abstract: LONDON — Cigarette packs in Europe would have to carry bigger health warnings, and cigarettes with menthol or other flavorings face a total ban, under an agreement that European Union ministers struck on Friday after spirited negotiations. A small group led by Poland won a reprieve for slim cigarettes, which are popular among female voters in several formerly Communist nations and had also been considered for a ban. The agreement is not the final decision, as the new tobacco rules require approval by the European Parliament before being put into effect. But the compromise was a milestone because it secured the support of national governments, including some that had fought hard to soften measures opposed by the tobacco industry and some smoker advocacy groups. The measures reflect a concerted effort by European policy makers to reduce the attractiveness of tobacco to young people in hopes of preventing them from taking up a habit notoriously hard to kick. Cigarettes with menthol and other flavorings are considered easier for novices to smoke. Under the deal, a health warning combining pictures and text must cover 65 percent of the front and back of all cigarette packs. That represents a reduction from the proposal going into the meeting of a 75 percent minimum, but it is an increase from the current 40 percent figure. James Reilly, the health minister of Ireland, which holds the European Union’s rotating presidency, said at a news conference in Luxembourg that about 700,000 Europeans die every year of tobacco-related causes and that smoking is “one of the greatest preventable and avoidable threats to health.” Packaging that appeals to younger smokers, he said, was tantamount to “entrapment of our young people.” The health ministers also agreed on regulation of electronic cigarettes, requiring authorization by relevant agencies in the member states before exceeding a certain nicotine threshold. Currently, only some of the European Union nations apply such restrictions on electronic cigarettes, which produce vapors from a nicotine liquid rather than burning tobacco. But Tonio Borg, the European commissioner in charge of health and consumer policy, said e-cigarettes “can give a false sense of security.” The debate over flavored cigarettes mirrors a longstanding discussion in the United States. In 2009, Congress passed a law prohibiting flavorings but exempted menthol after heavy lobbying by the tobacco industry. Although Congress gave the Food and Drug Administration the authority to ban menthol if this was deemed appropriate on health grounds, the F.D.A. has taken no action. In Europe, a ban on menthol cigarettes would not go into effect for some time. National governments would have up to three years to carry out the rules after the new tobacco law came into force. And the rollout of the new law itself, if finally approved later this year, could take about 18 months, Mr. Borg said. Slim cigarettes, which were exempted from the compromise on Friday, had been a target because of the fear that they attract young women to smoking. Though slim cigarettes would still be legal, new packaging and health warning requirements would prevent their sale in the small packs in which they are currently sold. “Tobacco should look like tobacco and not like a perfume or a candy,” Mr. Borg said. “And it should taste like tobacco.” In light of the compromises, antismoking campaigners expressed disappointment that the larger pictorial warnings were not made mandatory on all cigarette packs. Florence Berteletti Kemp, director of the Smoke Free Partnership, a European organization that promotes tobacco control and research, described the outcome on Friday as “disappointing.” “Despite the formidable efforts of the Irish presidency, the agreement adopted goes against key measures such as large pictorial warnings, which cost nothing to governments but would better protect millions of European children,” she said in a statement. “It is outrageous to see so many concessions made to an industry that buys its wealth and influence by marketing a deadly product.”

Menthol
Smoking
Legislation
EU
Regulation and Deregulation


Sang-Moon Bae Leads at Sony With Seven Birdies

Abstract: Sang-Moon Bae made seven birdies in pristine conditions in Hawaii for a bogey-free 63 and the lead in the Sony Open. Chris Kirk shot a 29 on the back nine and was one shot behind in the PGA’s first full-field event of the year.


Ortiz’s Single in the Ninth Ends Darvish’s Latest Bid for a No-Hitter

Abstract: Yu Darvish came so close again. Darvish, the Rangers’ ace, fell one out shy of a no-hitter for the second time, giving up only a ninth-inning single to David Ortiz in the Texas Rangers’ 8-0 home victory over the Boston Red Sox on Friday night. “This is the second time I experienced this, but if I keep pitching like this, someday I’ll get it,” Darvish said in Japanese through his translator. The rookie second baseman Rougned Odor, positioned in shallow right field, made a diving attempt on Ortiz’s hit, but the ball was out of his reach. If the Rangers had not shifted their infield, a standard practice against Ortiz, it probably would have been a routine grounder to second. Darvish lost a perfect-game bid with two outs in the ninth inning last season against Houston. This time, he bent his knees and put his glove on his hips after the base hit. Texas Manager Ron Washington then made a slow walk to the mound, with the crowd cheering and chanting, “Yu!” Darvish (3-1) struck out 12 and walked two, finishing with 126 pitches. Odor, 20, playing his second major league game, and Ortiz were also involved in the seventh-inning play that ended Darvish’s try for a perfect game. Darvish struck out eight of the first 11 batters he faced and retired 20 in a row until Ortiz hit a high pop-up to right field with two outs in the seventh. Odor was shifted into shallow right and drifted back for the ball while right fielder Alex Rios was coming in before suddenly stopping. Odor lunged with his glove extended above his head, but the ball dropped between them. “As soon as he hit it, I thought it was going to be a hit,” Darvish said. “Obviously I was a little bit disappointed, but I was already ready to give up a hit, so it didn’t really matter.” An error was charged to Rios after the official scorer Steve Weller looked at replays and conferred with several others because of the significance of the play. “I should have taken control of that ball,” Rios said. “We were camped under the ball, so it can be called an error.” Weller, in his 20th season as a scorer, told a pool reporter after the game that it was a judgment call and that “the second baseman or right fielder under normal effort could’ve clearly caught the ball.” Asked if he had spoken to Darvish, Rios said, “I just told him that I should have caught it.” Darvish, who was coming off the mound in case he needed to back up a base, crouched down when the ball hit the ground. The former Rangers catcher Mike Napoli then drew a walk before Grady Sizemore’s inning-ending flyout. Darvish came within one out of a perfect game during his first start of the 2013 season in Houston, where Marwin Gonzalez singled to break it up. Darvish then lost a no-hit bid with one out in the eighth against the Astros last August. Four weeks ago, Darvish was perfect through five innings at home against the Astros before a leadoff single in the sixth. He threw eight scoreless innings that night in a game the Rangers won, 1-0, in 12 innings. On Friday, Darvish had his 21st career game with at least 10 strikeouts, the most in the majors since his debut in 2012. Detroit’s Max Scherzer is next on the list, with 14 in that span. Darvish was winless in his previous nine home starts, despite a 2.83 earned run average in those games. He had not won at home since Aug. 1 against Arizona. PIRATES 6, CARDINALS 4 Neil Walker had three hits, including a three-run homer in the seventh inning, and drove in four runs to help host Pittsburgh beat St. Louis. Walker’s seventh homer came off Carlos Martinez (0-2) and rallied the Pirates from a 4-3 deficit for their third straight victory. Pittsburgh beat St. Louis for the 10th time in 13 games at home. REDS 4, ROCKIES 3 Joey Votto hit a game-ending solo homer, and Cincinnati shut down Nolan Arenado in a victory over visiting Colorado. Votto drove a 3-0 pitch from Boone Logan (1-1) over the wall in center for his fifth homer. It was Votto’s fourth career game-ending home run. Arenado went 0 for 3, ending his hitting streak at 28 games, a club record and the longest streak in the majors this season. But he also walked and scored on Justin Morneau’s tying double in the ninth, handing Jonathan Broxton (1-0) his first blown save in six opportunities. ANGELS 4, BLUE JAYS 3 Raul Ibanez drove in the tiebreaking run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, Mike Trout hit a solo home run, and Los Angeles won its fifth straight game in Toronto. ORIOLES 4, ASTROS 3 Steve Pearce and Manny Machado homered, and host Baltimore won a season-high fourth consecutive game, beating Houston. Baltimore (19-14) is five games over .500 for the first time this season. The Astros have lost six of their past seven games. TWINS 2, TIGERS 1 Phil Hughes pitched seven scoreless innings, and visiting Minnesota beat Detroit’s Justin Verlander for the first time in over four years. Kurt Suzuki hit a two-run single off Verlander (4-2) in the seventh to lift Minnesota. BRAVES 3, CUBS 2 Freddie Freeman’s single up the middle drove in Jason Heyward from second base in the 10th inning, and host Atlanta recovered from Craig Kimbrel’s blown save to edge Chicago. WHITE SOX 8, DIAMONDBACKS 3 Alexei Ramirez hit a grand slam to fuel host Chicago’s seven-run fourth inning, and Jose Abreu hit his major league-leading 13th homer in a win over Arizona. Abreu was the designated hitter because of a nagging left ankle injury. He went 3 for 4 and leads the American League with 37 runs batted in. Tyler Flowers also homered for the White Sox, who pounded out 15 hits. INDIANS 6, RAYS 3 Mike Aviles hit a three-run homer during a five-run seventh inning, Corey Kluber had six and two-thirds effective innings, and visiting Cleveland stopped a seven-game road losing streak by beating Tampa Bay. Cleveland also got solo homers from Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley. BRAVES STARTER TO BULLPEN The Braves found a temporary fix for their overstuffed rotation by moving Alex Wood to the bullpen for a week. Wood had been scheduled to start Sunday against the Chicago Cubs, but instead he will be Atlanta’s second left-handed reliever, joining Luis Avilan. Aaron Harang will start Sunday. Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez said Wood would return to the rotation May 17 against St. Louis.

