Former Hong Kong Leader Is Charged With Misconduct

Abstract: HONG KONG — Donald Tsang, a former leader of Hong Kong, has been charged with two counts of misconduct in public office, the city’s anticorruption agency announced on Monday. The prosecution of Mr. Tsang, the highest-ranking official ever to face a corruption trial in this former British colony, once again brought attention to the cozy ties between top government officials and wealthy businessmen. Image Donald Tsang, former chief executive of Hong Kong, was charged on Monday with two counts of misconduct in public office. Mr. Tsang held the post of chief executive for seven years from 2005. Credit Tyrone Siu/Reuters The charges against Mr. Tsang concern a luxury apartment he leased in the neighboring Chinese city of Shenzhen from the Chinese property developer Wong Cho-bau. Mr. Wong’s company Wave Media Limited was applying for a broadcasting license that Mr. Tsang’s government approved, according to a statement from the Justice Department. Mr. Tsang “willfully misconducted himself” by failing to declare the lease negotiations and a related payment of 800,000 renminbi, or $125,900, to a company of Mr. Wong’s, according to the first charge. The second charge says that Mr. Tsang failed to disclose that an architect he nominated for official honors had been hired to redecorate that Shenzhen apartment. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of seven years. In a brief statement, Mr. Tsang said that his “conscience is clear” and that he had “every confidence” that the court would prove his innocence. He heard the charges against him at Eastern Magistrates’ Courts on Monday afternoon and is set to return to court on Nov. 13. Mr. Tsang, who will turn 71 on Wednesday, was the second chief executive of Hong Kong since it returned to Chinese rule, serving from 2005 to 2012. Local news outlets have reported that Mr. Tsang received favors from business tycoons, including lavish overseas trips on a private jet. In a statement, the Justice Department said that “there is no sufficient evidence” to justify criminal prosecution over these allegations, without specifying them. In December, Rafael Hui, Mr. Tsang’s deputy, was convicted of corruption, in a blow to the city’s reputation for clean government. Mr. Hui, who served from 2005 to 2007 as the No. 2 official in Mr. Tsang’s government, was found guilty of accepting millions of dollars in bribes from the billionaire property tycoon Thomas Kwok, co-chairman of Sun Hung Kai Properties. Mr. Tsang’s successor, the current chief executive Leung Chun-ying, was accused by political opponents last October of conflicts of interest for accepting payments of $6.4 million from an Australian engineering company while in office. Mr. Leung’s office said that the payments, as part of “a standard non-poach, noncompete arrangement,” were agreed on before his election and has denied wrongdoing.

Hong Kong
Donald Tsang
Corruption
Shenzhen
Ethics Misconduct Malfeasance


G.O.P. Caucus: ‘In About 20 Minutes This Place Is Going to Get Stupid’

Abstract: PELLA, Iowa — When Dan Spotten opened the doors to Pella High School shortly after 5 p.m. to allow voters from six Republican precincts to cast ballots in the Iowa caucuses, he was committed to running a tight ship. Mr. Spotten, the site chairman for the caucuses, owns a sign-making company, and he made color-coded signs directing people to register at tables for each voting precinct, sit together, fill out color-coded ballots and drop them into colored buckets. He planned to keep the speakers for each candidate to a tight schedule. “I am not fussing around,” he said. “They’ve got two minutes. I’m going to line ‘em up like cattle.” Mr. Spotten predicted a large turnout, as many as 2,000 people compared with the 1,260 who caucused four years ago. There would be a surge for Donald J. Trump, he said, but also for other first-timers who wanted to stop Mr. Trump. “Most people I know are apolitical,” he said. “They don’t care. With Trump involved now, a lot people are caring. Either they’re for Trump or against Trump.” With the large influx, Mr. Spotten’s pledge to move things along quickly began to unravel. 5:30 P.M. It was clear that the early arrivals included many first-time caucusgoers. But there was no unanimity about their support. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas seemed to have an edge in this socially conservative community, and the campaign sent his wife, Heidi Cruz, to be his designated speaker. Joel Merrill, 61, a forklift mechanic who had never caucused before, said: “There are a number of candidates I like and one in particular I don’t like — Trump. I’m going to go with Cruz.” Mike Rottier, a hardware store owner, said he had been leaning toward Mr. Cruz but disliked his opposition to federal support of ethanol, which is made out of corn, a mainstay of the Iowa economy. “I saw something on Facebook about Rubio’s background, how he came up poor,” he said of Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. “That sounds good.” Steve Latta, who works for a farm machinery manufacturer, planned to vote for Mr. Trump. “He’s going to at least try to stick up for America,” he said. Jay Schelhaas, a community college professor, said he liked Mr. Rubio’s and Mr. Cruz’s performance in the last debate in Des Moines, in which Mr. Trump did not participate. “I’m still up in the air between the two,” he said. “Listening to their representatives tonight might make the difference.” 6:15 P.M. Mr. Spotten said the influx was just beginning. “In about 20 minutes this place is going to get stupid,” he said. 7 P.M. In the West Gym, where voters from four precincts filled two walls of bleachers, Mr. Spotten said there were still hundreds waiting to sign in. He pushed back the official start 10 minutes, and urged people to “squeeze together to make room for your neighbors.” Scenes From Caucus Night 11 Photos View Slide Show › Image Stephen Crowley/The New York Times “How many of you, is this your first caucus?” Mr. Spotten, who wore a black T-shirt and had tattoos on both arms, asked. About 30 percent raised a hand. After the Pledge of Allegiance and the singing of “Onward Christian Soldiers,” speakers were introduced. Mr. Spotten in the end did not herd them through. Many speakers ran over. Mrs. Cruz added a dash of celebrity as she rose to speak for her husband. “Ted was raised on the Bible and the Constitution.” She emphasized his unwavering conservative principles and his faith. “Ted gets his confidence and his strength from our God, our father,” she said. “I can tell you as his wife of 14 and one-half years, Ted will never lie to you.” After she spoke, a volunteer led her to the second gym to repeat the speech. She put her arm in his like a prom escort. 7:49 P.M. Working his way through the candidates in alphabetical order, Mr. Spotten came to Jim Gilmore, the former Virginia governor. “Would anybody like to speak for Jim Gilmore?” Mr. Spotten asked. No one raised a hand. “Very well, moving right along,” the chairman said. 8 P.M. Representative Austin Scott of Georgia, wearing a camel sport coat, spoke for Mr. Rubio. “The threat of ISIS wouldn’t be a threat today if Marco had been our president,” he said in a thick Southern accent. He promised that Mr. Rubio would win Florida in a general election, and that he would “inspire Americans who have never voted Republican.” 8:32 P.M. Buckets filled with ballots were taken to the cafeteria, where volunteers counted them, one person reading off a name and a second writing hash marks for each candidate on a sheet of paper. The unofficial total turnout was 1,776. It was a big night for Mr. Cruz (558), a big surge for Mr. Rubio (432) and a disappointment for Mr. Trump (225). Ben Carson came in fourth with 213. By the time the totals were sent into the state party, almost all the voters had gone home.

Iowa
Voting
Republicans
Ted Cruz
Marco Rubio
2016 Presidential Election
Primaries
Donald Trump


