Troy Polamalu, Defensive Anchor for Steelers, Walks a Spiritual Path

Abstract: PITTSBURGH — Steelers safety Troy Polamalu opened his red leather-bound playbook to a dog-eared page. “The life of a man hangs by a hair,” he began reading in a voice as soft as falling snow. “At every step our life hangs in the balance.” It was three days before the Steelers’ A.F.C. divisional playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, a matchup in which the Super Bowl aspirations of two worthy contenders hang in the balance, and Polamalu was getting himself centered. “How many millions of people woke up in the morning, never to see the evening?” Polamalu read. And then: “The life of a man is a dream. In a dream, one sees things that do not exist; he might see that he is crowned a king, but when he wakes up, he sees that in reality he is just a pauper.” The book in Polamalu’s hands, “Counsels From the Holy Mountain,” guides him in football and in life. It contains the letters and homilies of a Greek Orthodox monk, Elder Ephraim, whom Polamalu described as his spiritual doctor. Polamalu, 29, sought out the octogenarian monk, who resides in a monastery in southern Arizona, a few years ago, a meeting that led Polamalu to the place he described as “heaven on earth.” It is a summit of sorts. But not the Super Bowl, though Polamalu won two championship rings in his first seven seasons with the Steelers. Neither of those journeys shaped him as profoundly as the pilgrimage he made to Mount Athos, a Greek Orthodox spiritual center in Greece. While there, Polamalu said he witnessed humility and sacrifice in its deepest, purest forms and realized that for all their obvious differences, the spiritual path shared much with a Super Bowl journey. “Both require great discipline,” Polamalu said, “and a selflessness in the name of a greater good.” A pacifist whose tough play epitomizes his violent sport, Polamalu is the anchor of both the Pittsburgh defense and its locker room. In a vote this season of the players, Polamalu was voted the team’s most valuable player, becoming the first safety since Donnie Shell in 1980 to be so honored. “Obviously, in a lot of respects it’s a big deal,” Polamalu said, adding: “I’ve never been a fan of individual awards because football is such a team sport. There’s so many things that goes into making plays. It’s about teammates trusting one another and working together.” Asked whom he voted for, Polamalu said linebacker James Harrison. “Nobody does what he does,” Polamalu said. While Harrison, who amassed $100,000 in league fines this season for dangerous hits, appreciated Polamalu’s sentiments, he said, “Troy could be voted our M.V.P. every year.” In the Steelers’ 41-9 win at Cleveland on Jan. 2, which clinched a first-round playoff bye, Polamalu was back in the starting lineup after missing two games with an Achilles’ heel injury. It didn’t take him long to get his legs back. On the second play from scrimmage, Polamalu picked off a Colt McCoy pass for his seventh interception, tying a career high. On a goal-line play at the start of the second quarter, he leaped over the line of scrimmage and was in McCoy’s face before he had time to cock his throwing arm. The play was reminiscent of one in the second week at Tennessee that resulted in a Polamalu sack of Titans quarterback Kerry Collins. Dick LeBeau, the Steelers’ defensive coordinator, noted that Polamalu did not sack McCoy, who managed to get off a pass that fell incomplete. “We prefer that he not go that far off the diving board,” LeBeau said. Polamalu knows his freedom to roam has its limits. “When you do go a little bit off the map, you have to make sure you make the play,” he said. “If you don’t, it’s your fault.” The Steelers’ rubber match this week against Baltimore — the teams split their regular season games — features two of the league’s best defensive backs in Polamalu, a six-time Pro Bowl pick, and the Ravens’ Ed Reed , who had an N.F.L.-leading eight interceptions in 10 games. Both are deserving candidates of the league’s defensive player of the year award, though, naturally, that is not the way Polamalu sees it. “I think I’d rather go with him,” Polamalu said, “given that he’s played in five games and has like 22 interceptions.” The quotation was pure Polamalu. If he is overstating someone’s abilities, you know he’s not talking about himself. Against the Ravens in the 2009 A.F.C. championship game, Polamalu stepped in front of a Joe Flacco pass intended for Derrick Mason and returned the ball 40 yards for the score that gave the Steelers a cushion at 23-14. Players from both teams — Harrison and the Ravens’ Terrell Suggs quickly come to mind — have been vocal about how deep the rancor runs in this rivalry. Polamalu said: “I don’t feel that way. There are things that are deeper than football rivalries to me.” Polamalu was asked if he wished he could use his pulpit to address subjects other than football. “I’d rather not talk at all, to be honest with you,” he said. Much has been made of Polamalu’s dual persona. Receiver Hines Ward described him Wednesday as “Clark Kent who goes into his phone booth on Sundays and comes out Superman.” Off the field one sees the same dichotomy. Around the news media, Polamalu comes out of his shell and turns into the Jim Lehrer of the N.F.L. The least likely player to court the cameras is Polamalu, the Steelers’ most contemplative speaker. After the Cleveland game, Polamalu was the last player to leave the visiting locker room. He emptied the contents of his locker into a black knapsack, fingering some of the items as if seeing them for the first time. In the back of his locker was an 8-by-10 photo of Elder Ephraim with chin hair longer and fuller than the Rip Van Winkle beard that Steelers defensive end Brett Keisel has been growing all season. Polamalu slid the picture into a manila envelope, then carefully tucked it into his bag. He kissed the three-inch framed photos of the Virgin Mary and Jesus, then crossed himself, repeating the sequence several times before tucking them into his backpack. On his way out, Polamalu was stopped by a radio reporter. As a team official anxiously shouted into his cellphone, “Hold the Cranberry bus for Troy,” Polamalu serenely sat for a five-minute interview. “At times when we need a little guidance, he’s the guy we go to,” Harrison said, adding, “Troy’s a lot deeper than a lot of people who actually preach the word.” At the monastery in southern Arizona, the monks practice joyful mourning. Led by Polamalu, the Steelers engage daily in cheerful discomfort. They suffer together with the goal of celebrating as one on the first Sunday in February.

Football
Polamalu Troy
Pittsburgh Steelers
Religion and Belief
Counsels From the Holy Mountain (Book)
Books and Literature


Officer Fatally Shoots Man in Coney Island

Abstract: A man who charged at a police officer with a wooden folding chair in a church parking lot in Coney Island was shot to death on Thursday afternoon by the officer, the authorities said. The police said they had not identified the man as of Thursday evening, saying only that he appeared to be in his 20s. He had been seen trying to break into a van in the parking lot of Coney Island Gospel Assembly Church at 2828 Neptune Avenue, between West 28th and West 29th Streets, shortly before 1 p.m., the police said. The officer, Dawn Ortiz, 33, and her partner were in the basement of a truancy center at the church when a custodian told them about the attempted break-in. When the officers went to investigate, the man came after one of the officers with the folding chair, the police said. He was ordered in Spanish and English to stop and drop the chair, the police said. He kept moving toward Officer Ortiz and was poised to strike her with the chair when she shot him, the police said. “He continues to disregard her, and he advances to within a foot of her,” said Paul J. Browne, the Police Department’s chief spokesman. “He disregards her directives, and she fires once and hits him in the chest.” The man was taken to Coney Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Officer Ortiz, who joined the department in 1999, was placed on administrative duty after the shooting. It is a standard move for any officer involved in a shooting. After the shooting, she was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, where she was treated for trauma, the police said. Mr. Browne declined to say whether preliminary findings indicated that the shooting was within department guidelines, which permit the use of deadly physical force when there is an immediate risk of death or serious injury to a police officer or someone else. Mr. Browne said that an investigation was continuing and that the department expected to have more details on Friday. Officer Ortiz, who works for the Housing Bureau, was on assignment on Thursday at the truancy center, where students who are picked up by the police for truancy are held until school officials can arrange their return to school or to their homes.

Coney Island (NYC)
Police Department (NYC)