Yu Darvish
David Ortiz
Texas Rangers
Red Sox
Baseball


Cardinals’ Star Safety Is Out for Season

Abstract: The Arizona Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson will have season-ending surgery on his ailing right heel, the team said yesterday. Wilson’s string of 59 starts ended two weeks ago at Cincinnati. He also sat out Sunday’s game against San Francisco. That has given the Cardinals time to adjust to life without him, Coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “It’s hard to replace a player of Adrian’s caliber, but we have some guys we expect to step up and fill that role,” Whisenhunt said. “Adrian’s been a workhorse. He’s frustrated. We all are, but there’s nothing we can do about that. We expect the next guy to step up.” Oliver Celestin has started in Wilson’s place. MCNABB HOPEFUL Philadelphia quarterback Donovan McNabb said that his injured ankle and thumb had improved and that he was closer to getting back on the field than he was a week ago. But his availability for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks (7-4), who lead the National Football Conference West, is still uncertain. “I feel a lot closer, but you have to be smart about the whole situation,” he said. TESTAVERDE SET TO START Carolina quarterback Vinny Testaverde practiced without difficulty and is expected to start Sunday against San Francisco if he remains healthy. The 44-year-old Testaverde was a late scratch last Sunday after waking up a day earlier with a stiff back. “He looks a lot better today than he did Sunday morning,” Coach John Fox said. Fox would not say whether David Carr or the undrafted rookie Matt Moore would serve as Testaverde’s backup. DOUBTS ABOUT BULGER St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger was held out of practice yesterday, three days after sustaining a concussion, and his availability remained in doubt for Sunday’s game against Atlanta. Bulger, who was hospitalized for a few hours Sunday, was scheduled for an examination and a baseline test later in the day and did not speak to reporters. Bulger said Monday that he felt much better and expected to play against the Falcons, but his backup Gus Frerotte’s assessment was not so positive. “He just seems kind of like he was after the game,” Frerotte said. “You can talk to him and he understands what’s going on. But he’s just a little groggy.” CROYLE MISSES PRACTICE Kansas City quarterback Brodie Croyle missed practice with a sore back, and his availability for Sunday’s game against San Diego could be in question. Croyle, making his second career start, was kicked in the back early in the Chiefs’ 20-17 loss to Oakland on Sunday. He played the rest of the game but has been too sore to do much all week. “He’s sore, pretty sore,” Chiefs Coach Herman Edwards said. If Croyle cannot play, the veteran Damon Huard will start. RACKERS APOLOGIZES Arizona place-kicker Neil Rackers has apologized for striking an NFL Films video camera with his helmet as he left the field after the Cardinals’ 37-31 overtime loss to San Francisco last Sunday. Rackers had missed what would have been a winning 32-yard field goal. The camera was knocked into the face of the cameraman, but he reportedly was not seriously hurt. The Cardinals, in confirming the incident, did not identify the cameraman. ALEXANDER PRACTICES Seattle running back Shaun Alexander practiced for the first time since he sprained his ankle three and a half weeks ago. Alexander said he would play Sunday at Philadelphia, but Coach Mike Holmgren was less definitive. “We have our fingers crossed, as he does,” Holmgren said before practice, wary of how sore Alexander may be today. CLOSING IN ON HALL Wide receiver Cris Carter and cornerback Darrell Green were the only first-year eligible players among 26 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2008. The 26 advanced from a list of 124 preliminary nominees. The inductees will be decided the day before the Super Bowl on Feb. 2, 2008.

Football
Arizona Cardinals
National Football League


Group of Rich Americans Sues UBS to Keep Names Secret in Tax Case

Abstract: UBS was sued on Tuesday in a Swiss federal court by wealthy American clients seeking to prevent the disclosure of their identities as part of a tax-evasion investigation by the United States Justice Department . The lawsuit accuses UBS and Switzerland ’s financial regulator, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority, or Finma, of violating Swiss bank secrecy laws and of conducting what Swiss law considers illegal activities with foreign authorities. It also named Peter Kurer, the chairman of UBS, and Eugen Haltiner, the chairman of Finma, as defendants. The suit, filed by a lawyer in Zurich, Andreas Rued, on behalf of nearly a dozen American clients, underscores the growing clash between Swiss banking secrecy laws and those of the United States. Tax evasion is not considered a crime in Switzerland. Disclosing client names under Swiss law is a criminal offense and can expose bank executives and officers to fines, prison terms and other penalties. UBS is the world’s largest private bank and Switzerland is the world’s largest offshore tax haven, with trillions of dollars in assets. The lawsuit, which UBS described in an internal memo late Tuesday, stems from UBS’s agreement last week to turn over to federal authorities in Washington the names of 250 wealthy Americans suspected of using secret UBS offshore accounts and entities to evade taxes. UBS reached a $780 million deferred-prosecution agreement to settle accusations that it used undisclosed offshore private banking services to help wealthy Americans evade taxes. But the bank is still under scrutiny by the Justice Department, which is seeking to force it to disclose the names of the 52,000 American clients it suspects may have evaded taxes. Mr. Rued could not be reached for comment.

United States
Justice Department
Switzerland
Tax Evasion
UBS AG
Suits and Litigation
High Net Worth Individuals


Sony Sets a New Course to Bolster Its Electronics

Abstract: TOKYO— The Sony Corporation said Thursday that it would make a strong move into networked electronics and video download services and aim for the top spot in liquid-crystal display TVs as the company seeks to make the most of its hardware and software assets. The company, which sells PlayStation games and Vaio PCs, said it would aim to double revenue from the fast-growing markets of Brazil, China, India and Russia, to 2 trillion yen ($18.7 billion) and invest 1.8 trillion yen in businesses and technologies as part of a three-year strategy to March 2011. “So much more opportunities exist outside the core markets of Japan, North America and Europe,” Sony’s chief executive, Howard Stringer, told a news conference. Sony wants to lift return on equity to 10 percent from an average of about 6 percent over the last three years, and reach the 5 percent operating profit margin that eluded it in a previous plan, when it reached 4.2 percent in the year ended in March. “We believe a 5 percent operating margin represents a baseline to continue to lead and innovate,” said Mr. Stringer, the first non-Japanese top executive at Sony. “This is what’s considered to be the minimum, acceptable level going forward.” Sony’s current return on equity is low compared with global rivals like the Samsung Electronics Company of South Korea, which reaches 14 percent, and Philips Electronics, which registers 23 percent, according to Reuters data. “That target is a sign of Sony’s sense of crisis that it could really become a takeover target if it doesn’t lift its R.O.E. to at least over 10 percent,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. Sony trails Samsung in the liquid-crystal display TV market, while locked in a three-way battle with Microsoft and Nintendo in the global video game industry. As part of its move into networked electronics and video distribution, Sony, which owns Sony Pictures, will start a video distribution service on its PlayStation Network starting this summer, playing catch-up with Apple. The company plans to broaden the online video distribution service to other crucial products, potentially including Bravia flat TVs, by March 2011, and make 90 percent of its electronics product categories network-enabled and wireless-capable. Apple and its iPod dominate the portable music player market, which Sony created nearly three decades ago with Walkman. The Japanese electronics maker also has been struggling in Apple’s shadow in music and video distribution service. Of the planned 1.8 trillion yen it aims to invest over the next three years, about half would go to its component and semiconductor operations — which include image sensors, batteries, display devices and Blu-ray disc-related parts. Sony said it would aim to bring its TV business back to profitability in the year to March 2009 by cutting production costs, and strive to be No. 1 in the L.C.D. TV market in three years. The company said in February it would take a one-third stake in Sharp’s 380-billion-yen L.C.D. panel plant set for completion by March 2010, securing a major panel supply source on top of its L.C.D. venture with Samsung. The flat TV and video game operations were Sony’s two major earnings drags last year, diminishing profits earned by its Cyber-shot digital camera and Handycam camcorder businesses. Sony is also aiming to make its game business profitable this year.

Electronics
Computers and the Internet
Recordings and Downloads (Video)
Sony Corp
Company Reports