In Libya, U.S. Courts Unreliable Allies to Counter ISIS

Abstract: TRIPOLI, Libya — The American Special Operations forces expected a warm welcome when they landed at the Libyan air base where an allied militia was stationed. Instead, armed men from another militia at the base threatened to detain the commandos, forcing the Americans to evacuate. The episode, on Dec. 14, highlighted the difficulties faced by the Obama administration as it engages in a search across Libya to find armed groups that can act as a ground force against the country’s increasingly potent branch of the Islamic State. American and Libyan officials said the sudden departure of the group of 20 American commandos from Al Watiya air base last month was the result of a miscommunication between the militias stationed there. But the episode laid bare the lack of central authority in Libya, with no single government in charge and an army barely able to exert control over groups nominally under its command. Counterterrorism officials regard the Libyan branch as the Islamic State’s most dangerous affiliate, one that is expanding its territory and continuing to mount deadly attacks, including several this month. But to stop its advance, the United States and its European allies have been forced to court unreliable allies from among a patchwork of Libyan militias that remain unaccountable, poorly organized and divided by region and tribe. Image Gen. Khalifa Hifter in Libya in March 2015. His Libyan National Army is one of several armed factions vying for power. Credit Mohammed El-Sheikhy/Associated Press The search carries particular risks for the Obama administration, which once relied on local militias to help protect the American diplomatic compound in the northeastern city of Benghazi. They failed to provide protection when militants overran the compound in September 2012, an attack that led to the deaths of the United States ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens , and three other Americans. Analysts also warn that any foreign effort to empower individual proxy forces could fuel new rivalries as the United Nations tries to bring together Libya’s warring factions after years of civil war that followed the toppling of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi in 2011. The mix-up at the base, about 70 miles from Tripoli, came during a time of growing alarm in Washington and in European capitals about the rise of the Islamic State’s wing in Libya. American spy agencies say the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, has in the past few months redirected several hundred foreign fighters originally bound for Syria to its camps in Libya. In November, an American airstrike killed the Islamic State’s senior leader in Libya, Abu Nabil, an Iraqi national who led Qaeda operations in western Iraq from 2004 until 2010, American officials said. “The ISIL branch in Libya is one that is taking advantage of the deteriorating security conditions in Libya, putting itself in the position to coordinate ISIL efforts across North Africa,” Nicholas J. Rasmussen, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in an interview on C-Span last month. Image Rescue workers responded to an oil tank fire in Ras Lanuf, Libya, caused by a bombing, one of several in the country this month. Credit Reuters The United States is under pressure after a series of failed efforts to train and equip rebels in the region, particularly in Syria. The Pentagon abandoned a plan last year to arm and train newly formed groups of opposition fighters, and switched to another approach of arming and assisting existing Syrian rebels fighting the Islamic State. Over the last year, teams of Special Operations forces from the United States military’s Africa Command have traveled to Libya with several goals: to gather information about the situation, assess each faction’s fighting capability and any specific needs, and evaluate the groups’ ability to work with American and other allied troops, according to a senior military official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the delicate missions. Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Falvo, an Africa Command spokesman, said the mission of the American troops at Watiya was “to foster relationships and enhance communication with their counterparts in the Libyan National Army.” In response to questions about the episode in December, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, emphasized the Obama administration’s growing concerns about the Libyan branch of the Islamic State and said the American troops’ planned meeting at Watiya was “not an endorsement of any specific group.” He added that American officials over the past year “have actively engaged with a wide group of Libyans” to help encourage a political settlement there. Frederic Wehrey, a Libya expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, who frequently visits the country, said the standoff at the Watiya air base highlighted the particular difficulties of finding allies in Libya — not only “credible partners on the ground, but, more importantly, navigating the factional rivalries.” There are several armed factions in Libya other than the Islamic State, but each is at best an awkward partner to the West. The “Libyan National Army” referred to by American officials is just one of the groups vying for power. A military leader, Gen. Khalifa Hifter, gave the name to his forces and received after-the-fact authorization from an elected Parliament meeting in his region. General Hifter has appeared at times to seek to rule Libya as a new strongman, though he has been unable to fully control even Benghazi, a few miles away from his headquarters. His force includes regular army units, but he has increasingly relied on arming neighborhood militias outside his full control as his proxies. American military officials have previously expressed deep distrust of General Hifter and his allies. Another group loosely allied with General Hifter is based in the western city of Zintan and controls the Watiya air base. The Zintani forces have in the past held control of the Tripoli International Airport and tried to intimidate lawmakers. A third group — opposed to both General Hifter and the Zintanis — is based in the coastal city of Misurata, a few hours’ drive from the Islamic State stronghold in Surt. The Misuratis repeatedly sought to dominate Libya’s fledgling democratic institutions before the total breakdown of the political process in 2014, and more recently some among the Misurata forces have provided money and weapons to an anti-Hifter coalition in Benghazi that includes Islamic State fighters. Image Wreckage of a vehicle after an attack by a suicide car bomber at a checkpoint near Misurata, Libya in May. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. Credit Reuters Over the past six months, American military teams have visited Misurata and established “military and intelligence” links, said Abdulrahman Swehli, an influential political figure in the city. “It is not a secret,” he said, adding that British, French and Italian operatives were also seeking such links with Libyan factions. Libyan officials said the United States had longstanding ties with one of the militias stationed at Watiya, called Special Forces Battalion 22. A statement released by the battalion on Dec. 18 said the United States had been training the unit since 2012. The training of the battalion had previously taken place at another base, called Camp 27, west of Tripoli, but was interrupted in 2013 when another militia overran the camp, said Col. Idris Mohamed Madi, the commander of the operations room at Watiya. Training resumed at Watiya about three months ago, he said. When the Americans arrived last month, another militia stationed at Watiya, apparently unaware of the visit, “harassed” and tried to arrest the Americans, according to Battalion 22. Colonel Madi said fighters at the base had received no “official correspondence” about a visiting foreign delegation. “That is a normal thing to happen in a country like Libya,” he said. Mr. Wehrey, who interviewed the commander of Battalion 22 in 2013, said recruits in the force appeared to be drawn from only one region in the west of the country, exposing possible dangers in the American approach. A policy of empowering such groups may satisfy a short-term objective, he said, but it risks making it harder to build “a cohesive national army that represents all of Libya’s tribes and regions.”

Libya
Khalifa Hifter
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State
US Military
Terrorism
Military Bases
US Foreign Policy
Muammar Kaddafi
J Christopher Stevens
Barack Obama


Chelsea to Send Invitation to Man Abused by Its Fans

Abstract: Chelsea plans to invite a black man abused by its supporters at a Paris subway station this week to its London stadium for the return leg of the team’s Champions League match against Paris St.-Germain. Chelsea fans were recorded stopping the man from boarding a train after the first leg of the match on Tuesday and chanting, “We’re racist, and that’s the way we like it.”

London
Soccer
Chelsea Soccer Team
Paris St-Germain FC Soccer Team
Paris France
UEFA Champions League


The Father of Sweden's Fathers' Leave

Abstract: STOCKHOLM — If the father of Sweden ’s fathers’ leave has one regret, it is that he did not take time off when his son was born. It was 1986 and Bengt Westerberg led the center-right Liberal People’s Party. Parents in Sweden were already allowed to share nine months of paid parental leave. But few fathers took advantage. And Mr. Westerberg was ambitious. “I was party leader, I thought I was doing something too important, that I was irreplaceable,” he recalled in a recent interview. “That was nonsense of course,” he added. “We are all replaceable as workers, managers and politicians. The only place where we truly aren’t replaceable is as fathers.” A decade later, Mr. Westerberg championed the introduction of the first dedicated father month — 30 days of paid parental leave that could not be transferred to the mother — to encourage reluctant men like himself to do their bit and overhaul Swedish society in the process. A second “daddy month” followed in 2002, and after elections in September the quota may double again. Mr. Westerberg’s father never changed a diaper, he said. He himself helped out but never took parental leave, but his daughters and sons-in-law share all household tasks and divide up the parental leave. Sweden, Mr. Westerberg says, has had a “bloodless revolution.” Yet from the late 1960s, when looming labor shortages prompted the country to look into ways of raising female employment rates, the idea of reserving part of the parental leave for fathers was hotly contested. The state should not interfere in family affairs, warned the advocates of free choice on the right, including Mr. Westerberg himself. Mothers are better at taking care of young children, argued working-class traditionalists on the left. Gender-equality advocates on both sides of the political spectrum, meanwhile, pressed for a more equal division of child-care duties. Mindful of a blue-collar voting base, the Social Democrats scrapped the idea of earmarking leave for fathers when they first passed legislation allowing parents to share child leave in 1974. The measure united both camps — combining the gender-neutral touch with a lengthy paid leave supported by upholders of traditional family values. As such, it actually effectively consigned the male breadwinner to Swedish history: Female employment rates surged from 48 percent in 1970 to more than 80 percent by 1986, when Mr. Westerberg’s son was born. But if everything changed for women, not all that much changed for men. “Men did what they had always done: work,” Mr. Westerberg said. “Women were much better at breaking into the men’s world than the other way round. We had done only half the revolution.” Mr. Westerberg, an ardent critic of quotas, gradually changed his mind. “I became a feminist in 1990, when I read a study on gender relations and power in Sweden,” he said. The study showed that women continued to take nearly all parental leave, did most of the housework, remained in professions that were less well paid and were rarely considered for senior posts in business. As in other countries that have instituted father quotas — Norway, Iceland and Germany — it took a conservative government to push through change. When he was named deputy prime minister in 1991, Mr. Westerberg faced resistance in the public and his own party against a fathers’ quota. What won the argument was not so much women’s rights as rights for men and children, he said. “Fathers have a right to a more complete life, one that does not only revolve around the job and money. And children have a right to both parents,” he said. There is of course more to Sweden’s fathers’ leave than the vision of one man. A Protestant country that barred religion from the public sphere early, Sweden never had a prominent Christian Democrat party influencing politics like many of its European neighbors did. Gender concerns have been on the agenda since the early 20th century. Women have been well represented in Parliament for three decades, influencing the legislative agenda. And a longstanding consensus across the political spectrum around a powerful state has also helped. Mr. Westerberg recalled a trip to the United States in the 1990s when he found himself arguing well to the left of the American Democrats he met. “In Sweden I am on the right,” Mr. Westerberg said, “but in the United States, I’m considered a Communist.”

Sweden
Parenting
Economic Conditions and Trends
Family Leaves
Men and Boys


Dolphins Sign Grimes to Year Contract

Abstract: Cornerback Brent Grimes, who missed almost all of last season with an Achilles’ tendon injury, has signed a one-year contract with the Miami Dolphins. Grimes started 28 games for the Atlanta Falcons in 2010-11 but was hurt in the opener last year.