Glory for Democrats, Riding on a Single Vote

Abstract: OMAHA — Yes, county election officials here are certainly aware that the presidential race is considered over and done. And they know that President-elect Barack Obama has already been warmly embraced by much of the world, held his first news conference and toured the White House. But this traditionally Republican city in a largely rural state affectionately known as Big Red is still counting provisional ballots, and state law allows it to take its time. The long-awaited results are likely to be momentous, at least locally. While much of Nebraska supported the Republican candidate, Senator John McCain of Arizona, the large population center around Omaha is leaning toward Mr. Obama. If Mr. Obama’s edge holds, as most experts say it will when the count is completed on Thursday, Nebraska will give one electoral vote (officially No. 365 in the win column) to a Democrat for the first time since 1964, when Lyndon B. Johnson won the whole state. It is not a race-maker or a tie-breaker. For the national party, it is “like a cherry on top” of an already sweet election, as one Democratic official put it. In this corner of the Plains, it represents a significant shift from decades past, and the only departure from Republican domination in a solid geographic column that runs south from North Dakota to Texas. So while the rest of the country may have moved on, Democrats here still have some election night celebrating to do. “We’re very proud of delivering that vote,” said Mayor Mike Fahey of Omaha, a Democrat who campaigned for Mr. Obama. “This is an historic moment for the state of Nebraska.” Cary Vigneri, 55, a cook and manager of a coffeehouse, put it this way: “I think, ‘Yeah, team!’ It’s way cool.” Unlike every other state but Maine, Nebraska allocates two of its electoral votes to the state winner, and one to the winner of each of its three Congressional districts. The winner does not take all. So even though Mr. McCain won the statewide popular vote, it looks as if Mr. Obama was able to carve out a piece of the state, the Second Congressional District, for himself. The district includes most of metropolitan Omaha. Three eastern Nebraska counties have already been called for Mr. Obama. “We got our one vote, and that’s what we wanted,” said Ralph Morocco, 58, a Republican turned Obama campaign volunteer. “We did our part, and it’s nice to see the work pay off.” Julie Jenowe, 43, an artist who lives in midtown Omaha, added: “This means a lot to me. It does make a difference, even if it’s just one vote. It counts for something. It literally puts us Democrats on the map in a place where we’ve never really been on the map.” Ms. Jenowe added: “There was some frustration to voting and feeling like your vote wouldn’t count, that it would be canceled out. It was like, ‘Oh well, Nebraska, you know.’ I’m very pleased that this is putting us on the map.” The last time a state split its cache of electoral votes was 1892, said Randall E. Adkins, an associate professor of political science at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. That year, in Michigan, nine votes went to Benjamin Harrison and five went to Grover Cleveland. Later, Michigan scrapped that system as the political parties pressured states into adopting the winner-take-all style of allocating electoral votes. Nebraska’s one-vote contribution to the Democrats’ tally might seem like a pittance, but it was eagerly sought with the full might of the Obama campaign because months ago no one foretold that Mr. Obama would capture far more than the 270 electoral votes needed for victory. “I think the early expectation was that this race was going to be a lot closer than it was,” Dr. Adkins said. Eastern Nebraska was an important part of the campaign’s strategy to compete in traditionally red states, to fight for votes where Democratic presidential candidates usually had not. With three offices staffed by paid workers and 1,500 volunteers, field organizers hit the streets — not only in the diverse urban core that would constitute a base, but also in wealthier suburban areas and in clearly Republican-leaning white areas. “We weren’t just identifying our voters; we were trying to identify the entire universe,” said John Berge, the Obama campaign’s Nebraska state director. “We did early outreach by sweat equity. We walked. It really was an old-style grass-roots campaign, and either by stroke of genius or stroke of luck, it looks like it’s going to work out for us.” Mr. Berge, a foundation director at a community college, also coordinated a get-out-the-vote initiative for eight days in nine locations just before the election. In a major come-from-behind move, the number of registered Democratic voters in Douglas County, which includes Omaha, surpassed Republicans, by 3,500, in the last few weeks of the race. The local daily, The Omaha World-Herald, called the victory for Mr. Obama last Friday. “It’s important to note that a Democratic presidential campaign can compete in Nebraska,” Mr. Berge said. “We had a lot of people write us off as a red state in presidential elections. We do have a progressive bent. Not only is it O.K. to be a Democrat, but you can be a Democrat and run for public office and win.” In a squat brick building in an office park far removed from downtown, Douglas County’s elections commissioner, Dave Phipps, is somewhat bemused by the fuss around the ballots left to be counted and his final word on the outcome of the race. “You can either get instant results or quality results,” Mr. Phipps said this week. “We’re going with quality every time.” Only half-joking, he added, “You wonder who’s even paying attention at this point?”

Nebraska
Omaha (Neb)
Obama Barack
Electoral College
Presidential Election of 2008
Election Results
Presidential Elections (US)
Democratic Party


Loves Sports, and Crayons Are Her Game

Abstract: Mystic TWO summers ago Peg Connery-Boyd looked around for coloring books featuring her beloved Boston Red Sox to help keep her three young sons busy during a long car trip. No luck. So Ms. Connery-Boyd, 44, an artist whose sketches of the Red Sox sluggers Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz had been admired by her sons’ friends, decided to create her own. She pictured a coloring book with puzzles and word searches that would appeal to both children and adults — so it could “be shared by families,” she said. Working last year with her nephew Brendan F. Fitzgerald, a recent college graduate, she made sample copies and set about getting permission to publish and distribute. And now she did find luck. The licensing arm of Major League Baseball and the players’ union gave her go-aheads not only for the Red Sox coloring book but for ones devoted to all 30 Major League clubs. “We love to license products that are targeted at kids, and this is a great product she’s putting together,” said John Olshan, director of interactive media and new business for the union. What began as a way to keep kids occupied in the car turned into a small business, which she named Hawk’s Nest Publishing. Ms. Connery-Boyd and Mr. Fitzpatrick recruited area artists to help draw the players and enlisted a baseball fan to help write captions and create puzzles. “The Red Sox Coloring and Activity Book,” released in July, sells for about $12 at stores near Fenway Park in Boston and online at hawksnestpublishing.com and borders.com . On an early August afternoon, as her sons’ Red Sox jerseys hung on the clothesline and they watched a game on television, Ms. Connery-Boyd said baseball is something parents and grandparents can share with children, and she hoped her book would promote that connection. Up next: coloring books devoted to the Yankees and the Mets, followed by ones for fans of the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers.


For 1,000 or More Homeless in Hawaii, Beaches Are the Best Option

Abstract: HONOLULU, Dec. 4 — When the home she had rented for 30 years for $300 a month was sold, Alice Greenwood and her 6-year-old son joined an estimated 1,000 people living in tents along the 13 miles of beaches on the Waianae Coast of Oahu. “There was no choice but to come on the beach,” said Ms. Greenwood, 60, who is disabled because of a work-related injury eight years ago and lost her benefits a month before losing her home. Homelessness in Hawaii has become so pervasive that the governor has assigned a state employee to work full time at getting people off the beaches and into transitional housing. Once there, they have access to rent assistance programs and low-income housing. While hundreds of homeless people live on Honolulu’s beaches, including the tourist center Waikiki, it is the Waianae Coast on the semiarid west shore where the problem is most visible. The population of Waianae, home to about 40,000 of Oahu’s 900,000 people, is predominantly native Hawaiian and is historically low income. Hawaii’s economy has been strong in the last two years, and the state consistently has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation. The real estate market has skyrocketed along with the job growth, and houses on the Waianae Coast that rented for $200 or $300 a month a couple of years ago are now advertised for more than $1,000. Nobody knows exactly how many people are living on the beach. Kaulana Park, the state’s point man for the homeless, estimated that more than 1,000 people lived on the Waianae Coast beaches, but he cautioned that any count was good only on the day it was taken. And that estimate does not account for the hidden homeless: people who sleep on a relative’s sofa, or in their cars, or camp in areas not as visible as the public beaches. Many living on the beach have jobs, mostly in the service and construction sectors. They include families with children, who attend public schools by day and sleep in tents on the beach at night. Venise Lewis, 35, who lives near Ms. Greenwood at Maili Beach Park with her husband and two of their four children, said her daughters, ages 8 and 10, must finish their homework in the afternoon because there was no lighting at the beach after sunset. Ms. Lewis’s oldest daughter lives with a grandmother, and her son lives with the family’s pastor. “They don’t like the idea of living on the beach,” she said of her younger children. “Usually when we go camping, we go home if it rains.” The homeless problem in Hawaii came to light in March, when the City and County of Honolulu began a cleanup of Ala Moana Beach Park, at the entrance to Waikiki, and began closing the park at night in response to complaints. Hundreds of homeless people, or “illegal campers,” as the city calls them, moved to an emergency transitional shelter set up by the state in a warehouse close to downtown Honolulu. But some went west, closer to the Waianae Coast communities where they were raised. The city has since conducted similar cleanups at other beaches. Lester Chang, the city’s parks and recreation director, said the number of illegal campers made it difficult for his department to keep the parks safe and clean. “I think all communities have to deal with this situation, but Hawaii is unique because it’s an island,” Mr. Chang said. “There’s no place to push them off to.” Honolulu officials say finding long-term solutions to the homeless problem on Oahu is the state’s responsibility. The city’s housing department was abolished in the late 1990s after a scandal. Mr. Park has been talking with New York City officials about how to adapt New York’s solutions to an island state. He said he was inspired by a speech last summer by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York, who told of how the city had secured financing for some 12,000 units of supportive housing, and of the city’s program to help people stay in their homes by interceding with landlords to head off evictions. Hawaii has started a similar program. In late October, the state opened a transitional shelter for 30 families, including 90 children, at a converted 1940s military building in Kalaeloa, the former Barbers Point Naval Air Station. On Nov. 18, the state poured the foundation for an emergency transitional shelter in Waianae that will house up to 300 people when it opens early next year. The state is looking at building shelters at eight more sites along the Waianae Coast. But Dino Palisbo, who has been living at Maili Beach Park with his girlfriend and their three dogs for about a year, said some people did not want to trade the freedom of the beach for the rules of a transitional shelter. “Half of them can pay rent, but it is so high it is going to take them out of the comfort zone,” Mr. Palisbo said. “When a studio costs $700 or $800, how can a family put four or five kids there?” Others, like Ms. Greenwood, did not want to leave their communities for the state’s shelter at Kalaeloa, which is 10 miles from the beach park and several miles from the nearest bus route. She plans to move to the new shelter in Waianae, set to open next spring, because it is closer to her son’s school and her community activities. Mr. Park said other homeless people on the beach looked up to Ms. Greenwood, who is a member of the state’s Oahu Island Burial Council, which works to protect ancient Hawaiian remains. A widow, she also has four adult children, but the only daughter who lives nearby has a studio apartment too small for Ms. Greenwood and the boy she adopted, Makalii Hatchie. “She takes it upon herself to be somewhat of a leader,” Mr. Park said. Ms. Greenwood said she hoped to begin collecting Social Security benefits and settle her workers’ compensation case soon so that she and her son could find a new home. “Being homeless is not a crime, it is the fault of the government,” she said. “I can understand when it’s 20, 30 people, but when it hits the thousands. ...”