Wild Swings in Markets Fuel Anxiety of Japanese

Abstract: TOKYO — Mika Tanabe, a new investor in the Japanese stock market, has been on a stomach-turning roller-coaster ride. Since March, her shares in Softmax, an electronic medical records company, have slumped 30 percent, surged 120 percent, lost half their value, then climbed 20 percent again. She watched in bewilderment as Softmax shares plummeted as much as 25 percent in just one day. Her friends had warned her, Ms. Tanabe said, that playing with stocks was playing with fire. “They said investing is so risky, so dangerous. It’s what many people think,” said Ms. Tanabe, who is 26. She listens to them and then rationalizes it. “I tell myself that stocks are going to rise in the long run.” The wild ride in Japanese equities this year has been driven by the hopes and fears accompanying the bold economic policies of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The country’s economy, after decades of doldrums, appears to be re-energized. Mr. Abe’s success in the Japanese parliamentary elections last Sunday affirmed the policies, even if the statistics are not always encouraging. It has reinvigorated an interest in investing, some brokers here said, that brings flashbacks of Japan’s spectacular bubble era of the late 1980s. After a giddy 80 percent ascent over six months, the Nikkei 225 stock index turned sharply southward in mid-May and all the horrors of Japan’s historic bubble burst seemed to return. In a matter of days, stock market commentators went from hailing the “rally of the century” to cautioning that stock markets were a dangerous money-sink in which no casual investor could hope to thrive. “Market terror! Amateur investors, get out now!” screamed a headline on the cover of the popular weekly magazine Shukan Gendai after a particularly bad run last month. The volatility continued on Friday as the Nikkei stock index fell almost 3 percent after news that Japanese consumer prices rose in June to their highest annual pace in nearly five years. The question market watchers are asking remains: Can Japan’s retail investors get over a deeply entrenched suspicion of the stock market made worse by recent volatility? “Japanese still think of the stock market as a place where people, blinded by greed, manipulate prices based on some sort of voodoo magic,” said Ryoji Musha, president of Musha Research, a private financial research firm based in Tokyo, and former chief investment adviser at Deutsche Securities in Japan. The continued wariness casts a cloud on the long-term strength of Japanese stocks, even as individual investors are crucial to sustaining a recovery, experts say. Fear of stock markets also limits the broader effect of the wealth generated so far by Mr. Abe’s economic policies, because too few ordinary Japanese stand to benefit directly from stock market gains. And it undermines efforts by Mr. Abe to shift the trillions of yen sitting in low-yielding savings accounts in Japan toward more productive investments. “Any long-term market recovery hinges on the support of individual investors,” said Masayuki Doshida, senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities, an online retail brokerage firm. He said that some individual investors had bought stocks on margin, or borrowed money from brokers to pay for their stock purchase. But once those stocks fell past a certain value, many investors were forced to sell their shares, worsening the market fall. “But I’m optimistic. I’m waiting for investors to regain their nerve and jump back in,” Mr. Doshida said. The Japanese remain some of the most cautious investors in the industrialized world. Stocks and mutual funds together made up just 11 percent of financial assets held by individuals in Japan at the end of last year. That is less than half the levels seen in 1990 near the bubble’s peak, and far below the current 45 percent in the United States and 22 percent in the euro zone, according to figures from the Bank of Japan. Japanese households instead hold 55 percent of their financial assets as cash and savings, despite near-zero interest rates. At the peak of the bubble, Japanese savers stashed only 40 percent of their assets there. The comparable rate is about 15 percent in the United States and 36 percent in Europe. In the bubble years, novice investors followed Japanese corporations in taking up zaiteku, a Japanized abbreviation of investment technology, or the art of speculative investment in stocks, bonds and real estate. Neighborhood stockbrokers popped up across Japan. The 1987 listing of Nippon Telegraph and Technology, the former state-run telecommunications company, drew such investor enthusiasm that its share price almost tripled in the first two months of trading, briefly making it the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization. Legends were born. Nui Onoue, a bar hostess in Osaka, earned a reputation for getting stock tips through divine guidance and became one of Japan’s most active individual investors, controlling billions of yen in investments. Self-made billionaires like Kazuo Kengaku earned notoriety as “shite” (pronounced she-tay) or market movers who reaped hefty profits by driving stock prices up and down. Then things starting going awry. By 1992, N.T.T. shares had lost four-fifths of their value, wiping out investors across Japan. Ms. Onoue was arrested in a $2.5 billion fraud scandal. Mr. Kengaku ran into trouble with his gangster associates, and his body was discovered encased in concrete in a forest in Kyoto. “The excesses of the bubble era gave stocks a dirty image,” said Sumio Mochizuki, who runs Icas, a nonprofit company that is trying to popularize investment clubs in Japan. “Even if you’re just getting together to trade shares, some people suspect you’re up to no good, or that you’re a criminal group,” he said. But as markets surged in 2013, “semiprofessional” day traders and Japan’s wealthy seized the market upside and made some serious money, according to an analysis by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank. The fervor later spread as mom-and-pop investors who had watched nervously from the sidelines raced to the market. Suddenly, a proliferation of investment guidebooks hit bookstores: “Get rich with Abenomics,” one advertised on its cover. “It’s true: You can make money off stocks!” gushed another. Soon, brokerage firms said they were inundated with applications for new accounts and attendance at investment seminars ballooned. In late May, Daiwa Securities, one of Japan’s biggest investment banks, said it would increase its sales force by about 50 percent to handle the renewed interest in stocks. “It’s incredible. For a while, I didn’t know anything but a bull market,” said Mirei Tsugawa, 33, a novice investor who works at Narita Airport in Tokyo. “I didn’t tell my parents what I was doing, though, because they’d be worried.” Perhaps for good reason. On May 23, the rally came to an abrupt halt. The market plunged 7 percent in a single trading session as foreign investors were unnerved by signs of a manufacturing slowdown in China and concerns over an early end to monetary stimulus in the United States. “Individual investors suddenly felt like they were sheep about to be gobbled up by hedge fund wolves,” said Shinichi Watanabe, a professor in finance and economics at Tokyo International University and a former fund manager at the Sumitomo Trust and Banking. A shift from saving to investment is a critical part of Mr. Abe’s reforms. Next year, Japan is set to introduce tax-exempt individual accounts for stocks and mutual funds. Nomura Asset Management recently predicted that nearly 10 million people might use such accounts, generating a 26 trillion yen inflow into shares and investment trusts. The drive has plenty of skeptics, however. “Stock markets today are just a money game,” said Mitsuru Sakurai, policy chief and lawmaker at the opposition Democratic Party. “Prime Minister Abe is creating a dangerous bubble, and we all know what happens to bubbles.”

Japan
Shinzo Abe
Nikkei 225
Stocks,Bonds


Jazz Musician Terence Conley Struggles Back After a Head Injury

Abstract: With his wife’s help, Terence Conley walked slowly toward a piano on a recent Thursday at the Jazz Foundation of America headquarters in Manhattan. “Play something nice,” Judith Conley told her husband as she eased him onto a piano stool. Mr. Conley, 51, steadied his fingers above the keys, smiled across the room in the direction of his three children and began playing “Ruby, My Dear.” “I’m glad he chose that tune,” his wife whispered. “It’s one of the hardest to play in all of jazz.” For Mr. Conley, a former member of the Count Basie Orchestra, tackling those difficult chords was another small but important step in his recovery from a September accident that nearly killed him. Several months before, he had taken a job as a driver for Federal Express to earn some extra money — decent-paying jazz gigs had been disappearing even before the recession. “Things were drying up,” Mr. Conley said softly. “I needed to feed my family.” On Sept. 29, the day before he was to interview for a job teaching piano at Lincoln Center, Mr. Conley was driving his FedEx truck in Midtown Manhattan when he crashed into the back of a bus that he says had stopped abruptly. He sustained major head injuries and was deliberately put into a coma for more than a month by doctors at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan who were trying to reduce swelling and stop the bleeding on his brain. “We didn’t know if or when he was going to wake up,” Mrs. Conley said. “Either way, doctors were saying that he would eventually be sent to a nursing home.” Then one day at Bellevue, in mid-October, Mrs. Conley leaned over to kiss her husband. “I’m so sad that this happened to you,” she told him. Though her husband could not speak, his answer came in the form of a teardrop that rolled down his cheek. “He pointed to that teardrop as if to say ‘I’m sorry, too,’ ” Mrs. Conley recalled through tears of her own. “I knew right then that he understood everything I was saying, and that he would continue to fight to get better.” Mrs. Conley, who met her husband at the Berklee College of Music in Boston (where they became friends with a rising saxophonist named Branford Marsalis), insisted her husband be sent to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, and not a nursing home, so he could receive therapy. Her request was granted, and in the ensuing months, Mr. Conley began making remarkable strides. “He came in here at just about point zero,” Dr. Brian D. Greenwald, a physiatrist at Mount Sinai who specializes in brain injury rehabilitation, said of Mr. Conley. “It’s incredible to see how much progress he has made.” Mr. Conley left the hospital on Jan. 13 and went home to the small apartment in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn, that he shares with his wife and children: Brandon, 16, Joralyssa, 11, and Christopher, 7. A few weeks later, he began feeling well enough to sit and play at his own piano. “Other than my wife and children, I missed my piano the most,” Mr. Conley said. “I look forward to the day when I can get back on stage again.” The Jazz Foundation of America, which has helped the Conleys pay roughly $9,000 in rent and other bills through a fund provided by the philanthropist Agnes Varis, staged a welcome-back party for him on April 19 at St. Peter’s Church in Midtown. The event brought together many of the musicians that Mr. Conley had performed with at the Blue Note and Birdland and other jazz clubs in New York in the past 20 years, including the pianist Barry Harris and Mr. Marsalis. “Terence was always a beautiful guy and a talented musician,” Mr. Marsalis said. “When you go to a conservatory, you’re surrounded more by competitors than friends, but Terence and Judith were among the few real friends that I had back then.” On that recent Thursday, the Conley family had gone to the Jazz Foundation headquarters to meet Wendy Oxenhorn, the group’s executive director. She has offered Mr. Conley the opportunity to begin performing again at nursing homes around the city as a dignified way of helping him pay his bills. After their meeting, Mr. Conley went downstairs to the foundation’s tiny performance hall, where he found musicians preparing for the organization’s next fund-raiser: “A Great Night in Harlem,” at the Apollo Theater. The piano was unoccupied, and Mr. Conley seized the moment. When he was done playing his last tune — “It Could Happen to You” — he walked off the stage and was greeted by another legendary saxophonist, Max Lucas, 99, who has performed with the likes of Louis Armstrong, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Dinah Washington and Thelonious Monk. “He’s a fine young piano player,” Mr. Lucas said shortly after hugging Mr. Conley. “The jazz world needs him back.”