As Fenway Turns 100, It’s Yankees-Red Sox

Abstract: The Red Sox opened Fenway Park with a 7-6 victory over the New York Highlanders on April 20, 1912. The Highlanders soon became the Yankees , and the rivalry between the two clubs blossomed into what some consider the best in sports. So it is fitting that the Red Sox will be marking 100 years of baseball at Fenway Park on Friday when the Yankees arrive for the start of a three-game series. It will also be the teams’ first meeting of the season. “We all look forward to playing them, and we know we’re in for tough games,” Manager Joe Girardi said Thursday. “As far as being there for the celebration tomorrow, I’m happy I’m getting a chance to do that.” Girardi added: “It will be 1 of 18. But it will be an exciting one tomorrow, for sure.” To celebrate the stadium’s centennial, the teams will wear replicas of the uniforms they wore when they played in the stadium’s inaugural game. The Red Sox have invited every living former player and manager to participate in the ceremonies, which will include draping the Green Monster in left field with the American flag before the game. “The fans are right on top of you, which can be good and bad,” Derek Jeter said. “What makes it special? The wall. That makes it unique and different. No lead ever seems safe when you’re in Boston.” Since 1912, New York is 456-459 in the regular season against the Red Sox at Fenway Park, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The teams also played three times in the playoffs, in 1999, 2003 and 2004. Since 1901, New York is 1,132-954 in the regular season against Boston, according to Elias. But that includes two years when the Yankees played in Baltimore and were known as the Orioles. The Yankees moved to New York in 1903, after which their record against Boston is 1,119-929. The club became the Yankees in 1913. The Red Sox are stumbling through a rough start under Manager Bobby Valentine. He has stirred controversy with comments about how Kevin Youkilis did not seem engaged in the games, after which Dustin Pedroia publicly criticized Valentine for publicly criticizing a teammate. Valentine has also had difficulty managing his bullpen. All of this will surely bring delight Friday to Yankees fans, who could recall a less cheery time at Fenway Park for their club. In 2005, the Yankees had to watch as the Red Sox received World Series rings, won for a postseason in which they rallied from three games back to topple the Yankees in the American League Championship Series. The rivalry has featured some great moments in baseball history, from the Red Sox’ sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees after the 1919 season to Curt Schilling’s pitching against the Yankees with a bloody sock in the 2004 A.L.C.S. to help Boston end the so-called Curse of the Bambino. The rivalry was even exciting 100 years ago, it turns out. In the first game at Fenway Park, Boston went ahead by 6-5 in the top of the eighth, only to have the Highlanders score in the bottom of the inning. Boston scored in the 11th to emerge with the win.

Baseball
New York Yankees
Boston Red Sox
Fenway Park (Boston)
Awards Decorations and Honors
Boston (Mass)


Turkish Planes Strike Iraqi Kurdistan

Abstract: BAGHDAD — Turkish warplanes bombed villages in Iraqi Kurdistan on Monday as the Kurds came under pressure on several fronts. Representatives in Parliament discussed the Kurdish share of the budget, and the Turkmen, a minority group primarily in northern Iraq , declared that they would no longer support efforts to hold a referendum on whether the city of Kirkuk should join the Kurdistan region. In a statement on its Web site, the Turkish military said it had struck 70 targets in the Avashin and Hakurk districts in a 12-hour bombing run that began at 3 a.m. The military did not give details on damage or deaths. It said the targets were in 11 places. Turkey’s military has been fighting a militant fringe of its ethnic Kurdish minority for decades. The militants, known as the Kurdistan Workers Party, hide in Turkey and Iraq. They are trying to force Turkey to give greater rights and recognition to its minority Kurds. Though the extent of the damage from the bombing on Monday was not clear, it was not the largest airstrike that Turkey has conducted since beginning military action on Dec. 1. It claimed to have bombed 200 targets on Dec. 16. Kurdish military sources said they did not believe that anyone had been killed in the bombing. Jabar Yawar, a deputy minister in the Peshmerga Ministry in Kurdistan, said the Turks believed that the area was used by the Kurdistan Workers Party, but “there was no damage because this area had been deserted because of the tensions.” Haval Rosh, a spokesman for the militants, said the group had abandoned the area and no longer had bases there. In Parliament, representatives delayed a vote on the budget because of continued disagreement over how much the Kurdistan region should receive. There was also frustration among some members who said the government had not fully explained the budget’s expenditures. On the issue of Kirkuk, there is a growing dispute about the validity of the constitutional requirement that the city must hold a referendum to determine whether it will join the Kurds’ semiautonomous region. The referendum was supposed to be held by the end of 2007, but was delayed, and now the Turkmen, one of several minority groups in Kirkuk, are arguing that the window is closed and the city should not hold the referendum. The referendum, provided for in Article 140 in the Iraqi Constitution, has long been a contentious issue. Non-Kurdish groups have feared that the Kurds would win by bringing in Kurds from outside the Kirkuk area to vote. The right to include Kirkuk in the Kurdistan region has been an article of faith for the Kurds, who see it as a way to right the wrongs of Saddam Hussein, who forcibly replaced many of the Kurds there with Arabs during the 1980s. In a meeting on Monday in Baghdad, representatives of several Turkman groups agreed that regardless of sect — there are Sunni and Shiite Turkmen — they would stand together in opposition to holding the referendum. “Our meeting in Baghdad is a letter to the world that the Turkmen are united and they agree that they reject Article 140,” said Narmeen Mufti, a spokeswoman for the Turkman Front, the main Turkman party in the Kirkuk area. The Kurds do not accept that view, and the Iraqi president, Jalal Talabani, has spent the past several days in Kirkuk trying to work out a compromise.


Bush’s Prepared Text

Abstract: Following is the text of President Bush’s prepared remarks on judicial accomplishments and philosophy, delivered in Cincinnati on Monday. I am pleased to address supporters of the Ashbrook Center, which has become a premier institution for American civics and history. My subject today is of paramount importance to our entire Nation: the proper role of federal judges. Few issues are more hotly debated or have a more lasting impact on our country. Today I will share my views on the proper role of the courts, the kind of judges I have nominated, and the urgent need to reform the way we treat judicial nominees in the United States Senate. Before Oliver Wendell Holmes took his seat on the Supreme Court, he met a supporter who wished him well in his new duties. The supporter expressed satisfaction that Holmes would be going to Washington to administer justice. Holmes replied: ”Don’t be too sure. I am going there to administer the law.” Holmes was trying to make clear what he believed was the proper role of judges: to apply the laws as written, and not to advance their own agendas. He knew that it was up to elected officials, and not appointed judges, to represent the popular will. Our Founders gave the judicial branch enormous power. It is the only branch of government whose officers are unelected. That means judges on the federal bench must exercise their power prudently -- cautiously -- you might even say, conservatively. And that means that the selection and confirmation of good judges should be a high priority for every American. We have seen the profound impact that judges can have on the daily lives of every citizen. We saw the power of judges in 2002, when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because it contained the words ”under God.” We saw the power of judges in the Kelo decision. A 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court ruled that governments could seize people’s homes for private development -- if the government decided the seizure was for the greater good. We saw the power of judges in Boumediene v. Bush. There, a 5-4 majority rejected the carefully crafted procedures Congress established for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay in response to a prior Supreme Court decision. And for the first time, the Court awarded foreign terrorists held overseas legal rights previously reserved for American citizens. Recently, we have also seen the important role of judges in the rulings of a very different 5-4 majority: We saw this last year, when five members of the Supreme Court upheld a law banning the grisly practice of partial birth abortion. And we saw it again this June, when that same slender majority stood up for the plain meaning of our Constitution and upheld the rights of citizens under the Second Amendment. The lesson is clear: judges matter to every American. That means the selection of good judges should be a priority for all our citizens. I appreciate that many people listening today have worked hard to recruit more Americans to this cause. This work is in all our interests, because our belief in judicial restraint is shared by the vast majority of the American people. Eight years ago when I sought the presidency, there was a heated debate over the kind of judges Presidents should appoint. On one side were those who sought judges who looked at the Constitution as ”a document that grows with our country and our history.” This concept of a ”living Constitution” gives unelected judges wide latitude in creating new laws and policies without accountability to the people. I had a different view. I said America needed judges who believed that the Constitution means what it says. When asked if I had any idea in mind of the kind of judges I would appoint, I had a ready answer: We need more judges like Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia. Recently, Justice Scalia gave an interview on the television show ”60 Minutes.” He talked about the schoolchildren who visit the Supreme Court and proudly recite what they have been taught about ”the living Constitution.” Justice Scalia noted that he usually had the sad duty of telling the children that the Constitution was never alive. He believed, as I do, that the Constitution is not a living document, it is an enduring document, and good judges know the difference. When I took office, I promised the American people that my Administration would seek out judicial nominees who follow that philosophy. We would search from a diverse array of candidates and nominate those who met the highest standards of competence. We would not impose any litmus tests concerning particular issues or cases. Instead we would seek judges who would faithfully interpret the Constitution -- not use the courts to invent laws or dictate social policy. With your support, we have kept that pledge for the past eight years. I have appointed more than one-third of all judges now sitting on the federal bench, and these men and women are jurists of the highest caliber, with an abiding belief in the sanctity of our Constitution. My judicial philosophy is demonstrated most clearly by the many outstanding judges I have appointed to the bench. One of them is the son of Italian-American school teachers from Trenton, New Jersey. He graduated from Princeton and Yale Law School, worked in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department, was the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, and served as a distinguished circuit court judge. When I announced his nomination, this good man was hailed by Democrats and Republicans alike for his keen mind and impeccable credentials. America is well served by the 110th justice of the United States Supreme Court -- Samuel A. Alito. Serving with Justice Alito on the High Court is the former captain of a high school football team who worked summers in a steel mill to help pay for college. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard in just three years and was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review. He later clerked for William H. Rehnquist, the man he would replace as chief justice. At his confirmation hearing, this outstanding jurist put his philosophy this way: ”Judges are like umpires. Umpires don’t make the rules, they apply them. It is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire.” I was very proud to nominate for the Supreme Court a man of decency, integrity, and good judgment: the Chief Justice of the United States, John Roberts. Chief Justice Roberts was so obviously well qualified that he received overwhelming support from members of the Senate including many Senators generally considered to be well left-of-center. Unfortunately, the broad, bipartisan, and timely support for Chief Justice Roberts has increasingly become the exception. Over the years, the Advice and Consent Clause of our Constitution has been subjected to serious abuse. Members of the Senate seem to have embraced the ”advice” part. It’s the ”consent” part that seems to be the problem. Perhaps the best demonstration of this problem is the story of Miguel Estrada. Miguel was one of my first nominees to the courts, and he had an inspiring personal history. He was an immigrant from Latin America who came to the United States with little knowledge of English. But he studied, worked hard, and made his way to Columbia University, then Harvard Law School. He was a Supreme Court clerk, prosecuted crimes in the U.S. Attorney’s office in New York, and served in the Justice Department under President Bill Clinton. When Miguel Estrada was nominated for a seat on the D.C. Circuit Court, he received a unanimous well-qualified rating from the American Bar Association. Yet for more than two years he awaited a simple up-or- down vote in the United States Senate. He never got one. For the first time in its history, the Senate used a filibuster to block a nominee to the Court of Appeals. This fine American endured years of delay, had his character unfairly attacked, and ultimately withdrew his name from consideration -- all because a minority of Senators thought they would not like his rulings on the bench and worried that a President might one day elevate him to the Supreme Court. Miguel Estrada deserved better treatment from the United States Senate. And the American people deserve better behavior from those they send to represent them in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, Miguel Estrada’s experience is not an isolated one. Many other well-qualified nominees have endured uncertainty and withering attacks on their character simply because they accepted the call to public service. Those waiting in limbo include: Peter Keisler for the D.C. Circuit, Rod Rosenstein for the Fourth Circuit, and dozens of other nominees to district and circuit courts across this country. Some of these nominees waiting for a simple up-or-down vote would fill court vacancies that have been designated ”judicial emergencies.” While these vacancies remain unfilled, legal disputes are left unresolved, the backlog of cases grows larger, and the rule of law is delayed for millions of Americans. The broken confirmation process has other consequences that Americans never see. Lawyers approached about being nominated will politely decline because of the uncertainty, delay, and ruthlessness that now characterizes the confirmation process. Some worry about the impact a nomination might have on their children, who would hear their dad or mom’s name dragged through the mud. This situation is unacceptable, and it is wrong. A judicial nomination should be a moment of pride for nominees and their families -- not the beginning of an ugly battle. And the confirmation process should befit the greatest democracy in the world. It is clear we need to improve the process for confirming qualified judicial nominees. This process will always be somewhat contentious. But there are a few things that the American people expect us to agree on: The American people expect nominees and their families to be treated with dignity. Nominees should not have to wait years for the up-or-down vote the United States Senate owes them. The American people expect their elected officials to do the job of screening judicial nominees. We should not cede to any one legal association the exclusive power to veto a nominee before he or she can make their case to members of the Senate. The American people expect the nomination process to be as free of partisanship as possible and for Senators to rise above tricks and gimmicks designed to thwart nominees. For example, Senators have invented a new rule that bans the election-year confirmation of anyone not considered a ”consensus nominee” -- with ”consensus” defined as only the nominees they happen to choose. In the end, the people hurt most by these partisan maneuvers are not the nominees, but the American people. That is not what our Founders intended, and presidents and senators from both parties ought to say so. In Washington, it can be easy to get caught up in the politics of the moment. Yet if we do not act to improve the confirmation process, those who are today deploying harmful tactics and maneuvers to thwart nominees will sooner or later find the tables turned. There are things more important, even in Washington, than politics as usual. Next month, the Senate will hold a lame duck session to finish their legislative business for the year. One item that should be at the top of their agenda is a long list of qualified judicial nominees still waiting for Senate action. If Democrats truly seek a more productive and cooperative relationship in Washington, then they have a perfect opportunity to prove it -- by giving these nominees the up- or-down vote they deserve. Our democracy requires us to come together and to get things done for the citizens of this great republic. I am confident we can do that. And I am grateful that there are dedicated people like you who are working so hard to help us put good judges on the courts and to help invest the American people in the process. I salute you for your good work. I appreciate your friendship and support over the past eight years. May God bless you. And May He continue to bless our wonderful country.