Hawaii
Housing
Homeless Persons
Renting and Leasing


Pope Francis Changes Tone at the Vatican

Abstract: VATICAN CITY — He has criticized the “cult of money” and greed he sees driving the world financial system, reflecting his affinity for liberation theology. He has left Vatican officials struggling to keep up with his off-the-cuff remarks and impromptu forays into the crowds of tens of thousands that fill St. Peter’s Square during his audiences. He has delighted souvenir vendors near the Vatican by increasing tourist traffic. Pope Francis, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, has been in office for only two months, but already he has changed the tone of the papacy, lifting morale and bringing a new sense of enthusiasm to the Roman Catholic Church and to the Vatican itself, Vatican officials and the faithful say. “It’s very positive. There’s a change of air, a sense of energy,” said one Vatican official, speaking with traditional anonymity. “Some people would use the term honeymoon, but there’s no indication that it will let up.” Beyond appointing eight cardinals as outside advisers, Francis has not yet begun making concrete changes or set forth an ambitious policy agenda in a Vatican hierarchy that was gripped by scandal during the papacy of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict, who resigned on Feb. 28 , is now living in a monastery inside the Vatican. But Francis’ emphasis on attention to the poor, and a style that is more akin to that of a parish priest, albeit one with one billion parishioners, is already transforming perceptions. He has chosen to live not in the papal apartments but rather in the Casa Santa Marta residence inside the Vatican, where he eats dinner in the company of lower-ranking priests and visitors. “There are differences, but differences of style, not content,” said Giovanni Maria Vian, editor in chief of the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, comparing Francis with Benedict. In his speeches, “his style is simple and direct. It’s not elaborately constructed and complex,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi. He has repeatedly returned to the euro crisis and the suffering it has caused in Greece and the Catholic countries of Southern Europe. “If investments in the banks fail, ‘Oh, it’s a tragedy,’ ” he said, speaking extemporaneously for more than 40 minutes at a Pentecost vigil last weekend, after a private audience with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the architect of Europe’s austerity policies. “But if people die of hunger or don’t have food or health, nothing happens. This is our crisis today.” In a recent speech to diplomats accredited to the Holy See, Francis also spoke of the need for more ethics in finance. “The financial crisis which we are experiencing makes us forget that its ultimate origin is to be found in a profound human crisis,” he said, adding: “We have created new idols. The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly humane goal.” Image Francis, who has been pope for two months, greeted bishops on Thursday in St. Peter’s Basilica. Credit Tony Gentile/Reuters Father Lombardi said that the pope had called him before that speech. “He said, ‘Pay attention, this is important. I want people to understand it’s important,’ ” he said. Francis’ speeches clearly draw on the themes of liberation theology, a movement that seeks to use the teachings of the Gospel to help free people from poverty and that has been particularly strong in his native Latin America. In the 1980s, Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, led a campaign to rein in the movement, which he saw as too closely tied to some Marxist political elements. Francis studied with an Argentine Jesuit priest who was a proponent of liberation theology, and Father Lombardi acknowledged the echoes. “But what is clear is that he was always against the strains of liberation theology that had an ideological Marxist element,” he said. While Benedict generally delivered only carefully prepared speeches and rarely used the first person, Francis has a more conversational tone, with frequent mentions of his own personal and family history. In his Pentecost remarks last weekend, he cited biblical verses, but he also said with a smile that he sometimes dozed off while praying and recalled how he had been inspired to enter the priesthood by the simple faith of his mother and grandmother. Francis improvises so often that Vatican communications officials have trouble keeping up with him. “We’re all learning,” Father Lombardi said. Vatican Radio often rushes to provide transcripts, including of the homilies the pope delivers at Mass each morning in a chapel frequented by employees of Vatican City State. He arrives early and prays with the parishioners before putting on his vestments. Afterward, “he greets everyone personally,” Father Lombardi said. The faithful love it. “I feel like I am a new Catholic since he became pope,” said Attilio Cortiga, 59, a public employee from the southern Italian region of Campania, who got up at 1 a.m. to travel to Francis’ weekly audience on Wednesday. “I came because I feel he is very close to us ordinary people. His words touch anybody’s heart.” Vatican watchers say that Francis has been drawing above-average crowds, even for the early months of a new papacy. “The economy has picked up again here,” said Marco Mesceni, 60, a third-generation vendor of papal memorabilia outside St. Peter’s Square. “It was so hard to sell anything under Benedict. This pope attracts huge crowds, and they all want to bring back home something with his smiling face on it.” Francis has also been enjoying far better press than Benedict ever did. “He does not suffer from the prejudices that unfortunately Benedict immediately had against him,” said Mr. Vian, the newspaper editor. He argued that many of Benedict’s missteps, with other faiths and more progressive Catholics, and the scandals that plagued his papacy, came as much from perceptions of the pope as from reality. The new pope has done things that might well have caused more controversy on his predecessor’s watch. On May 12, Francis celebrated a Mass at St. Peter’s to canonize two Latin Americans and 800 people who were killed in Otranto , in the southern Italian region of Puglia, in 1480 after they refused to convert to Islam at the hands of Ottoman Turkish invaders. The 800 were sainted as Christian martyrs, which does not require evidence of two miracles. “If Benedict had done that, maybe the polemics would have mounted,” Mr. Vian said, alluding to the previous pope’s strained rapport with the Muslim world. It was, in fact, Benedict who ordered the canonization of the 800, but the announcement drew little attention — it came in the same speech when he shocked the world by saying he would retire. The previous pope, a theologian, often warned of the “risks” facing the church, and reminded Catholics of the ways “that we’re on the wrong path,” Father Lombardi said. That was important, he said, but sometimes a change of emphasis is good. “To be told repeatedly about how God’s love and mercy can transform the hearts of people, there was a need for that,” he added.

Pope Francis
Vatican City
Catholic Church
Poverty


French Bank Replaces Chief After Rogue Trading Scandal

Abstract: PARIS — Société Générale , the French bank that was rocked by a multibillion-dollar rogue trading scandal, said late Thursday that Daniel Bouton would step aside as chief executive but would remain nonexecutive chairman as part of a management reorganization. Mr. Bouton will be succeeded by Frédéric Oudea, the chief financial officer, who joined the bank’s senior management team last month as a deputy chief executive. Philippe Citerne, Mr. Bouton’s second in command, will also step down from the bank’s board when his mandate is over at the end of May. Mr. Oudea has proposed that Mr. Citerne stay on as a co-chief executive of the bank, alongside Didier Alix, the bank said in a statement. For nearly three months, French politicians have been pressuring Société Générale’s management to take responsibility for nearly 5 billion euros ($7.9 billion) in losses suffered after the bank closed out 50 billion euros ($79.3 billion) in unauthorized bets made by a junior derivatives trader, Jérôme Kerviel. “This should have happened much sooner,” said Frédérik-Karel Canoy, a lawyer representing hundreds of small shareholders in Société Générale. Mr. Bouton and Mr. Citerne, both 58, offered their resignations to the board in late January, shortly after the trading scandal — the biggest bank trading fraud in history — was disclosed. But Société Générale’s board rejected the offers, partly out of fear that a change at the helm might derail an emergency sale of 5.5 billion euros ($8.7 billion) in securities intended to shore up capital reserves. But with lingering doubts about the quality of risk management and oversight at the bank and speculation of a possible takeover bid for the 144-year-old lender, opposition to Mr. Bouton’s stewardship remained. Société Générale said the management changes were expected to be formally approved by the board at a meeting on May 12. Mr. Citerne’s seat on the board will be filled by an independent board member, whom shareholders will be asked to appoint at their next general meeting on May 27. Mr. Oudea, 44, joined Société Générale in 1995 and became chief financial officer in 2003. His rapid rise to the chief executive’s suite signifies a sharp turn in the fortunes of Jean-Pierre Mustier, the head of Société Générale’s investment banking division, who until the trading scandal had been widely considered Mr. Bouton’s heir apparent. Mr. Mustier, 47, helped to create Société Générale’s equity derivatives trading business in the mid-1980s, building the bank’s reputation as a global leader in this area. But it was Mr. Mustier’s division that employed Mr. Kerviel, and Mr. Mustier’s star has been waning since the trading scandal was disclosed, according to board members and other bank insiders. On Thursday, a French online news service said the bank was going to announce the departure of Mr. Mustier and about 10 other bank executives in the coming weeks. Mr. Mustier and a spokeswoman for the bank denied the report.

Societe Generale
Appointments and Executive Changes
Bouton Daniel
Executives and Management
Boards of Directors


Samsung Forecasts Strong Year

Abstract: SEOUL — Samsung Electronics announced its quarterly results Friday and said it expected a rapidly recovering demand for its premium computer memory chips and flat-screen televisions to drive its growth this year, with the unwinding of global stimulus measures being the key risk for its sales. The world’s top maker of memory chips and liquid crystal display screens said the rising won, the South Korean currency, could dent earnings, although most analysts were optimistic about the outlook for a company that has become a global brand in the space of 10 years. Moves by China to tighten monetary conditions have raised concerns about a potential slowdown in the Chinese economy, hurting the outlook for countries like South Korea, which sells about a quarter of its exports to China. Those worries and weak results from U.S. technology companies put pressure on Samsung shares Friday, which ended down 3 percent, or 5 percent for the week. “Talk of exit strategies can weigh on Samsung as well as the entire market in the coming months,” said Choi Jong-hyeok, a fund manager at Midas Asset Management. “But I am confident about Samsung’s business this year.” Chips and LCDs are doing well, and Samsung is working on its smartphones, although it was a little late to start. Samsung, one of the world’s biggest makers of televisions and mobile phones, reported a quarterly operating profit that slightly exceeded market forecasts as the technology sector recovery bolstered chip prices and consumers bought televisions and mobile phones. Consolidated operating profit in the fourth quarter rose to 3.7 trillion won, or $3.18 billion, beating an average forecast profit of 3.58 trillion won and in line with the company’s forecast earlier this month. Fourth-quarter sales rose 19 percent to 39.24 trillion won. Analysts said they expected net profit at Samsung to grow by a third to 13 trillion won this year. A revival in corporate demand for personal computers and robust demand for television panels driven by Chinese buyers and major sports events like the World Cup of soccer should lead to a strong first half, bucking the usually weak seasonal trend, Samsung said. The company said it was considering increasing its investment in memory chips to meet demand. It was the first time Samsung had reported earnings since Choi Gee-sung took over as chief executive in a management reshuffle in December, promising Samsung would improve its PC, appliance and camera businesses.Samsung made a remarkable recovery last year from the global downturn, expanding its share to more than one-fifth of the global market for LCD televisions and mobile phones from the mid-teens two years ago.But tough competition in smartphones poses a challenge, while companies like Sony and Panasonic are improving their television products to grab market share.Jeffrey Lee, chief investment officer at Phillip Capital in Singapore, said he had recently sold shares in Samsung on concerns about prospects for the company’s mobile phone business.


Consumer Prices Fall for a 20th Month in Japan

Abstract: Consumer prices in Japan fell 0.6 percent during the month of October, the government said Friday, marking the 20th straight month of declines as the country struggles to keep its economic recovery alive. Japan’s critical consumer price index , which excludes volatile fresh food prices , was down from the same month a year ago. News of the continued price declines in Japan came as the country’s Parliament held final debates over a new $61 billion stimulus package, which includes financial support for small businesses and spending to bolster regional economies. The extra budget for the stimulus was expected to be passed Friday evening.