The Pride of New York’s Firehouses, Rendered in a Patch

Abstract: SOME are geographical descriptions: the Brooklyn Bridge Club, the Pride of Williamsburg, Midtown Express. Some use animal names: the River Rats, the Hollis Hogs, the 38th Street Mutts. Others are artful innuendoes: the Happy Hookers, It Ain’t Easy Being Single. And still others are understood only by those who made them up: the Clown College, Nobody’s Perfect, the Hulk. For more than 100 years, the firefighters of New York have been devising clever slogans for their firehouses, drawing on history, imagination and quirks of personal character to identify themselves and to distinguish their companies from the rest of the department. About 30 years ago, they began to match these slogans with colorful, artistically rendered patches. Today, many firehouses have doors adorned with the images on the patches, as shown here. Worn on sleeves, the patches are a fire company’s statement of uniqueness. They emerged not only from the custom of companies’ coining nicknames for themselves, but also from an even older tradition of decorating fire engines with elaborately painted murals. “A lot of houses have always had nicknames, but they didn’t have patches until the department’s modern insignia — with the shield and skyline — was issued in the ’70s,” said Damon Campagna, the director and curator of the New York City Fire Museum . “It wasn’t until you started seeing that patch that you started seeing others.” While dreamed up from house to house, the design, colors and contents of the patches have been subject to approval by borough fire commanders ever since the city’s Department of Investigation issued a report in 2005 on a sex scandal at a Bronx firehouse nicknamed Animal House. The report recommended that firehouses with “unbecoming nicknames” quickly change them, mentioning, among others: Engine 214 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (the Nut House), Ladder 30 in Harlem (the Harlem Zoo) and Engine 90 in Van Nest in the Bronx (90 Proof).“A firehouse is a family,” Mr. Campagna said. “They’ve had people live and die under the design of their patches. They’re proud of them.”

Fire Department (NYC)
Slogans and Mottoes
Names Personal
Fires and Firefighters


Shale Gas Company Halts Drilling at British Site

Abstract: LONDON — Cuadrilla Resources, a British shale gas company, has suspended drilling activity at its site in Balcombe, the village south of London that has become a focus of protests against Britain’s efforts to develop a shale gas industry. Although the company is drilling for oil, not gas, at Balcombe, its activities there have become symbolic of the shale-gas effort in Britain because Cuadrilla has been in the forefront of shale gas exploration in northwest England. The company attracted the wrong sort of attention in 2011 when early efforts to hydraulically fracture a well in Lancashire set off minor earthquakes. Cuadrilla said Friday that it had decided to suspend drilling after taking advice from the local police in Sussex, following “threats of direct action against the exploration site.” The company said it was acting in the interest of the safety of its own staff, Balcombe residents and protesters. A person close to the company said that Cuadrilla was concerned that protesters might invade the site, as they have done at a Cuadrilla site in northern England. The person asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak about the issue. Image The site in Balcombe, south of London, has become a focus of protests against fracking. Credit Pool photo by Gareth Fuller The decision not only delays Cuadrilla’s exploration program but is damaging to the government-backed effort to develop shale and other so-called unconventional oil and gas to replace declining production in the North Sea. Britain is thought to have substantial shale gas resources but it will require extensive drilling and testing to discover whether the gas in the ground can be profitably produced. Amid the controversy in Balcombe, Prime Minister David Cameron has weighed in on the debate . In an article published last Sunday in the Sunday Telegraph, which is considered staple reading of his Conservative Party constituents, Mr. Cameron wrote in support of fracking, the technique of pumping liquids and sand down wells to cause the rock to release trapped oil and gas. “If we don’t back this technology, we will miss a massive opportunity to help families with their bills and make our country more competitive,” Mr. Cameron wrote. The antifracking movement appears to be gaining momentum. Campaigners said that protesters from throughout the British Isles were planning to converge on Balcombe this weekend in a march for “a frack-free future.” Cuadrilla, whose chairman is a former BP chief executive, John Browne, already appeared to be backing down this week when it said that while it would continue its exploration at Balcombe, the drilling site there was unlikely to become a permanent production site. “Cuadrilla has to delay drilling until next week. That’s a huge victory,” Katriona Vetch, an activist in Balcombe, said by telephone.

Shale
Cuadrilla Resources
Great Britain
Oil and Gasoline


Bill Passmore, Former Jockey and Racing Steward, Dies at 76

Abstract: BALTIMORE (AP) — Bill Passmore, a former jockey who rode in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes and later became a Maryland racing steward, died Thursday at his home in Annapolis, Md. He was 76. His death, two days before the 134th running of the Preakness, was announced by Mike Gathagan, spokesman for the Maryland Jockey Club. He gave no cause but said Passmore had had emphysema. Passmore won 3,531 races and earned nearly $23 million in purses during a riding career that began in 1948, when he was a teenager, and ended in 1986. He rode in the 1952 Kentucky Derby, finishing eighth aboard Hannibal. His best Preakness finish was fourth in 1981 with Thirty Eight Paces. He finished seventh aboard Knight Landing in 1980 and seventh on Galdar in 1954. Passmore rode for the top Maryland trainers King Leatherbury, Charlie Peoples and Bernie Bond. Some of his better-known mounts included Twixt, Jameela, Christopher R and Cure the Blues. Upon his retirement as a jockey, Passmore became a steward for the Maryland Racing Commission, helping oversee racing at Pimlico, Laurel Park and Timonium until he retired in 2007. Passmore is survived by his wife, Charlene, and seven children.

Kentucky Derby
Preakness Stakes
Horse Racing
Deaths (Obituaries)


Thunder Deny They Were Grasping at Straws by Grabbing at Splitter

Abstract: SAN ANTONIO — Intentionally fouling a 6-foot-11 backup center five times in a 54-second span of the third quarter might sound like the final desperate act of a team on the brink of elimination. But this was only Game 2 of the Western Conference finals on Tuesday. As the San Antonio Spurs schooled the Oklahoma City Thunder in the art of balanced scoring and ball movement, skipping passes through the Thunder’s defense like stones across a pond, Coach Scott Brooks reached for the panic button. Tiago Splitter was a 69 percent free-throw shooter during the regular season, hardly a scofflaw targeted by the scouting report for late-game fouls. But Splitter had shot only 37 percent in the playoffs, and as the Thunder tried to mount a rally from 22 points down, Splitter, the Brazilian backup to Tim Duncan, was fouled away from the ball. “If we have the opportunity to do it again, we will,” Brooks said. The strategy did little to squelch the Spurs, netting a 2-point gain for the Thunder. The Spurs led by 83-66 when Splitter was first fouled by Kendrick Perkins with 2 minutes 32 seconds left in the third quarter. Splitter went on to make 5 of his 10 free-throw attempts, and after his last visit to the line with 1:38 to play, San Antonio was ahead, 88-77. But Brooks’s move spoke to the Thunder’s frustration in finding ways to slow the Spurs. San Antonio’s 120-111 victory was its 20th in a row, tied for the third-longest winning streak in N.B.A. history. A victory at Oklahoma City on Thursday night would put San Antonio at 11-0 in these playoffs, matching the 1989 and 2001 Los Angeles Lakers for the most consecutive victories to open the postseason. “It changed the tempo a little bit,” Brooks said. “They were fast tonight. That ball was just all over the floor with quick passes, passes that were right in their shooting pockets, and it kind of threw their rhythm out a little bit.” Brooks might have created an awkward tempo, but he also choreographed an odd piece of theater and helped get the capacity crowd of 18,581 at AT&T Center further into the game. Fans rose en masse and became louder after each foul on Splitter, rooting for him like the underdog hero in a movie. The Spurs seemed bemused by the stretch of Hack-a-Splitter. Coach Gregg Popovich appeared to hesitate in getting Splitter off the court, even seemingly stubborn about calling a timeout to do so. Then again, Popovich has been a staunch proponent of intentionally fouling poor free-throw shooting centers, employing the Hack-a-Shaq strategy against Shaquille O’Neal in the playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. “I’ve never done that before. I think it’s a lousy thing to do. It’s unsportsmanlike,” Popovich said with a grin, before shrugging off any controversy. “If there’s a reason to do it and they felt there was a reason to do it, it’s a good move,” he said. Splitter finished 6 of 12 on free throws, made his only field goal try and finished with 8 points.