Bush George W
Presidential Election of 2008
Appointments and Executive Changes
Cincinnati (Ohio)


Dillon Gee Is Out, Noah Syndergaard Is Up, and David Wright Has a Setback

Abstract: The Mets’ pitching has been superb so far in the still-young season, and after six weeks, the team has a comfortable lead in the National League East. But its resurgence has been Metsian: Every time the team seems to be playing well, with momentum going in its direction, bad news follows. Fresh off a two-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles, the Mets announced Friday that Dillon Gee would be placed on the disabled list with a strained groin and that David Wright, the team’s captain, had experienced a setback in his recovery from a hamstring strain. The bad news did create an intriguing situation. With Gee on the D.L., the Mets announced that Noah Syndergaard, their top pitching prospect , would be called up from Class AAA Las Vegas. He is scheduled to make his major league debut Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. “Noah’s well-deserving,” General Manager Sandy Alderson said. “He’s the guy.” At one point, however, Syndergaard did not seem like “the guy.” In spring training, the left-hander Steven Matz impressed the Mets with his power stuff and his poise. Alderson indicated that Syndergaard had gotten the call now mostly because he had more experience. Syndergaard has pitched 31 games at the Class AAA level, dating to last year, while Matz has pitched only six games there, all of them this season. “Steve’s done a great job, too,” Alderson said. “But he’s only pitched 30, 35 innings or so at Triple-A. Got a lot of talent, a lot of potential. Would be an equally qualified candidate.” Gee originally felt the groin strain during his last start, on Sunday. He tested it again Friday and felt it again. Because he was placed on the D.L. retroactive to his last start, he might miss only two starts, depending on how quickly he recovers. A setback is always possible. Wright was close to returning from a strained hamstring when he felt tightness in his lower back. He missed significant time in 2011 with a stress fracture in the same area, so this time the Mets sent him to be examined. According to the team, no structural damage was found. Wright was treated and told to rest. “It’s going to be a couple days,” Manager Terry Collins said. “It’s not anything that’s hugely major.” In four of the last five seasons, injuries have cost Wright, 32, a sizable chunk of playing time. He has already missed more than three weeks this season, and there is no firm timetable for his return.

Dillon Gee
Noah Syndergaard
David Wright
Mets
Baseball


Ryan Miller Makes 41 Saves in Sabres Win Over Islanders

Abstract: Ryan Miller made 41 saves, and Alexander Sulzer scored the tiebreaking goal midway through the third period for visiting Buffalo, who earned a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders despite being badly outshot Saturday night. Thomas Vanek and Christian Ehrhoff added goals for the Sabres, who won their second straight game. Buffalo was outshot, 43-15, by the Islanders, who dropped their fourth straight. Evgeni Nabokov made 12 saves for the Islanders, who erased a pair of one-goal deficits but could not overcome a third. The teams were tied 2-2 after two periods largely because of Miller, who made 27 saves through 40 minutes. He covered up for breakdowns by his teammates in the defensive zone and then turned aside John Tavares’ penalty shot with a glove save. FLYERS 4, HURRICANES 3 Danny Briere scored 1:47 into overtime to lift Philadelphia over visiting Carolina. MAPLE LEAFS 5, CANADIENS 0 James Reimer made 37 saves, and Phil Kessel had a goal and two assists as Toronto defeated host Montreal. CAPITALS 5, PANTHERS 0 Troy Brouwer scored two goals, Braden Holtby stopped 27 shots and host Washington beat Florida. RED WINGS 2, OILERS 1 Niklas Kronwall’s third-period goal broke a tie, and Detroit won over visiting Edmonton. COYOTES 1, SHARKS 0 Mike Smith made 33 saves through overtime and turned aside two more shots in the shootout to carry visiting Phoenix over San Jose. JETS 1, SENATORS 0 Al Montoya made 33 saves and Alex Ponikarovsky scored in Winnipeg’s win at Ottawa. DUCKS 6, BLUES 5 Viktor Fasth stopped three of six shootout attempts to become the first N.H.L. goalie in eight years to win his first five starts, as visiting Anaheim beat struggling St. Louis. WILD 2, PREDATORS 1. Devin Setoguchi’s power-play goal at 4:21 of overtime gave host Minnesota a win over Nashville.


Franklin Square: Lightning Starts Fire

Abstract: A lightning bolt knocked down a power line and sparked a fire in a garage that spread to two homes yesterday, causing extensive damages and injuring several firefighters. The lightning struck a utility pole about 1 p.m., throwing a power line to the ground, an investigation by the Nassau County fire marshal’s office indicated. A woman and three children escaped the first home unharmed and no one was home at the other house, the police and neighbors said. The downed power line also caused several small explosions while firefighters tried to douse the flames. Two firefighters were shocked and taken to a hospital, the police said. Eight other firefighters were treated for minor injuries, including smoke inhalation and heat exhaustion.