Japan
Consumer Price Index
Economic Conditions and Trends


Comcast and Discovery Announce Long-Term Distribution Deal

Abstract: Comcast isn’t the big bad bully in media land anymore, at least according to the television group Discovery Communications. Comcast, the country’s largest cable operator, and Discovery announced Monday that they had reached a multiyear agreement over the fees Comcast pays to carry Discovery networks. The deal, which extends into the next decade and includes all rights across all platforms, is a public olive branch after the two companies clashed when Comcast was attempting its $45 billion takeover of Time Warner Cable, a bid that it abandoned in April. Discovery, the home of the Discovery, TLC and Animal Planet networks, was one of the most vocal opponents of the merger, concerned that Comcast would use its new heft to push around independent programmers like Discovery. Comcast accused Discovery and other business partners of “extortion” and said that Discovery was trying to use the proceeding to negotiate higher rates long before its previous deal expired. That enmity did not stand in the way of the new deal that was announced on Monday. Combined with agreements from other distributors, the agreement will help Discovery secure high-single-digit growth for its so-called affiliate revenue, according to one executive with knowledge of the agreement who requested anonymity because the contract was private. The new deal also includes some elements that were not in previous agreements. Those include the ability for Comcast customers to view past and current seasons of programming Discovery across an array of devices both in and out of the home. “Comcast is a dynamic and innovative company and has been a great partner of Discovery’s for over two decades,” David Zaslav, president and chief executive of Discovery Communications, said in a statement. “We look forward to continuing our relationship and unlocking the value of Discovery’s content.” Added Neil Smit, chief executive of Comcast Cable: “We’re pleased to extend our relationship with Discovery and its family of networks.”

Comcast
Discovery Communications
Cable television


Names of the Dead

Abstract: The Department of Defense has identified 2,104 American service members who have died as a part of the Afghan war and related operations. It confirmed the deaths of the following Americans recently: BEDOY, Genaro, 20, Pfc., Army; Amarillo, Tex.; Second Infantry Division. NELSON, Joshua N., 22, Specialist, Army; Greenville, N.C.; 202nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 513th Military Intelligence Brigade. NENA, Sapuro B., 25, Sergeant, Army; Honolulu; Second Infantry Division. OSBURN, Kyle B., 26, Sergeant, Army; Lafayette, Ind.; 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. TOWNSEND, Jon R. 19, Pfc., Army; Claremore, Okla.; Second Infantry Division.

United States Defense and Military Forces


National Identity at Heart of Debate on Israeli Service

Abstract: JERUSALEM — On one level, the questions shaking the Israeli political system this week are pragmatic: how many ultra-Orthodox men and Arab citizens should be drafted into the military or national service, over how many years and how should those who resist be penalized? But the debate over these details masks a more fundamental and fractious one about evolving identity in this still-young state, where a “people’s army” has long been a defining principle, and about the growing cleavage among its tribes. That is what has brought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ’s broad unity coalition to the brink of collapse in recent days, with an Aug. 1 deadline looming to replace a law providing draft exemptions to thousands of men studying in yeshivas that the Supreme Court deemed illegal in February. The leader of a committee that Mr. Netanyahu appointed — and this week disbanded — to prepare a replacement law released a 100-page report on Wednesday that called for 80 percent of the ultra-Orthodox to serve in the military by 2016, and for fines of about $25,000 for those who do not. Shaul Mofaz, the Kadima Party leader whose surprise alliance with Mr. Netanyahu two months ago created an unheard-of 94-seat majority in the 120-member Parliament, said Wednesday that he would quit the coalition within days if the committee’s work did not form the basis of the new law. But religious and right-wing factions have also vowed to bolt the coalition if personal sanctions are included or Arabs are not drafted as well. “It’s a possibility of civil war between sectors,” said Yedidia Stern, who runs a program on religion and state at the Israel Democracy Institute, and served on the committee charged with rewriting the draft law. “What’s at stake is two cultures, two civilizations,” Professor Stern added, referring to the ultra-Orthodox, known as Haredim, and other Jews here. “These two civilizations used to live in some kind of peace because each one thought that the other is going to disappear eventually. Nowadays I think everybody realizes that the two camps are here to stay, and we have to decide what will be the identity in the public sphere.” At issue is not so much the pragmatic needs of the military, where integrating large numbers of Haredim promises to be more hassle than help, but a growing resentment over who serves the state and who reaps its rewards. Last year, about 17 percent of 18-year-old Haredim joined the Army, compared with about 75 percent of other Jewish men; an additional 14 percent of Haredim and 8 percent of Arab citizens signed up for civilian service. Over all, just over half of Israelis now do military duty, a far cry from the generally accepted notion that there is a universal draft. Because the military is the critical gateway to employment here, there are deep economic implications as well: some 56 percent of Haredim live in poverty, and the average annual income in their community is about half that of the national norm, with many of their large families relying on welfare, housing grants and subsidies for yeshiva study. If demographics are destiny, it makes sense that this long-simmering tension is reaching a rolling boil. While Haredim account for less than 10 percent of Israel’s seven million citizens, and Arabs 20 percent, their high birthrates mean that about 46 percent of today’s kindergartners come from the two groups, growth that is “challenging the basic formula” of Israeli society, according to Aluf Benn, editor of the left-leaning newspaper Haaretz. “These groups don’t want a larger slice of the pie, they want a different recipe,” Mr. Benn said in an interview. “If Israel defines itself as a Jewish democratic state, the Arabs would do away with the Jewish part, and the ultra-Orthodox at least in their dream would get rid of the democracy. They respect the authority of the rabbis.” Einat Wilf, one of five lawmakers who served on the committee, said that the solution was not a universal draft, but an acceptance that “the people’s army” is a fiction — and a reworking of benefits accordingly. “We have to accept the fact that 64 years ago they did not want the state to come about, and they still have no faith in the structures of the state,” Ms. Wilf said, referring to the utra-Orthodox and Arab citizens. “Solidarity is a two-way street. The state will guarantee everyone the absolute minimum, but beyond that the state will reward people who give, not just people who take.” Mr. Netanyahu met Thursday afternoon with Mr. Mofaz and leaders of other parties in the coalition to begin hammering out a compromise. Ze’ev Elkin, chairman of the coalition, said earlier in the day that he thought that the gaps between their positions could be bridged, saying that neither was opposed to personal sanctions on those who do not serve. Some Kadima members said Mr. Mofaz had said he would quit the government if a deal was not done by Monday. Though one Haredi rabbi, Avraham Eisenstein, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that no yeshiva student would be drafted, “be it his will or against his will,” a leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party indicated a willingness to accept the principles, if not the particulars, of the committee. “The practicality of implementing any law depends on it being spread out and on processes that take place slowly, not in one blow,” the leader, Ariel Attias, said in a radio interview. “We want and are willing for processes to take place, some of them very painful, but don’t pretend that this is being nice.” Professor Stern, one of five experts who worked on the committee over the past six weeks, noted that even under the old law, “You see the beginnings of change.” Last year, he said, 1,282 Haredim joined the Israeli Defense Force and another 1,090 signed up for Civil Service, compared with a total of 305 who enlisted overall in 2007; Arabs generally do not serve in the I.D.F., but their Civil Service participation increased nearly tenfold, to 2,400 from 250 in 2007. “Once the majority will wear I.D.F. uniforms in Bnei Brak, in Yerushalayim, in all these Haredi ghettos, I think the I.D.F. will secure the Israeli society as one society in a crucial way,” Mr. Stern said. “This is a mission for I.D.F., to help keep the cohesion of our society.”

Arabs
Israel
Jews and Judaism
Draft and Recruitment (Military)
Netanyahu Benjamin


Dr. Pickle Sells Peppers at Farmers’ Markets

Abstract: As I was making a salad the other day, I offered my daughter and her friend a bite of the pickled peppers I had bought at the Croton farmers’ market. Five minutes later, they handed me back an empty container. How often do kids get that excited about vegetables? I can’t blame them. The pickled peppers from the Paterson Pickle Company are made from a simple old family recipe of sweet red peppers, water, vinegar, sugar and salt. The company, in Paterson, N.J., sells a whole line of pickled products under the name Dr. Pickle at farmers’ markets in Croton-on-Hudson, White Plains, Hartsdale, Larchmont, Rye and other locations throughout Westchester. There are crisp half-sours, marinated mushrooms, green tomatoes and more. But the pickled peppers ($5 for a pint, $9 for a quart) are a special treat — tart and sweet, crunchy yet yielding — and worth checking out before the winter weather closes most of the markets until spring. The brothers who own Paterson Pickle — Eric Nadel, who used to work for a stock-research firm, and Marc Nadel, who was a corporate lawyer — come from a long line of pickle purveyors. Their father and grandfather sold the products from trucks in the Catskills before they founded Paterson Pickle in 1988. “I never expected to enter the business,” Eric said. “But after what’s happened to the economy and Wall Street in recent years, this feels more secure. Plus, it’s second nature.” Paterson Pickle Company products are available at farmers’ markets throughout Westchester or at docpickle.com . EMILY D e NITTO

Pickles and Relishes
Cooking and Cookbooks
Restaurants
Croton-on-Hudson (NY)