San Antonio Spurs
Oklahoma City Thunder
Splitter Tiago
Brooks Scott
Basketball
Playoff Games


Where the Owner Shucks and Serves

Abstract: There is nothing about the plain-Jane exterior of the Northeast Oyster Company in Mamaroneck to suggest that culinary luxuries lie within. A utilitarian metal-frame door remains from the nail salon that occupied the space before; a hard-to-miss neon sign mounted above it advertises “Puppies” (the sign belongs to a pet shop in the same building). The menu is taped to a window, and if you cup your hands against the glass to peer inside, the stark walls and no-nonsense accouterments are less than promising. But as we stepped inside for the first time, a woman who was leaving said, “We’ll be back,” for everyone in the place to hear. “It was excellent — best oysters I’ve ever had!” It was as if she were channeling the sort of Yelp review that one suspects was written by a restaurant owner’s cousin or best friend. (Later, a patron seated next to us would do the same. “This place,” he said, leaning toward us as if in conspiracy, “is a gem.”) And indeed, a cascade of assessments posted on Yelp in recent months testifies to the merits of this tiny, 10-seat wine and oyster bar, where the tightly focused menu and handwritten wine list should appeal to the most finicky of oyster buffs and wine enthusiasts. The business card of Ray Schramm, the owner, features a funky drawing of a jolly oyster swirling a glass of white wine. It states, quite simply, Mr. Schramm’s areas of expertise: oysters, clams, artisanal cheese, wine and beer. “I don’t want to be in the restaurant business,” said Mr. Schramm, who has owned both a restaurant and a wine shop. “I want to do what I’m comfortable handling by myself.” Image Emptied oyster shells on crushed ice, turned over after a meal. Credit Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times The décor was handled on a budget. The plywood bar, painted deep blue and trimmed with black, has the look of a cherished old rowboat. “I’m not trying to make it a dive,” Mr. Schramm said, “but if people call it that, it doesn’t bother me in the least.” Northeast Oyster Company’s oysters, which are delivered daily, come almost exclusively from the brisk waters of Canada and New England. There is romance even in their names: Watch Hills, from Rhode Island; Wellfleets and Duxburys, from Massachusetts; Gooseberry Bays, from Prince Edward Island. Tasting notes are included on the menu. Mr. Schramm is a professional when it comes to prying open oysters; he learned the ins and outs from veteran shuckers when he worked at the Union Oyster House , in Boston, as a college student. Wearing gloves, he holds an oyster, cup side down, in his palm and takes its measure. “There’s a little exploration,” he said. “You put your knife up against it and look for a purchase. You don’t want to crush the shell. You wiggle your knife back and forth as you’re pushing into the hinge, so that you know when to apply more pressure, and then it pops open. “Some oysters pretty much open themselves. Others, like Kumamotos, put up a good fight before they give up.” Mr. Schramm is adamant that once unhinged, oysters must be consumed right away. In a sample of all five varieties on offer, the shining beauties, poised in their shells, arrived on crushed ice, along with lemon wedges, cocktail sauce and two mignonette sauces as enhancements (or, as purists see them, distractions). He encourages novitiates to lightly chew their oysters to get the most bang for their buck. The oysters are $2.25 to $2.50 each. Image Classic oyster stew, seasoned with garlic, shallots and cayenne pepper. Credit Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times Mr. Schramm’s is mostly a one-man show. On weekends, he often has an extra hand on deck. On a recent evening, a friend of Mr. Schramm’s who works as a private chef in Manhattan conjured a brilliant sashimi special: tuna the color of red tourmaline, bathed in soy sauce and fresh orange and lime juices, and dotted with sesame seeds. For those with shellfish and seafood aversions, an intelligently selected cheese plate ($18 for five varieties) comes with French fruit preserves. Cooking is kept to a minimum. If he has time, Mr. Schramm will sometimes whip up a dish that has fallen out of fashion, like classic oyster stew, an elixir of freshly shucked Blue Points suspended in half-and-half, seasoned with garlic, shallots, celery salt and cayenne ($8). “It’s more of an afternoon thing,” he said. “A lot of older gentlemen come in — it’s kind of cute. They heard it from one of their buddies: ‘Just like the old days!’” Oyster-friendly wines top the price-driven list (most bottles are around $30), but there are as many reds as whites (among them the 2012 Brotte Châteauneuf-du-Pape, $11.75 a glass). I liked the crisp 2014 Petit Bourgeois sauvignon blanc from Henri Bourgeois ($8.75 a glass). To honor the oyster stew, we splurged on a split of the 2012 Vine Hill chardonnay from Kistler ($39). There are a couple of craft beers on hand as well. Conventional wisdom has it that oysters should be eaten only in months that have r’s in their names, a classification that loosely correlates with the seasons in which waters are coldest and oysters are at their best. In a twist on that idea, many people patronize Northeast Oyster Company only on days that have r’s in them — Thursday, Friday and Saturday. On those days, at peak hours, diners should be prepared to nurse a glass of wine and shoot the breeze before they can shoot their oysters. Mr. Schramm, who spent his boyhood summers on the water near Sag Harbor on Long Island, confesses that he is not an oyster eater himself. “I’ll eat shrimp, scallops and lobster, if I have to,” he said. “I do like cocktail sauce, with lots of horseradish.” What he does enjoy is the challenge of opening oysters — a kind of ritual, he says — and setting them before an appreciative audience. After sampling his trove of bivalves, we could only surmise that he doesn’t know what he’s missing. Perhaps he should take to heart the advice of an online admirer: “If you love oysters — come here. If you have never tried an oyster — come here. If you have tried oysters in the past but didn’t like them — come here!”

Northeast Oyster Company
Restaurant
Mamaroneck NY


Clear Channel Plans to Trim 1,850 Jobs

Abstract: The parent company of Clear Channel Communications, struggling in the advertising downturn, announced on Tuesday that it was eliminating 1,850 positions, or about 9 percent of its staff. The dismissals were effective immediately. The company, CC Media Holdings, which owns billboards and radio stations under the Clear Channel name, had been hit hard recently. In the third quarter, its revenue from radio broadcasting fell 7 percent. Outdoor advertising had a milder decline — because of the popularity of digital billboards, it fell just 1 percent. “Everyone in our investor group, on the board and in the executive leadership team remains bullish about the long-term growth prospects for Clear Channel,” Mark P. Mays, Clear Channel’s chief executive, wrote in a memorandum to employees. “Clear Channel Communications has more resources than any of our peers. The tools are here. The support is here.” In the memo, Mr. Mays said that “a significant portion” of the eliminated jobs had come from sales, though all parts of the company had been affected. Sales at Clear Channel radio have not been strong. Both the number of prime advertising minutes sold and the rates paid for those minutes fell in the third quarter. And there was no bright spot. “The company’s radio revenue experienced declines across all different sized markets and advertising categories including automotive, retail and entertainment,” Clear Channel wrote in its third-quarter earnings statement. The same pattern is occurring throughout the industry. Radio advertising revenue fell 11 percent in the third quarter compared with a year earlier, according to the Radio Advertising Bureau. In October, Clear Channel introduced an iPhone application, iheartradio, which allows iPhone users to listen to live radio. And it is helping to promote HD Radio, but that has not caught on as industry executives had hoped. CC Media was formed when Bain Capital Partners and Thomas H. Lee Partners acquired Clear Channel in July.