Mistrial for 2 Ex-Officers in Albuquerque Killing of Mentally Ill Man

Abstract: ALBUQUERQUE — After two full days of deliberations, a jury here announced on Tuesday that it had failed to reach a verdict in the murder trial of two former police officers for the 2014 shooting death of a homeless man with paranoid schizophrenia. “Police officers have a very difficult job,” the special prosecutor, Randi McGinn, said after the announcement. “The discussion we need to have as a community is, do we want a Dirty Harry or do we want a peace officer? This is the discussion we need to have here in Albuquerque.” After polling the six men and six women on the jury, Judge Alisa Hadfield declared a mistrial. It was not immediately clear if prosecutors would seek another trial. The two former officers, Keith Sandy and Dominique Perez, had each faced a second-degree murder charge in the shooting of the man, James Boyd, who had been illegally camping on a craggy mountainside on the city’s east end. Mr. Sandy also faced a lesser charge of aggravated battery. “These are two good men,” Sam Bregman, one of the defense lawyers, said after the announcement. “Let these two good men get on with their lives.” The case went to the jury on Thursday after 12 days of testimony. Halfway through the trial, Judge Hadfield granted a defense motion to dismiss voluntary manslaughter charges against Mr. Sandy and Mr. Perez, ruling that prosecutors had failed to provide enough evidence to support the charge. Image This image from a March 16, 2014, video shows James Boyd, 38, left, during a standoff with officers in Albuquerque before the police fatally shot him. Credit Albuquerque Police Department, via Associated Press The case highlighted the challenges posed by the growing number of people with severe mental disorders who, in the absence of adequate mental health services, become entangled with the police. “These officers have suffered the consequences of decisions by elected official to not allocate sufficient resources for the mentally ill,” Mr. Bregman argued in his closing statement. Testifying that they used their training to guide the decisions they made on March 16, 2014, both former officers took the stand in their own defense — a rarity because of the risks it carries, said Douglas Colbert, a professor at the University of Maryland’s Francis King Carey School of Law who has written extensively about police misconduct. “Police testimony could eliminate a juror’s uncertainty and lead to conviction,” Professor Colbert said. On the other hand, “the officer may gain sympathy from the juror who now understands the officer’s tough, split-second decision to make or subjective fear or danger.” Much of the encounter was registered on body and helmet cameras worn by some of the officers, including Mr. Perez. The video, when released, prompted large street protests here. Only three of the 12 jurors voted to convict the officers. Ms. McGinn said the division among them mirrored the split in the community, where some saw the actions in the video as justified and others did not. Image Sam Bregman, on the table, a lawyer representing Mr. Sandy, demonstrates the distance at which Mr. Sandy stood during the moment Mr. Boyd was shot. Credit Juan Labreche/Associated Press By the time the two officers arrived at the standoff with Mr. Boyd, the episode had been going on for more than two hours. His conversations with police officers had ranged from calm and humorous to delusional. Holding a pocketknife in each hand, Mr. Boyd repeatedly said that he had worked for the Defense Department and that he could get the officers killed “with a phone call.” In his testimony, Mr. Perez, 35, drew a distinction between the images registered by his helmet camera and the encounter as he experienced it, using still frames from the video as his guide. When he arrived at 7:10 p.m., Mr. Perez said, Mr. Boyd went from calm to threatening “almost instantaneously,” and he refused to obey orders to drop the knives and get on the ground. “Going frame by frame like that, we’re able to pick apart every little detail,” Mr. Perez said. “The way it happened that day, it happened in the blink of an eye, at the speed of life.” He told Ms. McGinn that he never saw Mr. Boyd lunge toward the officers but that he “had a feeling he was going to lunge forward.” That distinction framed Ms. McGinn’s closing argument. The trial, she told jurors, was ultimately about the “old-school argument” that “anticipatory shootings” are justifiable and the “modern, 2014 version” that the police may not shoot unless someone is in fact attacking them. “Society gives police officers a tremendous amount of power,” Ms. McGinn said. “We give them guns — not just side arms, but long guns — and we give them a license to kill. But it is a limited license.” Image Mr. Sandy, left, and Dominique Perez, who had each faced a second-degree murder charge in the shooting of Mr. Boyd. Credit Pool photo by Jim Thompson Officers had hastily devised a plan to subdue Mr. Boyd before dark, but nothing appeared to go as expected. He stood unfazed when a flash-bang grenade exploded near him. Mr. Perez testified that from where he stood, Mr. Boyd seemed to be “within arm’s reach” of a K9 officer, Scott Weimerskirch, who was retrieving his dog. Mr. Boyd was, in fact, 10 feet away. Mr. Perez said he saw Mr. Boyd move a hand toward his waistband and “perceived an immediate, deadly threat.” Mr. Sandy, who was standing behind Officer Weimerskirch, said Mr. Boyd pulled out his knives and took a slight step to the left. “He was going to try to flank us,” Mr. Sandy, 41, testified. “He was going to attack us from a different angle. That’s when I made the decision to shoot.” Mr. Sandy and Mr. Perez each fired three shots, striking Mr. Boyd in the arms and back as he turned away from the officers, his backpack slung on his shoulder. Mr. Sandy retired after the shooting, and Mr. Perez was fired. During the trial, Ms. McGinn portrayed Mr. Sandy differently from Mr. Perez. She began her cross-examination of Mr. Perez by thanking him for his service — he is a decorated Iraq war veteran who had a spotless record with the Albuquerque police until Mr. Boyd’s shooting. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am that you were sent up there into the mess some other officer created,” she told him. In contrast, she portrayed Mr. Sandy as an officer with a tarnished record, whose actions fueled the confrontation. Mr. Sandy spent time on the stand discussing his firing from the New Mexico State Police in 2007, after he was caught moonlighting while on the job. He also apologized for saying that he was going to shoot Mr. Boyd “with a Taser shotgun” almost as soon as he arrived at the scene.

Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings


China Moves to Change Damaged Global Image

Abstract: SHANGHAI, July 26 — After years of being accused by Western nations of making only token gestures to fight fake goods and months of complaints about the safety of its exports, China is taking extraordinary steps to change its image. Last week, Beijing unveiled new controls aimed at fighting counterfeit drugs and substandard exports. High-ranking officials and regulators vowed to strengthen China’s food safety system, tighten controls over chemical use by large seafood and meat producers, and create a system that holds producers more accountable for selling unsafe products. The government also announced that it had broken up a series of criminal rings that operated huge manufacturing centers, producing goods as varied as pirated Microsoft software, fake Viagra and imitation Crest toothpaste. Authorities here have also reached out to Ogilvy Public Relations, an international consultancy that advises on crisis management. “This is a very concerted effort to show they are doing something,” said Russell Leigh Moses, a longtime political analyst based in Beijing. “They are using work groups, issuing directives and closing factories. They are rolling out the artillery.” Spurred on by a sense of economic realpolitik, Beijing has grown particularly fearful that mounting international pressure could lead to sanctions or embargoes, and thereby hinder China’s booming economy. Whether promising to overhaul China’s regulatory regime and stepping up enforcement will be enough to tame what some view as the Wild, Wild East of capitalism is unclear, analysts say, because some of the problems are so deeply rooted. “There’s no quick fix,” says Henk Bekedam, the World Health Organization’s top representative in China. “China has perhaps been cutting some corners because the focus has been on growth. But they have 5,000 companies that produce medicine. That’s far too many. “The government has a limited ability to enforce things,” he said. “They need to start with simple things: reduce the number of people you monitor.” Still, even critics of China’s policies have been impressed with the catalog of recently announced changes. The bold actions, experts say, are partly aimed at easing political pressure from the United States and the European Union, where regulators and politicians are pressing for assurances about the quality and safety of goods made here after a string of recalls involving goods like tainted pet food and toothpaste, defective tires and dangerous toys. In Washington this month, President Bush created a panel of cabinet officials to make recommendations aimed at minimizing the dangers from imported foods or other products. The announcement coincided with Congressional hearings on food safety. And in recent weeks, several Democrats in Congress have pressed for tougher measures against China, including trade sanctions and new money for American regulators to guard against unsafe goods entering the country, particularly from China. Those issues will lead the agenda for the United States Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., as he arrives for talks with Chinese officials this weekend. Europe is also concerned. Top European Union officials are planning to meet in Beijing next month to discuss food safety and other issues. And on Wednesday, the head of the European Union’s consumer protection agency, Meglena Kuneva, pressed Chinese regulators to improve their standards during a tour of a government testing lab and a Chinese toy factory near the city of Nanjing. Ms. Kuneva said that she was hopeful China would make progress, but she added that if its products continued to be a problem, the European Union would block market access. “Toys like this can be in the hands of children, so do a good job,” Ms. Kuneva told a young inspector. “The good name of this country is in your hands.” Many experts doubt whether China can follow through on its promises — some of which have been made before. And Chinese officials have not conceded that all the problems lie here. Regulators have repeatedly accused the international news media of exaggerating the number of problem Chinese goods. Some Chinese businessmen say protectionists in the West are seizing on isolated cases to drum up support for trade sanctions, at a time when China is amassing a huge trade surplus. China has also argued that the quality of the food it exports is no worse than the quality of American food entering China. After the United States Food and Drug Administration moved last month to block five types of Chinese seafood from entering the United States market, China responded by banning some imports of American frozen poultry and pork, insisting they were tainted by antibiotic residues. Still, many experts say China has also become more candid about the challenges facing the country. The government recently acknowledged that 20 percent of its consumer goods and 14 percent of the truck tires made here failed safety inspections. And, most dramatically, just two weeks ago, China executed the former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, for accepting bribes and failing to police the marketplace. Days after he was executed, a top drug agency official admitted that the obstacles to repairing the regulatory systems were daunting. The admissions were a surprising about-face for China, which has been slow to accept blame for shipping tainted products overseas. But analysts say that as the evidence and bad news began to mount this year, China was forced to respond in a less adversarial way, particularly because the country’s booming economy is built on foreign investment and trade. Recently, the government has even sought crisis management advice from Western consultants. “They have not historically been advice takers,” said Scott Kronick, president of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide China, part of the WPP Group. “But they are reaching out in a genuine way to seek advice. I think they recognize everything doesn’t have to be rosy.” Since then, officials from various regulatory agencies and ministries have held news conferences to announce new regulations or to brief the news media on successful crackdowns. Last week, China’s quality inspectors promised to improve quarterly reports to the European Union about consumer product safety. And on Thursday, the government said it planned to offer large rewards to citizens who report on illegal practices in the food industry. Many experts say the problem in China is not oversight but enforcement. “The issue is not whether Chinese businesses are regulated; they are,” says Yasheng Huang, an associate professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “The issue is that the regulators themselves are unable to be impartial in the enforcement of the laws. Those laws are meaningless in a system that does not even pretend to have judicial independence, media freedom and legislative oversight.” Some say regulators are susceptible to corruption and that local inspectors can easily be bought off or persuaded that cracking down on local companies hurts economic development and risks jobs. That may explain why after years of promising to tackle piracy and counterfeiting, the practice continues to flourish in China, often in the open. Last week, the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation and China’s Ministry of Public Security said they had broken up one of the biggest software piracy rings ever, arresting 25 people and closing six manufacturing facilities in China. They also seized $500 million worth of pirated Microsoft and Symantec software. A day later, the government here said it had seized a ton of fake Viagra pills and closed counterfeit drug factories that produced Tamiflu, anti-malaria drugs and other products. The seizures may be a sign of progress, but they are also an indication of how widespread the problem has been for China, experts say. “The problem is these are campaigns and they tend to be turned off at some point,” says Mr. Moses, the analyst in Beijing.