N.H.L. Faces New Scrutiny for Hockey Violence

Abstract: Air Canada, a major sponsor of the N.H.L., has urged the league to crack down on violence, and a criminal investigation has begun in Montreal as the result of a hit on Tuesday night that left a Canadiens player with a concussion and a fractured vertebra. Zdeno Chara , the Boston Bruins player who shouldered Max Pacioretty of Montreal into a stanchion at the end of the players’ bench and seriously injured him, was not suspended by league disciplinary officials in the aftermath of the incident, and their decision was supported by N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman . Nevertheless, the incident puts further pressure on the league’s general managers to address the issues of violence and player safety at their annual meeting next week in Boca Raton , Fla. On Thursday, Geoff Molson, the owner of the Canadiens, said Bettman had agreed to make this issue a priority at the meetings. He added that curbing general violence in the game had “reached a point of urgency” and that he would ask the 29 other owners “to address urgently this safety issue.” The N.H.L.’s handling of hits to the head in particular has come under additional scrutiny after researchers last week said they found that Bob Probert, a brawling former hockey player who died last year of a heart ailment, had the same degenerative brain disease that prompted the N.F.L. to change some rules and policies in an effort to limit dangerous head impacts. The N.H.L. passed a rule before this season banning blindside hits to the head, but the move fell short of steps taken by other hockey leagues that have banned any contact with the head. In an unusually blunt letter sent to the league late Wednesday night by Air Canada, which sponsors the N.H.L.’s six Canadian teams, Denis Vandal, the company’s director for marketing communications, wrote that there had been “a number of incidents regarding head shots and concussions this past season which have resulted in widespread public concern which we share.” He added that unless the N.H.L. took “immediate action with serious suspensions” to “curtail these life threatening injuries, Air Canada will withdraw its sponsorship of Hockey.” Although such action has the potential to hurt the league’s revenue, Bettman was undeterred on Thursday. “Air Canada is a great brand, as is the National Hockey League,” he told the Congressional Hockey Caucus on Capitol Hill during a discussion on how to get more children to play hockey. “If they decide they need to do other things with their sponsorship dollars, that’s their prerogative, just like it’s the prerogative of our clubs that fly on Air Canada to make other arrangements if they don’t think Air Canada is giving them the appropriate level of service." In Montreal, the police said Thursday that they had begun an investigation into Chara’s check after receiving a request by Quebec ’s director of criminal and penal prosecutions. Still, Bettman reaffirmed the ruling made Wednesday by Mike Murphy, the league’s vice president of hockey operations, not to fine or suspend Chara, a 6-foot-9 defenseman. Chara received a five-minute major and game misconduct for interference on the play, in which he pushed Pacioretty as they sped in front of the Bruins’ bench. Pacioretty’s head struck a padded metal stanchion at the end of the bench area, knocking him to the ice, where he remained motionless for several minutes before being taken to a Montreal hospital. On Thursday, Chara said he was “relieved” that he had not been suspended and that he understood the reaction by Pacioretty, who told a Canadian television network Wednesday that he believed Chara’s action was deliberate and that he was “upset and disgusted that the league didn’t think enough of it to suspend him.” Bettman acknowledged that the play resulted in “a horrific injury,” and said that “we’re sorry that it happened in our fast-paced physical game, but I don’t think whether or not supplemental discipline was imposed would change what happened.” “In fact, the people in the game who I have heard from almost to a person, and I’ll exclude the two teams involved, believe that it was handled appropriately by hockey operations,” he said. Some people currently or recently associated with the league and its clubs agreed with the decision not to suspend Chara. Brandon Dubinsky of the Rangers said that he did not think Chara’s hit was deliberate. “It’s a fast, hard game,” he said. “Guys respect each other — even the idiots have respect.” Chara’s hit on Pacioretty was not a check to the head but, in Chara’s words, a “little push.” Kerry Fraser, who retired last spring as an N.H.L. referee, said that no supplementary discipline was needed. “From a referee’s perspective, Chara did everything you’d expect him to do in pursuit of a player,” said Fraser, who has been a critic of disciplinary policies regarding hits to the head since his retirement . He called Chara a “respectful player” during “all the years I’ve known him, going back to when he was an Islander” in the 1997-98 season. Fraser said that before the N.H.L. installed taller, seamless glass almost 15 years ago, the glass around the rink had more give and provided more of a cushion. That kind of glass was not set up flush with the boards along the bench, where Pacioretty struck his head. “There was more space then — the glass was set back enough so that his head might not have run bang into it,” Fraser said. In recent years, the N.H.L. has reacted to high-profile incidents with far-reaching rule changes. It installed its head-checking rule last year soon after Boston ’s Marc Savard sustained a concussion after he was blindsided by Pittsburgh ’s Matt Cooke, a hit that was legal at the time. The league installed protective netting at the ends of the rink in 2002 soon after a 13-year-old girl died from injuries after she was struck by a puck shot into the crowd at a game in Columbus. In 2004, after Todd Bertuzzi chased down, attacked and ended the career of Steve Moore in retaliation for Moore’s check in an earlier game against the captain of Bertuzzi’s Vancouver team, talk of retribution virtually disappeared. A lawsuit is pending in connection with that incident.

Concussion
Zdeno Chara
Max Pacioretty
Ice hockey
Sports injury
NHL


Summer of Anxiety Eclipses the ‘Silly Season’ of Years Past

Abstract: LONDON — Almost to the day, in August 2009, an article appeared in this space saying: You know the silly season has arrived when The Times of London devotes a front-page obituary to the death of a fish called Benson. It seems harder to be silly now. By long tradition in what was once called Fleet Street, August was the apex of the absurd. It was a time when newspaper pages, bereft of hard news, yawned open to devour tales of, say, “killer” Siberian chipmunks attacking humans in England — as The Sun recounted seven years ago. The digitalized heirs to that legacy have not lost their fondness for stories whose lightness of being seems only to enhance their ability to titillate. Consider the attention accruing since the weekend over whether a photo had been doctored to remove a champagne flute from the hand of Damien, the 14-year-old son of the actress Elizabeth Hurley. Shock! Horror! But, compared with the not-too-distant days of Benson, a 64-pound carp found mysteriously dead at a fishery in the English Midlands, the silly season seems more ambiguous, challenged by atrocities that redefine the theater of the absurd as the spectacle of the macabre. “The idea of silliness requires shared assumptions about what is sensible,” the columnist Rafael Behr wrote in The Guardian , focusing on the rise of Donald J. Trump. By any objective definition, these are not sensible times. This year, the centennial of the Battle of the Somme, will most likely be recalled as a time when the slaughter of trench warfare found its echo in the spread of terror. My colleague Steven Erlanger wrote about what some are calling a summer of anxiety , in which “death and injury have been dealt out by truck , ax , handgun , machete and bomb .” Indeed, the banality of the weaponry has magnified the brutality of attacks in France and Germany that left many in Europe and beyond looking over their shoulder. Barrel bombs tear through the besieged Syrian city of Aleppo . Explosives rend flesh from Kabul to Baghdad . A truck plows through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in Nice . A priest in Normandy has his throat slit at the altar. There has been a deep shift, too, in how the news is framed and broadcast. In the past, the silly season lay within the fief of the mainstream media, calibrated to the calendar of mainstream politicians whose long vacations closed Parliament and stilled their fractious debate. But politics has been sidestepped by populism. The checks and balances of parliamentary democracy have given way to rule by numbers. When Britons voted in June to leave the European Union , they did so by plebiscite, not by parliamentary ballot. The outcome was uncompromising: 52 percent in favor, 48 percent against. As Britain’s Labour Party fights internally over its leadership, the choice will fall to its hundreds of thousands of members, not to elected lawmakers. The House of Commons has become disconnected from the will of the people. The emblems of this season of unease and unpredictability have been relayed in the jittery, jerky images of cellphone cameras and video streaming apps that tell only an unmediated fraction of the story. When an 18-year-old German of Iranian descent killed nine people at a shopping center in Munich , Boris Johnson, Britain’s recently appointed foreign secretary, said what many were thinking: The attack appeared to be the work of Islamist terrorists. Instead, the gunman was identified as a disturbed 18-year-old, Ali Sonboly , who was said to be obsessed with mass shootings — spreading terror, but not in the name of the terrorism that has come to define the times. Even seven years ago, Benson the carp competed for space with darker news of fallen soldiers in Afghanistan and elsewhere. As the article in this space concluded: “No silliness there at all.” Then or now.

Times of London
Newspaper
Terrorism
Guardian British Newspaper


Yankees’ Hot Run Crashes in Phoenix

Abstract: PHOENIX — If the Yankees strolled into town finally feeling good about themselves after winning three consecutive series against two division leaders and the defending World Series champions, they were met with some discomfiting sights on Monday. Present at home plate for the exchange of lineup cards were Joe Torre and Bob Brenly, the managers when the Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks met when the stakes were higher — the 2001 World Series. Sitting in the stands were a couple of old antagonists for those Yankees, Randy Johnson, who dominated them from the mound, and Luis Gonzalez, who broke their hearts with his bloop single off Mariano Rivera that won Game 7. Those old ghosts were joined by some familiar goblins on Monday night as the Yankees were trounced by the Diamondbacks, 12-2 . There might not be much shame in a loss like this to the Red Sox, the Royals or the White Sox — opponents on the Yankees’ recent homestand — but the Diamondbacks, like the Yankees, sat in last place. And they scored five more runs Monday night than they had in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Giants over the weekend. The Yankees’ breakdown was complete. Their defense was porous, their pitching was abysmal and their hitters had nothing to offer. The largely forgettable night did carry some meaning for two Yankees pitchers who made their major league debuts: Chad Green and Conor Mullee. Green showed promise, but his night unraveled in the fifth when he surrendered a tiebreaking three-run home run to Jake Lamb that sent the Diamondbacks on their way. “You leave the ball up here, it has a better chance of getting hit,” said Green, who had not allowed a home run in 37 innings in the minor leagues this season. It was a largely unmemorable return to Arizona for shortstop Didi Gregorius, who booted one grounder and was spared two errors, one on a deft scoop by first baseman Mark Teixeira and another by the official scorer when he missed the bag on a force play. Gregorius also popped out with runners on second and third in the fourth inning and one out as the Yankees trailed, 2-1. The key player the Diamondbacks acquired for Gregorius in a three-way deal with Detroit, the left-hander Robby Ray, mostly silenced the Yankees. He held them to six hits and two runs over seven innings, and he was unfortunate not to have fared better when a relay throw by shortstop Nick Ahmed, which would have put Jacoby Ellsbury out trying for a triple, nicked Ellsbury’s helmet and bounced into the stands, allowing him to come home. After that, Ray retired the final nine hitters he faced. Yankees Manager Joe Girardi had the chance to hit for Green in the fourth when the Yankees trailed, 2-1, after Austin Romine was intentionally walked to load the bases with two outs. But Green, who did not have a professional at-bat before Monday, struck out. Girardi, who had only one right-handed hitter on the bench — Ronald Torreyes — was not willing to turn to his bullpen so early. “Your bullpen is so short, it’s just really hard,” Girardi said. “If you had a day off coming soon — it was just too early.” And he may have stuck with Green too long in the fifth after the Diamondbacks’ Michael Bourn reached when Teixeira dropped Green’s throw on a bunt. Green then walked Goldschmidt with the score tied at 2. Green jumped ahead of Jake Lamb with two quick strikes, but Lamb worked the count full and belted a home run to right field. Yasmany Tomas followed with a double before Girardi replaced Green with Nick Goody. “It’s not easy, your first time in the big leagues, whether you’re a position player or a pitcher making his first start,” Girardi said. “You always look to see how guys handle it, and I thought he handled it pretty well.” Girardi added, “There’s never a good time to have a game like this.” Green was not the only Yankee with a less-than-satisfying debut. Mullee did not allow a hit in the sixth inning, but he hit a batter and walked three — including Chris Herrmann with the bases loaded. Green’s night began encouragingly enough for the Yankees. He struck out the first batter he faced, Jean Segura, and retired Bourn on a fly ball. But Paul Goldschmidt drove Green’s next pitch — a 94 mile-per-hour fastball on the inner half — far over the left-field wall. Segura’s two-out double, a smash off the glove of Gregorius, put the Diamondbacks ahead, 2-0, in the second. Once Green left, in the fifth, the Diamondbacks added to their lead against relievers Nick Goody, Mullee and Phil Coke. The Diamondbacks had eight extra-base hits. “They were ready to hit fastballs, and they didn’t miss too many of them,” said Romine, the Yankees’ catcher.