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Incorporated


In the Boardroom, Every Back Gets Scratched

Abstract: “ Your basic human is not such a hot item .” — Rachel Epstein (my sister) START with the obvious. Executive pay at the top levels in this country is stunning in its size and its rate of climb. According to the Congressional Research Service, average pay for chief executives stood at 179 times average worker pay in 2005, up from a multiple of 90 in 1994. Adjusted for inflation, average worker pay rose by a total of only 8 percent from 1995 to 2005; median pay for chief executives at the 350 largest companies rose 150 percent. Top executives’ pay as a ratio of their employers’ earnings has also skyrocketed in the last 15 years. And these executives are paid far more than their counterparts at companies of comparable size in Britain or Japan. How did this happen? How did pay grow so fast at the top? It starts with several corporate governance factors and then goes into psychosocial factors. For one thing, although a company’s stockholders by every legal precept own the company, they have almost no say in how their employees, the executives, are paid. Instead, the pay of the top executives is set by the board, usually the compensation committee. The directors are elected by the stockholders via proxies — those things you get in the mail and then throw away. Thus, in effect, the board is selected by top management, usually by the C.E.O. himself. Once a director is on the board, there is only the slightest of chances that he will leave, except for death or old age or illness. To be a member of the board of a large company is a little example of paradise. You get good pay for just sitting in a meeting and listening to summary presentations. You get insurance and a pension. You can go to luxurious resorts and play golf. What the heck are security lines? You fly in private jets. Sometimes, you get stock options, and these can be meaningful. In other words, it’s nice to be the director of a public company. How do you keep your job? You are really nice to the person who put you in that job. You don’t know the little stockholder in Muncie who might have 500 shares. But you do know the guy who repeatedly reappoints you for your post at the directors’ table. The little stockholder cannot do a thing for you, but the boss can. When it comes to compensation, you want him to be really happy. It doesn’t matter how well he’s doing, unless he’s wreaking havoc and you may be sued. It doesn’t matter if the stock price has languished. You want what’s best for No. 1, and that means what’s best for Mr. Big. You hire a compensation consultant to work out pay and options and deferred pay and retirement and every other good thing for Mr. Big. The compensation committee knows that its hiring and rehiring are dependent on Mr. Big’s being happy. So it crafts a package that will keep him happy — and throws in a few goodies for the directors. It’s called the “boardroom buddy system,” and it works perfectly once you are on the inside. You just have to make sure you stay on the inside. And to do that, you don’t upset the apple cart with tacky questions about what the C.E.O. is doing or why he is paid so much. Let’s look at some recent real-world tales of executive pay. My old pals at Goldman Sachs are paid so much that over 40 percent of the firm’s net revenue went to compensation and benefits last year, according to its latest 10-K. Goldman’s chief, Lloyd C. Blankfein, was paid $54 million last year. To be sure, the firm did well in 2007, but the stock has been tanking. It’s now at $175.40, down from $250.70 on Oct. 31. Similarly, Stephen A. Schwarzman of Blackstone, which has lost about 40 percent of its value in the past six months, got more than $350 million. This is a company that has been a nightmare for investors since its debut last year as a public company. Pay at this level is art. (Blackstone wasn’t included in Equilar’s compensation survey because its revenues were below $6.5 billion.) The amazing fact is that as the economy goes through challenges, as the stockholders and workers fume, the executives can basically set their own pay. Once the board has acted, according to a legal doctrine known as “the business judgment rule,” hardly anyone can challenge its actions. If it gets that compensation consulting firm to approve what it did, or if it comes from the compensation firm first, the pay is set in stone — except for the next time the board wants to raise it. Bear in mind that everything I’ve been discussing is legal compensation. I haven’t mentioned illegal practices that some executives have used, like backdating stock options and not counting them as expenses. Backdating guarantees that option holders make money on their option grants, no matter how the stock performs. In addition, some companies made secretive “gross up” arrangements in which the company agreed to pay the executives’ taxes on pay and perks. (Gross-ups are legal if they are disclosed.) In other words, it’s not a pretty picture. It shrieks greed and contempt for shareholders and workers. Why was executive pay so much more restrained in years past? If the public stock corporation, of which Adam Smith was so skeptical back in the 1700s, is just a big treasure ship floating rudderless on the high seas and the executives are just pirates who loot it until they are too old to keep doing it, why didn’t they do it sooner? Now we come to a sad fact about modern American life. It was brought up by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who often said that America, through its technology, has made of itself a neighborhood, but not a brotherhood. It is a lot worse now. The nation has become, to some at the top, far more of a looting opportunity than a family. I am not sure where this has come from — maybe from media that glamorize wealth and high-end consumption, maybe from poor moral training. But one thing is clear: Current law does not give shareholders or regulators any tools to rein in executive greed. There simply is no legal “cause of action” for pay packages that, however obscene, are approved by the board and disclosed to shareholders. Congress could change this. So could the Securities and Exchange Commission. To be sure, there have been efforts to rationalize pay for executives and chief executives. Yes, say the friends of the C.E.O.’s, pay has skyrocketed, but so has the size of the enterprises. I don’t get that one. Does that mean the chief executive is working twice as many hours? And isn’t the more meaningful measurement the welfare of the owners of the company, the stockholders? Or the profits? There have been attempts by Congress to limit the tax deductibility of chief executives’ pay. But these have done nothing to curb the rise in compensation. There have been efforts to link C.E.O. pay with stock performance. These have also not worked. (See “backdating” above, as well as perfectly legal changing of the strike price.) Every so often, dissident stockholders try to put nonbinding resolutions on proxies to approve or reject pay packages. That also rarely works, because the big institutional holders almost always vote with management. (It’s called the boardroom buddy system for a reason.) AND so, with all moral restraints cast off, there is little to be done. Except in rare instances, the compensation is perfectly legal. As for me, I suggest a law requiring that nonbinding resolutions about pay be allowed on proxies if even only a small percentage of stockholders want them. (Binding resolutions might be too harsh on the few good managers out there.) We could also have language barring “obscene and insulting pay,” which courts could interpret as they please, but this seems dangerously vague. In the meantime, we face a crisis of the joint stock company, much as Adam Smith expected that we would. When the ideal comes face to face with the actual, the picture is rarely pretty. And let me be honest about it. If I were a hard-charging C.E.O. who had worked my way up the greasy pole and spent most evenings and weekends away from my family, often in creepy hotels, and if my board came to me with a blue silk pillow on top of which was a check for $15 million for this year’s work, begging me to accept it with its thanks, I would probably take it. Wouldn’t you? Your basic human is not such a hot item — and the structure of the joint stock company does not bring out the best in us.

Boards of Directors
Wages and Salaries
Executives and Management
Company Reports
Stocks and Bonds
Stock Options and Purchase Plans


Eaton Breaks His Own Indoor Heptathlon Record

Abstract: The American Ashton Eaton broke his world indoor record for the heptathlon at a meet in Tallinn, Estonia. Eaton tallied 6,568 points, 69 points more than his previous world record. (REUTERS)

Heptathlon
Running
Ethiopia
Eaton Ashton


Against Hoyas, Rutgers Can’t Outscore Its Football Team

Abstract: PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Georgetown does not simply defeat its opponents, it smothers them. The Hoyas win with a stifling defense and just enough offense, which was, once again, a successful formula Saturday against Rutgers as Georgetown picked up an easy victory in its Big East opener. Rutgers’s basketball team scored fewer points than its football team did Saturday. In basketball, Rutgers lost, 58-46, to No. 7 Georgetown, scoring 6 fewer points than the football team did in its victory against Ball State in the International Bowl. The 46 points were the fewest allowed by Georgetown this season. Rutgers shot 31.1 percent from the field against the Hoyas, who entered the game eighth in the nation in scoring defense and second in field-goal-percentage defense. But Georgetown (11-1, 1-0) can do better, according to Coach John Thompson III. He said after the game that he was not satisfied with his team’s defensive effort. “I don’t approach coaching by looking at stat sheets,” Thompson said. “Maybe that’s a negative thing. With each passing press conference, I get people throwing stats at me. I know how I feel. It’s about us — what we should do and how we should do it every possession of the game.” The Scarlet Knights took an 18-17 lead on a dunk by Hamady N’Diaye with 5 minutes 56 seconds left in the first half. From there, they started to misfire badly, failing to connect on several open shots. “They’re a very good defensive team, and that’s why they’re holding people to 35-, 36-percent shooting,” Rutgers Coach Fred Hill said. “But we missed dunks, we missed layups, we missed free throws. We did everything you need to do to win the game. The ball didn’t go in the hole. I know I sound like a broken record, but that’s what we struggle with — shooting the basketball.” Jonathan Wallace made a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to end the first half, giving Georgetown a 27-20 lead. The Hoyas opened the second half with a 14-5 run to take control. They did so despite being outrebounded by Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights, who had 22 offensive rebounds, had a 43-26 advantage over all. “That’s something we have to work on,” Georgetown’s Jesse Sapp said. “We have to go back into the gym and work on our boxing out and rebounding. We’ll be fine.” The Hoyas, whose only loss this season was to No. 2 Memphis, 85-71, were led Saturday by Austin Freeman, who had 13 points. DaJuan Summers, Wallace and Sapp also reached double figures. No Georgetown player is averaging more than 12.5 points. “Coming into the RAC and winning a game is very good,” Thompson said, referring to the Louis Brown Athletic Center. “This time of year, the coaches want more and expect more, and we need to get more. But a road win in this league is good. There’s no two ways about that.” J R Inman led Rutgers (8-7, 0-2) with 11 points. Corey Chandler, the Scarlet Knights’ leading scorer, returned after missing three games with a foot injury, but he struggled, scoring 6 points and shooting 2 of 13 from the field. The Scarlet Knights clearly need to find a way to score more points. They had only 45 Wednesday in a 23-point loss to South Florida in their Big East opener. Understandably, Hill seemed worried. “I want to keep encouraging my guys to take the open shots so this doesn’t become mental,” he said. “I think I see that creeping in a little, and that’s what I’m most concerned about. I don’t want them to lose their confidence and have this become a mental thing.”

Rutgers The State University of New Jersey


Jihadis Voice Grief and Determination at Death of Their Inspiration

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Jihadis around the world reacted on Monday to the news of Osama bin Laden ’s death with a mix of sorrow, disbelief and determination that Al Qaeda and its affiliates would continue their struggle against the West and its allies. Although the group’s leaders have not yet issued any formal statements on the subject, jihadis vented their feelings throughout the day in Internet forums, gatherings, and interviews throughout the Arab and Muslim world and beyond. “It is a sad moment and also a happy moment,” said Omar Bakri Muhammad, a radical religious leader who was exiled from Britain and spoke by telephone from Lebanon. “Sad because the ummah was in need of such a charismatic leader. Happy moment because, he died as a martyr, he was not humiliated and fought until the last moment.” Some jihadis expressed doubt that Bin Laden was dead, citing what they called doctored photographs that shot around the Web on Monday. But most conceded that the news appeared to be true. Many insisted that the news was not unexpected, and tried to shift focus to the organization the Qaeda leader helped build. “Bin Laden is dead, but the movement is not,” said one member of an Al Qaeda affiliate active in North Africa and Europe, speaking by phone Monday. “And if one Osama is dead, there are thousands more Osamas.” Another former jihadist who fought alongside Mr. Bin Laden in Afghanistan, Mohammad Omar Abdel Rahman, said he disagreed with Bin Laden about the Sept. 11 attacks but believed his courage and charisma would continue to inspire others across the globe. “Out of experience, I can tell you that the death of a single individual will have no impact when there is will,” said Mr. Abdel Rahman, 38, the eldest son of the blind Egyptian sheik imprisoned in the 90s for his role in planning an array of terrorist attacks in New York. “People will feel it in their heart, but as far as action goes, it will have no impact. The United States killed him but left everything there that he was fighting for. Those who follow his ideology may feel more hatred for America now. Osama Bin Laden has not been leading Al Qaeda for the last 10 years. He was always a symbol, but as a movement, he was unable to lead and manage as he was being pursued so closely.” On the Internet, scores of jihadi forum members lamented Bin Laden’s death and swore revenge. Those forums have long been seen as important windows into the mindset of the jihadi foot soldiers Bin Laden helped inspire. But one noted scholar of jihadism, Thomas Hegghammer of the Norwegian Research and Defense Establishment, cautioned against drawing conclusions based on Internet voices. “Those forums have been heavily infiltrated in recent years by observers and agents provocateurs, so we have to be very careful in using them,” he said. Bin Laden’s sympathizers spoke out in Western countries, too. Anjem Choudary, the head of a British extremist Islamic group, Muslims Against Crusades, said by telephone on Monday that he believes “that the passing away of the Sheikh Osama Bin Laden will signal a new phase — I believe that his followers have a point to prove now and the intensity of the struggle will increase. This is the biggest nightmare that the British government and the American government could have had, and they are more likely to face a 7/7 or a 9/11 now. He represents the phenomenon of the struggle, and the struggle lives on.” In Afghanistan, one member of the Taliban shura, reached by phone, voiced scepticism about Bin Laden’s death, while insisting that it would not matter anyway. “Even his death will not affect us much: the jihad is alive and will stay alive until the Muslim ummah will be free,” he said, using the Arabic word for the global Muslim community. Like some other jihadis, the shura member noted that Bin Laden’s death came in the midst of an uprising across the Arab world that has often seemed to render Al Qaeda irrelevant. “We follow very closely what is going on in the Arab countries, we know the west is trying to get more influence again and was behind some of the trouble,” he said. “At this moment the mujahedeen are silent to see what the leadership will announce. but after the time of silence there will be a time of payback. “