China
Consumer Protection
Drugs (Pharmaceuticals)
Food Contamination and Poisoning
International Trade and World Market


For Families of Missing, an Agonizing Limbo

Abstract: MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 3 — They are the missing, the unrecovered. The Somali refugee, five months pregnant, driving across the river with her toddler daughter in the back seat. The red-haired construction worker, the only member of the crew repairing the bridge who has not been found, a jovial man operating a skid loader that plunged suddenly into the water. Two days after the Interstate 35W bridge crumpled into the Mississipi River, injuring about 100 and killing at least five, the families of those who are still lost are facing an agonizing limbo. As divers search the river in an effort that officials say could take days or weeks — hampered by treacherous currents, murky water and dangerous wreckage — the families do not know when, or even if, their loved ones will be found. “We’re just on a waiting game,” said Dorothy Svendsen, 65, the mother of the construction worker, Gregory Jolstad, who could not bring herself to come to Minneapolis from her home two hours away in Hinckley. At least in her own house, she said, friends can help her through the gruelingly wait for the inevitable. “I am resigned to the fact that he must have drowned, and that they will recover him as soon as they can get there safely,” Ms. Svendsen said. “I don’t want them going in after him if somebody else is going to get hurt doing it.” She breathed softly and said, “But it’s very hard.” The family of Sadiya Sahal, the pregnant, 23-year-old Somali nursing student, is “devastated,” said Omar Jamal, a leader of Somalis here who is acting as spokesman for the family. Mr. Jamal said Ms. Sahal was known in the large Somali community here as vivacious and social, striving to raise her growing family. He said that Wednesday’s accident had unsettled many Somali families. “The bridge that collapsed is in the center of the Somali community, on both sides of the river,” Mr. Jamal said. “There were a couple of Somalis injured, who are in the hospital. There were two or three Somali kids on the school bus” that fell 60 feet and managed to land upright, allowing all its passengers to survive. Those families who know their loved ones are dead were taking cold comfort in that certainty. “To me this is not a disaster, this is a murder — because people knew the bridge was unstable,” said Khaffak Ansari, whose former wife, Julia Blackhawk, 32, died in the collapse. “This is not just a person. This is the dreams of a human being.” Mr. Ansari, 42, an Iraqi native who has been in this country for 22 years, said his relatives in Iraq had telephoned him and said: “We expect things like that to happen here, not over there. Bridges are not supposed to fall down in America.” Moments of Ms. Blackhawk’s life sprang to Mr. Ansari’s mind like jewels just out of reach. How “she gave me this very goofy haircut” in her cosmetology class. How she was so proud of being a Winnebago Indian that she adopted a traditional Winnebago name. And how she weathered her parents’ divorce and being raised by a grandfather, who died when she was still a child. Ms. Blackhawk, like many of those missing or dead, had children at home, in her case two sons. Artemio Trinidad Mena, a 29-year-old salesman for a distributor of vegetables, rice and other items, left behind four children, ages 11 years to 2 months — the three oldest living with relatives in his native Mexico, the youngest at home in Minneapolis with his wife, Abundia Martínez. Mr. Trinidad Mena’s boss, Julio Alvarado, said his employee was always joking and friendly. With a cardboard box set out on a makeshift shrine on the sidewalk outside his business, Mr. Alvarado is helping Ms. Martínez raise money to support their children and to return her husband’s body to Mexico. Jennifer Holmes, whose husband, Patrick Holmes, 36, an exercise therapist, died as he was commuting home, is faced with explaining his absence to their 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son. Mr. Holmes, who coached his son’s baseball and soccer teams, spent “a ton of time” with the children, Ms. Holmes said. “They don’t quite understand it yet,” said Ms. Holmes, 35, a special-education teacher. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. But right now I need to be supportive to my children and get us all through this.” Late Friday, the authorities identified the fifth fatality as Paul Eickstadt, 51, of Mounds View, Minn. Mr. Eickstadt, a truck driver for the former Taystee bakery in Roseville, Minn., now owned by the Sara Lee Corporation, had just started out on his shift, bound for Iowa with bread, buns and rolls. His truck was engulfed in flames in a chilling image seen on live broadcasts across the country. “We learned of our truck’s involvement as the nation was watching in horror,” said Mark Goldman, a Sara Lee spokesman.

Bridges and Tunnels
Minneapolis (Minn)
Mississippi River
Accidents and Safety


Injury-Riddled Rangers Are Slumping Toward the Playoffs

Abstract: The GAG line was in the house at Madison Square Garden last night to honor Jaromir Jagr and so was Adam Graves, once the Rangers most prolific season goal scorer. But the malaise that has enveloped the injury-riddled Rangers since they clinched a playoff berth last week continued with a 3-2 defeat to the lowly Islanders. Jagr, 34, was honored before the game for setting club records for points and goals this season. To honor the dynamic right wing, the Rangers brought out a threesome of the greatest stars of their past: Vic Hadfield, the team's first 50-goal scorer, in 1971-72; Jean Ratelle, who scored 109 points that season; and Graves, who scored 52 goals in 1993-94. Rod Gilbert, who formed the Goal a Game line with Hadfield and Ratelle in the late 1960's and early 1970's, was in the building, too, to watch Hadfield, Ratelle and Graves present Jagr with a commemorative silver stick, among other keepsakes. Jagr waited until the third period to reciprocate, registering two assists to increase his league-leading total to 121 points. The second assist was on Petr Prucha's 30th goal. The Rangers became the first N.H.L. team to have a rookie goaltender with 30 victories (Henrik Lundqvist) and a rookie skater with 30 goals. But Prucha's goal came too late as goaltender Rick DiPietro and the Islanders handed the Rangers their second consecutive defeat. For one of the rare times this season, the Rangers (44-23-12) were outworked and outhustled for much of the first two periods against an Islanders team that has been eliminated from playoff contention. The Islanders (35-38-5) received two goals from Miroslav Satan sandwiched around a goal from Chris Campoli. Coach Tom Renney must now figure out how to motivate the Rangers, who have only three games remaining before the playoffs begin April 21. One would think the Rangers would find enough motivation in trying to clinch first place in the Atlantic Division. Last night's defeat, coupled with Philadelphia's 4-3 victory over Pittsburgh and the Devils' 4-3 overtime victory over Carolina, shrunk the Rangers' lead in the division to 3 points over the Flyers and 5 over the Devils. Philadelphia has four games remaining, while the Devils have three. "The way I look at it, home-ice advantage or no home-ice advantage, if we're going to play like that in the playoffs, we're going to lose anyway," said Jagr, his bottom lip bloodied, bruised, swollen and stitched, thanks to an unpenalized high stick from Shawn Bates midway through the third period. "Hopefully, it's going to be a wake-up call for us," he said. "Because like I said, even if we have the home-ice advantage, if we play like that we're going home in four days." A healthy lineup would not hurt, either. Lundqvist sat out his fifth consecutive game with a hip flexor. The Rangers also played without three regular defensemen: Darius Kasparaitis (groin), who has missed 10 of the last 11 games; Tom Poti (upper body), who missed his second consecutive game; and Marek Malik (upper body), who apparently tweaked an existing shoulder injury at yesterday morning's skate. Left wing Martin Rucinsky (finger) sat out his ninth consecutive game, and center Steve Rucchin (foot) missed his fourth consecutive game. That left the Rangers' lineup dotted with rookies against the Islanders, who held on for the victory after taking a 3-0 lead into the second intermission. "We already had eight rookies on the team," Jagr said. "Now we've got five more." He was exaggerating: the Rangers have 10 rookies on their roster. Kevin Weekes made his fifth consecutive start in goal. Weekes was 3-1 with a 2.21 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in his previous four starts. But Weekes, who finished with 27 saves, was outplayed by DiPietro, who made 36 saves and turned aside 22 of the 24 shots he was pelted with in the third period. The 24 shots were a season-high in a period for the Rangers. "He backed up his words," Jagr said of DiPietro, who had vowed to beat the Rangers. "I respect that." Renney was obviously unhappy with the Rangers' recent play. "I don't want to worry, but maybe I should be," he said. "How concerned am I? Reasonably." Renney said he would like to get Lundqvist back in goal for at least two games, possibly Saturday afternoon at Philadelphia and next Tuesday against Ottawa at the Garden.