Yankees
Diamondbacks
Mariano Rivera
Chad Green
Baseball


Reliable Fill-In Sputters, Along With Yankees’ Offense

Abstract: Even with the Yankees in first place in their division, Manager Joe Girardi understands that his ball club must be handled delicately, given the advanced age of some of his players, the inexperience of others, and the team’s relievers, who have been overworked early in the season. Saturday’s game against the Orioles, a 6-2 loss at Yankee Stadium, amplified the difficulties of Girardi’s balancing act. When Alex Rodriguez’s legs were feeling tight after Friday’s game, Girardi did not risk putting him in the lineup with the Yankees in the middle of a stretch of 17 straight games. In the morning, Girardi also essentially decided that Dellin Betances and Andrew Miller, who had already pitched on consecutive days, would not be used out of the bullpen. Then, after the game began, he realized that he probably could not yet depend on Chase Whitley to provide a quality outing every five days. After two solid outings, Whitley gave up five runs, including three home runs, in five and two-thirds innings and was charged with his first loss this season. Entering the game, Whitley had given up one earned run in 12 innings. “He was just a little bit off today,” Girardi said. “Pitchers aren’t going to be perfect. They’re going to make some mistakes.” The Orioles did not let Whitley get ahead of them early in the count. Jimmy Paredes and Chris Davis tagged him for first-pitch home runs in the third and fourth innings. “The first one Paredes hit, hopefully that fan’s hand’s O.K., because he hit that pretty well,” Whitley said of the ball, which landed in the right-field stands. Pitching from behind for the first time this season, Whitley hit Steve Pearce, who batted after Davis, and two batters later, he gave up a two-run homer to Alejandro De Aza. After having allowed one walk in his first two starts, Whitley issued two walks Saturday and hit Adam Jones with a pitch in the fifth inning. Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen threw a more precise game, stifling the Yankees over seven innings, allowing one run on five hits with seven strikeouts for his first win of the season. “He got us to chase up in the zone a little bit today, and that’s the one thing I talked about that you need to lay off against him,” Girardi said. At times, Whitley has looked just as dominant: on April 28 against the Tampa Bay Rays, and again on Monday while facing the Toronto Blue Jays. With Masahiro Tanaka’s lingering right arm issues keeping him off the mound, the Yankees are in need of quality innings from Whitley, who was supposed to make only a spot start when he was called up on April 28. Despite his rough outing, Whitley will most likely have another chance this week. Girardi said Tanaka would resume throwing Sunday as he tried to work back from a right forearm strain, but he probably will not return from the disabled list anytime soon. Chris Martin is another pitcher who will be inactive over the next few weeks. After Friday’s 5-4 victory, he told the Yankees’ staff that he had discomfort in his right elbow. It was determined that he had tendinitis, and he was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The Yankees recalled pitcher Branden Pinder from Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Throughout the day, Girardi sounded most concerned about the fragility of his relief corps. “Our bullpen guys have been used a lot — there’s no denying that,” he said. “I think you have to pick your spots where you shut them down and the other guys got to get it done.” David Carpenter and Chasen Shreve picked up some of the slack on Saturday, combining to give up one run in three and a third innings. Carpenter was victimized by some shoddy fielding in the seventh. Paredes led off the inning with a triple after the ball bounced off the glove of right fielder Chris Young. He scored after Young misjudged a fly ball off the bat of Delmon Young. With a chance to atone in the eighth, Chris Young struck out with runners on first and second. Jacoby Ellsbury, who entered Saturday with an 11-game hitting streak, went 0 for 5. More runs may be on the horizon. Girardi said he anticipated that Rodriguez, who is second on the team with 19 R.B.I., would be in Sunday’s lineup. With 1,988 R.B.I. in his career, Rodriguez remains four behind Babe Ruth for fourth place among all players since R.B.I. became an official statistic in 1920. “We’re 19-12, so it’s worked out pretty good so far,” Girardi said. “It’s just my job to manage that. I do the best that I can and make sure that I protect our guys.”


3 Substances to Lose Place on Shelves of Nutrition Stores

Abstract: The Drug Enforcement Administration has classified as controlled substances three steroids that are marketed as dietary supplements, but an antidoping official warned that new steroids have taken their place on the shelves of nutrition stores. “Every day we learn of additional nefarious substances being developed,” Travis Tygart, the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency , said in a statement. “We need a regulatory system capable of managing the magnitude of this problem, and that can stop those rogue supplement manufacturers who are meanwhile profiting.” Under a rule that will take effect Jan. 4 , the D.E.A. has classified a substance known as Madol and two other drugs — boldione and 19-nor-4,9(10)-Androstadienedione — as anabolic steroids, meaning it is now a crime for retailers to sell supplements that contain these substances. As controlled substances, some anabolic steroids can be used legally, if a doctor writes a prescription for a patient to treat a legitimate medical condition. In a telephone interview, Tygart said that antidoping officials have known about and tested for all three substances for years. Madol was first identified six years ago during the investigation into the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative. Earlier this year, Madol was the focus of an F.D.A. inquiry into a manufacturer, American Cellular Labs, that authorities said was marketing the drug as a legal alternative to steroids. In 2008, the D.E.A. identified 58 products containing the three steroids that are the subject of its most recent rule. Tygart said he purchased a supplement containing Madol one week ago. The process for classifying a drug as an anabolic steroid is lengthy and includes both bureaucratic and scientific hurdles. Under the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004, scientists must confirm that a drug’s chemical structure is similar to testosterone, and a laboratory must then prove that it can synthesize the substance in a controlled environment, said Special Agent Gary Boggs of the D.E.A.’s Office of Diversion Control. “That’s not an easy process and it takes a very long time to do that,” Boggs said. “While we’re doing all of that, these creative chemists are coming up with yet another one, and we have to start the process all over again.” Tygart said his agency has identified at least 20 other steroids marketed as supplements that have not been classified as controlled substances.

Drug Enforcement Administration
Steroids
United States Anti-Doping Agency
Doping (Sports)
Dietary Supplements and Herbal Remedies
Diet and Nutrition
Tygart Travis


Letter Bomb Injures 2 at Swiss Nuclear Office

Abstract: GENEVA — A letter bomb exploded at the office of a Swiss nuclear industry lobbying group on Thursday, slightly injuring two employees, a police spokesman said. The letter bomb exploded at the fourth floor office of Swissnuclear in the northern town of Olten at 7.:45 local time as personnel were opening the mail, Andreas Mock, a spokesman for the local police said. Mr. Mock said that a woman employee suffered injuries to her hands and arms and another employee complained of hearing problems as a result of the explosion. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, Mr. Mock said. Controversy in Switzerland over nuclear power has increased since the crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station resulting from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Switzerland operates five nuclear power stations but Japan’s nuclear disaster prompted Swiss Energy Minister Doris Leuthard to suspend requests to build two new plants and to order a review of safety at the existing Swiss plants.