National Briefing | Arizona: Murderers Escape; One Is Caught

Abstract: Two convicted murderers escaped from prison by climbing ladders and hoisting themselves over two fences, the authorities said. One was quickly captured, and the other remained at large. The inmates were working on a cleaning crew at the prison in Florence when they attacked a guard and tied him down, according to a release from the Corrections Corporation of America, which operates the prison. Detective Walt Hunter of the Florence police said one of the men, Kollin Folsom, was found in a building about a mile south of Florence. The authorities searched for the other inmate, identified as Roy Townsend.

Arizona
Guards
Corrections Corporation of America
Prisons and Prisoners
Murders and Attempted Murders


From Center Court to Off Court (and Maybe in Court)

Abstract: The women’s year-end championships are in full swing in Madrid, with Justine Henin still in fine form and Maria Sharapova showing signs of resurgence. In Shanghai, the men’s year-end championships are set to start tomorrow with the top eight men in the world, led by Roger Federer. But it has been difficult to focus on mere tennis matches this fall. There have been continued concerns about match fixing and about the integrity of Nikolay Davydenko, the men’s No. 4 player. There have been continued concerns about doping, with Martina Hingis retiring suddenly last week and revealing that she had tested positive for cocaine at Wimbledon. Hingis denied using the drug. There have even been concerns about foul play, with Germany’s top player, Tommy Haas , planning to have medical examinations in the United States to help determine whether it was possible that he was poisoned in Moscow in September during a Davis Cup semifinal that Russia won. Yesterday, the Italian Tennis Federation confirming that the journeyman Alessio Di Mauro, ranked No. 124 in the world, was under investigation for betting on other tennis player’s matches through an online account. Amidst all this, who has had time to follow upbeat stories like David Nalbandian’s revival and Lindsay Davenport’s remarkable comeback after pregnancy? “I think it’s the nature of sport in this day and age that there are real issues that every sport has to deal with in terms of ensuring integrity and keeping it clean,” said Larry Scott, the chairman and chief executive of the WTA Tour. Noting that tennis has enjoyed a reputation as a clean sport, he added, “It doesn’t mean we are immune to the types of things all sports deal with.” Scott spoke before the story surfaced about Haas. Poisoning is certainly not something with which many sports have to cope, and it was unclear whether the concerns were founded. They were generated by a German news report in which Haas’s doubles partner, Alexander Waske, said that he had been informed by a contact in Russia of the reason Haas fell ill during the Davis Cup semifinal. “Someone came to me and said, ‘It was a tight match, it’s a shame that Tommy was poisoned,’” Waske told German news agency SID without identifying his interlocutor. Haas was unable to play singles on the final day, and Russia eventually won the semifinal, 3-2, and will face the United States in the Davis Cup final in Portland, Ore., beginning Nov. 30. “I have never felt so miserable in my whole life as I did on the Saturday and Sunday nights in Moscow,” Haas, the world’s No. 13 player, told SID. “My stomach is still doing some strange things.” The International Tennis Federation, which runs Davis Cup, has announced that it intends to open an investigation into what happened, although officials with the German Tennis Federation have distanced themselves from the poisoning theory. The German Federation spokesman, Oliver Quante, told Reuters that the Erich Rembeck, the German team doctor, had seen no medical evidence to support a claim of poisoning. Russian tennis officials, including the Davis Cup captain, Shamil Tarpishchev, have also dismissed the allegations. Haas declined further comment through his agent, Tony Godsick. Meanwhile, Russia’s top male player, Davydenko, continues in the focus of an unwanted spotlight. In his last two tournaments, he was fined by the ATP for a visible lack of effort in St. Petersburg, Russia, and was then lectured on his serving technique by another skeptical umpire during a loss at the Masters Series event in Paris. But none of those developments were as curious as the online betting patterns during Davydenko’s second-round loss to Martin Vassallo Arguello in Sopot, Poland, in August. All payments were eventually suspended by Betfair, an Internet betting exchange, after large wagers were laid on a Davydenko defeat, even after he won the first set. He eventually retired from the match, citing a foot injury. That match is now under investigation by the ATP. Davydenko has denied any attempt to fix the match, but he could be banned for life from the sport if he is found to have been involved. His wife, Irina, and brother and coach, Eduard, were among those interviewed by ATP investigators this week. Since Davydenko’s match in Poland became a source of concern, several players have come forward to say they have declined offers to throw matches. Among them were Dmitry Tursunov of Russia, Paul Goldstein of the United States, Arnaud Clément of France and Gilles Elseneer, a Belgian who said he was approached to lose at Wimbledon in 2005. None of those players approached the ATP or the I.T.F. with that information before going public. No player has publicly identified his would-be bribers. Representatives from tennis’s governing bodies met in London last month to begin creating and sharing the cost for an internal watchdog structure they have dubbed “The Tennis Integrity Unit.” “It’s not something that should happen; it’s something that must happen,” said Etienne de Villiers, head of the ATP, who said that he believed match tampering was more of a threat to tennis than doping.

Tennis
International Tennis Federation
German Tennis Federation
Women's Tennis Assn
Henin Justine
Davydenko Nikolay
Hingis Martina
Haas Tommy