NEW YORK RANGERS
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
HOCKEY ICE


Egypt Arrests Brotherhood Figure Who Handled News Media

Abstract: CAIRO — Security forces on Tuesday arrested Gehad el-Haddad, a senior official of the Muslim Brotherhood who handled the group’s communication with the foreign news media, security officials said. His arrest was part of a continuing roundup of thousands of Brotherhood members in the two months since the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi, an ally of the group. Mr. Haddad is an aide to Khairat el-Shater, a Brotherhood leader who was arrested last month, and the son of Mr. Morsi’s top foreign policy adviser, Essam el-Haddad, who was detained with Mr. Morsi at the time of the takeover. The arrests have already swept up much of the group’s leadership, effectively crippling its organizational ability. Mr. Haddad’s main role in recent months was speaking to the English-language media, and critics of the Brotherhood have often accused Mr. Haddad of misinformation and exaggeration, especially in comments posted on the Internet. Although he constantly repeated the group’s renunciation of violence to the news media, news reports said Tuesday that he would be charged with inciting violence. Prosecutors have brought the same charge against Mr. Morsi, Mr. Shater and many others. Mr. Haddad has lived as a fugitive since Aug. 14, when security forces broke up a Brotherhood-led sit-in against the takeover here, and he moved daily between apartments while avoiding telephones for fear of surveillance. He was educated primarily in Britain; before he began working full time for the Brotherhood he worked in Egypt for the Clinton Foundation, established by former President Bill Clinton. The police appear to have targeted several Brotherhood spokesmen in recent weeks. Among others recently arrested was Mourad Aly, a volunteer consultant to the group’s political party whose main job for the last 10 years was as a marketing executive for the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck. Mr. Aly was apprehended at the airport trying to board a flight to a corporate meeting abroad. A company spokesman said Lundbeck was working with Egyptian lawyers and the Danish Embassy in Cairo to seek his release.

Egypt
Gehad el- Haddad
Muslim Brotherhood Egypt
Khairat el- Shater
Essam el- Haddad
Arab Spring


Youkilis Trade Again Pays Off for White Sox

Abstract: A homer by Kevin Youkilis accounted for the only runs as the host Chicago White Sox beat Toronto, 2-0, on Saturday. Gavin Floyd and Matt Thornton combined on a five-hit shutout. Ricky Romero, who allowed two runs and four hits in six innings for the Blue Jays , was the loser. The White Sox have won five straight games to move a season-high 10 games over .500. In 12 games with Chicago, Youkilis has had 13 runs batted in and three home runs. Most of that production has come at home, where the White Sox have won seven straight. Since acquiring Youkilis, 33, from Boston for Brent Lillibridge, Zach Stewart and cash considerations, Chicago has gone 9-3. RANGERS 4, TWINS 3 Nelson Cruz hit an R.B.I. double in the 10th to lead host Texas over Minnesota, snapping the Rangers’ five-game losing streak. Joe Nathan (1-2) pitched scoreless 9th and 10th innings for the Rangers, his longest outing in almost three years after ligament-replacement surgery. Kyle Waldrop (0-1) failed to get an out in the 10th and took the loss. TIGERS 8, ROYALS 7 Prince Fielder hit a two-run, game-tying homer in the first, Delmon Young had a two-run homer to pad the lead in the seventh inning and Detroit held on to beat visiting Kansas City. The Tigers’ closer, Jose Valverde, started the ninth with a four-run lead and almost lost it. The win, Detroit’s fourth straight, gave the Tigers a winning record for the first time since May 10. INDIANS 7, RAYS 3 Ubaldo Jimenez struck out eight over six innings and Shelley Duncan hit a two-run homer as Cleveland won at home. The Indians got three doubles in the second inning off the rookie Matt Moore in jumping to a 3-0 lead. Duncan’s homer was his fourth in his past six games. Luke Scott homered for Tampa Bay, which has lost 9 of 13 games. NATIONALS 4, ROCKIES 1 Gio Gonzalez pitched six innings of three-hit ball against the visiting Rockies to earn his 12th win. Gonzalez won his fourth straight start to move into a tie with R. A. Dickey of the Mets for the major league lead in wins. Gonzalez allowed one run, walked three and struck out six. BRAVES 6, PHILLIES 3 Tommy Hanson pitched effectively into the eighth, Brian McCann homered and Atlanta beat host Philadelphia. Hanson (10-5) allowed three runs and six hits, striking out six in seven-plus innings. Eric O’Flaherty worked the rest of the eighth and Craig Kimbrel finished for his 24th save in 25 tries. CARDINALS 3, MARLINS 2 Kyle Lohse beat Miami with seven innings of three-hit ball in 106-degree heat in St. Louis, and Tony Cruz hit a go-ahead two-run triple. Allen Craig had three hits and Skip Schumaker had an R.B.I. single in the fourth for the Cardinals, who have won five of seven and snapped the Marlins’ three-game winning streak. Justin Ruggiano hit a two-run home run for the Marlins, who missed a chance to climb back to .500. Carlos Zambrano was the starter and loser for Miami. ASTROS 6, BREWERS 3 Scott Moore homered for the second straight day and J. D. Martinez and Jose Altuve had three hits each as host Houston took advantage of the first-inning ejection of Zack Greinke to break a season-long nine-game losing streak. Greinke was gone after four pitches — ejected after spiking the ball following a close play at first base. Manager Ron Roenicke was also ejected for arguing the call, and Milwaukee was forced to piece together the game with six relievers. PIRATES 3, GIANTS 1 James McDonald scattered four hits over seven innings and Mike McKenry homered as Pittsburgh edged visiting San Francisco. Neil Walker doubled twice and drove in a run while extending his hitting streak to 11 games, and Joel Hanrahan worked the ninth to pick up his 23rd save. McDonald struck out 10 and walked none, winning his fourth straight start and lowering his earned run average to 2.37. ALL-STAR ROSTER CHANGES Two National League players who got hits on Saturday were scratched from the All-Star Game. Giancarlo Stanton, returning to the Marlins’ lineup after missing four games with a knee injury, singled and scored in the second inning but was replaced in the third. He will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. His All-Star Game replacement is Bryce Harper, the star rookie outfielder of the Nationals. Harper’s teammate Ian Desmond, who hit a home run for Washington, will sit out the All-Star Game to speed his recovery from an abdominal injury. Michael Bourn of the Braves will replace him on the N.L. roster. LONGORIA RETURN UNCERTAIN Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon said he was not sure when third baseman Evan Longoria would be healthy enough to return. Longoria has been sidelined since May 1 with a partly torn left hamstring. The original prognosis was that Longoria would be sidelined six to eight weeks.

Chicago White Sox
Baseball
Toronto Blue Jays


Judge Invalidates Patent for a Down Syndrome Test

Abstract: A federal judge has invalidated the central patent underlying a noninvasive method of detecting Down syndrome in fetuses without the risk of inducing a miscarriage. The ruling is a blow to Sequenom , a California company that introduced the first such noninvasive test in 2011 and has been trying to lock out competitors in a fast-growing market by claiming they infringe on the patent. Sequenom’s stock fell 23 percent on Thursday, to $1.92. The judge, Susan Illston of the United States District Court in Northern California, issued a ruling on Wednesday that the patent was invalid because it covered a natural phenomenon — the presence of DNA from the fetus in the mother’s blood. The ruling was a sign that the Supreme Court’s decision in June declaring that human genes may not be patented because they are products of nature could make it more difficult to patent diagnostic techniques. Judge Illston cited the gene patent case, which involved Myriad Genetics, in her ruling, along with a 2012 Supreme Court decision invalidating patents on a test used to determine the proper dosages of certain drugs. “It’s hard to imagine patents on diagnostics surviving if that approach is taken,” Christopher M. Holman, a law professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, said of Wednesday’s ruling. Paul V. Maier, chief financial officer of Sequenom, said the company would appeal. “We believe the court’s decision is wrong and misapplies or ignores the controlling law,” he said, adding that the patent involved a novel use of a natural phenomenon, not the phenomenon itself. Until recently, women seeking to find out whether their fetuses had Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormalities had to undergo either amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. Both are invasive techniques that obtain cell samples from the womb or placenta and carry a slight risk of inducing a miscarriage. The new tests offered by Sequenom and several competitors take advantage of the fact that some DNA from the fetus can be found in a pregnant woman’s blood and can be analyzed with new genetic techniques. Such tests do not completely replace the invasive ones, but they have caught on quickly and led to a sharp reduction in the use of the other tests. The noninvasive tests are now offered by Sequenom as well as Ariosa Diagnostics, Natera and Verinata. In the current case, Ariosa filed a lawsuit in 2011 seeking a court ruling that its test, called Harmony, did not infringe on the patent controlled by Sequenom. Sequenom countersued and tried to win a preliminary injunction blocking Ariosa from marketing its test. The court denied the injunction but the appeals court vacated that decision and sent the case back to the district court. Verinata and Natera have also been seeking rulings from the same judge that their tests do not infringe on Sequenom’s patent. In her ruling, Judge Illston said that the presence of the DNA in the pregnant woman’s blood was a novel discovery but could not be patented because it was a natural phenomenon. And claims in the patent over how to detect that DNA were not eligible for a patent because they involved conventional genetic techniques.