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (Japan)


Phillies Take Two-Games-to-None Lead on Reds

Abstract: PHILADELPHIA — In Game 1 of this division series, Citizens Bank Park was the stage for one of the playoffs’ finest pitching performances, a no-hitter by Roy Halladay that was within one pitch of being a perfect game. Game 2 devolved into one of the playoffs’ sloppiest games, a ragged affair that bore no resemblance to the near perfection on display two days earlier. But between the games, the Reds demonstrated that there is more than one way to look bad in the postseason. In a game with six errors, three hit batsmen, six unearned runs and a run scored on a bases-loaded walk, the Phillies came from behind to beat the Reds, 7-4, to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series. “Lots of errors here and there, a lot of hit batsmen,” said Roy Oswalt, the Phillies’ starting pitcher. “I’ve never really seen that all in one game.” Normally a good defensive team, the Reds committed four of the errors and allowed five of the unearned runs, two of them charged to Bronson Arroyo, who pitched well but was undone by the cartoonish fielding behind him. It was the first time the Reds had made four errors in a postseason game since Game 4 of the 1939 World Series. But the Phillies were certainly not immune from shoddiness, with second baseman Chase Utley committing two errors. The Reds led, 4-0, after home runs by Brandon Phillips and Jay Bruce. They also scored a run in the second when Utley made his errors. But the Reds, who tied the Padres with the fewest errors (72) in the National League, collapsed defensively. They committed a pair of errors with two outs in the fifth inning, and Utley capitalized by drilling a two-run single. In the sixth, with two outs, Cincinnati pitchers hit two batters in a row, then issued a walk to force in a run. “Our scouting report said to pitch those guys inside,” shortstop Orlando Cabrera said. “When you do that, you’re going to hit some guys.” Somehow, it got worse for the Reds. Still leading by 4-3 in the seventh inning, Cincinnati allowed three unearned runs in a circus of mistakes. First, the hard-throwing Aroldis Chapman appeared to hit Utley on the hand with a 102-mile-per-hour fastball. Despite the velocity, Utley barely reacted — perhaps because, as television replays indicated, the ball never hit him. “It was pretty close,” Utley said. He added, “He throws so hard, I felt like I thought it hit me, so I put my head down and ran to first base.” With one out, Reds third baseman Scott Rolen tried to get Utley at second base on Jayson Werth’s bouncer to third. It was a bad decision, because Rolen never had time, and all the runners were safe. Jimmy Rollins then hit a line drive to right field, straight at Bruce. But the ball became obscured in the lights, and Bruce missed it completely, setting Utley and Werth in motion as the 46,511 fans roared their delight. “It’s embarrassing,” Bruce said. “I take a lot of pride in my defense. I wish for my team more than anything that it wouldn’t have gotten in the lights or that it came out and I could have caught it. But that didn’t happen.” Utley scored easily, as did Werth, but only after Phillips dropped the throw from center fielder Drew Stubbs, who was backing up the play. The Phillies led, 5-4, and Rollins eventually scored on Carlos Ruiz’s fielder’s choice to shortstop. In the bottom of the eighth, as Bruce took his place in right field, the fans in the bleachers taunted him with chants of “Thank you, Jay Bruce.” Bruce had been the only Cincinnati base runner in Game 1, drawing a walk off Halladay to thwart his bid for perfection. After being no-hit in Game 1, the Reds had gone 30 innings without scoring a run at Citizens Bank Park, normally a hitters’ park. That streak did not reach 31. Phillips, the game’s first batter, whacked a home run to left field on the fourth pitch of the game. Oswalt did not pitch well, allowing four runs, three of them earned, in five innings. But it was enough on a night when the team that made fewer mistakes won. “I knew that as a long as I didn’t get blown out, we’d have a chance,” Oswalt said. “I knew I wasn’t going to go out there and throw a no-hitter.”

Baseball
Playoff Games
Philadelphia Phillies
Cincinnati Reds


W.T.O. Says Subsidies Helped Airbus to Best Boeing

Abstract: The United States won an “important victory” in a trade ruling that Airbus , the European plane maker, had benefited from four decades of improper subsidies, taking sales from Boeing as a result, the United States trade representative, Ron Kirk, said on Wednesday. The ruling, by the World Trade Organization , immediately fueled concerns in Congress about whether the Pentagon should consider the subsidies in deciding whether to award a $40 billion contract for refueling tankers to Boeing or Airbus’s parent, the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, or EADS. Boeing, based in Chicago, has long contended that the subsidies helped Airbus vault past it in 2003 to become the world’s largest plane maker. The 1,200-page ruling concluded that Airbus received subsidies — in the form of loans from European governments at below-market interest rates — to produce its six best-selling models. The trade panel recommended that steps be taken to withdraw the subsidies or nullify their effects. From the start of its first A300 jet in 1969, with interest-free financing from France and Germany, to the creation of its new A380 superjumbo jet, the trade panel concluded that it “would not have been possible for Airbus to have launched all of these models, as originally designed and at the times it did,” without the subsidies. The ruling said that if the European company had had to rely on commercial financing, at interest rates as high as 15 to 16 percent in the early years, “the increase in the level of debt Airbus would have accumulated over the years would have been massive.” It said Airbus would have been a “much weaker” company and probably could not have afforded to build the A380. The ruling, which was outlined in broad terms in March but not released fully until Wednesday, found that the Airbus A310, A320, A330 and A340 models were also developed largely with low-interest government loans. EADS is bidding for the Pentagon tanker contract with a version of the A330. Pentagon officials have said they want to get the most competitive price for the tankers, and they will not consider the impact of the subsidies in choosing between Boeing and EADS. “Today’s ruling confirms what I have been saying for years: Airbus’s illegal subsidies have harmed American workers and businesses, and they need to end,” said Senator Patty Murray, Democrat of Washington, where Boeing assembles many of its planes. Contrasting the trade representative’s stance with that of the Pentagon, she added: “It makes no sense for one part of the U.S. government to be fighting illegal subsidies, while another is pretending they don’t exist.” Boeing executives also hope that the political pressure created by the ruling will keep Europe from going ahead with similar loans to help Airbus develop the A350, which is meant to compete with Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet. The trade ruling does not apply to $4.3 billion in European governments’ loan pledges for the A350, since work on it had not begun when the complaint was filed. But Mr. Kirk, the United States trade representative, “has made clear that he would be very disappointed if any member states moved forward with disbursing aid for the A350,” his general counsel, Timothy Reif, said. Karel De Gucht, the European Union’s trade commissioner, said he was disappointed by some of the trade panel’s findings. He said European officials would decide soon whether to appeal the ruling. “The E.U. remains committed to a negotiated outcome to the dispute with no preconditions on either side,” he said. United States officials said they were able to prevail by showing that Boeing had lost market share in foreign countries because the subsidies enabled Airbus to offer more models than it otherwise could have. The United States claimed that European governments gave Airbus about $15 billion in low-interest loans, and the W.T.O. panel found that Airbus also benefited from several billion dollars in other subsidies, like runway construction and research grants. The trade panel also found that some of the European loans on the A380 were meant to promote export sales. Under the trade rules, that type of subsidy would need to be withdrawn within 90 days if the full W.T.O. ratified the panel’s findings. Airbus supporters said the trade panel had rejected some of the claims by the United States, including one that the A330-200 — the plane on which the EADS refueling tanker is based — also benefited from a loan tied to export sales. But the trade panel still found that the A330-200s were unfairly subsidized. It said other low-interest loans had made the entire A330 series possible, and without them, “the A330-200 could not have been launched when it was without significantly higher costs.” Boeing officials have said they fear the subsidies could allow EADS to undercut their price in the tanker competition even though the A300-200 is larger than Boeing’s plane. Some of Boeing’s backers in Congress have called on the Pentagon to add the estimated value of the subsidies to the EADS bid price. President Obama recently promised Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, that the bidding would be fair. EADS officials contended on Wednesday that the competition should not be altered. The European Union also has brought its own case before the W.T.O., claiming that Boeing has benefited from more than $20 billion in subsidies since the 1980s from its military business and tax breaks. A preliminary ruling in that case is expected in mid-July.

World Trade Organization
Airbus Industrie
Customs (Tariff)
International Trade and World Market


The Conversion of George Foreman: Packing a Wallop in the Pulpit

Abstract: HOUSTON — The Rev. George Foreman flipped his Bible open to the Book of Genesis, let fly with a left hook for Jesus and sent Satan sprawling into the ropes. “You’ve got to learn how to fight!” he exhorted. “If you believe in God, you’ve got to fight for him.” The Sunday morning faithful, warmed by a hand-clapping round of gospel singing, rocked on their hard wooden pews with the verbal punch. At 66, Foreman — a two-time world heavyweight champion and veteran of more than 80 scarring professional boxing bouts — might be graying, his card-topping pugilistic battles long over. But in his bout against sin as pastor of north Houston’s Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is still a powerhouse slugger. In a 60-minute exposition on God’s creation of the world, he touched on false philosophers; biology; Pluto; marijuana; boxing punches; getting lost in traffic; the morals of dogs; the morals of women who buy booze by the gallon; people who wallow; crops and weeds; and, of course, Adam, Eve, the Garden of Eden, a treacherous serpent and an angry God. When it comes to good and evil, there is no question where Foreman stands. He has seen his share of both. Foreman was born into poverty, but his boxing prowess and a lucrative career as a pitchman for backyard grills, automobile mufflers and sports clothing have made him a millionaire a hundred times over. He lives on a 45-acre Lake Houston estate, collects luxury cars and thoroughbred horses, and, between pulpit duties and appearances at his George Foreman Youth and Community Center, knocks down sizable honorariums for speaking engagements across the nation. This year, Foreman again gained attention for a business enterprise, starting George Foreman’s Butcher Shop, an online purveyor of grass-finished beef and free-range chickens. Though Foreman has lived a life filled with fame and fortune, he confessed, much of it was spent without God. No one was more surprised by his embrace of religion than Foreman himself. Foreman’s mother, working three jobs to single-handedly support seven children, had no time for church, he said. And although the adolescent Foreman sometimes went to church at his sisters’ urging, it was only to take advantage of a free lunch. His ultimate reckoning with religion came in 1977, minutes after he was pummeled into defeat by the heavyweight Jimmy Young, and it came in the most frightening way. “In the dressing room, I was walking back and forth to cool off,” he told The Houston Chronicle. “Then in a split second, I was fighting for my life.” Image Foreman during his 1973 defeat of Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title. He regained the title in 1994. Credit Associated Press Foreman’s mind filled with battling thoughts: preening pride versus death and panic. “I kept thinking, You believe in God; why are you afraid to die?” Foreman said. “But I really didn’t believe.” Foreman bargained, offering to devote his boxing prize money to charity. “I don’t want your money,” Foreman heard a voice say. “I want you.” Instantly he found himself cast into the bleakest darkness he had experienced. “It was the saddest, most horrible place I had ever seen,” he said. Then a “giant hand” plucked him into consciousness. Foreman found himself on a locker room table, surrounded by friends and staff members. He felt as if he were physically filled with the presence of a dying Christ. He felt his forehead bleed, punctured by a crown of thorns; his wrists, he believed, had been pierced by nails of the cross. “I knew that Jesus Christ was coming alive in me,” Foreman said. “I ran into the shower and turned on the water and — hallelujah! — I was born again. I kissed everybody in the dressing room and told them I loved them. That happened in March 1977, and I never have been the same again.” The change was noticed immediately by the boxing world. “There was a transformation from a young, hard character who felt a heavyweight champion should carry himself with menace to a very affectionate personality,” the HBO boxing commentator Larry Merchant said. “I would say this was a sincere evolution of a human being maturing, and it suggests real effort.” Foreman’s roots were in Houston’s toughest neighborhoods. Big, muscular, truculent, he began his fighting career as a schoolyard bully. “There were a lot of fights,” he said. “My mother had a lot of trouble out of me.” At 16, Foreman was a school dropout on his way to a West Coast Job Corps camp, where he would be trained in carpentry and other manual skills. He took his bad attitude with him, and fistfights were not rare. But — in what might have been the luckiest break of his life — Foreman’s rowdiness caught the eye of the camp boxing coach, Charles Broadus, who challenged Foreman to take his fighting to the ring. The gambit paid off with Foreman claiming a gold medal in heavyweight boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The win propelled Foreman to a pro career and heavyweight championship victories over Joe Frazier in 1973 and Michael Moorer in 1994. By the end of Foreman’s professional career, he had scored 68 knockouts and 76 wins. “He is an iconic figure in boxing history,” said Edward Brophy, executive director of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Eventually, Foreman’s quest brought him to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ on Lone Oak Road. Foreman felt welcomed. At the urging of church members, he joined a corps of curbside proselytizers, honing his pulpit skills with sidewalk harangues from Houston to Shreveport, La. When the Pentecostal congregation dissolved, Foreman was there to reassemble the pieces. The church reopened in 1980, with Foreman in the pulpit. Always philanthropic, Foreman pushed his ministry into the social realm three years later with the opening of the George Foreman Youth and Community Center, a cluster of gymnasiums just blocks from his church. Dr. Adan Rios, an oncology professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center’s Houston medical school, began working out at Foreman’s gym shortly after it opened. “When I went to the gym and found out he was a minister, I decided to hear one of his sermons,” Rios said. “I remember very vividly. I was sitting close to the door. I thought this was just a courtesy visit, but he stopped preaching and walked over to me to whisper in my ear: ‘Be very careful. This is the real gymnasium, and here’s where things really happen.’ I was enthralled by his sermon and started coming back. Now, I’m just another member of his church.” Rios recalled Foreman’s 1987 decision to return to the ring, a move motivated by the need for money to keep the youth center open. Saturday nights of trading punches with often younger heavyweight foes were followed by rushed flights to Houston so Foreman could praise God on Sundays. Rios was with the middle-aged Foreman when he faced Moorer in the 1994 Las Vegas heavyweight title bout. For most of the fight, Moorer — 19 years Foreman’s junior — seemed destined to win. Then, rebounding in the 10th round, Foreman connected a short right-hand punch to Moorer’s chin, and he slapped to the canvas. “I saw it all at close range,” Rios said, “and I can tell you with certainty that the man I saw in the ring is the same man you see in church on Sundays.” Foreman hung up his boxing gloves for good five years later, and although he launched a career as a television boxing analyst, his heart had its home in the church. “I’m always studying the Bible,” Foreman said. “It’s all about studying and learning, and here’s the scary thing: The more you learn, the more you realize how much you don’t know.” Preaching three weekly sermons, keeping an eye on the operations of the youth center and managing his meat business make for a demanding routine. “On Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings, I try to reveal something about the Bible that they didn’t know,” Foreman said of his pastoral strategy. “On Sunday evenings, I understand that people need something to help them all through the week. I have the New Testament to draw on. It’s 2,000 years old. I can’t run out of ideas.” Often, he said, he recycles themes, seeking new depths in Scripture he has explored. He preaches a creation sermon at least twice a year. “Let’s think a little bit,” he told his Sunday morning congregation. “We come to church to learn how to think about God. Ignorance can get everyone in trouble. Ignorance is thrown into a lake of fire — hell itself. The best way to learn the truth is to start at the beginning. ‘In the beginning,’ read with me now. “Maybe we’ll leave out of church thinking about how we can save our souls.”

George Foreman
Boxing
Religion and Belief


Oracle Results Fail to Meet Expectations

Abstract: The Oracle Corporation on Wednesday reported flat earnings for its most recent quarter, hurt by a decline in sales of hardware systems and new software. The results, reported after the close of market trading, were weaker than expected and Oracle’s shares tumbled in after-hours trading. Revenue from new software licenses and online or “cloud” subscriptions fell 2 percent year-over-year to $2.3 billion. The company predicted that number would rise by a range of 3 percent to 13 percent. Hardware systems revenue dropped 16 percent. While the hardware revenue decline has been continuing and expected, the decline in new software licenses and subscriptions was a surprise. As one of the world’s largest makers of business software, Oracle helps Wall Street gauge the direction of corporate technology budgets. When Oracle’s earnings are lackluster, it is often a sign that companies are concerned about the economy. But Oracle, which is based in Redwood City, Calif., also depends on international markets for a major portion of its revenue. Europe’s economy is still limping because of worries about government debt, and China’s economic growth has been slowing. Oracle earned $2.5 billion, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter. That compares with $2.5 billion, or 49 cents a share, in the comparable period a year earlier, when it had more shares outstanding. Revenue in the period, which ended Feb. 28 and was the third quarter of Oracle’s fiscal year, fell 1 percent to $8.96 billion from $9.04 billion, hurt in part by the stronger dollar. Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of 66 cents a share, excluding charges for past acquisitions and other costs, on revenue of $9.38 billion. Shares of the company fell $2.73, or 7.7 percent, to $33 in after-hours trading after the announcement.


Penguins Regroup to Top Devils in Overtime

Abstract: Defenseman Simon Despres scored 2 minutes 21 seconds into overtime, and the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins rallied to defeat the Devils, 2-1, on Friday night. Chris Kunitz tied the game with a power-play goal with 3:11 left in regulation, spoiling a magnificent game by the Devils’ Cory Schneider, who made 41 saves. The winning goal came after Schneider made a close-in stop on Brandon Sutton. The Penguins kept the puck in the zone, and Despres’s shot from inside the blue line beat Schneider, who was screened. “I didn’t get a great look at it,” Schneider said. “I think he came one way and shot it back the other through a screen. It just got a piece of the post and went in. It was a nice shot.” Marc-Andre Fleury made 13 saves for Pittsburgh, which fell behind, 1-0, when Devils forward Steve Bernier scored on a wraparound 6:08 into the third period. The Devils failed to match their season-best, three-game winning streak. The Penguins won for the second time in seven games (2-3-2). Schneider stopped the first 37 Pittsburgh shots and seemed to be on the verge of his third shutout of the season when Peter Harrold took a high-sticking penalty with 3:29 left in regulation. The Penguins needed only 18 seconds to tie it, 1-1. Sidney Crosby, who had been stopped point-blank earlier in the period by Schneider on a setup by David Perron, took a shot from the right circle that hit Schneider in the chest. Defenseman Adam Larsson could not clear the puck, and Kunitz fired the rebound into the net for his 15th goal. AVALANCHE 3, PREDATORS 0 Semyon Varlamov made 23 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, and host Colorado blanked Nashville. Jarome Iginla, Maxime Talbot and Gabriel Landeskog had goals for the Avalanche, who earned an important win in their pursuit of a playoff berth. BLUES 3, HURRICANES 2 Kevin Shattenkirk scored in the shootout, and visiting St. Louis edged Carolina. Ryan Reaves and David Backes scored in regulation for the Blues, and Jake Allen made 26 saves before stopping all three shots in the tiebreaker. Defensemen Justin Faulk and Ryan Murphy scored for Carolina, which had its three-game winning streak ended. HALL OF FAMER AILING The family of Stan Mikita said the Blackhawks Hall of Famer was found to have a possible brain disorder. His family issued a statement saying Mikita, 74, is “facing some serious health issues” and may be suffering from Lewy body dementia, a progressive disease that causes problems with thinking, movement and behavior. Mikita played his entire 22-year career with the Blackhawks, from 1958 to 1980. He was on the team that won the Stanley Cup in 1961, and he totaled 541 goals and 926 assists in 1,394 games.

Devils
Pittsburgh Penguins
Cory Schneider
Ice hockey


TA Associates to Buy Russell Investments for $1.15 Billion

Abstract: LONDON — The private equity firm TA Associates said on Thursday that it had agreed to acquire the Russell Investments asset management businesses from the London Stock Exchange Group for $1.15 billion. Last year, the stock exchange operator bought Russell Investments, the owner of the Russell 2000 stock market index, for $2.7 billion . In February, the company put the remaining investment management arm of Russell Investments up for sale in a widely expected move to focus on increasing the size of its index business. The London Stock Exchange Group expects the index business to be completely separated from Russell Investments in the first quarter ahead of the sale. As part of the deal, Reverence Capital Partners will team up with TA Associates and make a “significant minority investment” in Russell Investments. “We are delighted to partner with such an established and highly respected market leader in the investment management industry,” Todd R. Crockett, a managing director at TA Associates, said in a news release . “We believe that the breadth of Russell Investments’ investment and implementation operations, as well as its orientation to multi-asset and solutions investing, will continue to be a differentiator and driver of growth in the marketplace going forward,” he added. Based in Seattle, Russell Investments provides investment management services and has about $266 billion in assets under management. “Russell Investments will maintain its operational independence, and TA Associates and Reverence Capital will provide us with strong financial backing, new strategic insights, and a commitment to help us continue to deliver innovative investment solutions to our global client base,” Len Brennan, the Russell Investments president and chief executive, said in a news release . The deal is subject to regulatory approval and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2016. Under the terms of the deal, the London Stock Exchange Group will receive $1 billion in cash when the deal is completed and the remaining $150 million in four annual installments beginning on Dec. 31, 2017. The stock exchange operator expects to receive net proceeds after-tax and other liabilities of about $920 million. The consideration is subject to a downward price adjustment if fee revenue declines, the companies said. The London Stock Exchange Group plans to use the proceeds from the transaction to reduce its debt. JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs and the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer advised the London Stock Exchange Group, while Broadhaven Capital Partners and the law firm Goodwin Procter advised TA Associates and Reverence Capital.

Ta Associates
Russell Investments
London
Private equity
London Stock Exchange
Mergers and Acquisitions