After Fukushima Disaster, a Confused Effort at Cleanup

Abstract: IITATE, Japan — As 500 workers in hazmat suits and respirator masks fanned out to decontaminate this village 20 miles from the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors, their confusion was apparent. “Dig five centimeters or 10 centimeters deep here?” a site supervisor asked his colleagues, pointing to a patch of radioactive topsoil to be removed. He then gestured across the village square toward the community center. “Isn’t that going to be demolished? Shall we decontaminate it or not?” A day laborer wiping down windows at an abandoned school nearby shrugged at the work crew’s haphazard approach. “We are all amateurs,” he said. “Nobody really knows how to clean up radiation.” Nobody may really know how. But that has not deterred the Japanese government from starting to hand out an initial $13 billion in contracts meant to rehabilitate the more than 8,000-square-mile region most exposed to radioactive fallout — an area nearly as big as New Jersey. The main goal is to enable the return of many of the 80,000 or more displaced people nearest the site of last March’s nuclear disaster, including the 6,500 villagers of Iitate. It is far from clear, though, that the unproved cleanup methods will be effective. Even more disturbing to critics of the decontamination program is the fact that the government awarded the first contracts to three giant construction companies — corporations that have no more expertise in radiation cleanup than anyone else does, but that profited hugely from Japan’s previous embrace of nuclear power. It was these same three companies that helped build 45 of Japan’s 54 nuclear plants — including the reactor buildings and other plants at Fukushima Daiichi that could not withstand the tsunami that caused a catastrophic failure — according to data from Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, a watchdog group. One of them, the Taisei Corporation, leads the consortium that sent out the workers now tramping around Iitate in hazmat suits. Consortiums led by Taisei and the other two big companies — Obayashi and Kajima — among them received contracts for the government’s first 12 pilot decontamination projects, totaling about $93 million. “It’s a scam,” said Kiyoshi Sakurai, a critic of the nuclear industry and a former researcher at a forerunner to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which is overseeing this phase of decontamination. “Decontamination is becoming big business.” The cleanup contracts, Mr. Sakurai and other critics contend, are emblematic of the too-cozy ties they say have long existed between the nuclear industry and government. “The Japanese nuclear industry is run so that the more you fail, the more money you receive,” Mr. Sakurai said. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency said the construction giants would not necessarily receive the bulk of the future work, which will be contracted out by the Environment Ministry. Company officials, however, have indicated they expected to continue serving as primary contractors. “We are building expertise as we work,” said Fumiyasu Hirai, a Taisei spokesman. “It is a process of trial and error, but we are well-equipped for the job.” Kajima and Obayashi said they could not comment on the projects under way. An Environment Ministry official, Katsumasa Seimaru, said that big construction companies were best equipped to gather the necessary manpower, oversee large-scale projects like decontaminating highways and mountains, and properly protect and monitor radiation exposure among the cleanup workers. “Whether you promoted nuclear or not beforehand isn’t as important as what you can do to help with the cleanup,” Mr. Seimaru said. Other construction companies are scrambling to get in on the action. In late January, the Maeda Corporation, another general contractor, won a cleanup contract, this one awarded by the Environment Ministry. Maeda bid to take the job for less than half the expected costs, an apparent loss-leader maneuver to get a foot in the door that has drawn complaints from other bidders, including Taisei. Early this month, a city just outside the exclusion zone, Minamisoma, said that it would also allocate 40 billion yen ($525 million) worth of decontamination projects to groups led by national general contractors. Whatever the controversy, there is no question Japan is undertaking a crucial task. The endeavor is meant to go far beyond the partial cleanup that followed the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, which left a 19-mile radius around the plant that, even a quarter-century later, remains largely off limits. But there is little consensus on what cleanup methods might prove effective in Japan. Radioactive particles are easily carried by wind and rain, and could recontaminate towns and cities even after a cleanup crew has passed through, experts say. “No experts yet exist in decontamination, and there is no reason why the state should pay big money to big construction companies,” said Yoichi Tao, a visiting professor in physics at Kogakuin University who is helping Iitate villagers test decontamination methods on their own. He is also monitoring the effectiveness of the energy agency’s decontamination projects. Though big companies have won the main contracts so far, the actual cleanup — essentially a simple but tedious task of scrubbing and digging — is being carried out by numerous subcontractors and sub-subcontractors, who in turn rely on untrained casual laborers to do the dirtiest decontamination work. This tiered structure, in which fees are siphoned off and wages dwindle each step down the ladder, follows the familiar pattern of Japan’s nuclear and construction industries. On the Iitate project, most of the workers come from elsewhere. The self-described amateur wiping down the school windows, who would identify himself only as Shibata, said he was an autoworker by trade who resided about 160 miles away, just east of Tokyo in Chiba. He said he had jumped at news that there was “decent-paying work but not so dangerous” in Fukushima. Mr. Shibata said he was working two four-hour shifts a day and was being put up in a local spa resort. Although he and other workers declined to discuss their wages, local news media have reported that the pay for decontamination work can reach about 25,000 yen, or around $325 a day. He spoke as he wiped a window with a paper towel. “One swipe per towel, or the radioactive particles just get spread around,” he said. “Not that you can see the radiation at all.” Indeed. A similar cleanup project at the Iitate community center last fall, undertaken by the local government, was unable to reduce the radiation to safe levels. The pilot projects led by Taisei and the other contractors have already hit snags. The government, for example, failed to anticipate communities’ reluctance to store tons of soil scraped from contaminated yards and fields. Some critics, meanwhile, have argued that local companies and governments could perform the cleanup work for much less money, while creating local jobs. Some Iitate villagers have enlisted the help of university experts to take matters into their own hands. Their experiments, they say, suggest that decontamination must start on the forested mountains that cover three-quarters of Iitate’s land area. “Even if they clean up our homes, the radiation will sweep down from the mountains again and recontaminate everything,” said Muneo Kanno, a 60-year-old farmer. Like many other residents of Iitate, he stayed in the village for more than a month after the disaster, unaware that the radioactive plumes had reached Iitate. Mr. Kanno fled the village in May but returns on weekends to try different decontamination methods. Recently he took Mr. Tao, the visiting physicist, to a nearby mountain to test the effectiveness of removing dead leaves from the ground to reduce radiation levels. There is no public financing for their work, which is supported by donations and the volunteer efforts of the villagers themselves. On a recent morning, about a dozen volunteers, some as old as 70, scrambled up a snowy mountainside to rake leaves into cloth sacks, wearing only regular clothes and surgical masks. “We know the land here far better than the construction companies do,” Mr. Kanno said. “We are afraid that the money is just disappearing into thin air.”

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan)


Burress Will Surrender to Authorities on Monday

Abstract: LANDOVER, Md. — Nearly three days after accidentally shooting himself in the thigh at a Manhattan nightclub, Giants receiver Plaxico Burress will surrender to the New York City police Monday and will plead not guilty to charges of criminal possession of a handgun, according to his lawyer, Benjamin Brafman . Burress, the police said, did not have a permit to carry a gun in New York City. A law enforcement official said that the gun, a Glock semiautomatic pistol, was recovered at Burress’s home in Totowa, N.J. Burress was scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m. Monday at the 17th Precinct station house at East 51st Street and Lexington Avenue, three blocks north of the Latin Quarter nightclub, where the incident took place. The police were also interested in talking with Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce, who was with Burress when the gun went off in an alcove near the club’s V.I.P. room. Running back Ahmad Bradshaw was with them, but he was in a different part of the club at the time of the shooting. While the Giants beat the Washington Redskins on Sunday here at FedEx Field, Burress remained inside his sprawling estate, tending to his injury. Burress had not been scheduled to play against the Redskins because of a hamstring strain in that same leg. Pierce did play, and Bradshaw was in attendance, although out of uniform with a neck injury. Earlier in the day, Burress hired Brafman, who has represented high-profile defendants like the hip-hop mogul Sean Combs, and they spent about an hour together at Burress’s home, discussing his legal options. After that meeting, Brafman characterized Burress’s emotional state as “clearly not pleased about these events.” “I ask his fans and the New York Giants to withhold judgment in this case until the facts come out,” Brafman said in a telephone interview Sunday, adding that he did not yet know the possible punishment that Burress could be facing. “It depends on the degree of crime that they charge him with, and they have not told me that yet,” he said. According to state law, a person carrying a gun without a permit faces 3 ½ to 15 years in prison. In addition, Burress may also be facing punishment by the N.F.L. Under the league’s personal-conduct policy, violations of local gun laws can result in a player’s suspension. Officials from the league and the Giants have yet to determine what, if any, punishment Burress would receive as a result of the incident. “We are cooperating with the police and continuing to monitor the situation,” the N.F.L. spokesman Greg Aiello said. Speaking before the game, the Giants’ co-owner and president, John Mara, said he would not consider possible disciplinary actions against Burress — or Burress’s future with the Giants — until he learned more about the situation. “Right now, we’re at the stage where we’re going to wait until the investigation plays out and get all the facts,” Mara said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions out there.” As of game time, Giants officials said they had not spoken with Burress since the incident early Saturday. Burress had not returned telephone calls, the Giants’ general manager, Jerry Reese, said. Pierce declined to answer questions about the shooting after the game. While speaking to reporters, Pierce fidgeted with his hands, which were tucked inside the pockets of his brown pinstriped suit. On Saturday, according to Giants executives, N.F.L. security officials interviewed Pierce at the team’s hotel in Washington, inquiring about his role in the shooting. Still, Pierce, who did not say if he had hired a lawyer to represent him, said the incident and its aftermath were not a distraction for him or his team. “I’m a professional football player, and my job is on Sundays to focus on that; it’s my only focus,” he said. “The distraction gave us a win, 23-7.” Asked about Burress’s injury, he snapped: “I went to school for four years at the University of Arizona, but I didn’t get a doctorate. So I don’t have that answer.” Defensive end Justin Tuck defended Pierce, saying: “I think all of us know what kind of person Antonio is. I think it’s just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was trying to do his best to help his teammate and his friend out.” Mara and Reese said they were still unclear about the circumstances surrounding the shooting, which resulted in Burress’s being treated and released by a New York City hospital within 24 hours. The bullet broke through the skin of his right thigh and pierced muscle tissue, but no bones or arteries were compromised. This is yet another time Giants officials have had to answer questions about a controversy involving Burress, 31, a talented but troublesome receiver. He caught the winning touchdown pass in last season’s Super Bowl and signed a five-year, $35 million contract this year just before the Giants’ season opener. But he has had a string of troubles this season. Burress was suspended for 12 days, including for a victory over Seattle, because he missed meetings without explanation. He was also fined by the league for criticizing officials in another game. “I’m disappointed that this happened and that any of our guys would put themselves in this kind of situation,” Mara said of the shooting, before adding that the issue of players carrying guns was not new. He said that the subject arose when team owners met with officials from the players union in February. To prevent situations like Burress’s, the league and its teams meet with players every year to try to educate them about gun possession and the complications of it, Mara said. “Players, for whatever reason, feel the need to carry guns,” Mara said before the game. “It’s not something that we’re particularly pleased about, but that is the choice that they make. You’d like to think that most of them are licensed to do that, but I’m not sure that is always the case.” Brafman said Burress held a gun permit in Florida. Online records show that the permit expired May 21. Even if it were renewed, it would not matter. According to New York law, one must hold a New York gun permit to carry a concealed weapon in the state. Burress does not. Burress also did not have a permit to carry a firearm in New Jersey, his state of residence, according to Chief Robert Coyle of the Totowa Police Department. He added that a Florida permit was not recognized in New Jersey. “He wouldn’t be able to carry here at all,” he said. As the facts of the situation continued to unfold Saturday morning, Giants Coach Tom Coughlin briefed the team. He said news of the shooting was a hiccup, not a major distraction, in the team’s preparation. “We all are upset about what happened to Plaxico, and hopefully he’s going to be fine,” Coughlin said. “I felt like the team, that group, decided they were going to focus right away. The guys went right back to work.” Some players said the team was able to stay focused, partly because Burress had not been scheduled to play. After the game, reporters bombarded them with questions. As news of Burress’s surrender to the police had spread, most of his teammates said they did not know enough about the situation to comment on it. Other teammates rallied around him. Center Shaun O’Hara said that his “heart goes out” to Burress and that he was relieved Burress’s injury was not serious. “There’s not enough time in the day for anger,” O’Hara said. “He’s a teammate, and there’s going to be enough people trying to bring him down. We’re here to support him.”

New York Giants
Firearms
Burress Plaxico
Brafman Benjamin