Down syndrome
Sequenom
California
Susan Illston
DNA
Myriad Genetics
Lawsuits
Inventions and Patents
Medical test
Genetics and Heredity


3 World Cup Warm-Ups for U.S. Men

Abstract: The United States men’s national team announced that it would play three home games before departing for Brazil and the 2014 World Cup, against Azerbaijan on May 27 in San Francisco; Turkey on June 1 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.; and Nigeria on June 7 in Jacksonville, Fla. ■ Ukraine’s domestic soccer league will resume play March 15. The season was scheduled to restart Feb. 28 after a break but was postponed because of the turmoil that led to the ouster of President Viktor F. Yanukovych. Tavria Simferopol and F.C. Sevastopol, both based in Crimea, said they intended to continue competing in the Ukrainian league. (AP)

2014 World Cup
Soccer
US Men's Soccer Team


Agreement Will Allow Iraqis to Compete

Abstract: Most likely represented by a two-athlete contingent, Iraq will be allowed to compete at the upcoming Beijing Games after the International Olympic Committee received a last-minute pledge that the country would properly restructure its national Olympic organization. The I.O.C. suspended the Iraqi National Olympic Committee in June, after the country’s government disbanded the committee and appointed a government official as its new leader. The I.O.C. requires national committees to be elected and autonomous. Last week, the I.O.C. said it was “very unlikely” that Iraq would field a team because its Olympic committee was not restructured in time to meet deadlines to enter athletes in various sports. That led to widespread criticism of both the Iraqi government and the I.O.C. On Tuesday at I.O.C. headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, a compromise was reached. Iraq agreed to hold elections for its Olympic committee before the end of November. In the meantime, Iraq will have an interim committee approved by the I.O.C. “I commend the government of Iraq for reaching an agreement that serves the long-term interest of Iraqi athletes,” Jacques Rogge, the I.O.C president, said in a statement. “We have said all along that we want to see Iraqi athletes in Beijing.” The deadline for track-and-field entries is Wednesday. Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq, a sprinter, and Haidar Nasir, a discus thrower, are expected to comprise the Iraqi team. Each trained abroad and neither met the qualifying standard in their event, but they will take part in the Games as wild-card entrants under a system to ensure that all eligible countries are represented at the Olympics. Five athletes who hoped to join the Iraqi team were not expected to go, because deadlines in their sports — archery, rowing, judo and weightlifting — have passed. Their spots were given to competitors from other countries. Iraq had been suspended by the I.O.C. before, in 2003, after abuses were uncovered under the regime of Saddam Hussein and his son, Uday, who oversaw Iraq’s Olympic program. Iraq was reinstated in 2004, in time for the Athens Olympics. Iraq sent 25 athletes to the 2004 Games. Most were members of the soccer team, which surprised the field and lifted its war-torn country’s collective spirit by reaching the semifinals. But Iraq’s sports system has struggled mightily since. Several athletes and officials — including the Olympic cycling coach, a national wrestling coach and a well-known volleyball player — have been killed. Iraq’s Olympic committee was not immune from the country’s violence. Four of its 11 members, including its president, were kidnapped in 2006; their fates are unknown. The Iraqi government replaced the committee in May, but the I.O.C. viewed it as political interference. That led to weeks of stalemate before the sides reached a resolution Tuesday. “We look forward to seeing the Iraqi flag in Beijing,” Rogge said.

Iraq
International Olympic Committee
Olympic Games (2008)


Bolivia to Vote on Leader’s Job

Abstract: LA PAZ, Bolivia , Dec. 5 (Reuters) — President Evo Morales of Bolivia on Wednesday called for a nationwide referendum to decide whether he should stay in office as a way to resolve a deepening political crisis in the country. The plans by Mr. Morales, a leftist, to overhaul Bolivia’s constitution have reignited long-running conflicts between more indigenous Andean regions, where Mr. Morales has his support base, and wealthier lowland areas. In what appeared to be an effort to address the conflict, Mr. Morales proposed a referendum to decide whether he and nine regional governors should remain in their posts. Six of the country’s nine regions are controlled by his opponents. “If the people say ‘Evo’s going,’ I’ve got no problem — I’m democratic,” Mr. Morales, a former coca farmer, said in a televised speech. “The people will say who’s going and who’s staying to guarantee this process of change.” He said he would send a bill to Congress on Thursday to call the referendum vote. Bolivia’s sweeping constitutional changes, a major project for Mr. Morales’s government, are at the center of a power struggle between Mr. Morales and his conservative rivals, who are concentrated in lowland areas that are also home to large natural gas fields. His foes shut down large parts of the country last week in a one-day strike after his allies pushed through a draft constitution in an elected constitutional assembly boycotted by the opposition. That vote set off violent protests in the southern city of Sucre, the seat of the assembly; at least three people were killed. The constitutional assembly has until Dec 14. to approve the new charter in full before it goes to a referendum.

Bolivia
Morales Evo
Politics and Government
Law and Legislation


Oil Companies Back Public Protests of Greenhouse Gas Bill

Abstract: HOUSTON — Hard on the heels of the health care protests, another citizen movement seems to have sprung up, this one to oppose Washington’s attempts to tackle climate change . But behind the scenes, an industry with much at stake — Big Oil — is pulling the strings. Hundreds of people packed a downtown theater here on Tuesday for a lunchtime rally that was as much a celebration of oil’s traditional role in the Texas way of life as it was a political protest against Washington’s energy policies, which many here fear will raise energy prices. “Something we hold dear is in danger, and that’s our future,” said Bill Bailey, a rodeo announcer and local celebrity, who was the master of ceremonies at the hourlong rally. The event on Tuesday was organized by a group called Energy Citizens , which is backed by the American Petroleum Institute , the oil industry’s main trade group. Many of the people attending the demonstration were employees of oil companies who work in Houston and were bused from their workplaces. This was the first of a series of about 20 rallies planned for Southern and oil-producing states to organize resistance to proposed legislation that would set a limit on emissions of heat-trapping gases, requiring many companies to buy emission permits. Participants described the system as an energy tax that would undermine the economy of Houston, the nation’s energy capital. Mentions of the legislation, which narrowly passed the House in June, drew boos, but most of the rally was festive. A high school marching band played, hot dogs and hamburgers were served, a video featuring the country star Trace Adkins was shown, and hundreds of people wore yellow T-shirts with slogans like “Create American Jobs Don’t Export Them” and “I’ll Pass on $4 Gas.” The buoyant atmosphere belied the billions of dollars at stake for the petroleum industry. Since the House passed the bill, oil executives have repeatedly complained that their industry would incur sharply higher costs, while federal subsidies would flow to coal -fired utilities and renewable energy programs. “It’s just a sense of outrage and disappointment with the bill passed by the House,” said James T. Hackett, chief executive of Anadarko Petroleum , who attended the rally. He defended, as an environmental measure, the use of buses financed by oil companies and Energy Citizens to carry employees to the rally. “If we all drove in cars, it wouldn’t look good,” he said. While polls show that a majority of Americans support efforts to tackle climate change, opposition to the climate bill from energy-intensive industries has become more vigorous in recent weeks. The Senate is expected to consider its own version of the bill at the end of September. A public relations firm hired by a pro-coal industry group, the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, recently sent at least 58 letters opposing new climate laws to members of Congress. An investigation by the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming found that a total of 13 letters sent by the firm, Bonner & Associates, were forgeries. The committee is currently investigating another 45 letters to determine whether they are fakes. The letters purported to be from groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Hispanic organizations. Bonner & Associates has acknowledged the forgeries, blaming them on a temporary employee who was subsequently fired. The coal coalition has apologized for the fake letters and said it was cooperating with an investigation of the matter by a Congressional committee. For its part, the oil industry plans to raise the pressure in coming weeks through its public rallies so that it can negotiate more favorable terms in the Senate than it got in the House. The strategy was outlined by the American Petroleum Institute in a memorandum sent to its members, which include Exxon Mobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips. The memorandum, not meant for the public, was obtained by the environmental group Greenpeace last week. “It’s a clear political hit campaign,” said Kert Davies, the research director at Greenpeace. In the memorandum, the president and chief executive of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack N. Gerard, said that the aim of the rallies was to send a “loud message” to the Senate. He said the rallies should focus on higher energy costs and jobs. “It’s important that our views be heard,” Mr. Gerard wrote. Cathy Landry, a spokeswoman for the American Petroleum Institute, confirmed the contents of the memorandum, but said that the rally was not strictly an institute event and that Energy Citizens included other organizations representing farm and other business interests. The House bill seeks to reduce greenhouse gases in the United States by 83 percent by 2050 through a mechanism known as cap and trade , which would create carbon permits that could be bought and sold. President Obama initially wanted these permits to be entirely auctioned off, so that all industries would be on the same footing, but the sponsors of the bill agreed to hand out 85 percent of the permits free to ensure passage of the legislation. The power sector, which accounts for about a third of the nation’s emissions, got 35.5 percent of the free allowances. Petroleum refiners, meanwhile, got 2.25 percent of these allowances, although the transportation sector accounts for about 40 percent of emissions. That means oil companies would have to buy many of their permits on the open market, and they contend that they would have to raise gasoline prices to do so. But Daniel J. Weiss, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a research and advocacy organization, said that refiners would be allowed to keep the value of the free allowances they received, while public utilities would be required to return the value of their permits to customers. “There is a myth out there that this is a giveaway to utilities,” Mr. Weiss said. “It’s not true. The oil industry’s goal is to block or weaken efforts to tackle global warming.” The rallies have opened a rift within the industry. Royal Dutch Shell, an initial supporter of climate legislation, said that it had told the institute that it would not participate in the rallies, although its employees would be free to attend if they wanted to. ConocoPhillips, meanwhile, has opposed the bill since its passage and, in a note on its Web site , encouraged employees to attend the rallies. Since Mr. Obama’s election, the oil industry has lost some clout in Washington. The rally on Tuesday gave voice to the feeling among employees of oil companies that their industry was being battered. “I experienced Carter’s war against the industry, and I’m tired of being pushed around,” said David H. Leland, a geological map maker for NFR Energy. “We provide a product for a reasonable price, and we’re going to be punished for doing a damn good job.”

American Petroleum Institute
Global Warming
Bonner & Associates
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Law and Legislation
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
United States Politics and Government
Corporations
Environment
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation