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ny0286012 | [
"sports",
"tennis"
] | 2016/09/01 | At Once a Taskmaster and a Friend, Tennis Coaches Rise in Prominence | In the semifinals of the Western and Southern Open outside Cincinnati two weeks ago, rain delayed the start of a match between Grigor Dimitrov and Marin Cilic until 11:30 p.m. Many of the boisterous fans who had watched Andy Murray dispatch Milos Raonic in the earlier semifinal headed for the exits when a prolonged thunderstorm doused the courts. The depleted crowd was cause for concern for Dani Vallverdu, Dimitrov’s coach since Wimbledon. Although only 30, Vallverdu is a seasoned coach on tour, having cut his teeth with Murray, his boyhood friend, for five years and coached Tomas Berdych for 18 months before joining Dimitrov in July. “I told Grigor to not expect much energy from the fans,” Vallverdu said. “It would feel a little flat out there. Normally in the semis of such a big tournament, the crowd would be fired up. But it was very late, and the stands were, at most, half-full. We talked about starting the first 20 minutes with a lot of energy and focus.” The instructions worked: Dimitrov rode out a service break to win the first set, 6-4. Cilic countered by raising his level of play in the second set to even the match. In the third set, Dimitrov twice got up a service break but failed to hold serve to clinch the match. For Vallverdu, the loss stung, but only momentarily. The chance to play in an important final against Murray would have been validation for Dimitrov, who has struggled since reaching the Wimbledon semifinals two years ago. But Vallverdu refocused. “I immediately began to think of what needed to be done,” he said. “A Grand Slam starts in a week! There was no time to waste. The recovery routine — protein shake, recovery drink, food and an ice bath — had to happen fairly quickly. We didn’t get back to the hotel till 3 in the morning. And I waited till breakfast late the next morning to talk with Grigor about the match.” These comments offer a window into the world of coaching at the highest levels of the pro tour. In recent years, as players like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Roger Federer have added former tennis champions to their teams, the role of tennis coach has risen in prominence. For players and their coaches, the pro tour can be a lonely life. It is not uncommon to be on the road for 35 to 40 weeks a year. Often, a player will spend more time with his coach than with his family and friends. The relationship can suffer when a player goes on a losing streak. Being fired is a reality of life on the tour for most coaches, even for a young coaching star like Vallverdu. A good coach on tour is at once a friend and a taskmaster, a psychologist and an emotional buffer against the vicissitudes of competing at the highest level of the game. The job requires an emotional intelligence, a bone-deep knowledge of technique and tactics, and the ability to communicate painful truths gently but firmly. Coaches manage the mundane details of practice courts, hitting partners and the day’s logistics. They scout opponents, break down video, discuss game plans and ensure that players, in their mind-sets, are prepared for a match. Because tennis has no clock, being scheduled for the third match on a stadium court means a player may play in the middle of the afternoon or at dinnertime. Timing meals, naps and a proper warm-up is also in the coach’s purview. Postmatch recovery is important, too, as is knowing when and how to discuss a tough loss with a player. That rainy Saturday night of the Cilic match offered another kind of challenge for Vallverdu: He already had to keep Dimitrov relaxed and ready for several hours of dead time while the first match played out, and then the weather intervened. “You have to know your player,” Vallverdu said. “You have to keep him calm and relaxed; you learn to talk about topics which do not stress him out. At Cincinnati, Grigor had to wait five hours in the locker room. Then he only got 10 to 15 minutes to warm up. It was challenging, but he did an excellent job getting ready.” The art of waiting is an essential skill on tour. The elite players learn how to pass the time expending as little energy as possible. A coach can turn into a weatherman in these times. Vallverdu got frequent weather updates from the tournament director and kept Dimitrov apprised of how quickly the courts were drying. So far, the coaching work Vallverdu is putting in is yielding strong results. Dimitrov, a prodigiously talented Bulgarian who has been ranked as high as eighth, had fallen to No. 40 this year. But in addition to reaching the semifinals in Cincinnati, he reached the quarterfinals at the Rogers Cup in Toronto in August, losing to Kei Nishikori. Dimitrov’s record going into the United States Open was 27-19, with seven of those wins coming in August. Because of his recent success, Dimitrov is the No. 22 seed at the Open. He defeated Iñigo Cervantes, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7), in the first round and plays Jérémy Chardy in the second round Thursday. In the wake of a physically demanding week at Cincinnati, Vallverdu gave Dimitrov two days off as they traveled to New York to prepare for the Open. Vallverdu kept the routine nearly identical to the week of preparation before the Cincinnati event. On Tuesday, Dimitrov played twice, once in the morning and again in midafternoon, and put in an hour in the gym. He had played twice a day through last Thursday before beginning to taper, hitting once on Friday and Saturday for only 90 minutes. As a tournament nears, Vallverdu likes to do drills that give Dimitrov rhythm and confidence. Little or no technical guidance is given so that the player’s mind can be focused and clear. On Sunday, the practice is even lighter, 45 minutes to an hour. The time when Vallverdu does most of his actual coaching is on the practice court. “I stand near him and try to get him to work on ball recognition, seeing the ball early and making the right choice of shot,” Vallverdu said. Image Credit Uli Seit for The New York Times At 6 feet 3 inches, Dimitrov exudes a lithe athleticism. His flowing one-handed backhand and his classical forehand have earned him comparisons to Roger Federer. Vallverdu believed Dimitrov’s audacious shotmaking needed to be reined in. “Grigor moves so well that he can play more disciplined tennis,” he said. “He doesn’t need to overhit because his regular ball is so heavy.” Being more consistent and not giving away free points will pay dividends in the long haul. Tennis is a game of movement and decision making, and Dimitrov’s recent success can be attributed to improved shot selection. A good coach helps players understand their identity on court and also how to maximize their strengths and expose their opponents’ weaknesses. In the afternoon before he played Feliciano López in the second round at Cincinnati, Dimitrov practiced with Julien Benneteau while Vallverdu stood to the side and offered encouragement and advice. “I am trying to instill the right habits, the right way of doing things,” Vallverdu said. The two players began rallying from the service line, trading easy and relaxed shots as they warmed up. When they retreated to the baseline and began hitting full out, Dimitrov’s demeanor changed. Still, the mood on the court was more cooperative than competitive as both players wanted an intense practice session in a short period of time. Vallverdu praised Dimitrov’s footwork as he recovered from the backhand corner; he gave a tip about contact point on the forehand volley. Both men kept the energy and enthusiasm high. The preparatory work for a Grand Slam begins in the few pockets of time off from the circuit. Vallverdu said that in his years coaching Murray, he had learned how to schedule an effective training block. Murray and his team would rest for one week after Wimbledon and then undergo an intensive training regimen for three weeks, often in the summer heat of Miami, to simulate the scorching afternoons at Flushing Meadows. Murray, like Dimitrov and other top players, used this time to work hard physically to ready himself for the best-of-five-sets format of the Grand Slams. The first 10 days are grueling, with twice-daily tennis sessions followed by interval training on the track, weight training and video work in the evenings. The player then tapers his schedule, resting more to gain sharpness, confidence and a renewed zeal to compete. Once back on tour, Vallverdu makes sure to work on his player’s strengths. While other coaches may choose to address weaknesses, Vallverdu prefers to hone his players’ weapons, to bolster their confidence as a Grand Slam approaches. The exception is work on the serve and the return. “We will work on those two areas constantly,” Vallverdu said. Life on the tour looks promising for Dimitrov and Vallverdu. The first Grand Slam of their partnership is just beginning. Having a player who has the ability — and the drive — to contend for major titles is all a coach can ask for. | Tennis;Coaches;Grigor Dimitrov;Dani Vallverdu;US Open Tennis |
ny0041925 | [
"us"
] | 2014/05/11 | Lem Johns, Who Guarded Johnson in Dallas, Dies at 88 | Lem Johns, a Secret Service agent who guarded Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas and who became a high-ranking Secret Service official during Johnson’s administration, died on Saturday at his home in Hoover, Ala. He was 88. His grandson Michael Johns announced the death. Mr. Johns was the first of three generations in his family to serve as presidential Secret Service agents. Mr. Johns was among three Secret Service agents riding directly behind the convertible carrying Mr. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, as the Kennedy motorcade wound through downtown Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. “I heard two ‘shots,’ not knowing whether they were firecrackers, backfire, or gunshots,” he wrote in a report to the chief of the Secret Service a week after the assassination. “I jumped from the security car and started running for the vice president’s car.” But he did not make it. “A third shot had sounded and the entire motorcade then picked up speed and I was left on the street,” he said. Rufus Youngblood, the chief agent in Johnson’s security detail, covered the Johnsons with his body as their car followed Kennedy’s limousine and a Secret Service auto behind the limo in a dash to Parkland Hospital. Clint Hill, an agent riding on the outside of the presidential backup car, climbed onto the presidential limousine to push a scrambling Mrs. Kennedy back into her seat. Mr. Johns, stranded momentarily when the motorcade sped off, climbed aboard a car carrying photographers, then transferred to the sidecar of a police motorcycle that took him to Parkland. He found Johnson, who was unhurt, secured by the Secret Service in a treatment room and joined in guarding him while surgeons worked in vain to save Kennedy’s life. They also treated Gov. John B. Connally of Texas, who had been riding with the Kennedys and was wounded. While Mr. Johns was seeking a secure hospital exit for Johnson’s return to Love Field Airport in Dallas and a flight back to Washington, an unmarked police cruiser, leaving from a different spot outside the hospital, departed for the airport with the vice president and Mr. Youngblood, leaving Mr. Johns behind in the chaos of the moment. Another police car took him to Love Field, and he was put in charge of making sure that all those aboard Air Force One had a legitimate reason to be there. There were fears at the time that an attempt on Johnson’s life might be next as he awaited the arrival of Mrs. Kennedy and her husband’s body before taking off. Image Lem Johns, a Secret Service agent, can be seen over the head of Jacqueline Kennedy as she stood beside Lyndon B. Johnson, who was being sworn in on Nov. 22, 1963. Credit Cecil Stoughton/White House Mr. Johns received an award from the Treasury Department, which oversaw the Secret Service at the time, for his actions in responding to the sound of gunfire. When Cecil Stoughton, the White House photographer, snapped what became a signature image of the assassination, Johnson taking the presidential oath aboard Air Force One, flanked by his wife and Mrs. Kennedy, Mr. Johns was standing behind Mrs. Kennedy. The upper portion of his face is visible in the photograph. Mr. Youngblood became head of Johnson’s White House security detail, and Mr. Johns transferred to it as well. He was named the detail’s chief in November 1965, and became an assistant director of the Secret Service in overall charge of protective forces in December 1967. Mr. Johns and Mr. Youngblood joined in protecting Johnson when demonstrators protesting the Vietnam War hurled bags of paint that burst against his limousine on Johnson’s October 1966 visit to Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Johns was drenched with red paint and Mr. Youngblood with green paint, but no one was hurt. Mr. Johns left Washington early in the presidency of Richard M. Nixon. He returned to be administrative chief and security director for Joseph A. Califano Jr., secretary of health, education and welfare under President Jimmy Carter. Thomas Lemuel Johns was born in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 11, 1925. He served in naval aviation during World War II, worked as a Birmingham firefighter, graduated from Howard College (now Samford University) in suburban Birmingham and then served as a criminal investigator for what is now the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives. He joined the Secret Service in 1954, and was a member of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s protective detail during the last two years of his presidency. Mr. Johns is survived by his wife, Nita; his son, Jeff; three grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. His son was on President Ronald Reagan’s Secret Service detail, and his grandson Michael was on the detail for President George W. Bush and for President Obama until 2010. When Mrs. Johnson died in Texas in July 2007, Mr. Johns represented President Bush in paying respects as she lay in repose. On the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination, he recounted the moment when he had arrived at Parkland Hospital. “When I walked in, I walked right past the presidential limousine, saw the blood on the back seat, flowers everywhere,” he told WBRC-TV in Birmingham. “I know I can’t block it out.” | Lem Johns;Secret Service;Lyndon Baines Johnson;Obituary;Vice President US;President of the United States |
ny0016444 | [
"business",
"international"
] | 2013/10/31 | U.S. Accuses Germany of Causing Instability | WASHINGTON — The United States Treasury singled out Germany for criticism in a report released on Wednesday that said Berlin’s reliance on exports was holding back its struggling partners in the European Union. The criticism echoes longstanding complaints from European economists and international banks. But it was notable because it was included in an unusual forum: a semiannual report that usually focuses on currency manipulation. The timing may reflect the United States’ wish to influence German economic policy as Chancellor Angela Merkel forms her new government after recent elections. The document, the Report to Congress on International Economic and Exchange Rate Policies , outlines the practices of America’s top trading partners over the first half of 2013, concluding that none “met the standard of manipulating the rate of exchange between their currency and the United States dollar” in order to gain an unfair trade advantage. But it noted, as it often does, that China’s currency, the renminbi, is not appreciating “as fast or by as much as needed.” The report said that Chinese efforts to intervene in foreign exchange markets seem to have again escalated as concerns about the worldwide economy recede. Yet Germany was a focus of particular — and unusual — scolding from the Obama administration, which said that Berlin’s “anemic pace of domestic demand growth and dependence on exports have hampered rebalancing” and hurt its ailing European Union partners. For decades, Germany’s manufacturers have produced more than its residents demand, sending more of its relatively low-cost goods into the international market than what it imports. Weaker economies like those in Spain, Portugal and Greece struggle to compete. German policy making — and that of Europe as a whole — has been virtually halted since before the elections in late September, and Ms. Merkel has been in negotiations to form a new government. The Obama administration needed to weigh in now, said Jacob F. Kirkegaard, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, to “have an impact on German economic policy going forward.” Germany’s policies have also driven export surpluses in the European Union as a whole, to the detriment of the United States and other major exporters, Mr. Kirkegaard said. He said he doubted that German officials “will pay the least attention to this finger-pointing.” The Treasury report also suggested that after a long pause during the economic downturn, “official intervention” by China to keep its currency undervalued “resumed on a large scale” over the last year. While China does not disclose its intervention actions, the report said, figures show that its financial institutions collectively bought “a record $110 billion in foreign exchange in both January and September 2013,” even though it has “$3.6 trillion in reserves, which are more than sufficient by any measure.” The renminbi’s low value makes Chinese goods cheaper for Americans to buy but raises the prices of American products in China. Still, for nearly two decades, the United States has stopped short of accusing China of “currency manipulation.” Such a designation, policy makers fear, could set off a trade war. The report also signaled that the United States was concerned about currency policies in Japan and South Korea. | Germany;US;Economy;Treasury Department;China;Currency;International trade;EU |
ny0181936 | [
"nyregion",
"nyregionspecial2"
] | 2007/12/02 | A Rocker Who Rocks to His Own Beat (and CD) | JERSEY CITY VAL EMMICH may not be the first rock singer-songwriter to see a major-label record deal go sour, but he’s one of the few who seems to be getting the last laugh. To start, there is his still-thriving music career: After being released from a two-CD contract with Epic Records in 2006 — executives struggled to find a hit in the material he delivered to them, he said — Mr. Emmich, 28, bounced back on his own terms late last year with the independent release “Sunlight Searchparty.” One of the album’s energetic but introspective songs, “The Only One Lonely,” is in the running for an Independent Music Award later this month. If it wins, it will dovetail nicely into “Little Daggers,” an album to be released with a new label this spring. (Mr. Emmich will appear at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park on Dec. 22.) He has also just completed a novel; in 2008, he will try to find a publisher for “A Break in the Weathers,” which owes a stylistic debt to the writer Chuck Klosterman, he said, and features a 20-something with complicated relationships. Last but probably not least, there is his day job. Lately Mr. Emmich has been drawing a paycheck by smooching with the actresses Tina Fey and Lucy Liu on the sets of the TV shows “30 Rock” and “Cashmere Mafia.” A lot of showbiz up-and-comers might coast on that last element of what is shaping up to be a multiplatform reinvention. Though Mr. Emmich was to appear on only a single episode of “30 Rock” alongside Ms. Fey (scheduled to have been broadcast Nov. 29), he has a recurring role on “Cashmere Mafia,” which is set to be shown next month on ABC and on which he plays a male nanny, or “manny.” “Cashmere Mafia” is also the much-anticipated brainchild of Darren Star, creator of “Sex and the City.” But Mr. Emmich is mostly blasé about it. “Acting is probably the thing I like to do least,” he said from the kitchen of the well-kept apartment here that he shares with his wife, Jill, an elementary school teacher, and two roommates. “I’m not that comfortable with it because you have the least control. I’d rather be the director, the person who’s guiding it.” That said, he feels lucky to be acting at all. In 1997, as an 18-year-old freshman at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, Mr. Emmich walked into the profession by chance. “I was doing a summer job at a bookstore, and the owner’s son was an actor,” he said. The owner, impressed by how much money her son was making, suggested: “‘You should try acting. You should meet his manager.’ “So I just went,” said Mr. Emmich, who grew up in Manalapan and graduated from Manalapan High School. That introduction led to commercial work — he appeared on a “Got Milk?” spot and one for AT&T Wireless — and eventually to bit parts on TV shows including “Third Watch” and “Ed.” “When all my friends in college were waiting tables, I was getting residual checks,” he said. “So many people want to do it, I feel almost guilty about it. I never cared about it so much. It’s just been kind of a side job.” Music, though, has always meant more. When Mr. Emmich graduated from Rutgers with a liberal arts degree in 2001, he was still writing songs as feverishly as he did when he was a 15-year-old, when he first “caught a buzz” off the process, he said. By 2003, Epic had discovered him; a year later he was performing with well-known acts including Dashboard Confessional and Gavin McGraw. Then came the struggles that led to the break. The label “kept saying: ‘You need a hit. We need to go to radio with a hit,’” he said. (A spokeswoman for Epic said the company did not wish to comment on its contract with Mr. Emmich.) “I felt like a failure in a way,” he said. “I felt like, ‘Why couldn’t it work?’ Now I realize the music industry is like life. It’s completely subjective.” The good news, he said, is that he has fully rediscovered himself artistically. “Now I purposely don’t have any consideration for what’s commercial. I don’t compromise.” The challenges of his acting career are more mundane. “I have this sweaty-hand problem, and I was so nervous about this ‘Cashmere Mafia’ thing with Lucy Liu — we have a big makeout scene — that I kept apologizing,” he said. “I actually went to see a doctor, it’s so bad.” Ms. Liu “was really nice about it, though,” he said. “She recommended acupuncture.” | Music;New Jersey |
ny0270802 | [
"world",
"asia"
] | 2016/04/12 | Number of Tigers in the Wild Is Rising, Wildlife Groups Say | The estimated number of tigers living in the wild rose this year for the first time in more than a century, conservation organizations said. New technology, including hidden cameras, are helping to track and count the animals, which may account for some of the increase. There are now an estimated 3,890 wild tigers, mostly in Asia, up from a worldwide tiger population of 3,200 estimated in 2010, the World Wildlife Fund and Global Tiger Forum announced on Monday . Wild tigers are considered endangered and had seen shrinking numbers because of hunting, poaching and loss of habitat, such as deforestation, particularly in Sumatra, for palm oil, and paper and pulp industries, the groups said. The official count had declined every year since 1900, when tigers numbered an estimated 100,000. “For the first time after decades of constant decline, tiger numbers are on the rise,” said Marco Lambertini, director general of WWF International, in a statement. “This offers us great hope and shows that we can save species and their habitats when governments, local communities and conservationists work together.” The report was based on wild tiger data from 13 countries. It was released ahead of a major tiger conservation meeting scheduled to begin Tuesday in New Delhi, with remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India. The meeting will be the first since governments agreed at a summit in Russia in 2010 to double the wild tiger population by 2022. In the 2016 report, the countries that showed increases in their wild tiger count included India (2,226); Russia (433); Nepal (198); and Bhutan (103). The numbers are estimates. The rise is likely because some countries are adding more territory to their national surveys, and conservation efforts are likely to be paying off. Advances in technology since 2010 have also helped national surveys in some countries show an upward trend, said Ginette Hemley, the WWF senior vice president of wildlife conservation. Tiger excrement is analyzed for DNA, and cameras that are triggered by motion and planted in forests help capture images of tigers that a human tracker might not have been able to see. Their striping patterns are as unique as human fingerprints, and can therefore be used to more accurately count individual animals. “Tigers are very secretive and nocturnal animals and they are inherently hard to count,” Ms. Hemley said in a telephone interview. “The tools we are using now are more precise than they were six years ago.” “The trend is going in a good direction over all,” she said. Some of the figures that helped compose the 2016 number represent the lowest number in an estimated range, including Indonesia, with an estimated 371 tigers; Malaysia (250); Thailand (189); and Bangladesh (106). China, Vietnam and Laos showed single digit numbers. The figures include data from the International Union for Conservation of Nature, government estimates and observations by conservation groups. Myanmar did not update its estimate of tigers, which numbered 85 in 2010, so that number was not used in the 2016 report. Cambodia estimated it had no wild tigers; there has been no evidence of tigers recorded there since 2007. Ms. Hemley said Cambodia recently announced a new move to reintroduce tigers in the eastern part of the country and is negotiating to bring Bengal tigers from India, Nepal and Thailand. The conservation groups have a network that monitors the illegal wildlife trade. Between January 2000 and April 2014, the network said law enforcement officials seized 1,590 tigers that were part of the illegal trade by poachers. Tiger parts are used in traditional medicines and health treatments, particularly in China. | Tiger;Endangered Species;WWF International;Conservation of Resources;Poaching;International Union for Conservation of Nature;China;India |
ny0165142 | [
"us"
] | 2006/07/28 | Senior Official Responsible for Big Dig Project Resigns | BOSTON, July 27 — The senior official responsible for the Big Dig resigned Thursday, handing a political victory to Gov. Mitt Romney and clearing the way for the governor to have greater control over the gigantic highway project after a woman was killed when tunnel ceiling tiles crushed her car. Matthew J. Amorello, the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the Big Dig, agreed to resign hours before a hearing at which Governor Romney was expected to fire him. Mr. Romney, who for several years has sought control over the independent Turnpike Authority and called for Mr. Amorello’s resignation, had begun a process to remove him after the tunnel accident on July 10, which killed Milena Del Valle, a 38-year-old mother of three. Mr. Amorello did not arrive at the Turnpike Authority until 2002, well after the tunnel was built, but Mr. Romney said that Mr. Amorello, a former Republican state senator with no engineering credentials, was “in over his head,” had been “secretive” about sharing information with other state agencies, and had not made sure that the ceiling was adequately inspected since the tunnel opened three years ago. The resignation is another in a series of political gains that Mr. Romney, a potential 2008 Republican presidential candidate, has made since the tunnel accident. Two weeks ago, he persuaded the Democratic-controlled legislature to give him — instead of Mr. Amorello — control over inspecting the problems in the Big Dig and deciding when the affected tunnels, which have been closed since the accident, could be safely reopened. He has held many news conferences on the status of the tunnels, using maps and hand-drawn diagrams, demonstrating an engaged grasp of the concrete panels, bolts and metal hangers that make up the ceiling. “Business as usual at the Turnpike Authority had to change,” Mr. Romney said Thursday at a news conference, describing his plan to make his secretary of transportation the likely Turnpike Authority chairman and to install an executive director with engineering and construction credentials. “Patronage will be replaced by professionalism. Secrecy will be replaced by openness.” Mr. Amorello, 48, will step down on Aug. 15, but his severance package will allow him to receive his $223,000 annual salary and health benefits for the next six months. He had previously refused to resign. “I have stated to all of you that I would not resign because I didn’t think it would fix anything or magically make all of the issues with the Big Dig go away,” he said at a news conference on Thursday. “I still don’t think it will. But going into a hearing with a foregone conclusion makes no sense for me, my family, any of those who have taken part in this process, or the public.” Mr. Amorello defended his record, saying he inherited many problems when he took over the Big Dig, a $14.6 billion project plagued by leaks, mismanagement, cost overruns and other problems. “I knew when I took this job that the public confidence had been badly shaken, if not totally gone,” he said. “I have tried to overcome that image.” Mr. Amorello held his news conference in a section of the North End of Boston that until recently was shadowed by the hulking elevated highway that the Big Dig project buried. “Now we’re surrounded by shrubs and trees,” he said. Since the accident in the tunnel known as the I-90 connector, which links the turnpike and Interstate 93 with the Ted Williams Tunnel leading to the airport, inspectors have focused on the way the three-ton ceiling panels were attached using bolts inserted into holes in the concrete roof that were filled with epoxy glue. Inspections have found scores of loose bolts in the connector tunnel, and a handful in the Ted Williams Tunnel. Mr. Romney has said that the fastening system will be reinforced before those tunnels reopen. He said inspectors were also concerned about large fans in the tunnels that are also held up with bolts. Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, who is conducting a criminal investigation, has said documents indicate some people involved in the project questioned in 1999 whether bolts and epoxy could hold such heavy panels. On Thursday, Mr. Reilly said it was “very clear these problems were brought to the attention of the people who were on the field level and certainly had a level of responsibility.’’ In addition, Representative Stephen F. Lynch, a Boston Democrat, said that investigators for the National Transportation Safety Board had told members of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation that they were considering several potential causes, confirming a report in The Boston Globe. Mr. Lynch and an aide to another member of the delegation said Thursday that investigators were considering whether epoxy was stored at temperatures so cold it might have damaged its effectiveness, whether vibration from blasting at a nearby construction project helped shake bolts loose, whether substandard epoxy or improper drilling equipment were used, or whether workers did not puncture holes correctly and filled them with too much or too little epoxy. Mr. Lynch also said investigators have ruled out faulty concrete as a cause. “These bolts had pulled out cleanly without pulling out any concrete with it,” said Mr. Lynch, a former iron worker. “It would appear they had not bonded properly in some cases. In other cases, when they tested the bolts, they didn’t withstand the design strength.” He said, in some cases, “they were designed to hold 30,000 pounds per square inch, yet we had some bolts failing at 1,300.” | Amorello Matthew J;Bridges and Tunnels;Boston (Mass);Accidents and Safety;Romney Mitt;Suspensions Dismissals and Resignations;Massachusetts Turnpike Authority |
ny0247542 | [
"business"
] | 2011/05/29 | P90X’s Campaign to Conquer Living Rooms | SANTA MONICA, Calif. IT’S 3 a.m., and Tony Horton is talking to you, couch potato. “Get absolutely ripped in 90 days!” Viewer, check out those abs, those pecs, those glutes. “Guaranteed or your money back!” This man is 52 years old — and probably buffer than you’ll ever be. “All for three easy payments of $39.95!” On televisions across America, Tony Horton is selling a burning-sweat vision of physical fitness, and these days, a lot of people are buying. He is the pitchman and wise-cracking star of a brutal, make-it-stop workout called P90X, and he has won converts from Hollywood to Capitol Hill. The singer Sheryl Crow, the sportscaster Erin Andrews, the former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, Representative Paul Ryan and a dozen or more of his Congressional colleagues, and the list goes on and on. P90X fans swear by the workout, a mix of jumping, yoga , martial arts and strength training that, in fact, isn’t all that revolutionary. But the secret of P90X’s success is the marketing: Mr. Horton and his business partners say they have built a $400-million-a-year empire on what, to many, might seem like a foundation of schlock: TV infomercials. But wait, there’s more: through these infomercials, P90X has grown into a major player in exercise DVDs, one of the few growth spots in an otherwise shrinking DVD market. Beachbody, the Santa Monica company behind P90X, has expanded into workout DVDs and infomercials tailored to particular audiences. Its Body Gospel, for instance, is aimed at Christians. There is also Tony & the Folks for seniors and TurboFire for women. On top of that is a range of supplements and fitness gear. Mr. Horton may be the face (and biceps) of P90X, but the man behind the curtain is Carl Daikeler, who has been plying the infomercial trade since the 1980s. His first production was for an industry that isn’t exactly known for its quads: accounting. Later, he produced infomercials for all kinds of pitches, be they dating services or eight-minute abdominal workouts. His breakout idea was to create a workout program that was so hard that he dared TV viewers to try it. In 2002, he and his business partner, Jon Congdon, took that pitch to Mr. Horton, who had starred in an exercise video called Power 90. The result, released in 2005, was P90X — X for “extreme.” The early P90X infomercials bombed. But that changed when, at Mr. Daikeler’s urging, customers like “Dallas C.” and “Kristy M.” began sending in before-and-after pictures , now featured on the company’s infomercials and Web site. More than three million copies have been sold since then, with sales increasing every year through 2010 (they are currently running even with last year), company officials said. Now Mr. Daikeler, 47, wants to more than double his annual sales to $1 billion. To do so, he will have to move beyond the buff clientele who have embraced P90X to an even bigger market: Americans who are overweight or nowhere near as fit as they need to be to keep up with P90X. That, of course, is a goal that has eluded fitness gurus — not to mention public health officials — for years. “Whoever succeeds at making the living room an effective place to get fit is going to be a billionaire,” Mr. Daikeler says. INFOMERCIALS have been around almost as long as TV. But the genre really took off in the 1970s and ’80s, with such wonders as the Ginsu, the kitchen knife that was shown samurai-ing its way through soda cans and leather shoes. Health and fitness have long been goldmines in this field. Richard Simmons sweated to the oldies. Suzanne Somers extolled the virtues of the ThighMaster. And Jack LaLanne urged viewers to “unlock the power of fresh-squeezed juice” with the Power Juicer. But P90X has achieved blockbuster status with a new approach. Its infomercials are shot in a more documentary style. They feature testimonials from P90X converts, interviews with Mr. Horton and scenes from the workouts. Old infomercial lines like “How much would you pay for all this?” are not part of the pitch. Still, P90X is walking a well-trodden path. At-home workout videos took off in 1982, with Jane Fonda introducing aerobics to millions. In the years since, celebrities, models and personal trainers have crowded in. Claudia Schiffer has her “Perfectly Fit Buns.” George Foreman wants you to “Walk It Off With George.” Zsa Zsa Gabor tells her customers, “It’s Simple, Darling.” Many of these workout fads faded fast. A few have captured the zeitgeist, like Billy Blanks’s “Tae Bo” workout in 1999 and, more recently, videos by Jillian Michaels from “The Biggest Loser,” whose “30-Day Shred” DVD is a bestseller. Indeed, sales of fitness DVDs are growing by roughly 20 percent a year, even as overall DVD sales decline, according to the Nielsen Company. Billy Law, director of home entertainment measurement for Nielsen, attributes the increase to shows like “The Biggest Loser” and “Dancing With the Stars.” In 2010, videos from Ms. Michaels and “The Biggest Loser” accounted for seven of the 10 best-selling exercise videos, Mr. Law says. Nielsen tracks sales at most major retailers but doesn’t capture sales of P90X, because P90X is sold only via the Beachbody Web site and over the phone. Harold W. Kohl, a professor of epidemiology and kinesiology at the University of Texas in Austin, says such at-home programs probably help people who stick to them. But he suspects these DVDs are more valuable to the people who sell them. “The ideal that is being conveyed in these tapes is not attainable for many, many people,” Mr. Kohl says. “So it very quickly goes into the dustbin with the exercise equipment in the corner.” So does P90X really work? It’s certainly a tough program. You’re supposed to work out six days a week and follow a standard cut-the-carbs-and-junk diet, which may be harder than the workouts themselves. Congressman Jeff Flake, Republican of Arizona, said that he had been doing P90X for several years with colleagues and that it was tough to cheat with many people around. “It works, I’ll tell you that,” he said, but added that he was not ready to display before-and-after photos. The guiding principle is to mix up routines and “confuse” the muscles so as to avoid hitting a plateau. So some days are devoted to dumbbells or resistance bands, in addition to old-fashioned push-ups and pull-ups. Other days are reserved for yoga or cardiovascular workouts that involve a lot of jumping and squats. But Robert Marting, a personal trainer who sells his own exercise videos, says that “muscle confusion” is a time-tested principle of bodybuilding, and that the idea has been around since the early days of Joe Weider, a creator of the Mr. Olympia contest. Beachbody “kindly borrowed the principle and just retermed it as a training secret,” he says. True enough, Mr. Daikeler says. “Trainers love to give negative reviews of P90X, saying it’s not that special,” he said. “They are right. It’s not that special.” Nonetheless, Mr. Daikeler says Beachbody has managed to package the concept into an entertaining and effective plan that leads to at-home success in — you guessed it — 90 days. Says Mr. Horton: “I never said I reinvented the wheel. I just made the wheel faster, better.” TONY HORTON, with nary an ounce of fat on him, sits on a leather couch in his Spanish-style house in Santa Monica. He is wearing a pair of shorts, slip-on Chuck Taylors and a U.S. Navy golf shirt that shows off the veins on his well-pumped arms. The man sure looks fit. He can do 100 push-ups and 35 pull-ups without stopping. He can climb a 25-foot rope hand over hand — upside down. “If I don’t look a certain way, I’m just another salesman,” Mr. Horton says. How he got fit and then rich is a classic Charles Atlas story. Growing up in Trumbull, Conn., he was, by his own account, a “quintessential 98-pound weakling.” He also had a speech impediment. It wasn’t until he got to the University of Rhode Island that Mr. Horton discovered fitness. He took a weightlifting class, thinking it was an easy A. He ended up loving it and getting “crazy fit.” “It was a brand new feeling,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It changed me mentally and emotionally.” Then one summer he and a friend set out to drive across the country. His $400 got him as far as Colorado Springs. So he dusted off an R-rated pantomime routine that he had perfected in college and eventually made enough money to reach California. Mr. Horton ended up staying in California, waiting tables, painting houses and taking a job as a gofer at 20th Century Fox. He joined a gym to meet women. When a Fox executive asked him for training tips, Mr. Horton became his personal trainer. He worked out of his garage and charged $20 a lesson. One client led to another. Eventually Mr. Horton was recommended to Tom Petty, who wanted to get in shape for a concert tour. It wasn’t long before he was making a good living training the likes of Billy Idol and Annie Lennox. “I’m sitting there with the lead singer of the Eurythmics, eating fruit,” Mr. Horton recalls. “It was pretty cool.” Ms. Lennox could not be reached. In his free time, Mr. Horton got bit parts in a few movies, tried stand-up comedy and became a pitchman for NordicTrack. He met Mr. Daikeler through a mutual friend and ended up acting in a play, “Pizza Man,” with Mr. Daikeler’s first wife. Mr. Daikeler’s first video starring Mr. Horton, in 1999, was called “Great Body Guaranteed.” Mr. Horton was paid $2,000. The video did well enough that a group of investors put up money for another video, “Power 90,” an unexpected success and the precursor to P90X. These days, Mr. Horton spends his time promoting his videos — he recently appeared on the “Today” show and QVC — and conducting workouts for fans, including members of Congress and American soldiers overseas. With his lawyer and assistants, Mr. Horton also is trying to figure out how to extend his personal brand. He has a new book, “ Bring It !: The Revolutionary Fitness Plan for All Levels That Burns Fat, Builds Muscle, and Shreds Inches.” He is discussing other business ventures, including a line of sunglasses and workout clothes, a reality TV show and a syndicated radio show. Mr. Horton, by all accounts, practices what he preaches. He and his girlfriend, Shawna Brannon, have a home with Hollywood views, where Mr. Horton works out in a tricked-out gym. He rarely eats meat or drinks liquor or coffee. “When I stop eating broccoli, I don’t get headaches,” he said of his aversion to coffee. “If I’m going to cheat, it’s going to be chocolate.” AT Beachbody’s sleek offices on the edge of Santa Monica, Mr. Daikeler is also trying to figure out ways to extend his company’s brand. Beachbody has continued to produce videos aimed at the hard-body crowd. A current hit is “Insanity.” A follow-up to P90X will be released soon. He is also looking to extend Beachbody’s name to beauty and health products, though he insists he will not overreach. “We are not going to do the Beachbody deep fryer or car wax,” Mr. Daikeler says. But finding a way to expand his audience, particularly those not prone to exercise, has proved more challenging. Mr. Daikeler recently convened a meeting at Beachbody to discuss ways to improve sales for Body Gospel, the workout aimed at Christians. The $80 price tag seemed high, and the diet was proving to be a challenge for budget-conscious consumers. Another problem: conservative Christians were reluctant to provide before-and-after photos, an important ingredient in the Beachbody formula. The pictures typically feature men with their shirts off and women in bathing suits or workout clothes. The group batted around ideas for how to lower the price, by offering fewer DVDs, perhaps, or taking out the resistance bands that are normally included. As for the problem of getting Body Gospel’s customers to provide testimonials, Beachbody’s employees suggested allowing written testimonials or “lifestyle photos” with shirts on. Mr. Daikeler says that if customers aren’t willing to peel off their shirts, his product simply isn’t compelling enough. “The needle moves on undeniable proof,” he says. “I want to know: did their body change? That’s what we have to solve.” | Horton Tony;Exercise;P90X;Daikeler Carl;Beachbody |
ny0050968 | [
"business",
"international"
] | 2014/10/21 | Many Hope Joko Widodo, Indonesia’s New Leader, Will Raise Country’s Regional Stature | JAKARTA — In his previous life as a small-time furniture exporter and exhibitor, Joko Widodo was used to erecting stages. But in early November, just days after being sworn in as the president of Indonesia, he will now be sharing a stage with the world’s most powerful leaders. Between Nov. 10 and Nov. 16, Mr. Joko will, in succession, attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting in Beijing; the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) leaders’ meeting and the East Asia Summit, both being held in Naypyidaw, Myanmar; and a meeting of G-20 leaders in Brisbane, Australia. Mr. Joko, who was sworn in as president on Monday, comes into office with no foreign policy experience, and his introduction into international affairs will be, according to analysts, a trial by fire. “The most important thing is meeting these leaders face to face,” Mr. Joko said in an interview shortly before his inauguration, “and develop those relationships.” That may be easier said than done, given that he doesn’t have much in common with his counterparts. Born in a slum in the province of Central Java, Mr. Joko, 53, a former carpenter, is the first Indonesian president not to come from the country’s political elite or be an army general. He is expected to have bilateral meetings during the conferences with, among others, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who is a former K.G.B. officer, and Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, the prime minister of Thailand, who carried out a military coup there last May. The biggest thing Mr. Joko has in common with President Barack Obama, whom his aides said he is scheduled to meet one-on-one in Beijing, is that they both have lived in Indonesia. Tall, thin and unassuming, Mr. Joko himself has joked that his face looks more like that of a village street-food vendor than of a head of state. But behind it lies a sharp intellect and kinetic energy to get things done. As governor of Jakarta, he was mobbed by well-wishers during his daily walking tours through traditional markets and slum areas, where he would talk about bread-and-butter issues such as health care, education and traffic. Mr. Joko’s unusual style and equally unusual nickname (“Jokowi”), coupled with his unlikely ascension to the Indonesian presidency, garnered heavy international media attention and piqued the interest of foreign leaders. “It will be interesting to see Jokowi’s personal chemistry with Obama and other leaders, and how he performs,” said Matthew P. Goodman, senior adviser for Asian economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, who served as the Obama administration’s White House coordinator for APEC and the East Asia Summit in 2011. “Other leaders will be looking at how he performs, with a neutral eye,” he said. Mr. Joko came into office with pressing domestic concerns, in particular a hostile group of opposition parties in Indonesia’s House of Representatives that are controlled by Prabowo Subianto, a former army general who lost to him in the country’s July 9 presidential election. “He would have come to these meetings as a star, but he’s domestically distracted,” said Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean diplomat and the current dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. “What it does is affect the attention you pay to events, and whether you have a free hand to launch initiatives,” Mr. Mahbubani said, adding that Mr. Joko should remain low-key at the summits and treat them as a learning experience. Others are looking for Mr. Joko to immediately play a visible role on the international stage, given that Indonesia is the world’s fourth-most populous country, its largest Muslim-majority state and a G-20 member. It also lies astride the world’s busiest shipping lane in the Strait of Malacca. Indonesia also has domestic problems with a global impact, including climate change due to deforestation, terrorism and human trafficking. “He has an opportunity to shine,” said Alexander Feldman, president and chief executive of the U.S.-Asean Business Council. “The world is curious about Jokowi and what he is going to focus on. And I think that world leaders want to court him.” Since its independence from Dutch colonial rule in the 1940s, Indonesia has maintained a feel-good foreign policy that Mr. Joko’s predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, described as “a million friends and zero enemies.” The country’s transition to democracy, which began in 1999, and its growing economic importance have placed it in the same conversation as Asia’s two largest emerging economies: China and India. Mr. Yudhoyono worked to further project both Indonesia’s and his own influence on the global stage, with issues such as climate change and Islamic extremism, with mostly indifferent results. “Indonesia at one point tried to mediate on the Korean Peninsula, and that didn’t work out very well,” said Ian Storey, a senior fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. Analysts and Mr. Joko’s advisers said he would be less ambitious and instead try to project Indonesia’s influence through Asean, its traditional foreign policy base. “Indonesia is best described as a regional power with global concerns — it’s not China or India,” said Amitav Acharya, a professor at American University in Washington and author of “Indonesia Matters: Asia’s Emerging Democratic Power.” “But by playing the role of a regional mediator and helping to keep Asean together, Indonesia helps to contribute to stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the world,” he said, “since it is in the Asia-Pacific that we have all the major powers — the U.S., China, Japan and India — whose relationships will be key to global stability.” Rizal Sukma, an adviser to Mr. Joko, said the president’s foreign policy would be directed more by business and economic concerns than geopolitical ones. Mr. Rizal said Indonesia’s geographical location gives it the ability, as an archipelago state, to practice “maritime diplomacy.” “You can’t eat an international image,” he said. “The key focus is to use diplomacy for economic benefit. We have a strategic partnership with India, but the relationship has not reached half its potential.” | Jakarta;Indonesia;Joko Widodo |
ny0127501 | [
"business"
] | 2012/01/30 | Treasury Auctions Set for This Week | The Treasury’s schedule of financing this week includes Monday’s regular weekly auction of new three- and six-month bills and an auction of four-week bills on Tuesday. At the close of the New York cash market on Friday, the rate on the outstanding three-month bill was 0.06 percent. The rate on the six-month issue was 0.08 percent, and the rate on the four-week issue was 0.04 percent. The following tax-exempt fixed-income issues are scheduled for pricing this week: MONDAY Florida, $286.4 million of general obligation bonds. Competitive. TUESDAY Utah, $52 million of sales tax revenue bonds. Competitive. Washington State, $959.2 million of general obligation bonds. Competitive. WEDNESDAY Virginia Transportation Board, $84.6 million of revenue bonds. Competitive. ONE DAY DURING THE WEEK California Department of Veterans Affairs, $150.4 million of home purchase revenue bonds. J. P. Morgan Securities. California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank, $69.7 million of refinancing revenue. Morgan Stanley. Colorado, $94.8 million of general obligation refinancing bonds. Stifel, Nicolaus. Georgia Tech Athletic Association, $135 million of debt securities. Bank of America. Illinois Finance Authority, $51 million of health care network revenue bonds. Citigroup Global Markets. Massachusetts State College Building Authority, $195 million of debt securities. Bank of America. Nebraska Public Power District, $234.5 million of general revenue bonds. J. P. Morgan Securities. New York Dormitory Authority, $91.7 million of revenue bonds. Goldman Sachs. Pittsburgh, Pa., $114.3 million of general obligation bonds. Assured Quality Municipal. Plano, Tex., Independent School District, $50 million of debt securities. Bank of America. Pueblo County, Colo., $55 million of certificates of participation. Wells Fargo Securities. Puerto Rico Development Bank, $500 million of senior taxable notes. J. P. Morgan Securities. University of Texas, $200 million of college system revenue refinancing bonds. Barclays Capital. Utah Water District, $125 million of water revenue refinancing bonds. Wells Fargo Securities. Waco, Tex., $120 million of Baylor University revenue bonds. Barclays Capital. | Stocks and Bonds;Auctions |
ny0224045 | [
"world",
"asia"
] | 2010/11/24 | North Korea Relies on China but Resists Advice | BEIJING — North Korea ’s unending appetite for confrontation has left many wondering what its bottom line is, none more so than its supposed patron and big brother, China . Despite its impoverishment and heavy dependence on Chinese aid and support, North Korea seems to regularly defy every Chinese diplomatic initiative, from Beijing’s work to keep the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free to its efforts to prevent a violent confrontation. China’s influence is rising steadily around the world. But the problem of how to manage North Korea, its Communist neighbor and onetime ally, appears to befuddle China’s leaders, who stumble from indulging the North to sending occasional signals of pique, all without persuading the country to adopt a path toward greater openness or stability. “At the moment China has limited influence,” said Cai Jian, a professor of Korean studies at Fudan University. “On one hand it’s unhappy with North Korean actions and its provocative behavior, but on the other hand it still has to support North Korea.” The support continues because China fears that the vacuum created by a sudden collapse there would open the door to rule by South Korea, “and that will put an American military alliance on the doorstep of China.” Mr. Cai said that during a recent trip to China, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-il, was told by the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, that they should communicate better so that China would not be surprised by its behavior. This was followed by a warning given by one of China’s senior leaders, Zhou Yongkang, who made a much publicized trip to North Korea last month. Mr. Zhou reportedly told Mr. Kim that China would support his son’s succession but North Korea would have to take substantive steps to open up its economy, including rejoining diplomatic efforts, to relieve the external economic pressures on it. None of the top nine leaders in China — the Standing Committee of the Politburo — have close ties to North Korea. And China has little interest in seeing a Communist political dynasty take hold. Despite its efforts to accommodate North Korea’s idiosyncratic political system, China was apparently caught off guard by the recent developments. The news that North Korea had built a sophisticated uranium enrichment plant was received with incredulity by Chinese media outlets. The normally nationalistic Global Times cited experts who cast doubt on China’s diplomatic strategy and said that North Korea had been “purposefully hard-line.” The North Korean shelling of a South Korean island seemed to have been even more of a shock. On Tuesday, Chinese officials implied that they had no advance knowledge at all and still had no contact. At a press briefing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said China needed to verify media reports. China also called on all sides to return to “six-party talks” between the main countries involved in the region. But almost no Chinese analyst seems to believe that this will result in anything until North Korea shows an eagerness to negotiate rather than make demands — the current one seeming to be that the world recognize it as a full nuclear power with no strings attached. Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday evening, the United States special envoy to North Korea, Stephen W. Bosworth, also called for a return to the six-nation talks and said he had “very useful” talks with Chinese officials. The two sides, he said, agreed on the need for multilateralism. But during previous negotiations, North Korea used the time to further develop its nuclear capacity, even though this was against China’s public position. China has also repeatedly called for calm and the avoidance of armed confrontation, but the two Koreas are now shelling each other. This could strengthen the hand of critics of North Korea within China, some of whom are geographically closest to the border. Many leaders in northeastern China are frustrated over the steady flow of refugees escaping poverty. Others are disappointed that North Korea has dashed decades of hopes for cross-border trade or special economic zones along the border. The question many have is whether China will do more than grumble. On his China trip, Mr. Kim was probably trying to shore up his support in Beijing for his son and in preparation for his current provocations. Many times in the past, that sort of lobbying worked and China chose to ignore the North’s provocations. In 2006, for example, China had almost no warning of a North Korean missile test, leading Beijing to call it “brazen” — fighting words compared with China’s normal response. That led to limited sanctions. The question now is how close China is again to giving up on subtle influence. “No matter whether it be within the party, among the people, or even within the military, China has grown increasingly sick and tired of North Korea’s rogue politics,” said a senior Chinese media commentator, who asked not to be named because of the delicacy of the issue. “But strategically, China’s kidnapped by it.” | China;North Korea;International Relations |
ny0253731 | [
"technology",
"personaltech"
] | 2011/10/13 | Kohler’s Numi Is Everything One Wants in a Toilet, and a Lot More | Much has been written about the so-called war for the living room, that grand contest among tech, cable and media companies to dominate our leisure time through the television shows we watch and the music we listen to . But alongside that campaign is a side battle: the war for the bathroom. Many technological advances in that tiled arena have happened in commercial restrooms — hands-free faucets and toilets and cyclonic hand dryers — but the battle is now coming to the American home. Earlier this year, the latest salvo was fired by the venerable bath fixtures manufacturer Kohler. It produced a new toilet, the Numi . The Numi features a touch-screen remote control. The Numi washes and dries its user. The Numi costs $6,400, or 81 times the price of the basic throne at Home Depot. Such extravagance may put the Numi within reach of only plutocrats and Pentagon purchasing managers, but widespread sales are not Kohler’s goal. The Numi serves two purposes for its manufacturer. First, it brings attention to the toilet market, not generally a closely watched industry. Second, it helps Kohler compete with its archrival, the Japanese bath fixture maker Toto , which has been making tricked-out toilets under the Neorest brand for some time. But why would anyone want a high-tech, $6,400 toilet? To try to answer that question, I borrowed a Numi for a month and used it in my home. (Kohler installed it for a test run and then removed it several weeks later.) And one thing I learned is this: It is possible to acclimate to such luxury. Anyone who has ever owned a car with a backup camera or heated seats knows what this means. Features that initially seem unnecessary can become something you cannot do without, even in a bathroom. The most striking feature of the Numi is what you don’t get: any visible levers or buttons. All the Numi controls are handled through a touch screen remote control that is somewhat larger than an iPod Touch. That remote controls flushing, cleaning, drying, music, heating and other settings and preferences; combinations of preferences can be stored in user profiles for different family members. When not in use, the remote docks in a magnetic charging cradle that can be mounted on the wall. There are backup buttons at the rear of the toilet just in case the remote is not working. Then there’s the Numi’s design. The toilet, when closed, is a large white rhombus that sits in your bathroom. It does not so much say “toilet” as much as “giant building block from Lego: the Marcel Breuer Collection.” The rear panels are translucent, and LED lights gently illuminate the toilet when the Numi’s sensor determines that the room has gone dark. Another LED is mounted in the bowl itself for additional nighttime guidance; both lights’ intensity can be adjusted with the remote control. Walk up to the Numi, and location sensors will detect your presence and cause the toilet’s lid to rise, revealing the rectangular-on-the-outside, round-where-it-counts seat. If you are a man standing in front of the toilet, you will notice a blue beam of light projected on the right-side floor, adjacent to the toilet. Place your foot in the path of that beam and the toilet seat will rise; break the beam again and the toilet will flush and the seat will lower itself. That seat, naturally, is heated, and the temperature can be adjusted from the remote. If desired, the Numi can also blow heated air from its base, warming your feet on chillier mornings. The Numi has what is referred to in the industry as “bidet features”: it can wash and dry its user (there are modes for women and men). Both functions are accomplished via a wand that extends from under the seat that can spray water or blow air. Pressure and temperature are adjustable, as is the spray pattern, which can go from a steady blast to an oscillating pattern that can only be described as invigorating. The Numi also has not one but two flushing modes, both of which are more efficient than current federal flushing standards. “Flush-eco” resembles a standard flush, but only uses six-tenths of a gallon of water (the maximum allowed in the United States is 1.6 gallons per flush). “Flush-full” is a two-stage flush, but it still only uses 1.3 gallons each time. These flushing options can be set to take place automatically. The Numi knows if you’ve been sitting or standing, and can automatically activate full or eco flushes when you leave the toilet. It will also automatically lower the seat and close the lid when you are away — perhaps saving some marriages. An FM radio and stereo speakers are also built in. Up to three presets can be stored on the remote, which has settings for bass, treble and balance (you can also connect an MP3 player to listen to your own music). The audio quality was quite good, considering that you are listening to a toilet. All of this had its charms. Still, there is the problem of technological overkill. When you add a computer to something, you are also adding the kinds of problems computers have. One day I approached the Numi only to discover that its remote had frozen. After consulting the 43-page user manual, I realized that it had come to this: I had to reboot the toilet. With the cunning use of a ballpoint pen, I was able to poke a small hole on the back of the remote to begin the process. It felt exactly as if I were working on a wireless router. Some of the features were just irritating. For example, when the toilet was first activated and plugged in (yes, you’ll need an electrician), I discovered that it played a short tune (think starting up a Windows PC) every time the lid opened. Every time. I quickly disabled that feature. And even the raising and lowering of the lid has a little more pomp and circumstance than is required. While it’s nice to have the Numi do it for you, you would do a faster job yourself. Furthermore, the proximity sensors (at least in my bathroom, which I’m sure is smaller than the rooms most Numis are installed in) are too sensitive. The Numi was like an eager cocker spaniel, raising its lid anytime I came anywhere near it. (“Not now, Numi!”) In the end, perhaps the Numi’s greatest flaw is this: It has a panoply of logical and imaginative features, but it also assumes that you have all the time in the world to play with them. On rare occasions, that may be true, but for most of us, most of the time, the bathroom is a waypoint, not a destination. | Bathrooms and Toilets;Remote Control Systems;Kohler;Sensors |
ny0138297 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2008/05/15 | Firefighter Who Drove Drunk and Killed Officer Is Found Guilty | A volunteer firefighter from New Jersey who struck and killed an off-duty New York City police officer with his sport utility vehicle was found guilty of second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday in State Supreme Court. The firefighter, Robert Derian, 25, of Saddle River, was also found guilty on four lesser charges. Prosecutors said that Mr. Derian’s blood-alcohol level was above the legal limit for driving at the time of the accident in August 2006. They accused Mr. Derian of road rage, saying an argument had seemingly caused him to go after Eric Concepcion, 29, the officer who was killed as he rode his motorcycle on the Henry Hudson Parkway. Mr. Derian’s lawyers had argued that the crash was an accident. Mr. Derian will be sentenced on May 28. He faces up to 15 years in prison. “It was a long time coming,” Mr. Concepcion’s cousin Lucria Ortiz, 32, said in court. “The family is definitely happy with the verdict.” Hours before Mr. Derian was found guilty, another man was sentenced for killing a police officer while driving drunk. The man, Kevin Casado, received two to six years in prison for hitting the idling motorcycle of Officer Alexander Felix with his minivan. Mr. Casado pleaded guilty in March to vehicular manslaughter in the accident, which happened in Inwood last July. | Accidents and Safety;Drunken and Reckless Driving;Decisions and Verdicts;New York City |
ny0164518 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2006/10/03 | Albany: Censure Recommended for City Judge | The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct concluded yesterday that William A. Carter, the Albany City Court judge who recently sentenced State Senator Ada L. Smith to anger management classes, should be censured over two courtroom incidents. According to the commission’s report, in 2004, the judge left the bench, “threw off his glasses and judicial robes” and confronted a defendant who had denounced the court proceedings, asking, “You want a piece of me?” Last year, the judge responded to a defendant’s obscene gesture by suggesting that a court officer “thump” him, the report said. The commission overruled the recommendation of its staff to remove Judge Carter, instead voting for censure and letting him keep his job. The Court of Appeals will review the decision before a final ruling from the commission. Ada Smith will not be so lucky, having lost in the recent Democratic primary. Earlier this year, after an aide accused Ms. Smith of throwing hot coffee in her face, Judge Carter fined Ms. Smith and ordered her to take anger management classes. | Judges;Courts;New York State |
ny0189238 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2009/05/20 | Call to End Public Financing for Silverstein at Ground Zero | Some of the city’s largest civic groups jumped into the simmering dispute at ground zero on Tuesday, saying that government should improve transportation networks downtown and not put any more money into the development of speculative office towers on the 16-acre site. Their call addresses an impasse between the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the World Trade Center site, and the developer, Larry A. Silverstein, who is to build three skyscrapers there. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has asked that the governors of New York and New Jersey, the authority and Mr. Silverstein meet with him at Gracie Mansion on Thursday to resolve the latest dispute in the long and tortured effort to rebuild the trade center. Seven civic groups, including the Regional Plan Association , the Fiscal Policy Institute and the Tri-State Transportation Campaign , called on the mayor and the governors to ensure “that no additional public funds are used to subsidize office construction on the site.” The funds are needed more, the groups said, for the $3.2 billion transportation hub there and a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson River. “These investments will support new commercial activity,” the civic groups said in a letter to the officials, “but it is the responsibility of the private sector to absorb the risk of new construction.” Unable to obtain financing for the towers, Mr. Silverstein has asked the Port Authority to guarantee more than $3 billion in loans he needs to erect at least two of the towers along Church Street between Vesey and Liberty Streets. The authority, which is already building a large tower at the northwest corner of the site, balked. At a time when office rents are falling and vacancies rising downtown, it did not want to become involved with more speculative office space, especially now that its own capital budget is threatened by sharply falling bridge and tunnel revenue. In a move that infuriated Mr. Silverstein, the authority offered to back only one of his towers, with about $800 million. The authority said it would help build Mr. Silverstein’s other two towers in the coming decades once demand for new office space increases, although the developer was free to move ahead at any time with private financing. Janno Lieber, who oversees the trade center project for Mr. Silverstein, said Tuesday in a statement: “If, as the Port Authority apparently believes, the New York regional economy is permanently dead and buried, it’s hard to see how they can justify huge investments in the World Trade Center PATH hub, new tunnels, and other facilities designed to serve expanded commuter populations.” Stephen Sigmund, a spokesman for the authority, countered that it made more sense for the authority to “put its limited public resources toward keeping the memorial and the public projects moving forward,” while building the office and retail components when there is demand for new space. The two sides have not had any substantive talks in more than a month. On May 8, the speaker of the State Assembly, Sheldon Silver, whose district includes downtown, called on the authority to help Mr. Silverstein begin construction on two of his towers. But Mr. Silver also said Mr. Silverstein must invest some of his own money if he is to reap the profits from the buildings. Mayor Bloomberg immediately endorsed Mr. Silver’s initiative and asked all the parties to meet at Grace Mansion within a week, a move that took Mr. Silverstein, the authority and even Gov. David A. Paterson by surprise. Most of the participants said on Tuesday they were unsure what the meeting would achieve. Andrew Brent, a spokesman for the mayor, said, “If the stalemate between the Port Authority and Silverstein Properties ends where it’s headed — in litigation or arbitration — everyone loses,” and added, “We are convening the parties on Thursday to arrive at a path toward resolution that maintains progress on the site.” The governor wants the project to continue to make progress, said a spokeswoman, Erin Duggan, but believes that “the public should not be the ones taking on all of the risk for private development.” | World Trade Center (NYC);Office Buildings and Commercial Properties;Transit Systems;Politics and Government;New York City |
ny0141877 | [
"business"
] | 2008/11/28 | An End Run Around Realogy's Lenders | It was as badly timed a takeover as there was during the private equity boom. At the end of 2006, Apollo Management, the private equity firm headed by Leon Black, agreed to buy Realogy, a conglomerate with a number of franchised real estate businesses, among them Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, for $7 billion in cash. That was a few months after house prices peaked. By the next spring, when the deal closed, subprime mortgage lenders were starting to go broke. The great housing bubble was bursting, and that was very bad news for a company whose revenue was based on how many homes it could sell and how high the prices were. Now a struggle is emerging over how the unfortunate lenders should be treated. Realogy, under the direction of Apollo, is using a classic divide-and-conquer strategy. Bondholders are screaming that the tactics are illegal. The strategy is simple: Just tell one group of bondholders that they can move up in the capital structure (and thus be more likely to be paid if the company goes broke). But first, they have to agree to forget about collecting most of the money they are owed. They are being asked to trade in old bonds for new loans with much smaller face values. Overindebted consumers can only look on with envy, wishing they could pull off something similar, perhaps by telling one credit card company that they will pay another card company first unless the first company agrees to forgive most of what it is owed. No owner of Realogy bonds has to make the exchange, of course. But if a bondholder turns it down, and others do make the exchange, that bondholder may find that he is much farther back in line, with even less probability of being paid anything. Part of what makes the tactic irritating is that it is being planned by the people who are supposed to be at the rear of the line in case of bankruptcy — the people who own the equity. In theory, they should not get anything unless all the creditors are first paid in full. In reality, they often can get away with changing the rules. Realogy wants to make up to $650 million in debt disappear, trading $500 million of new loans for $1.15 billion of old bonds. The new loans have no guarantee of being paid off, either, but they are not only senior to the old ones, they also mature a few months earlier. There is a possibility that the bondholders who refuse the deal will receive nothing in the end. All this is possible because companies, in most cases, do not owe fiduciary duties to their bondholders, as they do to their creditors. This transaction is a contractual one, and if a tactic is allowed by the contract, the courts generally will not stop it. Realogy claims it has the approval of senior creditors to issue more debt, and says that is all that is needed. Of course, those creditors have no reason to care. Their claims will remain senior to everyone else’s. It is sort of like getting Jimmy’s permission to hit Bobby. Bobby may not think Jimmy was the right person to ask. Realogy has yet to violate the covenants on its bonds, but its business is suffering and it is reasonable to think that covenant violations are possible. Revenue so far this year is down 21 percent, and the company has not been able to cut costs that fast. Losses are rising. One part of Realogy’s business is faring well. Revenue is soaring at a subsidiary that sells foreclosed homes. It reports that in the third quarter business was up 91 percent compared with a year earlier in the Sacramento area. But that is not enough to offset the growing problems in other operations. The bonds are trading as if disaster is all but certain, all at prices under 20 cents on the dollar. Some of them are going for prices that assure a profit if the bond simply pays interest for the next 18 months before becoming totally worthless. Realogy disclosed this week that a lawyer claiming to represent owners of a majority of one class of bonds had threatened to sue, arguing the offering violated bond indentures. The company did not identify the lawyer, but one person involved in the case said Carl C. Icahn, the financier, owned the bonds. Mr. Icahn declined to comment. Realogy became an independent company in July 2006, just a few months before Apollo swooped in to buy it. It began trading when Cendant, a franchising conglomerate that had fought back from what was, before Enron, the largest accounting fraud in American history, split into four pieces. Realogy was the only one of the four that worked out for shareholders, selling to Apollo for 19 percent more than the shares were worth just after the split-up. The other three — PHH, a mortgage services company; Wyndham Worldwide, which franchises hotel brands like Days Inn and Ramada; and Avis Budget, the car rental company — have all plunged in the recession. PHH, with a 72 percent decline, is the best performer of the three. Avis Budget, down 97 percent, is the worst. As it turned out, Cendant split up not long before bad times arrived at virtually all of its businesses. Apollo, which did not see what was coming, now wants those who lent it money to share the pain. | Realogy;Apollo Management LP;Subprime Mortgage Crisis;Mortgages |
ny0030267 | [
"sports",
"golf"
] | 2013/06/28 | Huston Leads at Senior Players Championship | John Huston shot a five-under-par 65 to take the first-round lead in the Senior Players Championship in Pittsburgh. Fred Couples, Duffy Waldorf, Fred Funk and Russ Cochran were at 66. | Players Championship;Golf;John R Huston;Fred Couples;Fred Funk;Duffy Waldorf;Russ Cochran;Senior Players Championship |
ny0019608 | [
"science"
] | 2013/07/30 | Harnessing Physics in Grand Spaces to Make Music | From the stage of the Shanghai Grand Theater in China more than a dozen strings stretch from a wooden wing out across the audience and disappear into the darkness of the upper balconies. It’s an instrument unlike anything Bach or Beethoven could have ever imagined. The entire concert hall has been recruited as an echo chamber to create a unique, ethereal sound. But this instrument has turned even grander spaces into music makers. When anchored to the Colosseum in Rome or Seattle’s Space Needle, the world’s largest string instrument is both a powerful sonic experience and an arresting visual image. But the Earth Harp, so named for its inaugural performance when it spanned a mountain valley, is not just a musical accomplishment but a great feat of engineering as well. In a phone interview last month, William Close, the inventor of the Earth Harp talked about what it takes to make beautiful music with a massive physics machine. The interview has been condensed and edited. What does the Earth Harp look like? The Earth Harp is a string instrument that uses its environment to create the instrument. So a typical scenario for the Earth Harp is that the chamber or the resonator of the instrument would rest on the stage and mount on the stage and then the strings would run out over the audience and attach into the balcony of the theater or the architecture itself. So it actually uses the architecture to create the instrument. So you have on this instrument strings that are 1,000 feet long? More? Less? With the resonating chamber and bridge resting on the stage then I’ll run a special type of wire that I have specially made, it’s a secret recipe. I run that wire out over the audience and into the architecture somewhere or into the landscape so that the strings are anywhere from roughly 100 to 1,000 feet. What is the difference in the length of the string? How does that change the sound? What’s great about the Earth Harp is it is actually based on string length. That has to do with the physics behind the way it’s played. For instance in order to receive a middle C on the Earth Harp, I need a string that’s exactly 40 feet long. So the way I do that if I have a string that’s, say, 100 feet long, is I’ll take a tuning block and mount it to the string 40 feet out from the bridge and that stops the vibration at that point. Now if I want the C below the middle C, I would actually double that. So I would put a tuning block 80 feet out, and the C below that would be 160 and so on. And how many strings do you have on it at once? Is it just four or do you have more than that? Usually it’s between 16 and 22 strings per Earth Harp. Sometimes we’ll do two on the stage depending on the scenario. Tell me a little bit about how the instrument is played. The way the Earth Harp is played is I wear gloves with violin rosin, the dust of violin rosin. I crush that up and put that on the gloves themselves. Violin rosin is a sticky substance. And then what I do is I pinch the string and run my hand along it. So I don’t pluck the string or bow it, I actually run my hand along the string. And what I’m doing is I’m actually pushing the vibration in the molecules of the string. It’s referred to as a compression wave. And it’s the same principle actually as running your finger around the edge of a wine glass. In that situation you’re actually vibrating the material itself, and that’s what’s happening with the stings of the Earth Harp. And does it matter where you’re playing them with your hands in the gloves? If you’re playing it close to the bridge or further away from the bridge do you get different notes? The way that works is that the closer to the bridge you play you actually get more of what are called harmonics, which are sort of the upper notes above the main tone. So as your hand moves closer to the bridge you still have that main tone, say it’s a C, but you hear more of the upper notes that happen above it, the upper harmonics. It’s actually really beautiful. And then as you move your hand away from the bridge, those harmonics slightly disappear. Did you set out to create the world’s largest string instrument or did it just happen? This instrument came out of a series of experiments. First I played around with a 10-foot-long string, then a 20-foot and then a 30-foot and kept on going until I actually proposed the idea of creating this giant Earth Harp to an art and science organization. I mounted a series of these resonators to one side of a valley and I ran strings 1,000 feet across to the other side. So it turned that valley into a giant harp. It was the world’s first Earth Harp. Do you think that there is a space for an even larger string instrument? Well, I find that actually once you hit roughly 700 feet the notes get pretty low and hard to hear for human ears. One of the things that’s really beautiful about the instrument is if you play one string, if the other strings are in tune, it’ll actually resonate the other strings. It’s called sympathetic vibrations. And I have some ideas where I’d like to do 1,000 of these strings and put the audience inside that and let them experience what that truly would be like, to be inside 1,000 strings. Do you know how sympathetic vibration technically works? The way I understand sympathetic vibration is that when you pluck or bow a string, or in the case of the Earth Harp you stroke the string, the vibration travels down the string and into the material that it’s attached to, the bridge. And if there are other strings attached to that material the vibration will travel into those strings. And what happens is that if those strings are tuned within the harmonic series of the note we’re playing those strings will start to vibrate as well, so that’s what occurs with sympathetic vibration. Going back to how you constructed the Earth Harp, were there any technological or engineering complications or obstacles that you had to overcome in building this harp and making it the size that it is? I’ve explored a lot of different designs for the resonating chambers and I find that the key for a good resonating chamber is to create a space or chamber that has lots of different dimensions in it because all the different notes need different lengths of dimension in order to resonate. So that’s why you see a lot of curves in resonating chambers or diagonals or triangles because it creates an area where the space is getting bigger or smaller in lots of different directions. The other key ingredient in terms of creating the Earth Harp is I really had to have a clear understanding of tension and tensions structures. So I’ve spent a lot of time on sailboats and I looked at bridges, and architecture that uses tension and really used that as my inspiration. So you had to get that right before it could even work. Did you experiment with that a bunch of times? Yeah absolutely. There’s been so much experimenting with it. One of things I find when I invent an instrument, very often it doesn’t work right away and I actually have to try different things and figure out how to get it working. And then I have to learn how to play it and that’s part of the fun too. Where have you played this instrument? What kind of structures has it been hooked up to? I’ve had the Earth Harp in many places around the world. I’ve strung it to the exterior of many buildings such as the Space Needle in Seattle, the Kennedy Center, outside the Colosseum in Rome. And then I’ve also played it in a lot of really beautiful sounding concert halls, which is one of my favorite things. Does it sound different at each different location or does what it is grounded to have little to do what it sounds like? Yes, the environment the Earth Harp is set up in definitely plays a role in how it sounds. Whether it’s the materials of the space or the openness of the space, whether it’s outside, inside, you know I’ve had it strung up to the top of a mountain before and the mountain had caves actually in it up at the top, and you can hear the strings from within the caves. So every space is different and every place is a bit of an experiment. What’s the next step for the Earth Harp and your performances with it? I have a team called the Earth Harp collective. It’s a team of musicians that I work with and we use the Earth Harp and a number of my other invented instruments, as well as violin and voice and acoustic and classical guitar and percussion. The music is really beautiful. And then I’m very interested in developing this show concept “1,000 strings,” which is as I was mentioning before the idea of actually putting the audience in a theater that has 1,000 of these Earth Harp strings going everywhere and letting people experience that. I think it would be spectacular. I really hope I get the chance to do it. | William Close;Musical instrument;Music;Physics |
ny0170826 | [
"business"
] | 2007/11/03 | Chevron Profit Plummets 26% as Gas Margins Decline | The Chevron Corporation said yesterday that its third-quarter earnings fell 26 percent, missing analysts’ estimates, on sharply lower profits from gasoline production. Margins to produce gasoline and other refined products fell during the quarter as prices for the fuel failed to keep pace with surging crude oil prices, dragging down earnings across the industry. Chevron said its net income fell to $3.72 billion, or $1.75 a share, from $5.02 billion, or $2.29 a share, in the period a year earlier. Excluding about $400 million for one-time items, it posted earnings of about $1.94 a share, short of the $2.07 expected by analysts. Revenue in the quarter rose to $55.17 billion from $54.21 billion. Chevron’s chief executive, David J. O’Reilly, said in a statement that the company had difficulty recovering its higher fuel costs because the market in the United States was well-supplied with gasoline. Earnings at the company’s refining and marketing segment fell 74 percent, to $377 million, including a loss of $110 million from its refining and marketing operations in the United States. Chevron’s refineries in the United States processed 168,000 fewer barrels of oil a day than last year, partly as a result of a fire at its Pascagoula, Miss., refinery in August and a planned shutdown at its refinery in El Segundo, Calif. Profit from its exploration and production unit dipped to $3.43 billion from $3.5 billion last year. Chevron’s worldwide production dropped about 4 percent, to 2.6 million barrels a day, mainly as a result of changes to the company’s operating agreements in Venezuela. Shares of Chevron, which is based in San Ramon, Calif., fell 56 cents, to $88.48. | Chevron Corp;Company Reports;Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline |
ny0089659 | [
"world"
] | 2015/09/26 | Breakdown of U.N. Sustainable Development Goals | The Sustainable Development Goals adopted by the United Nations at a summit meeting in New York on Friday lay out a sweeping vision for improving the lives of people all over the world over the next 15 years. They replace and expand on the United Nations’ previous road map, the Millennium Development Goals that were adopted in 2000. Those were aimed mainly at developing countries, and met with widely varying degrees of success . The new global goals are more ambitious, and are meant to apply to every country, not just the developing world. Stated in broad terms, the goals are accompanied by 169 specific targets meant to advance the goals in concrete ways. Most are meant to be achieved by 2030, though some have shorter deadlines. Here are the 17 new goals, with links to pages on the United Nations’ website that list the targets associated with each goal. 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere. 2. End hunger , achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture. 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. 4. Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning. 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. 6. Ensure access to water and sanitation for all. 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 8. Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth , employment and decent work for all. 9. Build resilient infrastructure , promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation. 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries. 11. Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable. 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns. 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans , seas and marine resources. 15. Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss. 16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies. 17. Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development. | Third World;Urban Planning;UN;Poverty;Biodiversity;Infrastructure,public works |
ny0264494 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2011/12/24 | Kremlin Adviser Aims to Defuse Discontent in Russia | MOSCOW — The Kremlin’s chief political strategist sought to soothe the discontent of street protesters on Friday, a day before a rally expected to draw a large crowd, saying in an interview that the government had already acquiesced to many of the protesters’ demands. “The system has already changed,” the strategist, Vladislav Y. Surkov, a former advertising man who has shaped the Kremlin’s public messages for years, said in the interview published in the newspaper Izvestia. His comments continued what appears to be a two-pronged effort to defuse street protests with concessions, while simultaneously attacking the protesters’ already splintered leadership with accusations of foreign backing. With 40,000 people indicating on a Facebook forum that they intend to join the Saturday protest in Moscow, Mr. Surkov made a point of bowing to some criticism. He said the Russian government had grown “deaf and stupid before your eyes.” But he also insisted that calls for change had been heeded, pointing to Thursday’s state of the nation address by President Dmitri A. Medvedev . Mr. Medvedev, who leaves office in a few months, recommended long-sought political reforms, including the restoration of direct elections for governors and the creation of an independent public television station for news. But he has long labored in the shadow of Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, and few political analysts think his words carry much weight at this juncture. “Tectonic structures in society are shifting, the social fabric is taking on a new quality,” Mr. Surkov said. “We are already in the future. And the future is not calm. But there’s no need to be afraid. “Turbulence, even strong, is not a catastrophe but a form of stability. All will be fine.” In what appeared to be another effort to siphon off interest in the rally on Saturday, where the former Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev is expected to speak, the leader of Russia ’s Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill I, warned Russians not to trust social networking sites, where much of the protest organizing has been taking place. He said the sites were susceptible to manipulation. He denounced “the naive confidence of a modern person in the information available on social networks along with moral disorientation,” the Interfax news agency reported, although he did not mention the protest. Mr. Surkov, who is an amateur novelist and who also writes lyrics for rock music, is an architect of the Russian government’s plans to counter street politics, a system of countermeasures that have been in the works here since the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine alerted the Kremlin to the potential dangers. To his critics, he is a man who long ago moved on from advertising to propaganda, with particular influence among the Russian elite. In September, the billionaire Mikhail D. Prokhorov, now a presidential candidate , called Mr. Surkov the “puppet master” of Russian politics, while denouncing what he called Mr. Surkov’s efforts at dialogue as a sham. In the interview on Friday, Mr. Surkov vilified those protesters who he said represented foreign-inspired interests, repeating a formulation many officials in Moscow have used to dismiss the unrest. “The point is not these scoundrels,” Mr. Surkov said. “It’s the absolutely real and natural protests. The best part of our society, or rather, the most productive part, is demanding respect for itself.” “People are saying, ‘We exist, we have significance, we are the people,’ ” Mr. Surkov said. But in an earlier interview, he characterized the protesters as “annoyed urbanites.” Some protesters saw Mr. Surkov’s about-face as an attempt to co-opt the protest movement. Nikolai Troitsky, a liberal commentator, told Kommersant FM radio that “Surkov is very principled in living by the precept of divide and rule.” “He wants to separate the protesters into parts while they have no leaders,” Mr. Troitsky added. | Surkov Vladislav Y;Medvedev Dmitri A;Demonstrations Protests and Riots;Moscow (Russia);Politics and Government;Russia |
ny0226317 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2010/10/09 | U.S. Calls for Withdrawal of Unesco Prize Funded by African Dictator | PARIS — The United States has put forward a resolution at the board meeting of the United Nations ’ main cultural and education organization calling for the withdrawal of a lavish prize offered by an African dictator and the return of the money, European diplomats said Friday. The stance represents an important shift in the American position, to open opposition to the prize inside the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, or Unesco, based in Paris. The move comes after African countries, some of which were privately urging the African leader to withdraw the prize himself, unanimously supported the awarding of the prize in a bloc meeting. The Unesco-Obiang prize , established in 2008 but never awarded, has been roundly criticized by scientists and human rights organizations as little more than an effort to burnish the reputation of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea . Rights groups and anticorruption activists have accused Mr. Obiang of embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars from his tiny oil-rich West African state, while most of its people scrape by in dire poverty. The United States’ move will force a discussion of the Obiang prize on the board, European diplomats said, and may force a vote. The prize was supposed to be awarded in June, but a decision was postponed until this meeting of Unesco’s 58-nation executive board, which began Tuesday and runs until Oct. 21. The delay was intended to give Unesco’s director general, Irina Bokova, and those opposed to the prize time to lobby African members and get them to persuade Mr. Obiang to rescind the prize and instead use the $3 million he donated to finance education and science in his own country. But that lobbying effort appears to have failed, and Arab nations have said that they will support any decision made by the African bloc. So on Friday, the United States put forward an agenda item suggesting that Unesco rescind the prize “in view of the strong global reaction to the establishment” of the prize and “its negative impact on the credibility, prestige and basic values of Unesco.” The prize is intended to award scientists who improve “the quality of human life.” The discussion over the United States’ action will inevitably lead to more serious negotiations within the different blocs on the board, and even if the prize is not rescinded, will probably lead to another decision to suspend its awarding, one European diplomat said. Washington said that the board “may wish to consider” rescinding the prize and asking Ms. Bokova “to return any monies associated with the prize to the original donor.” A copy of the proposed draft decision was provided by a European diplomat. Mr. Obiang, who has ruled Equatorial Guinea for more than 30 years, provided $3 million; half the money is to go to five awardees, who would receive $300,000 grants, and half to cover the costs of selecting the winners. The $3 million for the prize was reportedly delivered to Unesco in cash, diplomats said. | United Nations;Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Teodoro;Equatorial Guinea;Awards Decorations and Honors;Contests and Prizes;United States International Relations;International Relations;Embezzlement |
ny0064780 | [
"sports",
"hockey"
] | 2014/06/11 | Rangers Create Bounces; L.A. Kings’ Jonathan Quick Swats Them Away | As the puck bounced tantalizingly near what seemed like an open net and a sure chance at a goal in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals Monday, Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello’s stick took an extra microsecond to make contact with it. He was in perfect position, poised to make all the overwrought pregame buildup seem valid, primed to make Madison Square Garden erupt, ready to determine both teams’ fortunes. But in that extra microsecond, a goalie stick flashed into the puck’s path, blocking the goal line and sending the bouncing puck careening into the post and out of harm’s way. How the Kings goalie got his stick there so quickly is one of the mysteries that is Jonathan Quick, a magic act he reprised for enough of his 32 saves that the Rangers were left painfully pondering that blink of a moment, the impossibly tiny difference between winning and losing, between hope and despair. Which is why they left a seemingly overwhelming 3-0 loss that created a gigantic three-games-to-none series hole talking about slivers of time and the fleeting nature of luck. “You create your bounces,” Rangers center Brad Richards said. " Tonight we created a lot of bounces that could have went in. I don’t know why, besides he’s a great goalie and he made great saves. I felt like we had some looks there that could have gone either way. “It’s a fine line. We’re on the wrong side of it.” Quick, as it turned out, was firmly planted on the correct side. He made enough saves nearly as good as the one on Zuccarello that after the game, he had trouble remembering that one until prompted with the details. “I don’t know,” Quick said about how he made the save. “There was my stick, his stick, maybe one of our defensemen was there, too. I don’t know if it took a weird hop or if it hit one of those sticks. I know it was a scramble. I was just reaching for it.” Video Brad Richards talks about the Rangers’ 3-0 loss to the Kings at Madison Square Garden and what it means for the rest of the Stanly Cup finals. This explanation was delivered with Quick’s trademark deadpan personality, one that varies little with the situation, making it impossible to tell from his face alone if the Kings were up, three games to none, or down, three games to none, as they were in a previous series to San Jose. To Quick, there is nothing for him to worry about but the next save until there are no more to make. That the Kings are so tantalizingly close to that moment, one game from winning their second Cup in three years, is a resounding testament to Quick’s skills. But the twist of this series is that until his Game 3 heroics, Quick, who grew up in Milford, Conn., hadn’t been a magical force. Games 1 and 2 were back-and-forth offensive affairs. In Game 2, he gave up four goals, an astronomical number in a Stanley Cup finals. On Monday night, however, he unveiled the wand that has been a part of his arsenal in recent seasons. It started with the stop on Zuccarello and continued through the game, so much so that the Rangers seemed thoroughly overmatched even though they outshot the Kings, 32-15. “He made a bunch of big saves in the first, gave us a chance to get the lead for him,” Kings center Mike Richards said. “When he’s on top of his game, which he is most of the time, I think that allows us to make plays with confidence. We can make plays knowing he is back there to save us.” As it turned out, Quick looked even better in the reflection coming from the opposite crease, in which the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist let in three goals on those paltry 15 shots. Lundqvist was beaten by three heartbreaking deflections, the kind of goals that routinely decide playoff games but make goalies feel like helpless bystanders in a game they are supposed to control. The first of them made Zuccarello’s near miss seem all the more glaring because it allowed the Kings, largely outplayed in the first, to leave the ice with an unlikely 1-0 lead. They had just killed off a Rangers’ power play and skated into the Rangers’ zone for what seemed like a just-for-fun last shot.Kings center Jeff Carter's shot ricocheted off the skate of a Rangers defenseman and into the goal with 0.7 seconds left before the horn. A Turn for the Worse at Home 15 Photos View Slide Show › Image Jason Szenes for The New York Times “I thought we played well,” Rangers Coach Alain Vigneault said. “The pace was good. There wasn’t a lot of room out there. That was their only chance in the first period. We outchanced them, 4-1. “Give them credit, they found a way to get the puck past a real good goaltender and we didn’t.” In the end, the picture of the Rangers’ frustration was painted on Lundqvist’s face. He is as openly emotional as Quick is laconic, every ounce of frustration playing out in his eyes as he recalled the details of the game, the pucks that tumbled past him on unpredictable routes to his defeat. “That’s the frustrating part: We’re down, 3-0, but we’re playing great,” Lundqvist said. “There are a lot of funny bounces out there, and right now, those bounces aren’t going our way.” But the story of the game was written before any of those pucks went skittering past Lundqvist. Zuccarello’s moment-that-wasn’t came with 7 minutes 26 seconds left in the first period in a game that until that point was bereft of scoring chances. Zuccarello’s speed created the chance as he got momentarily free in front of the crease, but his quickness was no match for Quick. “I saw the puck a little late,” Zuccarello said. “I don’t know if it hit the post or he saved it or whatever. I wish I could score on that one, but the bounces just didn’t go our way. If we get that, we go up, 1-0, maybe the game changed. It’s easy to say now. We try our best to score but it didn’t want to go in today.” In the fine line between winning and losing, the Kings are more than happy that Quick is the one guarding their side. | Ice hockey;Jonathan Quick;Mats Zuccarello;Los Angeles Kings;Rangers;Alain Vigneault;Henrik Lundqvist;Brad Richards |
ny0286039 | [
"technology",
"personaltech"
] | 2016/09/06 | Keeping Your Old Phone Alive and Working | Q . Some of us like our older phones and want to keep them. I know for many just getting a new battery will be enough, so what resources are available for those of us who want to keep our older iPhones, Android phones and other gear going for as long as possible? A. If your older smartphone has aged out of getting the latest operating system software from its maker, you can still find sites selling replacement parts and online tutorials to help you maintain the hardware. However, if the phone is your sole means of communication and cracking it open to upgrade or fix it makes you nervous, consider finding a local repair shop or mail-in service with a fast turnaround to handle the job. If you feel up to the tasks yourself, iFixit is one good site to visit first. Since it began in 2003 , iFixit has grown into a large resource hub that provides free illustrated tutorials for all kinds of gadget repairs along with discussion forums and a store for buying tools and replacement parts for many devices. The iFixit store sells replacement batteries and other parts for just about every iPhone model ever released, and parts for different Android phones made by HTC , LG , Motorola , Samsung , and other manufacturers . Parts and guides for some Windows Phone models are also available. Although you may just get brief installation instructions, the web has plenty of other sites selling smartphone replacement parts like front and rear cameras, speakers, iPhone Home buttons and more. Repair Universe and Global Direct Parts are two such sites. Amazon also sells smartphone parts and repair kits . Operating system upgrades also bring security updates. If your phone has reached the end of its upgrade life and you are worried about vulnerabilities, check your app store for a compatible third-party security app. | Smartphone;Android;HTC;Samsung;iFixit;iPhone |
ny0073888 | [
"world",
"asia"
] | 2015/04/16 | After 15 Years, Legal Victory for Family of Pastor Believed Abducted by North Korea | SEOUL, South Korea — When Kim Dong-shik, a South Korean pastor with permanent resident status in the United States, was abducted 15 years ago in northeastern China, his friends and family suspected North Korean involvement. The Pyongyang government loathes clergymen like Mr. Kim, who worked and proselytized among North Koreans who had fled to China. But Mr. Kim’s family had no evidence to point to — until 2005, when a Chinese man went on trial in Seoul. That man confessed to, and was convicted of, helping to abduct Mr. Kim and at least 17 other people from China on behalf of North Korea ’s secret police agency, the Ministry of State Security. Last week, armed in part with that evidence, Mr. Kim’s son and brother, both American citizens, won a $330 million judgment against the North Korean government in a United States court for the pastor’s abduction and presumed torture and killing. North Korea, which has never admitted kidnapping Mr. Kim and refused to respond to the family’s lawsuit, is highly unlikely to pay the damages ordered on April 9 by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. But lawyers are conducting a global search for North Korean assets, like bank accounts, real estate and shares in companies, for possible confiscation, according to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, a lawyer for the Kims and founder of Shurat HaDin , a civil rights group based in Tel Aviv that has often sued sovereign states and militant groups on behalf of terrorism and torture victims. “The court decision marks the first time that an American court has concluded that a foreign regime which abducts an individual who is then never heard from again has the burden of proving that he has not been murdered,” Shurat HaDin said in a news release on Monday announcing the court’s ruling . The lawsuit had previously been dismissed for lack of evidence that North Korea had in fact tortured and killed Mr. Kim. But an appeals court overturned that ruling in December, saying that evidence of Pyongyang’s involvement in the kidnapping, along with testimony from expert witnesses about widespread torture in North Korean prison camps, were enough for the family to claim damages. The ruling last week, by Chief Judge Richard W. Roberts, ordered North Korea to pay $300 million in punitive damages, as well as $15 million each to Mr. Kim’s brother, Yong-seok Kim, and his son, Han Kim. “North Korea has caused irreparable emotional and psychological harm to the Kims,” the judge said in his ruling. Mr. Kim’s relatives were not available for comment; Shurat HaDin said they “feel that justice has been served but still feel the great loss” of Mr. Kim. Do Hee-youn, head of the Citizens’ Coalition for the Human Rights of Abductees and North Korean Refugees, based in Seoul, said organizations like his had watched the Kims’ case closely. “This verdict could help trigger a floodgate of lawsuits against the North Korean government worldwide, especially from the families of Japanese whose members have been kidnapped to North Korea,” Mr. Do said. North Korea has admitted kidnapping Japanese citizens in the past, an issue that still haunts Japan’s dealings with Pyongyang. But Kim Mi-young, director of the Transitional Justice Mission, which studies North Korean human rights violations from its base in Seoul, said the ruling had essentially “symbolic” value, at least for now, to those seeking to put pressure on Pyongyang over its abuses. “I am highly skeptical about how much it can be enforced,” said Ms. Kim, a lawyer who specializes in international human rights law. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said the ruling should be seen as “yet another strand in an expanding web of U.N. resolutions, legal decisions and monitoring arrangements designed to box North Korea in and restrict its actions until it answers for its rights crimes.” Mr. Kim, then 52, was getting into a taxi in Yanji, a Chinese town near the North Korean border, in January 2000 when unidentified men jumped in after him and the car sped away. The apparent kidnapping made headlines in South Korea at the time, but few clues to his disappearance emerged. That began to change in 2004, when Chung Kwang-il, a North Korean defector, arrived in South Korea. Mr. Chung said he had seen Mr. Kim in an underground cell at the Ministry of State Security office in Hoeryong, a North Korean town across the border from Yanji, soon after his abduction. Soon after Mr. Chung escaped to South Korea in 2004, he said, he learned from his contacts in China that one of Mr. Kim’s kidnappers, Liu Yong-hua, an ethnic Korean, had fled to South Korea to avoid questions from the Chinese police about the abduction. Mr. Chung notified the South Korean authorities, and Mr. Liu was soon arrested. Mr. Liu was recently repatriated to China after completing a 10-year prison term. | Kim Dong-shik;North Korea;Kidnapping and Hostages;South Korea;China;Korean American;Murders and Homicides;Human Rights;Lawsuits |
ny0270787 | [
"business",
"media"
] | 2016/04/12 | Donald Trump and New York Tabloids Resume Their Elaborate Dance | As New York City newspaper assignments go, this was a delicate one. Fly to Florida. Walk into Donald J. Trump’s hospital room. Witness the birth of his second daughter. Linda Stasi, a gossip columnist for The Daily News, did as she was told. “I called Donald, and he said, ‘You can’t come to the hospital!’” she recalled last week, 22 years later. “I said, I know, but I’m coming anyway.” “O.K.,” Mr. Trump replied. “Then come.” Tiffany, Mr. Trump’s daughter, gave her first interview — in burps and gurgles — to Ms. Stasi a few hours after being born. “Who is this?” Ms. Stasi recalled the baby’s mother, Marla Maples, asking Mr. Trump. “Why is she here?” As the presidential spotlight swings to New York for next week’s primary contest, Mr. Trump, the leading Republican candidate, is reuniting with the press corps he knows best, a boisterous tabloid culture that spawned and nurtured the outsize Trump personality now known the world over. It is also the ink-stained caldron in which Mr. Trump, over decades, honed the method of media management — cajoling, combating, at times dissembling — that he has unleashed, to potent effect, in this year’s national campaign. Some Americans have been caught off guard by Mr. Trump’s take-no-prisoners style, but New York’s media veterans detect the old Trump playbook at work. “It was an early secret of his success that he embraced the media, that he recognized the tabloid circus was a natural arena for someone of his talents, or ego,” said George Rush, a former gossip writer for The New York Post and The Daily News. “What you’re seeing on the campaign trail is a style he perfected for years, in the course of doing battle in the press.” Mr. Trump’s Republican opponents, Mr. Rush said, “may know more than him. They may have more experience, but they were not used to the mixed martial arts of Donald Trump.” Image Mr. Trump on a February cover of The Daily News. These days in New York, the stakes — and the players — have changed. Tabloids have fallen on hard times, their circulation and influence on the wane. Mr. Trump can use the megaphone of social media without having to wheedle gossip writers first. But New York journalists are not ones to let a competitive hometown primary go to waste. Already, The Daily News has asserted itself in the national campaign, scoring viral hits with eye-popping front pages lampooning Mr. Trump as a clown and the Antichrist. Jim Rich, The Daily News’s editor in chief, says the hometown familiarity is a boon. “We’ve had that advantage throughout the whole campaign,” Mr. Rich said, adding that this perspective has helped “explain the behavior of not only him as an individual over these last six months, but the behavior of his campaign, which has been a little more difficult to figure out.” (Mr. Trump has taken notice of the tough coverage: He declined an invitation to speak with The Daily News’s editorial board, Mr. Rich said.) The Post has been more subdued in its coverage of Mr. Trump, leading to rumors about the leanings of its influential Republican owner, Rupert Murdoch. The Post’s editor, Col Allan, was spotted wearing a “Make America Great Again” cap around the newsroom, prompting a gleeful item in The Daily News. A spokesman for The Post declined to comment about the paper’s coverage, but confirmed that Mr. Allan had donned the Trump cap, albeit briefly. “It was brought to the Post office by someone else, and he put it on for minutes,” said the spokesman, Steven Rubenstein. Contacted for this article, Mr. Trump reverted to a familiar refrain: attacking the media. “The tabloids never stop, but one thing I will say with great certainty, they are far more honorable than the political press,” Mr. Trump said through a spokeswoman. Years before he would compete for the White House, Mr. Trump found a natural audience in his local papers, a precursor to his success in today’s Twitter era. At ease with titillation and provocation — and always armed with a good quote — Mr. Trump propelled himself to notoriety in the predigital days of the celebrity press, when arrivistes were dependent on gossip gatekeepers like Page Six to break through. “He was the original Paris Hilton,” said Paula Froelich, a former Post gossip writer, “without the sex tape.” As Mr. Trump prospered, so did the tabloids he fed. His energetic personal life made for good headlines — and many reporters recalled that the gossip he supplied about friends and ex-wives usually turned out to be true. “Trump almost single-handedly revived the fortunes of The New York Post and The Daily News in the 1980s,” recalled Tom Robbins, a journalist in New York for decades. Image A New York Post cover in April trumpeted an interview with Ivana Trump, who spoke about her ex-husband’s candidacy. It was a sort of parochial symbiosis, each needing the other in nearly equal measure to reach their audiences, with nothing more serious at stake than the truth about a divorce or an affair. But projected onto the national political stage, with the White House at stake, Mr. Trump’s maneuvering with the media has prompted bouts of hand-wringing from news media critics, who worry that accommodating and bountiful coverage of Mr. Trump has unfairly aided his presidential ambitions. Mr. Trump learned his rules of engagement early on. In a routine that has found echoes in this year’s presidential race, unflattering stories about Mr. Trump have frequently been met with staunch denials — even if multiple eyewitnesses claimed otherwise. Mr. Rush once had two on-the-record sources say that Mr. Trump, vacationing in Aspen, had skipped the ski-lift line by using one reserved for instructors. “Absolutely not,” Mr. Trump thundered into the phone, in an expletive-laced tirade. Other times, he would call just to say hello. “He would phone us at home sometimes, like on a Saturday,” Mr. Rush recalled, back when the presidential candidate was a city divorcé. “What do you think of this girl, or that girl? What number would you give her?” (By “number,” Mr. Rush clarified, Mr. Trump meant a sliding scale of attractiveness: 1 through 10.) Liz Smith, who chronicled Mr. Trump’s divorce from his first wife, Ivana, in The Daily News, said Mr. Trump was by turns charming and vicious. “He threatened to buy The Daily News in order to have the pleasure of firing me,” she recalled. “Then he invited me to his wedding with Marla.” In trying to influence a story, Mr. Trump’s techniques ran the gamut from pugilistic to flattering to downright bizarre. Sometimes, his approach used all three. Sue Carswell, a former writer for People magazine, had been wooing Mr. Trump for an interview in 1991 by mailing him gifts of pink Hermès ties. (“This is all back in the days when we had expense accounts,” she recalled.) When Mr. Trump claimed he’d had an affair with Carla Bruni — who denied it — Ms. Carswell found herself on the telephone with a Trump spokesman who introduced himself as John Miller, and who claimed that Madonna and Kim Basinger were eager to date the real estate developer. It dawned on her that the spokesman sounded a lot like somebody else: Mr. Trump. Ms. Maples, a friend, confirmed that it was indeed her husband on the line, impersonating his own (fake) spokesman. As an apology of sorts, Mr. Trump and Ms. Maples later took Ms. Carswell out for a night on a town, in a stretch limousine. Ms. Carswell did not remember where they ate, but she remembered what Mr. Trump wore: a pink Hermès tie. | Donald Trump;New York Daily News;New York Post;New York;2016 Presidential Election;Newspaper;NYC;News media,journalism;Gossip |
ny0106884 | [
"technology"
] | 2012/04/09 | How to Budget Megabytes Becomes More Urgent for Users | Everyone knows how long a minute is. And your cellphone carrier keeps close tabs on how many you have used this month. Now, in the smartphone era, more people are being forced to think about how many megabytes of data they are using. But what, exactly, is a megabyte? If a sampling of pedestrians on the streets of Brooklyn is any guide, most people have only a vague idea. One said a megabyte was “the amount of something we have to use the Internet,” adding, “We should have three or four.” Miranda Popkey, 24, was closer: “It’s a measure of how much information you store. If there are too many of them, I can’t send my e-mail attachment.” A megabyte is, in this context, 1,000 kilobytes — or about the size of a photo taken with a decent digital camera, or roughly one minute of a song, or a decent stack of e-mail. Therein lies the problem: Counting things like minutes and text messages is fairly easy, but there is no intuitive or natural way to gauge data use. The carriers say they are doing their best to help customers keep tabs on their data diet. But the potential for confusion — and unexpected charges — is growing as people upgrade to faster devices running on faster networks. Even the most sophisticated of mobile customers can be tripped up — people like Paul DeBeasi, a research vice president at Gartner specializing in wireless technology. He said that he once streamed a Netflix movie to his iPad and was charged extra for exceeding his data plan limit. Mr. DeBeasi did the math and found that watching two hours of a standard-definition Netflix video consumes two gigabytes — or 2,000 megabytes — of data. “Even if you’re just watching a standard-definition movie and you’re only watching five movies in a month, it’s costing you $100 just to watch those five movies,” he said. Mr. DeBeasi suggested using Wi-Fi networks whenever possible, as this does not run up your carrier’s data meter. A vast majority of smartphone owners do not come near their data limits, many studies say. But data use is predicted to climb considerably over the next few years. Cisco , the networking company, recently published a study showing that mobile data more than doubled in 2011, and it predicts that by 2016 it will have grown by a factor of 18. Faster fourth-generation or 4G networks are driving that increase. The faster speeds encourage customers to use more data-intensive applications like video, so a smartphone on a 4G network is likely to generate 50 percent more traffic than it would on a slower one, Cisco says. The 4G-ready model of the latest iPad is potentially a data hog, given that its big, extra-high-resolution screen makes high-definition video streams especially tempting. And soon your personal data plan may not be the only one you will have to worry about. Verizon and AT&T have said they are working on data plans that can be shared among multiple devices, similar to family plans for cellphones. That means parents will not only have to keep an eye on the number of text messages and phone calls their children are burning through, but also the amount of video, music and games they are streaming over the cellular network. Michael Weinberg, senior staff lawyer of Public Knowledge, a nonprofit group that advocates more transparency in the billing from telecommunications companies, goes as far as to question why smartphone customers even have to pay more to use more data. He said the carriers have not provided evidence that limiting the amount of data a person uses reduces congestion . He added that there was a disconnect between what the carriers’ advertisements say and what customers can really do with their data allowances. “There’s a problem with understanding exactly what the data means in the real world, and also matching up some of the advertising that networks do with the actual reality,” Mr. Weinberg said. “You have these ads with people doing things like Facebook and watching videos, and you realize how quickly you can burn through it.” Public Knowledge hosts a Web site called What Is My Cap? that explains to people how much video and music they can enjoy before they hit their data limits for each carrier. AT&T and Verizon offer different tiers of data plans. AT&T, for example, charges $20 for 300 megabytes of data on its 3G network, $30 for three gigabytes or $50 for five. Customers who go over the limits on the costlier plans are charged $10 for each extra gigabyte. T-Mobile USA prices its data, minutes and text messages as a single package; one of its plans includes unlimited voice and text messages and two gigabytes of high-speed data for $60 a month; once customers exceed that, their connections are slowed. Similar to T-Mobile, Sprint prices its data, minutes and text messages as a single package, with plans starting at $70 a month. It still offers unlimited data but charges an extra $10 a month for it as a “premium.” Some cellphone users still have older “unlimited” plans from carriers other than Sprint — but AT&T and Verizon enforce throttling , or slowing of data speeds, for customers who they determine are using the most. Schwark Satyavolu, chief executive of Truaxis, a company that offers tools for consumers to manage their utility bills, said it was in the best interest of carriers like AT&T and Verizon to keep consumers in the dark. “They make more money if they don’t inform you of anything,” Mr. Satyavolu said. “Their interest is in not informing you and having you go over.” AT&T and Verizon dispute that, saying they offer several ways for customers to monitor their data. For example, each has a Web site with a data calculator so people can see how much data a specific activity uses. Verizon customers can register with a service called My Verizon to get alerts when they have reached a certain percentage of their monthly data allowance. “We do our best to provide the tools customers need to manage their wireless services,” Brenda Raney, a Verizon spokeswoman, said by e-mail. “There is no sustainable business model based on customer confusion.” AT&T customers also can check how much data they use online. On its Web site, AT&T says it alerts customers when they approach their data limit — but in some cases, as when they are watching a movie, users could miss an alert. “We’ve gone to great lengths to make it as easy as possible for our customers to understand how much data they are using at any given time,” said Emily Edmonds, an AT&T spokeswoman. “Our customers can be notified of their data usage via text messages, and they can check it themselves at any time via their phone or our Web site.” Mr. DeBeasi of Gartner expressed doubt that most customers would check the data-monitoring tools. “Who’s going to do that? No one’s really going to do that,” he said, adding that higher cellphone bills were inevitable as data use climbs. “Watch your telecom expense,” he said. “As people become more mobile, they will use more of the cellular network. It’s going to cost businesses more and consumers more. There’s no two ways around it.” | Computers and the Internet;Mobile Apps;Smartphone;iPad;Customer service;Wireless;Video |
ny0053031 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2014/07/18 | Staten Island Man Dies After Police Try to Arrest Him | A Staten Island man died on Thursday after police officers tried to arrest him on the street not far from the Staten Island Ferry, the police said. The man, Eric Garner, 43, went into cardiac arrest as he was being placed into custody around 4:45 p.m. on Bay Street, across from Tompkinsville Park, the police said. He was pronounced dead a short time later at Richmond University Medical Center on Staten Island. It was not immediately clear why Mr. Garner was being arrested, or if he had been in handcuffs at the time. The police said he had been arrested numerous times, mostly recently in May on charges of illegal cigarette sales. Mr. Garner weighed well over 300 pounds, the police said. | NYPD;Staten Island;Fatalities,casualties;Eric Garner |
ny0151448 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2008/08/10 | Putting Water Ahead of Natural Gas | It wasn’t quite Barack Obama in Berlin, just a city councilman from Queens standing behind a makeshift lectern on the sidewalk outside his office and trying to talk to four reporters, most of them from small news outlets, over the sound of buses wheezing along Union Turnpike. But if Councilman James F. Gennaro’s press conference Friday with two environmental leaders barely moved the needle on the summer news meter, it almost certainly was a window onto the biggest environmental issue almost no one in New York City is paying attention to. It has slowly dawned on people, among them Mr. Gennaro, chairman of the Council’s Environmental Protection Committee, that there’s one very big local angle to the distant and still exotic notion of major energy companies descending on upstate New York to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation. A large chunk of that area is the 2,000-square-mile watershed where New York City gets its water, which comes unfiltered through the city’s reservoirs and aqueducts to nine million people, or roughly half the state’s residents. That raises the obvious questions: Should there be gas drilling in the watershed and, if so, can it be done without imperiling the federal waiver that has allowed New York to avoid building a filtration plant that would cost $10 billion to $12 billion? Mr. Gennaro, a geologist who has studied petroleum engineering, said the answers are an emphatic “no” and “no.” And he said that the State Legislature and Gov. David A. Paterson , dazzled by the prospect of gas-industry riches, have been negligent in not ruling out development in the watershed. Sophisticated new wells using hydraulic fracturing use a million gallons of chemically treated water to break up subterranean shale and release the gas inside. Over the next two decades, there could be thousands of wells upstate. “This is an activity that is completely and utterly inconsistent with a drinking water supply,” he said. “This cannot happen. This would destroy the New York City watershed, and for what? For short-term gains on natural gas? We’re not saying no exploration for natural gas anywhere in New York State. We’re saying the part of New York State that is the New York City reservoir system should be off limits to this kind of activity.” Mr. Gennaro, who appeared with officials from the environmental groups Riverkeeper and the Natural Resources Defense Council, is one small player in a very big game. (Riverkeeper called for a permanent ban on drilling in the watershed.) But he seems intent on ringing the bell loudly over an issue that so far has been the subject of quiet, low-profile discussion between city and state agencies, but of very little public discussion. He is calling for a yearlong moratorium on gas drilling in and around the watershed and plans to hold public hearings on the issue in early September. He has also asked the Environmental Protection Agency to render a formal opinion on whether gas drilling could put the city’s filtration waiver at risk. There are more than three dimensions of chess in gaming this out. There is the utterly fortuitous prospect of a lucrative gas boom coming at a time when New York is desperate for new revenue, and upstate is equally desperate for new economic activity. There is the national energy crunch to push for domestic exploration. There is the eternal conflict between upstate and downstate over water issues and land rights. There are conflicting instincts among landowners: hope of winning the gas lottery versus fear about the consequences for the environment and on the quality of life in their communities. Industry officials, who have largely kept a low profile, say that they welcome state oversight and that the industry has a track record of being environmentally responsible. But they also warn that a drilling moratorium or undue regulation could discourage production. “New York has to be careful how it deals with these issues so it doesn’t send a negative signal to the industry that chills the interest in the play in New York State,” said Tom West, an Albany lawyer who represents several gas companies. “These companies have limited investment dollars, and they’re going to invest them where the natural gas opportunities exist and where there’s a regulatory climate that promotes it.” This is all early. State officials say there are only six drilling proposals on file, none of them in the watershed. No one knows how much gas will be found upstate. Most of the gas-rich areas are outside the watershed, so companies may just avoid areas where the environmental bar is highest. And Judith Enck, Mr. Paterson’s deputy secretary for the environment, said an updated environmental impact review demanded by the governor would ensure that all drilling proposals get a thorough analysis. But asked about declaring the watershed off limits, she said: “We’re not willing to say that a large piece of geography should be off the table. The governor agrees that the New York City watershed is absolutely critical and must be protected, but he also believes you can have economic development and protect the watershed at the same time.” Mr. Gennaro said that’s too much to take on faith. “Unlike natural gas, which we can get from other places in the Marcellus Shale, we have no other place to go for our drinking water. This is it. We have one and only one drinking water system.” | Gennaro James F;Paterson David A;Gas (Fuel);Queens (NYC) |
ny0285872 | [
"technology"
] | 2016/09/08 | IPhone 7 and Wireless Headphones: Analyzing Apple’s Announcements | Image Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, discussing the iPhone 7. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times SAN FRANCISCO — Apple unveiled new iPhones at an event on Wednesday, as it has done every September for the last few years. The event, held in San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, was the company’s most important outing of the year. Even as the iPhone remains the outsize producer of Apple’s revenue and profit, sales of the smartphone have recently been declining . So more than ever, the onus is on Apple to keep up excitement for the gadget. What was different this time was that people were focused on something that the new iPhones lack , rather than a flashy new feature. The item that disappeared is the traditional headphone jack, with Apple turning people toward wireless headphones instead. Brian X. Chen, Farhad Manjoo and Katie Benner were at the event to provide live analysis of what you need to know about the announcements, not what you don’t. Here’s what Apple announced : ■ New iPhones, called the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. ■ The new iPhones lack a headphone jack. ■ The new iPhones have a revised home button with force sensitivity, which will vibrate to give feedback. ■ The iPhones are water-resistant. ■ The Plus model of the new iPhone includes a dual-lens camera to take professional-grade photos. ■ A new Apple Watch, called Apple Watch Series 2, which includes GPS. ■ Pokémon Go is available for Apple Watch. ■ An update on how Apple Music is performing. ■ Tweaks to its iWork suite of productivity apps. The Big Picture Farhad: This was a tricky event because there wasn’t much new to the products. The iPhone has the same design as last year’s (and the one the year before) and the major new thing is … a missing headphone jack. So what I was watching for was Apple’s reality distortion field: How will Apple’s C.E.O., Tim Cook, and friends convince us that taking away a feature is really an advance for the iPhone? Brian: As Farhad said, the new iPhones — and also the Watches — look largely the same as their predecessors. The takeaway for me was that Apple focused on making the most significant changes to the tiniest components: camera sensors, upgraded chips, a revised home button and the addition of GPS to the watch. I get the impression that they are saving the big changes for the 10th anniversary of the iPhone next year. So if consumers can hold off a year for the next iPhone, I’d encourage them to wait. But for owners of iPhones that are at least two years old, these are going to be major upgrades — if you find a way to cope with the lack of a headphone jack. Katie: Apple didn’t offer a new killer product or a drastic update to any of the products in its lineup. Instead, Apple piled on new features — like water-resistance, stereo speakers, wireless headphones and camera features — to appeal to specific niche buyers. Frank Gillett at Forrester Research called this strategy an accumulation of compelling new features that Apple hopes will “motivate the trend followers to buy new iPhones, and expose other buyers to the benefits they’ve built into iPhone 7 and Apple Watch Series 2.” Perhaps more important, Apple was trying to cobble together a credible story for the future from these incremental moves — that a wireless world is coming and that it will be the leader in that world. Farhad: Apple likes road maps. That’s what you saw today. The company clearly has deep, long-term plans for the iPhone — it wants to improve wireless functioning, it wants to keep pushing on the camera, and it will keep improving performance without sacrificing battery life. The problem for Apple is that the steps along the way to achieving its goals aren’t always that exciting. This is one of those years: There are lots of incremental improvements, but nothing stands out as a must-have. Someday, Apple is telling us, all these increments will add up to something unimaginably amazing. Right now, though, the moves look puzzling — we really did not get a good defense for removing the headphone jack — and we may just have to live with the confusion. Software and Services Image The Nintendo game Super Mario will come to the App Store. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times Katie: For the past few quarters, Apple has emphasized that services and software will drive growth as iPhone revenue ebbs. At Wednesday’s event, Mr. Cook underlined that. He kicked off the morning with updates on two of the company’s most important software and services divisions — Apple Music and the App Store. “We’ve always had a deep love for music,” Mr. Cook said. “It inspires us, and it’s a key part of our product experience.” Mr. Cook said the company had 17 million subscribers after about a year for Apple Music and added that the music service would be the “premier destination for exclusive music,” nodding to the idea that the company will use its huge war chest to lock up deals with artists. Brian: In another nod to software, Mr. Cook said Super Mario is coming to the App Store. Nintendo, the struggling video game company, long refused to offer its games and franchise characters on mobile devices, but the company recently did a 180, with Pokémon Go as a recent example. The change seems more beneficial to Nintendo than to Apple. Pokémon Go was a huge success, at least initially, proving that app stores are a viable revenue stream for Nintendo beyond its consoles. Apple also announced a new version of iWork, its suite of productivity apps that rival Microsoft Office and Google’s productivity apps. The tweaked version of iWork will include real-time collaboration, meaning multiple people can work on documents and presentation slides at the same time. It’s good that these changes are coming to iWork, but Microsoft and Google have been offering real-time collaboration tools for years already. Farhad: The education market has been important to Apple for decades, and for the last few years it has pushed the iPad as the perfect school computer. It did so again today, with those tweaks to its iWork software aimed at schools. But Apple has lately faced more competition from rivals, especially Google, whose cheap and simple Chromebook has become one of the most-used machines at schools. For both companies — and lately for other tech rivals, including Amazon — the education market functions as a gateway. Get them early, win them for life. Apple Watch Image The new version of the Apple Watch emphasizes fitness and health. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times Brian: The new Apple Watch is called Apple Watch Series 2. It emphasizes fitness and health, with Apple showing a video of runners, gymnasts and swimmers using the watch. One major criticism of Apple Watch was that it did a bit of everything and did not have any strengths. Apple is trying to beef up the fitness capabilities, similar to Fitbit. The new version is water-resistant up to 50 meters (164 feet). It also includes GPS for tracking runs. The watch is faster than the previous version. Katie: Whether Apple Watch has been successful or not has largely been a mystery. Apple doesn’t break out Watch revenue in its earnings. But Mr. Cook pulled back the curtain a little when he revealed that Apple is now the No. 2 global watch brand, measured by revenue, behind Rolex. The Apple Watch is also the top-selling smartwatch, even though a killer app has yet to emerge for the watch. The company is hoping to change that with the introduction of a Pokémon Go app for the watch. Brian: It’s important to note that Apple Watch sales don’t appear to be growing much. IDC, the research firm, estimates that Apple Watch market share in the wearables market shrank 56.7 percent last quarter compared to the same period last year. That’s largely because consumers have probably been waiting for a new version to come out before deciding whether to buy a watch. It’s definitely still a nascent device. Farhad: This is the first Apple event in a few years that didn’t feature any redesigned hardware. But there is a new ceramic finish for the Watch that comes closest to some new design. The gleaming white finish is in some ways a return to the past for Apple. (Remember all those white computers from the early 2000s?) But beyond that, it’s always interesting when Apple discovers a new material for use in its devices. You usually notice some new process or material start in one product and then wend its way throughout the company’s lineup over a few years’ time. In other words, three years from now, we may have all-white, ceramic phones. A man can dream, anyway. Brian: For now, my advice to consumers: I see no compelling reason for people with Version One of the device to upgrade unless they are fitness buffs. The addition of GPS gives the Apple Watch a slight edge against Fitbit’s Blaze, a comparable smartwatch that lacks GPS. But until we get to try the software, it’s tough to tell how the new Apple Watch’s fitness capabilities will compare to accessories from Fitbit. Fitbit’s products are popular partly because the apps are so well designed for monitoring health statistics, including footsteps, calories and weight. So GPS isn’t necessarily the magic bullet. The iPhone Image Philip W. Schiller of Apple introduced the new iPhones’ revised home button with force sensitivity, which will vibrate to give feedback. Credit Jim Wilson/The New York Times Katie: Leading up to the event, the most ballyhooed update was Apple’s decision to eliminate the headphone jack. On Wednesday, Phil Schiller, Apple’s marketing chief, saved that announcement for last. Removing the port for standard headphones means users now have to connect their headphones to the iPhone through the charging port. “From the start we designed Lightning to be a great digital audio connector,” Mr. Schiller said. The update may have its detractors in the days after the announcement, but Apple has a long history of making hardware changes that the industry eventually follows, including the decision to change floppy disk sizes in the old Mac days and, more recently, the decision to take away laptop ports. Apple will include new Lightning earbuds, and an adapter, in the box. Why remove the headphone jack, a technology that people seem to like? Mr. Schiller summed it up in one word: “Courage.” Farhad: Apple said the most important reason it’s removing the headphone jack is because it believes in a “wireless future” for audio. It’s making that future a reality with a new set of wireless headphones, called AirPods. They look like Apple’s wired earbuds, without the wires; they apparently just slip in your ears. Image A screenshot of Apple’s new AirPods, illustrating their built-in wireless technology. Credit Beck Diefenbach/Reuters Perhaps more important than the earbuds themselves is the wireless technology Apple is using to power them. The company is using Bluetooth, and Apple says its chips improve the technology by connecting faster and using less power. If Apple has perfected a new, proprietary way of doing this, it could prove an important innovation for lots of future wireless products, including home devices, cars and wearables. Brian: Jony Ive, Apple’s design chief, said in a video at the event that we are “just at the beginning of a truly wireless future.” But wireless earphones have been around for years, and Bluetooth wireless technology has become excellent. This is another example of Apple’s being a latecomer to a market and saying it will make a better product than earlier ones. Farhad: The reality distortion was in force in other ways. In true Apple fashion, we got a deep-dive video into the development process for the iPhone 7, with not even a nod to the fact that the phone looks nearly identical to the one Apple released last year and the one the year before. Because it has a new color and a new Apple logo, Apple insists it’s “a beautiful new design.” I’m sure there are minor differences — the antenna band is different — but it seems too rich to call it a new design. Too rich, except for Apple. One area where I do give Apple points on the iPhone is the focus on the camera. Apple made a strategic decision a few years ago to plow a lot of development resources into the iPhone camera. That has paid off: The iPhone’s camera has long surpassed most other smartphone cameras, and for many people, it’s better than most stand-alone cameras. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus continue that trend. The Plus model features two cameras, which allows for super-zooming. Even the smaller phone’s camera includes features to improve your snapshots. If the pictures Apple showed off are any guide, the iPhone’s camera is fast closing in on all but the most high-end of cameras. Look forward to more of those “Shot on iPhone” billboards. | Apple;Smartphone;Software |
ny0085870 | [
"technology"
] | 2015/07/29 | Twitter Revenue Up 61%, but User Growth Lags | SAN FRANCISCO — If you’re like most people, you don’t see the point of Twitter — and that’s a big problem for the company. Twitter’s top executives acknowledged on Tuesday that despite huge name recognition for its social network, the vast majority of potential customers did not understand how or why to use the service, stunting its growth. And even among regular users, less than half check it daily. Jack Dorsey, the company’s co-founder and interim chief executive, pledged to change that, although he said results would take time. “You should expect Twitter to be as easy to use as looking out your window,” he said during a conference call to discuss the company’s second-quarter financial results, which were released after the stock market closed on Tuesday. The social network should be so simple for users that “they don’t need to consider what Twitter is, just what they are there for,” he said. Mr. Dorsey’s candid assessment of Twitter’s failures overshadowed the company’s financial performance in the second quarter , which exceeded Wall Street’s expectations. Twitter reported a 61 percent increase in revenue and a narrower net loss than a year ago. Twitter’s stock fell as much as 11 percent in after-hours trading, as Mr. Dorsey and Anthony Noto, Twitter’s chief financial officer, laid out the challenges still facing the company. “What shocked the stock after hours is that despite all of the product improvements, people were less active now than they were seven months ago,” said Richard Greenfield, an analyst with BTIG Research. “Engagement is falling despite all of the changes they made.” User numbers rose by only two million over the past three months, to 304 million, although Twitter said an additional 12 million people in developing countries used text messages to gain access to the service. Revenue, most of which comes from advertising, was $502 million, compared with $312 million a year ago. The company posted a net loss of $137 million, or 21 cents a share, as it spent heavily on stock compensation to attract and retain employees. In the same quarter last year, it posted a loss of $145 million, or 24 cents a share. Excluding stock compensation and certain other expenses, Twitter posted a profit of $49 million, or 7 cents a share. After several warnings by the company, Wall Street analysts had been cautious in their expectations for the quarter. On average, analysts had projected that the company would post revenue of $481 million and profit of 4 cents a share, after eliminating the compensation expenses. The quarter, which ended June 30, was the last under the leadership of Dick Costolo, who resigned as chief executive effective July 1 after months of complaints by investors who were disappointed in the company’s performance. Twitter has experienced a steady stream of management departures, and two more people announced on Tuesday that they were leaving, including Christian Oestlien, the vice president for product management. Some analysts have high hopes for Project Lightning, a set of changes due in the fall that will make it easier for dedicated Twitter users and casual visitors to find the most important posts about breaking news and live events. Sarah Hindlian, a software and Internet analyst with Brean Capital, said that the company’s other recent changes were “playing catch-up, as opposed to really innovating.” Project Lightning, she said, will genuinely improve the user experience by making it easier to find curated live content. Mr. Dorsey said the company was re-examining all of its fundamental assumptions. “You will see us continue to question our reverse chronological timeline and all the work it takes to build one,” he said. But Twitter’s longer-term strategy remains in limbo as the board of directors searches for a permanent chief executive, a process that could stretch into the fall. Mr. Dorsey, who is also chief executive of Square, a payments start-up that has filed for an initial stock offering, is splitting his time between both companies. “It’s not either/or for me,” he said in an interview, declining to comment on which company he would lead over the long haul. “I’m going to do whatever it takes in whatever role to make both companies successful.” Twitter also offered its outlook for the rest of the year, projecting revenue of $2.2 billion to $2.27 billion, and $520 million to $540 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. That is generally in line with what analysts had expected. Much as people used to flock to cable news channels during major events, traffic on Twitter’s network spikes during events like the World Cup and new episodes of popular television shows. The company has been working on ways to take advantage of that surge in interest. Last week, Twitter announced new tools to help advertisers of all sizes find relevant events and direct their messages to people tuning into them. For example, a restaurant can now advertise Mother’s Day dinner specials to men and women ages 20 to 40 who live nearby, Ameet Ranadive, Twitter’s senior director for revenue products, said in an interview last week. “The main thing that we’re doing is trying to make it easier for marketers to connect with consumers around live events,” he said. But whether that’s enough to satisfy impatient investors remains to be seen. “We’re still just in a waiting game for new features,” Mr. Greenfield said. “Hashtag #goodlucktwitter.” | Jack Dorsey;Earnings Reports;Dick Costolo;Social Media |
ny0136799 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2008/05/20 | Initially Rebuffed, a Greenwich Village Hospital Scales Down Its Redesign Plans | St. Vincent’s Hospital Manhattan returned from the drawing board on Monday with a more modest redesign of its $1.6 billion development proposal that was rejected this month by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission . In the revised plan, a proposed hospital tower on the west side of Seventh Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets would be 30 feet lower and 40 feet narrower, and a planned luxury condominium on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets would be 32 feet lower and 60 feet narrower. In the redesign, five buildings within the Greenwich Village Historic District would be demolished to complete the project. Four other buildings would be adapted and reused. The previous plan would have demolished all nine of those buildings to permit the construction of a 329-foot-tall medical building and a 265-foot-tall luxury condominium in conjunction with the Rudin Management Company. Although there was no vote by the commission on May 6, all 10 of the commissioners present at a public hearing opposed the project, and Robert B. Tierney, the chairman, said it was time for the hospital and the developer to be “doing some rethinking.” The new proposal addresses “concern about the configuration of our original project,” said Henry Amoroso, president of Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers, which includes the hospital. The commission will discuss the new plan at a hearing in June. In the original plan, the Rudin Company would have built 19 residential town houses on West 11th and West 12th Streets. The new plan proposes only five town houses on West 11th Street. A previously proposed nine-story residential building on West 12th Street, however, remains part of the new configuration. To build the new medical tower, the hospital must win a hardship approval from the landmarks commission to demolish the O’Toole Building, the sawtooth-sided monument on Seventh Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets that is owned by the hospital. It must prove that O’Toole either financially or physically interferes with its medical mission. Some preservationists who opposed the original proposal were pleased by aspects of the redesign. “On the east side of Seventh Avenue, they have clearly paid attention to the commission,” said Peg Breen, president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. “This is smaller and more thoughtfully designed.” Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said that “the fact that the residential tower is shorter is good news, but whether or not it’s short enough remains to be seen.” He added, “The demolition of O’Toole depends on whether the hospital can prove its hardship case, and there is a very high standard for that.” | St Vincent's Hospital;Landmarks Preservation Commission;Historic Buildings and Sites;Greenwich Village (NYC);Demolitions;Buildings (Structures);Manhattan (NYC) |
ny0045623 | [
"us",
"politics"
] | 2014/02/08 | N.S.A. Program Gathers Data on a Third of Nation’s Calls, Officials Say | WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency’s once-secret program that is collecting bulk records of Americans’ domestic phone calls is taking in a relatively small portion of the total volume of such calls each day, officials familiar with the program said on Friday. While the agency is collecting a large amount of landline phone data, it has struggled to take in cellphone data, which has undergone explosive growth in recent years and presents additional technological hurdles, the officials said. The revelation came days after the nation’s secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved President Obama’s proposal to impose new restrictions on when and how analysts with the N.S.A. may gain access to the raw database containing the bulk phone records, according to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence . The bulk call records program began under the Bush administration and was based on claimed wartime powers. In 2006, the program was brought under the surveillance court’s authority. It came to light after leaks by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden. On Friday, The Washington Post reported that the N.S.A. is currently taking in data on less than 30 percent of phone calls. The article also said the agency had been collecting nearly all records about Americans’ phone calls in 2006, and that the N.S.A. was now trying to restore comprehensive coverage. Officials partly confirmed The Post’s report, although they said it was difficult to put a precise number on the percentage. But they disputed that the agency had ever had near-universal access to phone data, saying cellphone records have always presented problems. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless were not part of the N.S.A.’s data collection , and a report on surveillance policy last month by a review group appointed by Mr. Obama said that while the program “acquires a very large amount” of phone data each day, that was still “only a small percentage of the total” calls. One official said intelligence agencies have quietly chafed at assumptions that the N.S.A. was collecting all phone records. But they have been reluctant to correct the record because they did not want to draw attention to the gap and because it is, in fact, the agency’s goal to overcome technical hurdles that stop them from ingesting them all. The greater attention to the gap puts new light on claims about the effectiveness of the program. Critics say the gap may undermine the argument that the program, as it currently exists, can provide peace of mind about links to potential terrorists: a negative result might instead mean only that the data was missing. Supporters, however, say the gap might undermine the argument that the program is ineffective because it has thwarted no attacks and uncovered only a minor case in which some men sent several thousand dollars to a Somali terrorist group. “We should have a debate about how effective would it be if it were fully implemented,” one official said. Image Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. on Friday made an appointment to the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Credit Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times In a speech last month , Mr. Obama announced that he intended to find a way to get the government out of the business of holding onto the bulk records, but he also said that its capabilities should be preserved. Mr. Obama also announced that he wanted to immediately impose new limits on how the database is used, by requiring the N.S.A. to wait for a judge on the surveillance court to sign off before querying records associated with a number that is suspected of links to terrorism — except in emergencies — and by limiting analysts to only pulling up records of people who are up to two levels removed from that number. Previously, the surveillance court had allowed the N.S.A. to decide that a search was justified, and had let analysts go up to three levels out — meaning an exponentially larger number of people’s calls would be scrutinized. On Wednesday, according to a statement issued late Thursday in the name of James R. Clapper Jr., the director of national intelligence, the surveillance court issued an order amending the rules in line with Mr. Obama’s proposed changes. On Friday, a judicial clerk announced that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. had made his first selection to the main Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court since Mr. Snowden’s revelations about spy programs that had been secretly approved by the court. The leaks have focused greater attention on how Chief Justice Roberts has used his unilateral authority to select judges to serve seven-year terms on the court. Of the 11 judges currently serving — all appointed by Chief Justice Roberts — 10 had been appointed to judgeships on other federal courts by Republican presidents. But in May, when the term expires for Judge Reggie B. Walton of the District of Columbia, Chief Justice Roberts has selected an Obama appointee, Judge James E. Boasberg, also of the District of Columbia, to fill the position until 2021. Judge Boasberg, a former federal prosecutor, was appointed to the Federal District Court by Mr. Obama in 2011. He has handled several cases involving national security and secrecy matters since joining the court. In 2012, for example, he sided with the Central Intelligence Agency, and rejected a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking public disclosure of photographs of the corpse and burial of Osama Bin Laden. But last year, Judge Boasberg ruled against the Department of Homeland Security , saying it had to release documents explaining a secret policy about the government’s ability to shut down commercial and private wireless network services in certain circumstances. The Obama administration has appealed the ruling. Chief Justice Roberts also selected Judge Richard C. Tallman, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, to fill a vacancy on the three-member review panel that hears rare appeals of the surveillance court’s rulings. While Judge Tallman was appointed by President Bill Clinton, his nomination was part of a political deal over judicial nominations in which his seat would go to a person acceptable to Senator Slade Gorton, Republican of Washington . Several members of Congress have proposed changing the way judges are selected to serve on the court to achieve greater ideological diversity in light of its evolving role and growing power, and Mr. Obama’s surveillance review group also recommended doing so. | Government Surveillance;Federal Courts;NSA;Mobile phone;Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court;Justice Roberts;James E Boasberg;Richard Charles Tallman |
ny0011861 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2013/11/04 | Driver Charged With Negligent Homicide in Death of Boy, 9 | The red Ford Expedition mounted the sidewalk along DeKalb Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, on Saturday afternoon not once, but twice. The first time, it narrowly missed two people at the southwest corner of Clermont Avenue, crashing into a parked car, jumping the curb and hitting another vehicle, the police said. But the second time, pedestrians along the busy Brooklyn thoroughfare were not so lucky: The S.U.V. struck and killed a 9-year-old boy, Lucian Merryweather, who was with his mother on the northeast corner. His 5-year-old brother and a woman who had been in the crosswalk were hurt. At first glance, the crash seemed likely to attract attention but unlikely to result in criminal charges. The driver, Anthony Byrd, 59, of Clinton Hill, remained at the scene and was not intoxicated, the police said. Yet in what pedestrian advocates called a welcome development, investigators arrested Mr. Byrd based solely on the scale of what the police called negligent and reckless driving. He was charged with criminally negligent homicide and other offenses, including driving the wrong way on a one-way street and driving on a sidewalk, the police said on Sunday. Mr. Byrd, who had yet to be arraigned as of Sunday night, could not be reached for comment. Those who have criticized the Police Department for not bringing stiff charges in fatal accidents expressed hope that the crash on Saturday might represent a potential shift. “How do you react when an agency, an institution, finally, for the first time in seemingly forever, does the right thing, what they should have been doing all along?” asked Charles Komanoff, a transportation expert and a founder of Right of Way, a group that seeks to reduce traffic injuries in the city. “It’s certainly not a turning point, but it’s definitely positive; it’s different.” Of 189 traffic fatalities through Sept. 1 of this year, drivers were arrested in 20 cases and given summonses in 58 others, according to statistics provided at a recent City Council hearing on collision investigations. Those arrests most commonly involved drivers impaired by drugs or alcohol, or who left the scene. Case law in the state can make it hard to lodge criminal charges without those factors, the police and prosecutors say. Councilman James Vacca of the Bronx, the chairman of the Council’s Transportation Committee, said he had “seen evidence of a policy shift” since the September hearing. Another motorist faced homicide charges on Sunday, though under different circumstances. About 12 hours before the Brooklyn accident, a 1998 Toyota Sienna jumped the sidewalk at 233rd Street in the Wakefield neighborhood of the Bronx and ran down Derrick Callender, 32, the police said. Multiple people in the car fled after it came to a crashing stop. After the police caught up with a man suspected to be the driver, identified on Sunday as Henry Lawrence, he was charged with murder and manslaughter. Detectives could bring those counts, the police said, because the crash was the violent culmination of a dispute in a liquor store. Video showed the car circling the block several times — possibly waiting for the store’s owner to emerge — before it plowed into Mr. Callender, who investigators believe might have been mistaken for the owner. John J. McCarthy, a Police Department spokesman, said “each case is different and looked at independently, based on the circumstances of the incident.” In Brooklyn, confusion quickly led to alarm, witnesses said. “It seemed like he just lost control of the car and went up onto the curb,” said Katerina Barry, 35, a graphic designer from Prospect Heights. “But what is crazy is that he did a full one-eighty U-turn and then seemed to speed up” as he crossed the intersection before jumping a second curb on the far side. Ms. Barry said she saw the mother standing “catatonic” near the body of her dead son. | Lucian Merryweather;Anthony Byrd;Driving Under the Influence DUI;Fort Greene Brooklyn;Fatalities,casualties;Brooklyn;Car Crash |
ny0038263 | [
"business",
"media"
] | 2014/04/03 | Lofty Newspaper Project Is Closed After Two Years | It started as a way to solve one of the thorniest problems in the newspaper industry — how to transition from the high margins yet declining circulation of print to the less profitable but fast-growing readership of the web. But Project Thunderdome, an ambitious, centralized effort to provide national and foreign articles to the 75 newsrooms owned by Digital First Media, will now close, said the company’s chief executive, John Paton, in an interview on Wednesday. Digital First’s newspaper holdings include The Denver Post, The Detroit News and The Salt Lake Tribune. More than 50 people at Project Thunderdome’s New York headquarters will lose their jobs, he said, and more layoffs are likely as part of a broader restructuring. When asked whether the moves signaled that Digital First’s owner, the hedge fund Alden Global Capital, might sell the newspapers, Mr. Paton said “no decisions have been made.” The project, which was introduced two years ago, was canceled in part to cut costs and in part because “local is where it’s buttered,” he said. “We have 75 newspapers, 65 million customers and $1.2 billion and change in revenue,” Mr. Paton said. “And almost all of the growth is local.” Later on Wednesday, The Salt Lake Tribune announced that it had been asked to cut its budget about 10 percent for the coming fiscal year, starting July 1. Steve Buttry, the digital transformation editor at Project Thunderdome, was among those who lost their jobs. “We knew this was a high-risk thing when we got into it,” Mr. Buttry said of Project Thunderdome. Though the industry’s broad challenges are the larger problem, he said, hedge fund owners were always likely to “change the business structure, or sell it.” But Mr. Buttry said it was hard to tell whether the project’s strategy was working, “because they didn’t let it play out.” The demise of Project Thunderdome raises questions about the prospects for other news organizations experimenting with this model, and about the repercussions of being owned by financial firms. Advance Publications said last week that it would centralize journalism, advertising and marketing for The Star-Ledger of Newark, its sister publications and NJ.com — something akin to the consolidated newsroom that Digital First had built. It is an increasingly common view in the journalism industry that wealthy individual owners, like Jeff Bezos of The Washington Post and John Henry of The Boston Globe, make better stewards than private equity firms or hedge funds, who are often focused on the short term and less willing to invest in the business. The Tribune Company, which includes The Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and other newspapers, is owned by investment firms and the bank JPMorgan Chase, and has been criticized for putting debt on its balance sheet and selling off real estate before a planned spinoff later this year. Mr. Bezos and Mr. Henry have invested fresh money in their newsrooms and show few signs of demanding an immediate return. Mr. Paton denied that the cuts were a significant setback. “The broad strategy remains the same,” he said. The company had “aggressively invested in digital, aggressively invested in content, and we’ll continue to do that.” | Layoffs;News media,journalism;Digital First Media |
ny0157912 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2008/12/20 | Aide to Senator Kennedy Is Said to Make Contacts on Ms. Kennedy’s Behalf | A longtime aide to Senator Edward M. Kennedy has reached out to labor officials in Washington in an effort to help Caroline Kennedy in her bid to be appointed United States senator from New York. The aide, Michael Myers, is the staff director of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, which has wide jurisdiction over workplace regulations and other issues important to unions. While Ms. Kennedy and Senator Kennedy, her uncle, are extremely close and speak almost every day, the senator appears to have steered clear so far of lobbying directly on his niece’s behalf. Several people familiar with Mr. Myers’s efforts said he had contacted the Washington officials to gather the names of their union counterparts in New York, to help Ms. Kennedy’s political team arrange meetings with them, as well as to sound them out about Ms. Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy has asked Gov. David A. Paterson to consider appointing her to the seat that Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who has been nominated to be secretary of state, is expected to vacate next year. “I think the senator is very much engaged, and those are the relationships he has,” said Stephen McInnis, political director of the New York City District Council of Carpenters, referring to the international unions Mr. Myers has contacted. The council’s top official, Michael J. Ford, spoke with Ms. Kennedy recently, he said, and planned to meet with her soon. Mr. McInnis said, “We don’t want to interfere with the governor’s process. For all intents and purposes, she’s on the short list. We’d be happy with anyone on the short list.” Mr. McInnis and others said Mr. Myers had not pressured the unions to endorse or support Ms. Kennedy. But other union officials noted that Mr. Kennedy had been such an energetic champion of the labor movement, and was so respected within it, that any call from Mr. Myers would carry great weight. “I think they know enough to know that in New York, you will need the support of labor. And there is no one who is a bigger friend of labor than Ted Kennedy,” one senior labor official in New York said. At least one call appeared to concern critical comments made about Ms. Kennedy by Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. Mr. Appelbaum is also close to two other top contenders for Mrs. Clinton’s seat, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo and Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, and issued a lengthy statement last week questioning whether Ms. Kennedy had the experience to be a senator. Mr. Appelbaum said he was called this week by officials at the United Food and Commercial Workers, his union’s parent organization. “They said that Senator Kennedy’s office had called them at the beginning of this week, asking about me, and why I was saying these things,” Mr. Appelbaum said. “I didn’t interpret it as a threat,” Mr. Appelbaum added. “I was surprised that they would call to ask about me rather than calling me directly. I also believe that Caroline Kennedy has to speak directly about why she wants to be the senator, and not leave it to others to speak on her behalf.” Mr. Myers did not respond to an e-mail message requesting comment. In a statement, Anthony Coley, a spokesman for Senator Kennedy, declined to respond directly when asked whether Mr. Myers had made any calls to labor leaders to discuss Ms. Kennedy. “Senator Kennedy has neither called any labor leaders to discuss Governor Paterson’s appointment nor directed his staff to do so,” Mr. Coley said in a statement. Unlike nearly every other person aspiring to the Senate job, Ms. Kennedy has never held elective office. Nor, despite her celebrity, did she have many prior connections to the state’s Democratic political establishment. But she has moved aggressively recently to build such ties, meeting on Wednesday with local officials in upstate New York and maintaining a frenetic schedule of private discussions with politicians and labor officials in New York on Thursday and Friday. On Friday morning, Ms. Kennedy had breakfast with Gary La Barbera and Edward J. Malloy, two officials at the New York City Central Labor Council. Later in the day, she had lunch with Randi Weingarten, the head of the city’s teachers’ union, who has also been mentioned as a possible replacement for Mrs. Clinton. Ms. Kennedy also received the endorsement of Vito Lopez, an influential Brooklyn assemblyman who is the chairman of the borough’s Democratic organization. Besides enjoying the imprimatur of her uncle, Ms. Kennedy is close to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. One of Mr. Bloomberg’s top deputies, Kevin Sheekey, is intimately involved in Ms. Kennedy’s bid and in recent days has called some of the city’s labor leaders on Ms. Kennedy’s behalf, telling at least one that her selection to the Senate seat is all but inevitable and that they should lend her their support. Ms. Kennedy’s campaigning has set off an urgent debate among those in labor circles in New York, many of whom are reluctant to abandon longtime allies like Ms. Maloney and Mr. Cuomo, but believe Ms. Kennedy is favored for the Senate appointment. Under state law, the only vote she needs is that of Mr. Paterson, who has sole power to fill a Senate vacancy. | Schlossberg Caroline Kennedy;Senate;Kennedy Edward M;Endorsements;Organized Labor;United States Politics and Government |
ny0196526 | [
"us"
] | 2009/10/21 | 2 South Carolina Republicans Apologize for Reference to Jews | Two Republican county chairmen in South Carolina have apologized for a newspaper op-ed article that stereotyped Jews as financial penny pinchers. The chairmen wrote the article in The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg, S.C. , on Sunday in defense of Senator Jim DeMint ’s opposition to Congressional earmarks, comparing his fiscal watchfulness to that of Jews. “There is a saying that the Jews who are wealthy got that way not by watching dollars, but instead by taking care of the pennies and the dollars taking care of themselves,” the opinion article stated. “By not using earmarks to fund projects for South Carolina and instead using actual bills, DeMint is watching our nation’s pennies and trying to preserve our country’s wealth and our economy’s viability to give all an opportunity to succeed.” A Democratic state senator, Joel Lourie of Kershaw and Richland Counties, who is Jewish, called the comment “disgusting” and “unconscionable” and said it represented “prejudice in its purest form.” He called for the two chairmen to lose their positions in the state Republican Party and asked Mr. DeMint and Karen Floyd, the state party chairwoman, to denounce their comments. The authors, Edwin O. Merwin Jr., chairman of the Bamberg County Republican Party, and James S. Ulmer Jr., chairman of the Orangeburg County Republican Party, issued statements of apology on Monday. The State, a newspaper in Columbia, S.C., reported that Mr. Ulmer had e-mailed a statement explaining that the comment was one he had “heard many times in my life, truly in admiration for a method of bettering one’s lot in life.” “I sincerely apologize for this great error,” he wrote in the e-mail message. “I meant absolutely nothing derogatory by the reference to a great and honorable people. I hope that anyone and all who were offended by my comment will accept my humble apology.” Mr. Merwin said that he concurred with Mr. Ulmer’s statement. “At this time, I wish to deeply apologize for any material included in that letter that would be considered anti-Semitic in any way,” Mr. Merwin said in a statement. “I have always abhorred in the past, and shall continue to do so in the future, anti-Semitism in any form whatsoever.” Mr. DeMint said the reference to Jews was “thoughtless and hurtful,” and said the authors were correct in apologizing. Ms. Floyd said that the apology would end the matter, and that the two men would retain their jobs. The article was the latest controversy in a tumultuous year for South Carolina Republicans. In June, Gov. Mark Sanford admitted to an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina. In September, Representative Joe Wilson shouted “You lie” during a speech by President Obama to Congress. Martin Perlmutter, director of the Jewish studies program at the College of Charleston, said the op-ed article did not reflect a broader culture of anti-Semitism in the state. “I think it is, as much as anything, an isolated incident,” Mr. Perlmutter said. | Politics and Government;Anti-Semitism;South Carolina;DeMint Jim |
ny0070424 | [
"business"
] | 2015/03/20 | Despite Stronger Dollar, Profit is Up 16% at Nike | Profit at Nike, the world’s largest sportswear maker, beat market estimates as sold more shoes and apparel at higher margins. Nike also said on Thursday orders for shoes and apparel scheduled for delivery from March through July 2015, a gauge of demand Nike calls “futures orders,” rose 11 percent globally, excluding the impact of currency exchange rate fluctuations. Analysts on average expected global futures orders to grow 9.9 percent, excluding currency fluctuations, according to Consensus Metrix. Demand for the company’s Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and KD basketball shoe brands have been strong in the United States. The company’s running shoe brands, including Free 5.0, Roshe Run, Huarache, and Max Air, have also been doing well. The sports apparel and equipment retailer Foot Locker said earlier this month Jordan and Nike’s running shoe brands helped its fourth-quarter comparable sales, which increased 10 percent. Nike said on Thursday its gross margin expanded 1.4 percentage point to 45.9 percent in the third quarter ended Feb. 28. Sales of footwear, the company’s largest and most profitable business, rose 8 percent, while apparel sales rose 3 percent, Nike said. Revenue from North America rose 6 percent in the quarter, while sales in western Europe jumped 10 percent. Sales jumped 15 percent in China, where Nike has grappled with excess inventory and intense competition from rivals cutting prices in recent years. Total revenue increased 7 percent to $7.46 billion. Net income rose 16 percent to $791 million, or 89 cents per share. Analysts on average expected a profit of 84 cents on revenue of $7.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. | Earnings Reports;Nike |
ny0076016 | [
"us"
] | 2015/05/27 | Federal Panel Lets Injunction Against Obama’s Immigration Actions Stand | A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied the Obama administration’s request to lift a hold on the president’s executive actions on immigration, which would have granted protection from deportation as well as work permits to millions of immigrants in the country illegally. Two of three judges on a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, left in place an injunction by a Federal District Court judge in Brownsville, Tex. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by Texas and 25 other states against actions President Obama took in November. Many of the initiatives were scheduled to take effect this month. The appeals court found that the states had sufficient legal grounds to bring the lawsuit and that the administration had not shown that it would be harmed if the injunction remained in place and the programs were further delayed. Also denied was a request by the administration to limit the injunction to the states bringing the lawsuit. The ruling is a second setback for programs the president hoped would be a major piece of his legacy, raising new uncertainty about whether they will take effect before the end of his term and casting doubts on the confidence of administration lawyers that their case was very strong. The lawsuit was filed in December, and on Feb. 16, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville ordered a preliminary injunction on the programs while he ruled on the constitutional issues in the suit. Image Demonstrators outside federal appeals court in New Orleans last month. A panel of the court decided Tuesday not to lift a hold on President Obama's immigration executive actions. Credit Gerald Herbert/Associated Press In a statement, Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, said Mr. Obama had tried to impose “a drastic change in immigration policy” without the consent of Congress. The appeals court decision is “a victory for those committed to preserving the rule of law in America,” Mr. Paxton said. “We will continue to fight the brazen lawlessness that has become a trademark of the Obama administration.” White House officials said the ruling was not surprising, but they declined to discuss the next legal move for the administration. “Today, two judges of the Fifth Circuit chose to misrepresent the facts and the law,” a White House spokeswoman, Brandi Hoffine, said. “The president’s actions were designed to bring greater accountability to our broken immigration system, grow the economy and keep our communities safe. They are squarely within the bounds of his authority, and they are the right thing to do for the country.” The Justice Department could appeal the ruling on the emergency stay to the full appeals court, but legal experts said it was more likely that the administration would skip that conservative court and ask the Supreme Court to allow the programs to proceed. The legal wrangling suggests that Mr. Obama and his aides may have underestimated the legal and political challenges to offering protections to more than four million illegal immigrants without a congressional vote. Which States Make Life Easier or Harder for Illegal Immigrants How different laws affect unauthorized immigrants in each state. In the 70-page opinion, two judges wrote that Texas had shown it would incur significant costs in issuing driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants who would be allowed to stay in the country. The judges, Jerry E. Smith and Jennifer Elrod, also rejected the administration’s argument that the programs could not be reviewed by the courts because they stemmed from policy decisions by the president on how to enforce the immigration laws. Judge Stephen A. Higginson disagreed. He wrote that the administration was “adhering to the law, not derogating from it.” Immigrant advocates supporting the president worried that the longer the initiatives are held up, the harder it could be to persuade immigrants to come forward to sign up. Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, said that part of the intent of the lawsuit was “to delay, to confuse and to instill fear” among immigrants. “The consequences are devastating,” she said. “Our communities suffer every single day.” She acknowledged that carrying out the programs would be “a harder challenge for our communities” after long delays. The decision by the Fifth Circuit to leave the Texas judge’s injunction in place does not necessarily mean the Obama administration will lose the larger case. Aside from the emergency stay, the Fifth Circuit is considering the administration’s appeal of the injunction, which takes more time. The Fifth Circuit tentatively scheduled oral arguments on the appeal the week of July 6. Setback for President on Immigration A federal judge had issued an injunction against Obama administration programs for immigrants. Tuesday, an appeals court panel said that “public interest favors maintenance of the injunction.” Stephen H. Legomsky, a professor of immigration law at Washington University, said the appeals court panel had denied the administration’s request for an emergency stay “because it feels that a delay would cause no irreparable harm.” But he said, “The panel that ultimately decides the appeal could well agree with the government’s position and reverse Judge Hanen’s injunction.” Professor Legomsky, formerly the top lawyer for the federal immigration services agency, has submitted documents to the court supporting the administration. In earlier opinions, Judge Hanen had been an unusually expressive critic of the Obama administration’s immigration policies. In his decision to impose the injunction, he said the president’s initiatives amounted to an abdication of immigration enforcement. The two appeals judges who upheld the injunction are also conservatives. Judge Smith, who was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, sparred publicly with Mr. Obama over the scope of judicial review during a case involving the health care law in 2012. Judge Elrod was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2007. Judge Higginson was nominated by Mr. Obama in 2011. Legal analysts point to two other recent federal court rulings in similar cases that favored the administration. In December, a federal judge in Washington dismissed a lawsuit against the president’s actions by Joe Arpaio, the outspoken sheriff of Maricopa County, Ariz. The judge said the sheriff’s dispute with the administration was political, not legal. A potentially more significant decision came on April 7 from judges on the Fifth Circuit. They dismissed a lawsuit by federal immigration agents against deportation protections Mr. Obama gave in 2012 to young undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children. The president used the same legal justification for that program as he did for the recent initiatives. The appeals court found that the state in that lawsuit, Mississippi, had failed to show that it would face any burdensome costs because of the 2012 program. The court also agreed with the administration’s argument that the secretary of Homeland Security has broad authority to decide how to enforce the immigration laws. The Texas lawsuit has divided the country. While 26 states want to stop the president’s initiatives, 14 states and the District of Columbia filed papers in the appeals court saying Texas and its allies had failed to consider the benefits the programs would bring in increased tax revenues and economic growth. | Illegal Immigration;Executive Orders;Barack Obama;Federal Courts;Andrew Hanen;Brownsville TX;Jennifer Walker Elrod;Stephen Higginson;Jerry E. Smith;Decisions and Verdicts |
ny0214622 | [
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] | 2010/03/01 | Former Rutgers Star Billet Succeeds at High School Alma Mater | LINCROFT, N.J. — Geoff Billet, all of 30 and in his first days as the basketball coach at his alma mater, Christian Brothers Academy, sat at a table at an open house in 2007 and pitched the program’s merits to the mother of a prospective student. Seemingly satisfied, she asked, “And which year are you, junior or senior?” A mellow everyman from Middletown, the boyish-looking Billet, the No. 11 career scorer at Rutgers, traded the fast-track life of a Big East assistant at Seton Hall three years ago for the Shore Conference. In deciding to stop chasing Division I-bound thoroughbreds along the recruiting trail, Billet, who led C.B.A.’s last state title team in 1995 as a guard, returned to coach the Colts here on a 157-acre converted horse farm. “I never thought I’d be back,” Billet said recently in his closet-size office. “This was the only place I’d come. It’s special.” Though listed at 6 feet, Billet was closer to 5-10, and used an unorthodox jump shot, highlight-film runners and Springsteen-like status to rivet Rutgers fans. His freshman season was the Scarlet Knights ’ first in the Big East. In shock after dropping the opener at Buffalo, Billet, whose high school teams lost only seven games, called home from a telephone booth outside the team hotel around 11 p.m. “Dad, our C.B.A. team could have beaten Buffalo,” he said. Victories eventually came, and so did crowds to see Billet. After home games, his parents — Lou, who works in human resources, and Noreen, an elementary school teacher — would wait more than an hour to speak with their son. “I’d be ready to pull my hair out,” Lou Billet said. “He never learned to say no.” Name recognition translated into career opportunities. Monmouth Coach Dave Calloway read in a newspaper that Billet planned to enter coaching and offered an assistant’s position in 1999. Billet, who had averaged 36.1 minutes a game in college, immersed himself in the job. That July, while Billet was in Las Vegas to scout prospects, Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun, fresh off his first national title, walked by him and addressed him by his first name. “I couldn’t believe he knew me,” Billet said. “I thought he just knew how to draw defensive schemes to stop me.” At first, Billet had a naïveté about recruiting. After one year, he took a nonrecruiting position at Rutgers under his former coach Kevin Bannon. He reunited with his brother, Todd, a guard, only to return to Monmouth the next season after the Rutgers staff was disbanded in the wake of a naked free-throw-shooting scandal that occurred while Billet was a player. His brother transferred soon after. “Geoff never had a bad day,” said Bannon, now the executive director of the Mercer County parks commission in New Jersey. “He carried himself well even in the dark times.” Billet’s education extended into his second Monmouth stint. When he packed his suit jacket for a trip to Siena, he forgot his pants. “I told him to keep the look since we won,” Calloway said. Through it all, Billet’s reputation remained spotless. He helped build two N.C.A.A. tournament teams at Monmouth, and in 2006 became an assistant at Seton Hall under Bobby Gonzalez, the Pirates’ new coach. There, Billet landed Jordan Theodore, a star guard at Paterson Catholic who is now a sophomore. “He was smooth, laid-back, not a salesman type,” said Chris Kenny, who played at C.B.A. and whom Billet recruited to Monmouth. Life at Seton Hall was relentless. Gonzalez, a frenetic figure, had Billet recruiting at a high level, but he found the demands on his time and the continuous travel to be overwhelming. “There’s nothing to fight about really in a relationship when you never see each other in July or until the evening,” said Billet’s wife, Jackie, who was then his girlfriend. A slower pace came with news of a retirement. When C.B.A.’s Ed Wicelinski, who had coached Billet, stepped away in the summer of 2007 after 27 years and 625 victories, Billet jumped. “C.B.A. is no regular job,” Gonzalez said. “They’re the Hoosiers of the Shore.” The decision to coach at the high school level came at a price. St. Benedict’s Dan Hurley, who had coached Billet at Rutgers and left for high school coaching six years earlier, told him, “The one con is that you’ll never be rich.” And the pressures of the high school game are not unlike those in college. Calloway considers the C.B.A. program “like a U.N.C. or Duke that demands 20 wins.” Billet, whose team is 22-3 after winning the Shore Conference Tournament last Saturday, said that after the Colts lost in the state title game last season, the C.B.A. cross-country coach Tom Heath, who has won a record 15 state titles, passed him one day and said, “Don’t make a habit of losing the title game.” Married for more than a year now and having recently bought a house in his hometown, Billet, who runs a thriving summer basketball camp, has maintained the legacy while living out a Springsteen ballad. He has rebounded from losing to the traditional powerhouse St. Anthony by 58 points his first season to beating the Friars last year and recently falling by a point. After that loss, a player’s mother approached Billet’s mother and said, “Looks like Coach just played the game.” His tie was loosened, his shirtsleeves rolled up and his mind fried from manipulating the tempo with slowdown sets. As Billet left, St. Anthony Coach Bob Hurley, a New Jersey coaching legend and now a grandfather, complimented Billet as part of the future. “I’m older than everybody now,” Hurley said, hauling his grandchild over his shoulder. “I can’t see Geoff as a student. He’s a coach to me.” | Rutgers The State University of New Jersey;Billet Geoff;Basketball;Interscholastic Athletics;College Athletics |
ny0100961 | [
"us",
"politics"
] | 2015/12/17 | Fact-Checking Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio on Immigration | The two Hispanic senators in the Republican presidential race — Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida — battled over immigration in the debate on Tuesday, competing to show who is tougher on border security. Mr. Rubio is vulnerable with conservatives on the divisive issue because of a bill he sponsored in 2013 that would have given people in the country illegally a pathway to citizenship. After Tuesday’s debate, readers asked us to look into whether the two candidates had accurately portrayed their own records on immigration: “Cruz and Rubio exchanged conflicting claims on whether Cruz has or will ever support citizenship/amnesty for immigrants who are currently in the country illegally,” Laurence Schiffman wrote in. “Please clarify with a bit of historical perspective.” Mr. Rubio was trying to dim Mr. Cruz’s luster with conservative voters, who have been gravitating toward Mr. Cruz in Iowa, by claiming that Mr. Cruz had also supported legalization for those immigrants. Directly challenged by Mr. Rubio, Mr. Cruz said twice, “I have never supported legalization.” That’s not quite right. During the debate in the Senate over the bill in 2013, Mr. Cruz introduced an amendment that would have given legal status, but no possibility of citizenship, to those here illegally. At the time Mr. Cruz said such immigrants would be “out of the shadows” and eligible eventually to become permanent residents, although not citizens. Recently Mr. Cruz, responding to Mr. Rubio, has said the amendment, which was not approved, was a “poison pill” designed to kill the entire bill. In the debate Mr. Rubio also said, in accusing tones, that Mr. Cruz had supported a 500 percent increase in H-1B visas, which allow American employers to temporarily hire foreign high-skilled professionals, and a doubling of the number of green cards. True. Mr. Cruz did support both measures in 2013, although recently he has called for a halt to any increases in legal immigration and last week he introduced a bill to tighten restrictions on H-1B visas. But Mr. Cruz’s charge that Mr. Rubio was trying “to muddy the waters” also seems right. Mr. Rubio has also supported big increases in green cards, and in January he sponsored a bill to as much as triple the number of H-1B visas. Mr. Rubio, confusingly, was attacking Mr. Cruz for agreeing with him. Meanwhile, Mr. Cruz, as he pledged to ramp up deportations, presented figures on the enforcement records of past presidents that were misleading at best. He said President Obama was “releasing criminal aliens,” while President George W. Bush had deported more than 10 million immigrants and President Bill Clinton 12 million. Mr. Cruz seems to have lumped together deportations — about 827,000 under Mr. Clinton and about 2 million under Mr. Bush, compared with at least 2.3 million so far under Mr. Obama — with a figure for migrants who were returned, mainly to Mexico, without being formally deported. The number of those “returns” has plunged under Mr. Obama because, with enhanced border enforcement, illegal immigration from Mexico has dropped to 40-year lows. The bottom line: In this rivalry, Mr. Cruz has consistently taken a harder line against what he calls “amnesty” for people in the country illegally. Mr. Rubio has evolved. He renounced the 2013 bill, saying he concluded that immigration could not be fixed in one package. On Tuesday he said he still supported a pathway to citizenship, but one that would come after new border security and be at least 10 years long — and likely much longer. | 2016 Presidential Election;Immigration;Illegal Immigration;Marco Rubio;Ted Cruz |
ny0276672 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
] | 2016/02/14 | Syrian War Could Turn on the Battle for Aleppo | Russia is bombing rebel-held areas in Syria at a furious pace. That is giving the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, the upper hand. Meanwhile, critics accuse the United States of dithering. The war, approaching its sixth year, may be reaching a turning point in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and once its commercial capital. Government-aligned forces are trying to encircle its eastern half, controlled by rebels since 2012. If the government succeeds, it would be the greatest blow to the opposition in years. But the battlefield is unpredictable. If the government regains full control of Aleppo, will the war begin to wind down, or will it escalate? What Is Assad Doing? Backed by the Russian airstrikes, Syrian government forces and Iran-backed militias are trying to besiege the rebel-held section of Aleppo to starve the rebels into submission — the same method government forces used to recapture another major city, Homs . Using starvation as a weapon is a war crime, but it has been widely used in the Syrian war . Government-aligned forces have also severed the main supply route to Turkey that delivered food, weapons and aid to rebel-held areas, leaving one remaining route. The United Nations is warning that about 300,000 people in the rebel-held part of Aleppo could be at risk of starvation. The Syrian government has also succeeded in turning humanitarian aid — food — into a negotiating chit. In talks to end the fighting among world powers on Thursday, allowing food deliveries was offered as a government concession. Who Controls What? According to an analysis by the Carter Center of the population centers each faction controls, the government has about 40 percent of the country, while the Kurdish groups, the Islamic State and other insurgent groups each hold about 20 percent. The rebel groups that the West considers relatively moderate are strongest around Aleppo. But they are intertwined in places with the Nusra Front, which is linked to Al Qaeda and which the United States and Russia both consider a terrorist group. The deal reached in Munich , for a “cessation of hostilities,” leading to a cease-fire, excludes the Nusra Front and Islamic State. The rest of Aleppo Province is a patchwork of zones of control. Kurds have the area around Afrin in the northwest, Islamic State holds the east, the government and its allies have advanced in the south, and other insurgent groups hold the west. Syria and Rebels Battle for Aleppo as Cease-Fire Collapses A drastic escalation of fighting in Aleppo has shattered a partial truce. Why Is Aleppo So Crucial? Mr. Assad may never be able to stitch Syria back together. But he and his allies now believe they can add Aleppo to a core area they control that includes the capital, Damascus, and Homs. That would give the government control of the cities that were the main population, cultural and economic centers of Syria — though insurgents still hold Idlib, which lies between them. Still, it could take a long time for the government to re-establish full control of Aleppo. And even if it does succeed, it is possible the rebels and their backers will retreat and change tactics, as the insurgents in Iraq did. That could mean that even a nominally government-controlled Aleppo could still suffer sporadic attacks and instability, as Homs and Damascus do now. What Is the Situation in Aleppo? More than 300,000 people live in the insurgent-held side of Aleppo, and at least twice as many in the government-held west. Government troops occupy the historic citadel, while the Old City is contested. Both sides of the city have suffered indiscriminate shelling and water and electricity cuts. The rebel-held side is being pounded by government and Russian airstrikes and barrel bombs that have hit markets, schools and homes. Image Heavily damaged buildings in the Saif al Dawle neighborhood of Aleppo in 2012, when rebel groups seized its eastern half and the government responded with shelling. Credit Maysun/European Pressphoto Agency In the countryside, foreign Shiite fighters, trained and sometimes led by Iranian commanders, are fighting on behalf of the government alongside the Syrian Army. Coming from Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and Iran itself, those forces recently broke an insurgent blockade around two isolated, pro-government towns, Zahra and Nubol. Rebel-held rural areas in Aleppo Province are boxed in between government and its allied forces, Kurdish militias, Islamic State and the Turkish border, which is closed to most refugees. The Kurdish militias, with some Arab allies, have advanced into territory ceded by Arab and Turkmen rebels under Russian attack. What Is the U.S. Doing on Syria? There is a lot of confusion over the United States’ aims in Syria . American policy has been to give insurgents enough support to keep them going — not enough to help them actually win. The question the rebels are now asking is, will the United States let them lose outright? Image Rebel fighters in the Old City of Aleppo in 2013. The area is still contested. Credit Maysun/European Pressphoto Agency The United States still insists on trying to separate the civil war from the fight against the Islamic State. That is a distinction the rebels largely reject, insisting that Mr. Assad must go. But Russia’s airpower has changed the calculus so that there is little the United States can do militarily without risking a direct clash with Russia. The United States has insisted for months that there is no military solution to the Syrian war, only a political one. On Wednesday, one senior American official conceded , there may in fact be one — “just not our solution,” but that of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. | Syria;Bashar al-Assad;Aleppo Syria;ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State;Military;War Crimes,Genocide,Crimes Against Humanity |
ny0128213 | [
"business",
"economy"
] | 2012/06/20 | A Health Care Mandate That May Not Matter - Economic Scene | Within the next few days, the Supreme Court may strike down the provision in the Affordable Care Act requiring every American to buy health insurance . Odds that the justices will reject this measure, the so-called individual mandate, are approaching 80 percent on Intrade, a market where investors can bet on the outcome of pretty much everything. What’s harder to figure out is what will then happen to health insurance. Advocates of health care reform argue that eliminating the mandate could gut the president’s plan. Most health economists would probably agree. But this consensus is based on a fairly optimistic view that the individual mandate and accompanying fines for failing to comply will be highly effective at persuading Americans to buy health insurance that they would otherwise forgo. On that score, the mandate might matter less than its advocates believe. Ultimately, the answer will depend on Americans’ behavior. Specifically, how far will we go for a free lunch? The case for the individual mandate rests on the belief — shared by most economists — that most people go through life seeking the best possible deal, always looking to get the most out of any given situation. The health care act requires insurers to charge everybody the same rates regardless of their health status. Healthy Americans could save money by dropping their insurance until they were sick. Think of a world in which people bought car insurance only when their car was lying crumpled in a ditch after an accident and you’ll understand why an insurance market like this would implode. Health insurance could fall apart even if some healthy people initially kept their policies. Insurers’ costs would increase as more sick Americans took out insurance even as healthier Americans dropped theirs. Insurers would then raise their premiums, inducing even more healthy Americans to dump their insurance. Insurers would ratchet up premiums again. And so forth. The individual mandate — which comes with a fine ranging from $695 for poor Americans to $12,500 for rich families who choose to remain uninsured — is aimed at discouraging this behavior. But some critics have argued that the stick is not nearly big enough. Americans could pay the fine and still save money by skipping health insurance. Paul Starr, a professor of sociology at Princeton, notes that the government has little power to enforce the fines. It can’t impose criminal sanctions or liens on the property of those who do not comply. It can’t garnish their wages. The most it can do is withhold their tax refunds. Mr. Starr says he believes that in the end, the mandate will largely be ignored. In this narrative, health reform fizzles regardless of the mandate’s fate. With too few healthy Americans buying insurance, there would be enormous pressure to drop the requirement that insurers cover everybody at the same rates regardless of their health status, leaving insurers free to set premiums according to health profiles. And higher premiums would force many sick Americans off the insurance rolls. Yet the portrayal of Americans as pure profit-seeking machines relentlessly on the lookout for a bargain is not entirely accurate. Sure, we appreciate a good deal when we see one. People have been known to do weird things to make, or save, an extra buck. When King William III introduced a tax in 1696 based on the number of windows in people’s homes, the English responded by blocking their windows . But there is plenty of evidence that other motivations influence our decisions: altruism, for instance. We like to believe we are fair and worthy. And we are willing to sacrifice some gain to fit the norms of society. “The extreme view, that given the slightest opening people will grab anything they can get their hands on, is clearly wrong,” notes Richard Thaler, an economist at the University of Chicago. Social norms explain why we tip a cabdriver we will never see again, why cheaters blush when caught or why people go to the polls despite knowing their individual vote will make no difference. Government programs to help underwater homeowners have been held back for years over fear that they will encourage families who were still current with their mortgage payments to default. However, the evidence so far is that most people who can pay their mortgage do, even if they would profit from walking away . Social norms can provide a much more powerful incentive than money. A few years ago, a handful of day care centers in Israel tried to get parents to pick up their children on time by imposing a fine for tardiness. Much to their surprise, tardiness mushroomed . The fine had somehow made it acceptable, erasing the shame parents used to feel when they were late. The fine, by contrast, was cheap. Advocates of health reform argue that the individual mandate will create a social norm that will hold everything together. Without it, people merely have a subsidy to induce them to buy insurance. The mandate turns buying health insurance into the rule of the land, like paying taxes. Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who worked on modeling the president’s health care reform, says he believes that eliminating the mandate will gut the president’s plan. Only 10 million uninsured Americans would buy health insurance, he estimates, 22 million fewer than if the mandate remains. He has evidence to back up his analysis: the health reform introduced in Massachusetts in 2006 by Gov. Mitt Romney, of which Mr. Gruber was a key architect. The state’s program, which gradually put people under a mandate, led to a big jump in the enrollment of the young and healthy when the fines began. A study by the America’s Health Insurance Plans, an industry lobby group, found that the insurance market collapsed when states passed health reforms in the 1990s requiring insurers to cover everybody at the same price but without a mandate requiring the healthy to be insured. Kentucky, for instance, was left with one insurer in the individual health insurance market. Even though the mandate may not be quite as powerful as Mr. Gruber believes, several analyses have concluded that it would pack substantial punch. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that without a mandate, 16 million fewer Americans would be insured. A study by the RAND Corporation said the number of newly insured would drop to 15 million without the mandate, from 27 million with it. And yet Mr. Starr of Princeton has a point: for social norms to work, they probably need to be perceived as legitimate. Governor Romney’s health reform passed with large bipartisan support in the state Legislature. Support for the law in Massachusetts rose from 48 percent when it was enacted in 2006 to 58 percent in 2007, when its provisions began to kick in, and 64 percent in 2008. By contrast, two-thirds of Americans want the Supreme Court to do away with all or part of Obamacare. Making the mandate work requires convincing Americans that the new health care law is not a plot to destroy the nation. Americans would have to embrace universal coverage as a desirable goal for a rich industrial society. Otherwise, President Obama’s reform may deliver the health care equivalent of a bunch of blocked English windows. The Supreme Court’s decision will be beside the point. | Health Insurance and Managed Care;Reform and Reorganization;Law and Legislation;Supreme Court;Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) |
ny0121521 | [
"world",
"africa"
] | 2012/09/03 | South Africa Lifts Charges of Murder in Mine Strike | JOHANNESBURG — Prosecutors provisionally dropped murder charges against the 270 jailed miners who had been accused under an obscure legal doctrine of killing 34 of their own colleagues when the police opened fire on them while engaged in a wildcat strike. The police fired live ammunition into a crowd of about 3,000 platinum miners armed with clubs and machetes while trying to disperse the illegal strike on Aug. 16. When the firing stopped, 34 miners were dead and South Africa was outraged by the bloodiest confrontation between the police and civilians since the end of apartheid. The police have claimed they acted in self-defense. The outrage grew when prosecutors announced last week that under a legal doctrine known as “common purpose,” the miners would be charged with murdering their colleagues . Under the doctrine, which was frequently used in the waning days of apartheid to charge members of protesting crowds with serious crimes committed by a few individuals, people in a mob can be charged as accomplices. In a hastily arranged news conference Sunday, officials from the National Prosecuting Authority said that they would await the outcome of further investigations into the shootings, but they did not rule out bringing murder charges again. “Final charges will only be made once all investigations have been completed,” Nomgcobo Jiba, the acting national director of prosecutions, told reporters. “The murder charges against the current 270 suspects will be formally withdrawn provisionally in court.” Prosecutors also said they had not ruled out charges against the police. “The actions of the police will be sorted out still,” Johan Smit, a provincial prosecutor in the region where the strike took place, told reporters. “We’re not ignoring that.” The murder charges against the miners, who remain in jail pending a hearing this week, had caused considerable consternation among the top leaders of the African National Congress, who were already being criticized for acting too slowly to end the wildcat strike peacefully and not responding quickly enough once the killings took place. Justice Minister Jeff Radebe said last week that the decision to charge the miners with murder “has induced a sense of shock, panic and confusion within the members of the community and the general South African public,” and demanded an explanation from prosectors. Lawyers for the jailed miners sent a letter to President Jacob Zuma demanding that he intervene. Mr. Zuma had earlier created a commission of inquiry with broad powers to investigate the shooting. The miners went on strike in Marikana, a town 80 miles northwest of Johannesburg, in early August to demand higher wages from the company that owns the mine, Lonmin of London. The strike and the government’s iron-fisted response laid bare the frustration with the slow pace of transforming South Africa’s economy, deepening the sense among many of the nation’s poor and jobless that the A.N.C. and its allies have become too cozy with big business, disconnected from the masses who put them in office. The sight of heavily armed police officers shooting into a charging crowd of workers at the strike — a scene replayed endlessly on television — reminded many South Africans of the days when the police opened fire on protesters during the apartheid era. Then when prosecutors said they would charge the miners in the murder of their colleagues, legal experts and Cosatu, the federation of trade unions that is one of the A.N.C.’s main allies, denounced the move as “absurd.” | South Africa;Murders and Attempted Murders;Mines and Mining;National Prosecuting Authority;Lonmin Plc;Strikes;Organized Labor |
ny0043923 | [
"sports",
"golf"
] | 2014/05/12 | Caddie Dies on Fairway | Daniel Brooks made par on the first playoff hole Sunday to win the fog-shortened Madeira Islands Open, which was overshadowed by the death of a caddie earlier in the day. Some European Tour members said the tournament should have been stopped after Ian MacGregor, the 52-year-old Zimbabwe-born caddie to Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth, collapsed and died, apparently of a heart attack, on the ninth fairway, Forsyth’s final hole. The event, which had already been shortened to 36 holes because of fog delays, was halted again after the delay but restarted following a minute’s silence. “Can’t believe they are going to keep playing in Madeira,” Pablo Larrazabal, who was not in the tournament, wrote on Twitter. However, European Tour officials said they had consulted with players and caddies before deciding to play on. Forsyth said it was the right decision. “I felt that was what Mac would have wanted,” Forsyth said. Brooks shot a five-under-par 67 to sit tied with Scott Henry (68) at nine-under 135 after the second and final round at Santo da Serra. Henry three-putted for bogey on the first playoff hole. | Golf;Professional Golfers Assn European Tour;Ian MacGregor;Daniel Brooks |
ny0161023 | [
"sports",
"hockey"
] | 2006/04/18 | Trade, Injuries and Attempt at Sobriety Mark Ozolinsh's Season | At 19, Sandis Ozolinsh hopped on a plane in Moscow bound for the United States. He did not think twice. It was 1992, and the fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet empire had given Ozolinsh, a native of Latvia, an opening to pursue his dream of playing in the N.H.L. Ozolinsh, now a 33-year-old Rangers defenseman, traveled lighter then. "I didn't have any cares," he said, his voice a low rumble. "I just had no clue. I didn't know what to fear. I just got on a plane with a suitcase and said, 'I'm going to the States.' Once I got here, it was too late to be scared. I had to deal with it." The past 15 years have been a peripatetic journey for Ozolinsh, with stops in Kansas City, Mo.; San Jose, Calif.; Colorado; North Carolina; Florida; Anaheim, Calif.; and New York. His puck-moving and point-collecting abilities have made him an All-Star seven times and carried him to the Stanley Cup finals. His drinking has dragged him to a place of last resort. But right now, Ozolinsh said, he is in a good place, though he cautioned: "It's still a short period of time. We'll see in the long run." It was last Tuesday, an hour after the Rangers lost at home to the Islanders, 3-2. The dressing room at Madison Square Garden was nearly empty. Ozolinsh, wearing a T-shirt and baggy cotton shorts, was soaked with sweat. He had just finished a dozen sprints on a stationary bike, this after logging 28 minutes 42 seconds on the Rangers' battered blue line. He was in no hurry to go home, the place where he hangs his garment bag being a hotel room outside the city, near the Rangers' practice facility in Greenburgh, N.Y. When Ozolinsh was traded to the Rangers from the Anaheim Mighty Ducks last month, his wife, Sandra, and their two children, Robert, 11, and Christopher, 9, stayed behind to finish out the school year. It has become a familiar tableau, Ozolinsh moving and his family catching up to him later, like pieces of forwarded mail. "I just look at it like a long road trip right now," said Ozolinsh, who has a picture of his sons on his cellphone. He talks to them every day, and they send text messages back and forth. When he speaks about his family, he has pride in his voice and pain on his face. "I'm not made for the single life," Ozolinsh said with a doleful sigh. His face grew more expressive as he spoke about his family's coming visit. They were traveling to the East for the children's spring break. How long they stay, he said, depends on the Rangers' playoff opponent and schedule. Asked if his sons had expressed an interest in seeing anything in particular in New York -- the Statue of Liberty, maybe, or Central Park -- Ozolinsh smiled. "Just me," he said. He has a mop of brown hair that falls in his face, obscuring a twinkle in his eyes. He has a warm and easy manner, a huge plus for somebody who has played for six N.H.L. teams in 13 seasons. Rangers forward Petr Sykora, who was also a teammate of Ozolinsh in Anaheim, said: "I've been around a lot of teammates, and he's one of the best. He's just a solid, great, deep, tough guy." His sense of humor is sharper than his skates. If not for the Internet and cellphone, he was asked, how would he keep in contact with his loved ones scattered about the globe? "Pigeons," Ozolinsh deadpanned. He is quick with the quips but can be slow to forget mistakes on the ice. "It you watch him, if he does something negative the head goes down," Bryan Murray, the Ottawa Senators' coach, said in a telephone interview last week. "He sits on the bench afterward, and he's shaking his head and you know he's still thinking about what he did wrong." Murray was the general manager in Anaheim in January 2003 when the Mighty Ducks acquired Ozolinsh from the Florida Panthers. Ozolinsh strengthened a power play that propelled the Mighty Ducks to the Stanley Cup finals, where they fell in seven games to the Devils. When the trade -- the fourth of five in his career -- was completed, the Ducks were on the road in Detroit and Ozolinsh and his wife were in the process of closing on a house in South Florida. Upset at having to uproot his family again, Ozolinsh went on a drinking binge, and Murray said he found out about it. "I've known a couple of players in the past when they get traded and they have to move their families, it's a devastating thing," Murray said. "And I just thought it was just one of those situations." In December, Ozolinsh missed a Ducks practice and did not show up for a team flight to Ohio. Frustrated by chest, rib and knee injuries that sidelined him for 23 of the Ducks' first 36 games, Ozolinsh again turned to alcohol. At the urging of his wife, Ozolinsh took a leave from hockey and voluntarily entered the N.H.L.'s substance-abuse and behavioral-health program. He spent more than a month at an undisclosed facility in Malibu, Calif. All told, he was off the ice for three months. It is a period he has been reluctant to discuss, perhaps because sobriety is a struggle waged on the thinnest of ice. In two interviews, immediately after the loss to the Islanders and the next day after some off-ice conditioning work at the Rangers' training facility, Ozolinsh shed a little light on those dark days. Asked what prompted him to seek treatment, he said: "I was just tired. At the time it was like, oh my God. I didn't know what to do anymore." Was he scared? Ozolinsh nodded. "It was millions of thoughts and feelings and everything," he said. The introspection, he said, did him good. "Before this year, I had never really analyzed anything," he said. "I got in trouble, and it helped me out a little bit." He added: "It cost me, but so far I'm really glad that I did that. It made my mind a lot calmer." He realized there were behaviors he had to modify. "Don't bring your job home," he said. "I have to separate my professional and personal life. That's the big thing for me. It's impossible. I really admire players that don't get affected by what is happening in their professional life." To that end, he is working on keeping his emotions on an even keel. "Before, I was up and down," Ozolinsh said. "I'm trying to keep it on the same level. Not get too happy, not get too down." At the root of everything is the pressure he puts on himself. "That's it, exactly," he said. "Basically I'm not going to do that anymore." He laughed ruefully. "I'm trying. It's not easy always. I have to change my mentality." He recalled a conversation he had a few years ago with his mother, who chided him for his headlong approach. "You didn't even ask for permission to come to the States," she told him. What could he say? She was right. "I got drafted, I signed something, I got some kind of check and it was, 'See ya,' " he said. "I look at it now, it was kind of nuts." He added: "I look back, God, I had no life experience." Ozolinsh has that now, with the scars to mark every passage. | NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE;NEW YORK RANGERS;ANAHEIM MIGHTY DUCKS;OZOLINSH SANDIS;ALCOHOL ABUSE;HOCKEY ICE;TRADES (SPORTS) |
ny0038189 | [
"sports",
"ncaabasketball"
] | 2014/03/25 | N.C.A.A. Apologizes to New Mexico State | New Mexico State Athletic Director McKinley Boston said Monday that the N.C.A.A. had apologized for making his team fly home immediately after its second-round tournament loss in Spokane, Wash. ■ Aaron Thomas matched a career-high with 26 points as top-seeded Florida State advanced to the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals with a 101-90 victory against visiting Georgetown. | NCAA Men's Basketball,March Madness;College basketball;NCAA;New Mexico State University;Apologies;McKinley Boston |
ny0254555 | [
"business",
"media"
] | 2011/07/08 | Geico Uses Many Campaigns to Stand Out in a Crowd | MOVE over, gecko, cavemen, the Rod Serling clone who asks rhetorical questions and the rest of the Geico advertising characters. Geico is adding another campaign to its lengthy list of ad approaches. Geico, the insurance company that is part of the Berkshire Hathaway empire of Warren E. Buffett, has long been known for running four or five campaigns at once. The look and style of the ads vary, but some core ideas are repeated from one campaign to another, among them the concept of how spending 15 minutes with Geico can help save money on insurance purchases. The new campaign, which began appearing this week, is, in fact, centered on that idea of saving money — in this instance, the ads suggest, by using geico.com . (Other ads also promote contacting Geico through a toll-free number or by calling a local agent.) The initial commercials in the new campaign use exaggerated humor to depict some difficult, and possibly unpleasant, methods of saving money. Among the extreme measures are teaching a 5-year-old to dunk a basketball so that he may eventually land a college scholarship, economizing on sushi by foraging in your fish tank, replacing the human workers at a day care center with robots and avoiding the expense of downloading music by teaching pets to play songs. In each instance, it is not immediately clear that the spot is a Geico commercial. That becomes apparent at the end, when an announcer declares: “There’s an easier way to save. Get online, go to geico.com, get a quote.” The camera then pulls back to show the Web site on a computer screen. The idea behind multiple, simultaneous campaigns is to break through the proverbial clutter by attracting attention as well as avoiding the risk of wear-out — that is, boring or annoying potential customers who may get tired of seeing and hearing the same pitches again and again. That is a particular risk for a marketer that, like Geico, spends so much money each year on advertising. According to the Kantar Media unit of WPP, Berkshire Hathaway spent $745.2 million to advertise Geico in major media last year, an increase of 20.8 percent from the $617 million spent in 2009. And the wallet stayed open into the first quarter of this year, Kantar Media reported, as spending for Geico ads totaled $184.1 million, up 6 percent from the $173.7 million spent during the same period last year. The Geico strategy has been deemed successful enough that it is being followed by several other companies in the crowded insurance field, among them Allstate, Progressive and State Farm. The goal of multiple campaigns is to be noticed in a hyper-competitive category, said Tim Van Hoof, advertising director at State Farm in Bloomington, Ill., which recently made significant changes in one of the two campaigns it is running. In a recent interview, Mr. Van Hoof made a joking reference to an insurance company that runs 28 campaigns at once. No names, of course. Asked if multiple campaigns to cut through the clutter only produce additional clutter, Mr. Van Hoof replied: “Am I overly concerned about having two campaigns? No.” Rather, he said, he was more concerned “about them breaking through in a very noisy marketplace.” That, too, is the belief among executives at Geico and its creative agency, which is the Martin Agency in Richmond, Va., part of the Interpublic Group of Companies. “Competitors are making it tough out there,” said Amy Hooks, manager for broadcast production at Geico. “It raises the bar for us.” The reason for “keeping things fresh” by periodically introducing additional campaigns, she added, is to “not burn out.” Business results indicate the strategy is working, Ms. Hooks suggested, because “we’re still the fastest-growing company in our category,” and “we’ve had a great first half” of the year. Steve Bassett, group creative director at Martin, said the purpose of the new campaign is to “freshen the savings message” and take advantage of how, “in this economy, people are talking about how to save money.” The campaign seeks to increase its appeal with the “misdirect” or “rug-pull,” Mr. Bassett said, of presenting the “faux testimonials” from consumers that turn out to be ridiculous, unwieldy ways to pinch pennies. “It’s something a little different to drive people to geico.com and to emphasize how easy it is,” he added, “versus how hard it is to teach a 5-year-old to dunk.” The Geico campaigns that are currently running on television, in addition to the basketball commercial in the “Easier way to save” campaign, include spots with the gecko character, sports-themed spots with the cavemen and many spots with the earnest man, reminiscent of Mr. Serling of “The Twilight Zone,” asking the rhetorical questions. The most recent addition to the questions campaign is a commercial that mocks how people use smartphones “to do dumb things,” among them giving themselves a “brostache,” a virtual mustache. The spot offers viewers a free brostache application, which, Mr. Bassett said, has already been downloaded 100,000 times. Additional Geico campaigns run in magazines and newspapers. Some echo television commercials and others are unique to print. One print campaign is customized for the publications in which the ads appear. For instance, an ad in Cooking Light magazine carries this headline: “It takes years to learn how to properly pair wines. Fortunately, it only takes 15 minutes to see how much you could save with Geico.” | Advertising and Marketing;Insurance;Geico Corp;Kantar Media;Martin Agency |
ny0237189 | [
"us"
] | 2010/06/17 | Day 57: The Latest on the Oil Spill | Second Oil Containment System Is Opened BP began collecting crude oil on Wednesday from a second containment system that the company hopes will help stem the thousands of barrels escaping from its damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico, an amount that scientists said could be as high as 60,000 barrels a day. The company is siphoning the oil through a series of pipes and hoses to a ship, which will then clean and burn the oil and gas mixture in a processing device. The method BP has been using since June 3, a containment cap, has been able to collect about 15,000 barrels of crude oil a day. But based on new estimates of the flow rate released Tuesday, that may be only about one-quarter of the amount leaking daily. Adm. Thad W. Allen of the Coast Guard, the national commander of the spill, said BP was also developing a new system to replace the current containment devices, one that will be more flexible in the event of a hurricane. This system will also be able to collect more oil if those estimates increase, with a maximum capacity of 80,000 barrels. 32 Million Viewers for Obama’s Address President Obama’s first address from the Oval Office, an 18-minute speech about the oil spill that was carried in prime time by 11 networks on Tuesday night, attracted 32 million viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. Viewership was 33 percent lower than that for Mr. Obama’s first State of the Union address , in January, and down by 21 percent from his last prime-time speech, in December, about the war in Afghanistan. BP Agrees to Set Up $20 Billion Claims Fund Under intense pressure from the Obama administration, BP agreed Wednesday to create an independent $20 billion fund to pay claims arising from the worst oil spill in American history. The company also said it would suspend paying dividends to its shareholders for the rest of the year and would compensate oil field workers for lost wages. The compensation fund will be run by Kenneth R. Feinberg, the mediator who oversaw the compensation fund for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks. President Obama announced the agreement in the Rose Garden on Wednesday afternoon, after he met in the morning with BP’s top executives and lawyers to complete the arrangement. After the president’s remarks, the chairman of BP, Carl-Henric Svanberg, and other company executives appeared before reporters to “apologize to the American people” for the disaster. An interactive map tracking the spill and where it has made landfall, live video of the leak, a guide to online resources related to the spill and additional updates: nytimes.com/national . | Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline;Accidents and Safety;Offshore Drilling and Exploration;BP Plc |
ny0128547 | [
"business"
] | 2012/06/29 | In Health Care Ruling, Investors See a Mixed Blessing | Hospitals will gain millions of paying customers. Insurers, by contrast, could face crimped profits from restrictive rules. Medical device and pharmaceutical companies will bear new taxes and other higher payouts, but they were already expecting such costs. That, at least, was the immediate view of the impact of the Supreme Court ’s ruling Thursday that upheld the nation’s health care overhaul . It was also a view shared by stock market investors. Hospital stocks rose, with HCA gaining about 11 percent and Tenet Healthcare rising 5 percent. Stocks of insurers like WellPoint, however, lost as much as 5 percent. Some medical device and pharmaceutical stocks had slight declines. For hospitals, the good news is that the law, which is aimed at extending insurance coverage to more than 30 million people, was upheld. That will mean fewer uninsured people streaming into their emergency rooms receiving treatment for which they cannot pay. But executives and analysts say that the Supreme Court decision, and the law itself, are not unalloyed benefits for hospitals. “It’s a huge exaggeration to say just because of today’s action that everything is going to be nice and rosy going forward,” said Michael Dowling, the chief executive of the nonprofit North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System. Executives and analysts say that the law will reduce Medicare payments for hospital services. For some hospitals, like MemorialCare Health System, a six-hospital chain in Southern California, those cuts more than offset any potential gains from newly insured patients, said Barry Arbuckle, its chief executive. Moreover, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the federal government could not withhold certain payments from states that refuse to participate in an expansion of Medicaid . The Medicaid expansion, which was expected to account for at least half of the newly covered people, now will be a choice for states rather than a requirement. The government “has lost its stick,” said Sheryl Skolnick, an analyst at CRT Capital. “There is a risk here that the Medicaid expansion may not happen as hoped for by the hospital industry.” Still, some executives said that there were carrots that could induce the states to go along, mainly the fact that the federal government would shoulder a majority of the cost of the expansion. “The people who need this coverage aren’t going away,” said James G. Carlson, chief executive of Amerigroup, an insurance company that works mainly with Medicaid patients. He said that despite expected comments from some state officials opposing the Medicaid expansion, “We think most of them will come around to the idea that it probably makes pretty good sense.” Investors seemed to agree. Amerigroup’s shares rose about 5 percent. A competitor, Molina Healthcare, rose about 9 percent. Shares of commercial insurers like WellPoint and Aetna largely fell. Those insurance companies avoided what had been considered a bad outcome: a decision that threw out the individual mandate to buy health insurance but kept intact the requirements that insurers cover patients with pre-existing conditions and charge sick patients the same as healthy ones. That, they said, would have forced them to pay for the law’s expensive elements without the influx of healthy customers the mandate was designed to bring in. Still, some investors had apparently been hoping that the law would be tossed out in its entirety, relieving insurers of restrictions like a requirement to spend a certain percentage of the premiums they collect on medical treatments. “This was a bill that passed with an onerous set of restrictions on how the industry could operate, and the Supreme Court confirmed that this is going to be the lay of the land,” Joshua Raskin, an insurance industry analyst at Barclays, said in an interview. The stock decline surprised Robert Laszewski, a health industry consultant, who said the law was a known quantity and the result of bargaining between industry executives, including those in the insurance industry, and politicians. The decision does allow insurers to seek new customers. Cigna, for example, has recently begun a push into providing coverage for individuals. “We see it as an attractive growth market,” David Cordani, Cigna’s chief executive, said Thursday. Indeed, as the day wore on, some of the stocks of health insurers began to recover, with UnitedHealth Group and Humana actually finishing the day slightly higher. Under the law, pharmaceutical companies are paying new taxes, additional Medicaid rebates and subsidies to close the Medicare drug coverage “doughnut hole.” But investors and companies had already factored in these costs, so the upholding of the law preserved the status quo. “Much ado about nothing,” Matthew Roden, biotechnology analyst at UBS, said in a note Thursday. Had the law been struck down, however, analysts had expected that drug company earnings would have risen in the short term. Medical device companies will have to pay a new 2.3 percent tax on sales starting in January to help pay for the new law. The House of Representatives recently voted to repeal the tax, but the prospect of such legislation passing the Senate is uncertain. Device companies and their representatives say the tax will impede innovation and cost jobs. But the new health care law will not bring device companies many new customers because many of the newly covered individuals will be young. “Most of them are not getting knee replacements and hip replacements and a lot of things you see in the device world,” said Mary Grealy, president of the Healthcare Leadership Council, a trade association representing chief executives of various sectors in the health care industry. | Health Insurance and Managed Care;Drugs (Pharmaceuticals);Hospitals;Decisions and Verdicts;Stocks and Bonds;Supreme Court;Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) |
ny0274469 | [
"us"
] | 2016/02/20 | Ohio: No Drugs Found as Execution List Grows | The State Supreme Court on Friday set an execution date for a killer over the objection of two justices who question establishing dates when Ohio does not have any lethal drugs. The court ruled 5 to 2 to schedule James Frazier to die on Oct. 17, 2019, for the 2004 slaying of a Toledo woman. Ohio now has 25 death row inmates with execution dates beginning early next year and no drugs for the executions. It last executed a prisoner in January 2014, when Dennis McGuire gasped and snorted over 26 minutes during the administration of a two-drug combination that had never been tried before and the state later abandoned. The prisons agency changed its policies to allow for single doses of two alternative drugs, neither of which is available in the United States since their manufacturers put them off-limits for executions. Gov. John Kasich, a Republican running for president, ruled out looking for alternative methods, such as the firing squad or hanging. | Ohio;Capital punishment;James Frazier;Pharmaceuticals;State supreme court |
ny0262326 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2011/06/22 | Albany Senate Republicans Weigh Holding Gay Marriage Vote | ALBANY — With the legislative clock ticking down to its final hours, the Republicans who control the State Senate still have not decided whether to allow a vote on same-sex marriage . A vast majority of the 32 Senate Republicans oppose same-sex marriage . But at least a couple of them support the measure, and the Republican caucus is under enormous pressure from Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York and gay-rights groups to permit a vote on the issue. Many lawmakers and staff members have said publicly and privately that they believe the issue would probably pass the 62-member Senate if it were put to a vote. There are already 31 declared votes in favor of same-sex marriage — 29 of the 30 Democrats, and two of the Republicans — and several Republicans have acknowledged they are undecided. Republican senators, who say they are trying to operate by consensus, have spent hours discussing their feelings about marriage, and about homosexuality, over the past week. Some of the Republicans are morally opposed to same-sex marriage; some are open to it but concerned about the political implications for themselves and their party; some say they are worried about the repercussions for socially conservative religious organizations; and some argue that the issue should be decided by popular referendum, not legislation. “Gay marriage is something that the conference still has to make a decision on, and has not done so,” said Senator Thomas W. Libous of Binghamton, the second-ranking Republican in the Senate. Mr. Libous said he thought the Republican caucus would make a decision on marriage Wednesday morning, because some lawmakers hoped to leave Albany that night. The Senate majority leader, Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, affirmed that point on Tuesday, saying that he expected the legislative session to end Wednesday. The governor said Tuesday that he believed “the people are entitled to a vote on this issue.” “It is an important issue, there’s been a lot of discussions, there’s a lot of opinions, there’s a lot of information, there’s been a lot of public demonstrations in this building, and I believe people are entitled to a vote,” he said. “Let the elected officials stand up and say yea or nay. I believe that’s how democracy works, and I believe the state is entitled to a vote on this issue.” Some Republican senators said they believed the session could continue for a day or two. “It appears by mid- to later in the week, we’ll be gone, so that’s the time constraints that you’re working up against,” said Senator Joseph A. Griffo, a Republican from Rome, who opposes same-sex marriage. “There are some who may feel like, should we do this at all; there are some that feel we should do it; there are some that want to vote, regardless of how they’re going to vote,” he added, calling it “an evolving conversation” among his colleagues. The internal politics of the Senate Republican caucus have been complicated this week by the most intense protests to date against same-sex marriage. The demonstrations — throngs clogged the Senate halls on Monday — were countered on Tuesday with a rally of several hundred people supporting same-sex marriage, and the competing protests served to remind Republicans of the risks their party faces from its conservative base if a majority Republican Senate passes same-sex marriage. At the same time, Senate Republicans have enjoyed unusually good relations with Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat who has supported significant parts of the Republican Party ’s economic agenda, even while intensely lobbying for same-sex marriage. Republicans would please significant parts of their electoral base if they adjourned without a vote, but there are also potential risks to the party, which would undoubtedly be criticized by some as antidemocratic if it refused to allow an open vote on a high-profile issue. And Republican lawmakers might then have to confront the issue again next year, when all state lawmakers will face voters. The state’s Conservative Party, which has provided key support to many Republican candidates, staunchly opposes the measure. | Same-Sex Marriage Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships;Republican Party;New York State;State Legislatures;Politics and Government |
ny0129133 | [
"us",
"politics"
] | 2012/06/26 | Candidates React to Supreme Court Ruling in Campaigns | The Supreme Court ’s decision on Arizona’s strict immigration law gave President Obama another shot at energizing Latino voters, while Mitt Romney defended states’ aggressive efforts to fight illegal immigration. For Mr. Obama, both parts of the court’s split decision — striking down most of the law while letting stand the most controversial provision, which critics have dubbed “show me your papers” — have the potential to encourage get-out-the-vote efforts. He appealed to voters worried about racial profiling, given that the provision of the law the court let stand requires police offers to check for proof of legal residence. “No American should ever live under a cloud of suspicion just because of what they look like,” Mr. Obama said. Mr. Romney, who was visiting Arizona for a fund-raising event, used the ruling to appeal to conservatives concerned about border security. “I believe that each state has the duty — and the right — to secure our borders and preserve the rule of law, particularly when the federal government has failed to meet its responsibilities,” he said in a statement. Mr. Romney is trying to retain the base of his party that supports cracking down on illegal immigrants while appealing to Hispanics in swing states like Colorado, Florida and Virginia. After a Republican primary race in which the rhetoric focused on securing the border and what Mr. Romney called “self-deportation,” the presumptive Republican nominee attempted to change his tone last week at a national gathering of Latino elected and appointed officials. He pledged to raise quotas on green cards and support a path to legal status for young immigrants who serve in the military. His outreach efforts came after an order by Mr. Obama to lift deportation threats for a much larger group of illegal immigrants, including those pursuing college. Some Republican strategists feared that Mr. Romney’s gesture was too little, too late. “I think Romney made a huge mistake by avoiding immigration for so long, and then Obama showed up and raised the stakes,” said Ana Navarro, an adviser to Senator John McCain on Hispanic issues during his 2008 bid for the presidency. “Between Obama’s immigration policy announcement two weeks ago and this Arizona law decision, the base is much more energized than they were five months ago.” In a sign that some national Republicans want to see more bridges built on immigration, Crossroads GPS, an independent advocacy group co-founded by Karl Rove, announced its support on Monday for a bipartisan bill in Congress that would let foreign-born students in technology and science stay and work in the country. But a prominent view in the Romney campaign is that he has no need to further court Hispanics on immigration. A new survey from Gallup on Monday showed that Latino voters ranked immigration only fifth in importance, behind health care and a host of economic concerns. Mr. Obama’s message on Monday seemed directed at Hispanics who have lived in fear of the law, vowing to “continue to use every federal resource to protect the safety and civil rights of all Americans,” a politically significant aside that could help him at the voting booth in November, Latino leaders said. “You may not be doing anything wrong, but depending on the color of your skin, you can be pulled over,” said Anna Tovar, an Arizona state legislator from a district outside Phoenix that is 80 percent Hispanic. “It’s absolutely ridiculous.” While many Democrats nationwide say they are not sure whether Mr. Obama has a chance to win Arizona, traditionally a Republican stronghold, Ms. Tovar said the Supreme Court decision could help him. It could also bolster his chances in other Western states with large Hispanic populations like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada. “One of the consequences of this is it puts the Romney camp into a more Midwestern strategy, looking at states like Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and trying to win there instead of in places like Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico,” said Dario V. Moreno, a political scientist at Florida International University. At his fund-raiser in Phoenix, Mr. Romney attacked the president for what he said was a lack of leadership on immigration and repeatedly called the court’s decision “a muddle.” “I would have preferred to see the Supreme Court give more latitude to the states, not less,” he said. The Romney campaign’s attitude, though, seemed to be that this too shall pass. One adviser on Hispanic issues said he expected the advantage to Mr. Obama to last a day or so, until an even weightier Supreme Court ruling, on the president’s health care law , lands later this week. The Romney campaign chartered a plane big enough for the traveling press corps so that reporters would be on hand this week for Mr. Romney’s reaction to the Supreme Court’s ruling in that highly charged case. But on Monday, when reporters asked repeatedly if Mr. Romney would discuss the immigration ruling, his traveling press secretary, Rick Gorka, said, “Probably not.” Asked why Mr. Romney chartered a plane to comment on one court ruling but not another, Mr. Gorka replied, “We were very clear that this was about Obamacare.” | Presidential Election of 2012;Obama Barack;Romney Mitt;Illegal Immigrants;Arizona Immigration Law (SB 1070);Law and Legislation;Hispanic-Americans;United States Politics and Government;Supreme Court;Arizona |
ny0087703 | [
"business"
] | 2015/07/12 | Liquid Assets and a Pipe Dream | There is nothing more American than making money off the needs of others. I’m not talking about war profiteering or selling people on prospects that aren’t real. You don’t have to do those nasty things. Just provide something others really need that you have in abundance. That’s called a win-win. Wall Street even has a technical word for it: arbitrage. One item is currently in very short supply in the western part of our country: water. With a California drought leading to tough water restrictions, that liquid is an asset. And here in the Northeast, where I live, we’ve got lots of it. You don’t have to be a marketing genius or even understand climate change to see an opportunity in water. It could make a boy like me rich. The problem is knowing where to invest to get the payoff. It is possible to find mutual funds and exchange-traded funds that are dedicated to water, and, as always, there are esoteric options for big-time institutional investors. I’m not one of those, so I reached out for some help. I called Simon Gottelier, a senior portfolio manager with Impax asset management, a company that manages $1.8 billion in water-sector investments. “There’s tremendous opportunity,” he said, though he was unable to discuss specific investments because of securities regulations. He did say that the biggest play of the moment is infrastructure: investing in water systems for communities. In California, that could conceivably mean buying bonds like the ones that helped pay for the $1 billion desalination plant in Carlsbad, Calif. Infrastructure is one of my favorite things, because I am simply that kind of nerd. And with the economic recovery, more municipal water systems can be expected to issue bonds for expansion, desalination and even what is delicately referred to as water reuse , which is actually the process of piping water out of a sewage treatment plant and piping into another plant that cleans it, making it safe for drinking. The thought is unpleasant, but the taste is fine — I’ve had some . So I asked Mr. Gottelier about my own idea. How about selling bonds for a water pipeline that stretches all the way from the Northeast to the far West. Why not? Oil pipelines crisscross the country already. Why not water? And, more to the point, why not start the pipeline in my basement? This is the brilliant part: Every house I’ve ever bought has had a wet basement. Over the years, I have paid for more sump pumps than I care to remember. It has been said that global warming is making places hotter and wetter, and so basements in the Northeast may be increasingly prone to flooding. I prefer to think that I’m a kind of real estate dowser. Mr. Gottelier answered with earnest politeness. “The problem is, it’s very expensive when you factor in the cost of pumping — and therefore, energy,” he said. “Water has to be constantly treated as well.” I got a sense that he was backing away from the phone a little. The more I heard, the more I understood why a big water pipeline hadn’t happened already: People like him were just missing the big picture. But I pressed on. I explained about my basement and told him about one place we used to own that was so wet, before we put in the French drain and sump pump, we had mushrooms growing down there. “At least you should sell the mushrooms,” Mr. Gottelier said, sounding perhaps just a wee bit patronizing. I explained that after identifying those mushrooms on the Internet, I decided they were not edible. (And, really, a guy who will drink treated sewage water is up for pretty much anything.) Mr. Gottelier said that my basement water would not be a good source for the pipeline in any case, since it was probably full of bugs and bacteria. “It requires treatment,” he said. I was thinking of those floating things as a plus, a kind of free protein with your water. But, no. I thanked my new friend for his help, hung up the phone and tried to regroup. I considered buying a house in California on the assumption that wherever I spend money on a home, the water will magically appear, and so I’ll save on the transportation costs. My special brand of optimism must be contagious, because a few minutes after our conversation, I got an email from Mr. Gottelier. It was brief but gave me renewed hope. “It occurred to me that one solution for transporting the water would be to dehydrate it to make it lighter.” Soul mate! Here’s an idea with promise. If you need me, I’ll be in the lab. | Water;Pipelines;California;Drought;Climate Change;Global Warming |
ny0243072 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2011/03/30 | State Agency Puts Off Vote on Importing Electricity | Would they or wouldn’t they? Not even the trustees of the New York Power Authority themselves knew for sure. When they arrived in White Plains for their regular meeting on Tuesday morning, some of the trustees clearly thought they would be considering a contract to obtain electricity through an underwater power cable between Manhattan and New Jersey. The matter was not on the agenda, but there was talk that it would be taken up anyway. Indeed, a state senator fired off an incendiary letter to the trustees last week, urging them “NOT to approve the contract at Tuesday’s meeting.” In the end, they did not. The only mention of the project during the public portion of the meeting came from a trustee who said he was disappointed that he had disrupted a vacation to be there — only to find that the matter would not be put to a vote. A spokeswoman for the authority, Christine Pritchard, identified that trustee as Jonathan F. Foster , the board’s vice chairman. Ms. Pritchard issued a statement saying that it was crucial, on a project as important as the cable across the Hudson River, “to provide all our trustees the opportunity to thoroughly review any and all issues involved.” Two of the trustees, including one who joined the board on Monday evening, John S. Dyson, could not attend the meeting. Mr. Dyson, a former chairman of the power authority and a former deputy mayor of New York City, was appointed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and confirmed by the State Senate on Monday. The confirmation came just a few days after George D. Maziarz , a Republican state senator who is chairman of the Committee on Energy and Telecommunications, had complained that the power authority was about to commit as much as $700 million without first divulging the terms of the contract with the developers of the project. The developers, Hudson Transmission Partners, have proposed connecting Midtown Manhattan to the main power grid west of the Hudson via a cable that could carry as much as 660 megawatts — about 5 percent of what the city consumes at peak demand. A spokesman for Mr. Maziarz said the senator was relieved that the vote had not occurred. But that relief may be short-lived. The power authority indicated that a special meeting might be held soon to vote on the contract, though no date was set. If the matter is not taken up soon, the developers said, it might be too late to save the project. Seeing Mr. Maziarz’s capital letters and raising him one, Ed Stern, chief executive of Hudson Transmission, said in an e-mail, “Further delay is not an option ... they need to act within DAYS.” | Electric Light and Power;New York Power Authority;New York City;White Plains (NY);New Jersey |
ny0013896 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
] | 2013/11/24 | Sunnis Close Baghdad Mosques to Challenge Religious Attacks | BAGHDAD — Iraqi Sunni religious leaders said Saturday that they had decided to close down the sect’s mosques in Baghdad indefinitely to protest attacks against clerics and worshipers, highlighting the country’s deepening sectarian rift. Sheik Mustafa al-Bayati, a member of the Iraqi Doctrine Council where senior Sunni scholars sit to issue religious edicts, said the decision was taken on Thursday and would be put into effect on Saturday. Many mosques appeared to comply with the order to close. In Baghdad’s Sunni northern district of Azamiya, a banner at the closed gate of the Abu Hanifa mosque said, “The mosque is closed until further notice because of the targeting of imams, preachers and worshipers.” Sunnis have closed mosques previously as a protest tactic, in the southern Basra province in September and in the northeastern Diyala province this month. In both cases, mosques reopened later after the local authorities and tribal leaders promised to offer protection. Sunnis, who dominated the government of Iraq for most of its modern history, believe that the majority-Shiite leaders who rose to power after the American-led invasion in 2003 have treated them like second-class citizens. Sunni discontent mounted after a bloody April raid by security forces on a protest camp in the country’s north. Violence has since increased, claiming at least 5,500 lives, according to United Nations figures, although overall death tolls are still lower than at the height of the conflict from 2004 to 2008. The bloodiest attacks, including waves of coordinated car bombs claimed by Al Qaeda’s Iraq branch, have killed mainly Shiites. But Sunnis have also been killed in what appear to be reprisals. On Friday, bombs exploded at two Sunni mosques in Baghdad, killing four people. | Sunnis;Mosque;Terrorism;Baghdad |
ny0021634 | [
"sports",
"golf"
] | 2013/09/28 | Woods Voted Top Player for 11th Time | Tiger Woods on Friday was voted the PGA Tour’s player of the year for the 11th time on the strength of his five wins and his return to a No. 1 world ranking. Woods also won the Vardon Trophy, for the lowest scoring average, and the PGA Tour money title. Jordan Spieth was voted rookie of the year. ■ Peter Uihlein came within 3 inches of shooting the first 59 on the European Tour when his eagle putt on the last hole came up just wide at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland. Uihlein, an American, tapped in for birdie for a 12-under-par 60. Uihlein was two shots behind Tom Lewis, who shot a seven-under 65 at St. Andrews for a 15-under total of 129. ■ Bernhard Langer birdied his first four holes and finished with a nine-under 63 to open a four-stroke lead in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open in Pebble Beach, Calif. | Golf;Tiger Woods;Peter Uihlein;Bernhard Langer |
ny0053111 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2014/07/27 | The 19th-Century Home of Jell-O’s Forefather | As the historian of Ringwood Manor , a sprawling country home on the grounds of Ringwood State Park , Sue Shutte often deals with the constant quirks and mysteries of this 19th-century estate. A few years ago, though, she was confronted with a situation that would have panicked most home historians. “It was right after the Christmas holiday, in January of 2012,” Ms. Shutte said during a 75-minute manor tour attended by 10 visitors. “I opened the house up and it was dark, so I didn’t notice anything at first. Then I looked at my hand, and it was covered in dark soot. I looked a little closer, and I saw soot on the tops of all the tables, on all the mantelpieces, pretty much everywhere.” Image The Fisher sisters, Chana, 13, right, and Dasie, 11, taking a tour. Credit Matt Rainey for The New York Times Ms. Shutte had encountered the effects of a malfunctioning furnace, said Mark Texel, director of the New Jersey State Park Service in Trenton. The 30,000-square-foot manor was shuttered the same day. “We immediately called in a triage team,” Mr. Texel said. Room by room, artifacts were cleaned and restored by a conservation team. Walls were cleaned, replastered and repainted. Two years and $1.6 million later, Ringwood Manor was once again presentable. The 51-room mansion reopened to the public in April. Built in the early 1800s, it is listed as a landmark on the National Register of Historic Places and was expanded five times before 1938, when it was donated to the state. Visitors have been increasing, Ms. Shutte said. “People are fascinated by the Cooper and Hewitt families, and with good cause,” she said. “Both Peter Cooper and Abram Hewitt were important businessmen and politicians, but they were also very social here. There were a lot of games and parties on these premises.” Image A 19th-century dress in one of the mansion’s 51 rooms. Credit Matt Rainey for The New York Times For those unfamiliar with the Cooper-Hewitt dynasty, here’s a refresher. Peter Cooper, born in 1791, is credited with inventing a gelatin that would become Jell-O, as well as designing and building the first steam locomotive in the United States. He was self-made, having only a third-grade education. In his later years, he established the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in Manhattan, which until recently was tuition free. In 1876 he ran for president as the 85 year-old candidate of the Greenback Party. Cooper died in 1883. Abram S. Hewitt was Cooper’s son-in-law and business associate. He met Cooper while tutoring his son Edward at Columbia University. Abram and Edward became friends and business partners, forming Cooper, Hewitt and Company, which managed the elder Cooper’s business interests. Hewitt married Peter Cooper’s daughter, Sarah Amelia, in 1855. The couple, who had six children, later began spending summers with Peter Cooper at Ringwood Manor, which Cooper had bought in 1853 for $100,000 (equivalent to tens of millions of dollars today). The purchase included the original house, built by Martin J. Ryerson in 1810, as well as the 22,000-acre property and the iron mines within its borders. Like his father-in-law, Hewitt was influential politically; he was a New York congressman and the Democratic national chairman. In 1886, he was elected mayor of New York City. Image A painting of George Washington from the Washingtonia collection. Credit Matt Rainey for The New York Times When Ms. Shutte, who oversees five tour guides on the premises, speaks of the property’s history, she customizes her commentary based on the interests of her audience. “If we have a lot of children,” she said, “I give them firsthand information on how the Hewitt children lived while they were here. If we have people who are especially interested in art, I’ll talk about the artwork the family collected.” Currently, a dozen Hudson River School paintings hang in the manor. Other important works include a collection of Washingtonia, or prints, lithographs and paintings of George Washington. “We have a lot of Cooper Union graduates visit the site, and they like to know about Peter Cooper’s history,” she said. David and Shelley Fisher, of Teaneck, were on a recent tour with their daughters, Chana, 13, and Dasie, 11. Mr. Fisher had learned of the manor’s reopening through an Internet search. He planned a family trip because he was familiar with the Cooper-Hewitt legacy in New York but did not know much about the family. Mrs. Fisher was interested in the original furnishings, most of which were chosen by Mrs. Hewitt, who decorated with French flourishes. Chana said she “just liked looking at the things in the rooms and thinking about how they lived in those times.” Dasie shared those sentiments. Image Sue Shutte, the manor’s historian, speaking to visitors. Credit Matt Rainey for The New York Times Of the manor’s 28 bedrooms, 10 are on view; the rest are used as offices and to store artifacts. Among the bedrooms that prompt the most questions, Ms. Shutte said, are Mr. and Mrs. Hewitt’s private suites. Though the couple shared a bedroom, they also maintained private rooms, because Mr. Hewitt had insomnia. In Mrs. Hewitt’s private room, her Victorian lace-up boots, size 7 1/2 and only two inches wide at the toe, sit near the bed. The dining room features a long mahogany table that seats 20 when fully extended and is lighted by gilded sconces in the shape of fire-breathing dragons. An enclosed outdoor piazza added to the house in 1910 is outfitted with windows recycled from Cooper Union. The great hallway features handsome wooden walls carved in the Eastlake style, and Mrs. Hewitt’s collection of 40 models of guns, along with a mounted buffalo head given to the Hewitts by Buffalo Bill. “George Washington also visited the property at least five times during the Revolutionary War, but at the home of Robert Erskine, which is no longer on the property,” Ms. Shutte said. “People ask about that a lot.” Another famous visitor, J. P. Morgan, gave Mr. Hewitt the writing desk that sits in his public office, near the front door. Despite the thoroughness of the tour, Ms. Shutte said visitors sometimes left wanting more. “We’d eventually like to open up the kitchen and the butler’s pantry,” she said. “It’s the ‘Downton Abbey’ effect,” she continued. “The family had 30 servants. People want to know what they were up to in the butler’s pantry.” | Abram S. Hewitt;Ringwood Manor;Historic preservation;New Jersey;Peter Cooper |
ny0141284 | [
"business"
] | 2008/11/05 | Transit Agencies Seek Aid in Avoiding A.I.G. Fees | The troubles of the American International Group are causing headaches for dozens of municipal transit authorities, which want the federal government to help them avoid multimillion-dollar early-termination fees for tax shelters linked to the troubled insurance giant. The authorities are asking the government to assume A.I.G.’s role in scores of tax shelters, even though the Internal Revenue Service considers the transactions abusive. They also want the government to help them avoid billions of dollars in payments caused by the downgrading of A.I.G.’s credit rating. The deals are guaranteed by A.I.G., which was rescued by the government in September. But a prominent trade group that represents major transit authorities in the United States, including agencies in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York, has asked the government to back them instead. Doing so, the authorities say, would allow them to avoid paying about $4 billion in early-termination fees to A.I.G., other insurance companies and banks involved in the deals. The banks say they are owed the money because A.I.G.’s credit ratings have been downgraded. The tax shelters, known as Lilo and Silo, have been under intense scrutiny from the I.R.S. in recent years. They flourished from the late 1990s through 2003, and cost the Treasury an estimated $34 billion in unpaid federal taxes. The I.R.S. banned a version of Lilo in 1999 and again in 2002, and then banned Silo in 2004. The agency says it has never considered them valid for tax deductions, meaning that the banks and insurers, and not the transit authorities, which are exempt from paying taxes, are the ones who got into tax trouble. The shelters revolve around long-term lease-back arrangements. In the deals, corporations bought infrastructure like subways and bridges from municipal authorities and then leased them back to the authorities. The corporations got big tax breaks, and the authorities got enhanced cash flow. From 1988 to 2003, dozens of transit authorities in 25 large cities did 87 Lilo and Silo deals worth more than $16 billion, according to the Federal Transit Administration. Lilo is short for lease-in/lease-out, and Silo is short for sale-in/lease-out. Over the years, about 45 corporations bought more than 1,000 of the shelters, according to the I.R.S. Last August, the agency offered buyers a final chance settle up or face back taxes, fines, penalties and potential litigation. A spokesman for the Treasury said Tuesday that the department “is aware of the situation.” But on Oct. 22, the American Public Transportation Association, a leading trade group, sent a letter to the Transportation Department asking it to urge Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to replace A.I.G.’s role in the deal with the federal government. Several prominent Congressional Democrats have also urged the change. A.I.G. played a crucial role in the transactions by acting as a guarantor. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, for example, bought 16 Lilos, 14 of them with A.I.G. providing guarantees, according to Carol Kissal, the authority’s chief financial officer. In a 2002 deal, done through a Cayman Islands subsidiary of an A.I.G. unit, the Washington authority sold 16 railroad cars to a Belgian bank, KBC Bank NV, which then leased them back through a Delaware trust. A.I.G. guaranteed the credit lines for the deal. But the transaction carries $435 million in early-termination fees to various banks, including $43 million to KBC. | American International Group;Transit Systems;Tax Shelters |
ny0052028 | [
"technology"
] | 2014/10/15 | Income at Intel Climbs 12% on PC Sales | SAN FRANCISCO — Intel became the world’s biggest semiconductor company by powering much of the last three decades of the computer age. But as computers become a part of so many other things, Intel has to figure out new ways to stay dominant. The most recent quarter may have given the company time to work out that plan. On Tuesday, Intel reported that its net income in the third quarter rose 12 percent, to $3.3 billion, or 66 cents a share, compared with the year-ago quarter. Revenue climbed 8 percent, to $14.6 billion. Still, even after a quarter in which Intel shipped a record 100 million microprocessors, Stacy J. Smith, Intel’s chief financial officer, said in an interview that “we have more hard work to do, reinventing the personal computer and going into new markets.” It is a common problem among big, older tech companies, as the computer world seems to split into very large computing centers, sometimes with a million or more machines, and a very small and diffuse array of computing devices in not just smartphones and tablets, but cars, wearables and data-reading sensors. Last week, Hewlett-Packard announced it was splitting into two companies, one to handle devices at the edge of this computing infrastructure, like personal computers, and another company concerned with hardware and software for data centers. Intel, too, is a prisoner of its history, but with financial strength and a willingness to spend to break into new markets. For several years, Intel has struggled to be in more new devices like wearables, smartphones and tablets. Almost two-thirds of its revenue, however, still comes from PCs, considered a generally slow-growing business. An additional 25 percent is in chips for data centers. For now, that is a benefit. Revenue from chips for PCs was $9.2 billion, a 9 percent gain from the same quarter a year ago that analysts ascribed to businesses forced to buy new computers because Microsoft discontinued servicing an older operating system. The data center business grew an impressive 16 percent year on year. Mr. Smith defended the PC business. “They are thin, lightweight and have touch screens,” he said of the latest Intel-powered machines, which did not exist “a couple of years ago.” In chips for mobile devices, supposedly a big part of the future, Intel reported revenue of $1 million and an operating loss of $1 billion. Mr. Smith also defended that business, saying that Intel was on track to exceed its goal of being in 40 million tablets by the end of 2014. Underlining how tricky it is to navigate so many markets without harming an older business, he also said that Intel’s low-end chips for PCs were “winning against tablets.” Image Tablets on display at a trade show in Taiwan in June. Intel has struggled to build new product lines while continuing investment in its core strength building chips. Credit Pichi Chuang/Reuters Intel’s net income was above the expectations of Wall Street analysts. They had projected Intel would make 65 cents a share on revenue of $14.45 billion, according to a survey conducted by Thomson Reuters. The company’s stock was up about 2 percent in after-hours trading, after rising 2 percent in regular trading on Tuesday. Intel’s solid PC chip sales were not unexpected. Last week, two research firms, IDC and Gartner , issued third-quarter reports indicating that a yearslong slide in PC shipments appeared to be ending. That is partly because businesses have been buying new computers since Microsoft this year discontinued servicing an older operating system. In addition, sales of tablet computers, which were seen as alternatives to PCs, have leveled off. “On PCs, they are subjects of the market: Corporations are refreshing their machines while consumers are constrained,” said Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones. “Intel is trying to make their own luck with smartphones, and it’s tough. They pushed strong to get into tablets, just as that market started to mature.” As tough a slog as Intel faced, “they’ve got a huge war chest,” he added. “You’ve got to applaud their long-term perspective — they’ve been trying to succeed in mobile since the iPad came out.” Apple introduced its iPad tablet in April 2010. | Intel;Earnings Reports;Brian M Krzanich;Computer Chip |
ny0200668 | [
"business"
] | 2009/09/16 | Kroger’s Profit Fell 8% in Quarter | CINCINNATI (AP) — Second-quarter profit at the Kroger Company , the nation’s largest traditional grocery, fell nearly 8 percent as bargain-minded households cut spending more deeply and the grocer cut prices to hold onto shoppers. Kroger, which is based in Cincinnati, said Tuesday that sales also fell in the quarter. It cut its earnings guidance for the full year, saying it expects continued economic weakness and customer cutbacks. The company said that it was attracting more frequent shoppers who are loading more items in their carts, but buying cheaper items. Total sales, including fuel, were $17.7 billion, down 2.2 percent from $18.1 billion a year ago. Net earnings totaled $254.4 million, or 39 cents a share, down from $276.5 million, or 42 cents a share. Lower gas prices this year at Kroger’s service stations dragged down revenue, and the company said total sales without fuel were up 3.5 percent for the quarter. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected 44 cents a share on $18.2 billion. Kroger shares were down 7.8 percent in morning trading. Kroger said sale at stores open at least five quarters, a crucial gauge of retail strength called same-store sales, increased 2.6 percent excluding fuel. Kroger confirmed its full-year guidance for sales growth at established stores of 3 percent to 4 percent, without fuel, but dropped earnings guidance to $1.90 to $2 a share from earlier guidance of $2 to $2.05. Company executives, who have increased shopper frequency with a variety of discounts, said they would continue their focus on long-term growth. Milk and other staples have fallen in price in the last year, and Kroger frequently offers promotions like 10 items for $10 or $5 instant rebates on featured items. Kroger operates 2,470 supermarkets and department stores in 31 states under two dozen local banners. | Kroger Company;Company Reports |
ny0228956 | [
"sports",
"basketball"
] | 2010/07/01 | Nets Use Billboard in Rivalry With Knicks | From the blacktop of Harlem, LeBron James gazes up at the skyline, projecting hope. From a building in Midtown, Jay-Z and Mikhail Prokhorov tower over Madison Square Garden, casting an audacious shadow. Two basketball-themed murals, spaced 121 blocks apart, came to life Wednesday afternoon, turning Manhattan into a bright canvas of free-agent dreams and taut rivalries. As the Nets and the Knicks prepared to woo James near his northeast Ohio home, painters were completing a mural with his likeness on the surface of the Rucker Park basketball court. He is wearing a Knicks jersey. Nearby are the words: “Harlem loves you LeBron.” The mural was conceived and commissioned by Chris Latimer and Greg Marius of the Entertainers Basketball Classic. “Everyone in the community is very nervous about whether we’re going to get LeBron or not,” Latimer said. A more pointed image was taking shape at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue, across from the Garden. To the right is Prokhorov, the Nets’ new owner, wearing a coat and tie and a sly grin. To the left is Jay-Z, the hip-hop mogul and Nets shareholder, wearing a coat and tie and a purposeful stare. Above them is a slogan: “The blueprint for greatness.” The mural is painted like a blueprint, a reference to Jay-Z’s popular albums, and is 225 feet high and 95 feet wide. In two years, the Nets will be in Brooklyn, putting them in direct competition with the Knicks. For now, they are merely taunting the Knicks from across the street. “We want to remind our future fans in and around New York that if they want to sample the Nets now, we welcome it,” said Brett Yormark, the Nets’ chief executive. As Yormark explained it, the Nets chose the location based on its proximity to Penn Station, a major transit hub. The Nets are playing the next two seasons at the Prudential Center in Newark , which is close to Newark’s Penn Station. “We went to our ad agency and said, ‘Get us some locations near major transit hubs,’ ” Yormark said. This one, as it turned out, happened to overlook the Knicks’ longtime home. “We obviously knew that it would make a bold statement,” Yormark said, “and we decided to go for it.” Yormark said he did not believe the Nets were “on the radar screen of the Knicks,” despite the team commissioning a mural that could literally be picked up on radar. He also said the Knicks “have been very supportive of our move to Brooklyn.” Asked for comment on the Nets’ mural, a Garden spokesman said in an e-mail message, “We welcome any competition, and wish them well in their move to Newark.” | Basketball;James LeBron;New York Knicks;New Jersey Nets;Murals;Prokhorov Mikhail D;Madison Square Garden |
ny0280201 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2016/10/10 | Tallying the Toll of a Staten Island Drug Wave in Flowers for Funerals | They are not like other mourners. They are raw. “Hysterical crying,” said Jackie Berger, a florist. Some arrive at the other extreme, showing quiet resignation, even relief. “They knew this day was coming,” said Frank Lettera, a funeral director. They are the parents and relatives of young men and women who died on Staten Island after overdosing on heroin. The grieving families are passing through the rituals of death in numbers never seen before : a record 72 suspected overdoses so far this year. That number far surpasses the previous record of 41, in 2014. Florists and funeral homes on Staten Island have had an uncomfortably close view of the rising death toll. There are a limited number of these businesses on the island, and many of those who work in them said in interviews last week that they had helped lay overdose victims to rest. They described the broad range of emotions on display within this subsection of grief, from denial to blame — of others, of oneself — to disbelief. “It’s insane,” said Ms. Berger, of Eltingville Florist. “It’s every week. Some weeks I feel like we have five kids. Once one comes in, we’ll have another one in a few days. I don’t know if they had the same batch or what.” She dutifully takes the orders: carnations; roses; arrangements shaped like broken hearts, or bleeding ones with red streamers; arrangements with sports themes indicating a love of the Mets or the Yankees, the Giants or the Jets. Absent are the sorts of tributes that those who die later in life receive: loving parent, beloved husband or wife. “The family’s been robbed of all these things that could happen,” said Kevin Moran, a funeral director at the John Vincent Scalia Home for Funerals. Mr. Lettera, of Hanley Funeral Home, began his work in 1983. “If we had one overdose every two years, that was a big deal,” he said. There is no comparison to what has happened in recent months. “At one point in the funeral home, we had three overdoses all laid out together,” he said. “All different ages, all different walks of life.” The young people in the coffins — and the friends who come to say farewell — look different from those of past years. “You used to have an overdose from someone in the bad neighborhood; it was their lifestyle,” Mr. Lettera said. “The kids who hung out with him looked like trouble. Now, they’re gentlemen. They’re ladies.” Mr. Moran estimated that he had arranged about 100 funeral services for people who died of overdoses in the past five years. He posts portraits beside the names of the dead on the announcement board in the lobby, which directs visitors to the proper rooms. The pictures of the overdose cases show young, unlined faces that are jarring beside the much older ones for other funerals. Image A book of arrangements at Eltingville Florist. “It’s insane,” Jackie Berger said of taking orders there for overdose deaths. “It’s every week.” Credit Kevin Hagen for The New York Times He puts the overdose deaths in Chapel B because it is the largest. Wakes for young people bring crowds. “Most young people have a big circle of friends,” Mr. Moran said. “They have a sibling or two, and you have all their friends,” along with parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. “The only person who won’t show up at your wake is your dealer,” he added. “You’re no good to him.” But what the dealers sell is close at hand. “You have a wake here, and you go outside and somebody’s snorting coke,” Mr. Moran said. “You hear in the lobby, ‘I need a pill.’ Are you kidding?” He said he would gladly do without this busy source of work. “I don’t want this business,” Mr. Moran said. “I don’t want to deal with it. People think that we don’t feel anything. We’re not robots.” He has two daughters in their 20s. “This tears you apart,” he said. Ms. Berger said a mother and son entered her flower shop last month and saw a broken-heart arrangement that read “Beloved Son.” It was for the funeral of a young man who had died from an overdose. The mother and son, it turned out, were there for the same reason. They ordered the same arrangement. “I have kids,” Ms. Berger said, adding of the mother, “I don’t even know how she’s standing.” Her work, once so often joyful, has peeled away a veneer. “I don’t want to live here anymore,” she said. Chad Cannizzaro, of Carroll’s Florist, said funerals for the elderly were different. “It was sad, but it was a life that was lived,” he said. “It doesn’t seem to be that way on Staten Island anymore.” Funeral directors have seen their jobs change to include the role of counselor to parents. “There’s a lot of guilt,” Mr. Moran said. “‘Did I do this right? Did I do this wrong?’ There is no right or wrong.” They also hear denial. “A lot of parents defend their children,” Mr. Lettera said. “‘It must have been his first time.’ You don’t have to defend them. It’s an epidemic. We tell them, ‘You’re not alone.’” Eventually, the talking done, the arrangements complete, all eyes turn toward the body in the coffin. “It’s so sad,” Mr. Lettera said, “to see a parent in front of a child, on their knees.” | Funerals;Heroin;Florists;Staten Island;Drug Abuse;Fatalities,casualties |
ny0112772 | [
"business",
"media"
] | 2012/02/13 | Twitter Is All in Good Fun, Until It Isn’t | I was going to tweet about Roland Martin’s suspension from CNN, but I decided to write a column about it instead. It’s safer this way. Let me explain. Big media companies love when their employees hit Twitter . After all, the short-form social media platform gives consumers direct access to media personalities, and along with it, an intimate connection that large media organizations, and the public, revel in. Until something goes wrong. Roland Martin, who is paid to spout opinions on CNN, posted a controversial one on Twitter and now he is on suspension. Like a lot of us, Mr. Martin watched the Super Bowl last Sunday and like many of us, he frolicked on Twitter as one more way of “watching” the big game, including commercials. Mr. Martin, a syndicated newspaper columnist and a political analyst for CNN, got in trouble for writing, “If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham ’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl.” Many, including gay advocacy groups, felt that the post advocated violence against homosexuals. Mr. Martin, a longtime hater of soccer, saw the immediate blowback on Twitter and said he was just mocking that sport, and nothing more. CNN also saw the outcry and suspended Mr. Martin indefinitely, saying in a news release that his post was “regrettable and offensive.” This is not the first time someone who makes a living on one platform has been clobbered for making remarks on another. Octavia Nasr, senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs at CNN, was fired in 2010 for praising on Twitter Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, a Shiite cleric and inspirational figure for Hezbollah , after he died. That same year, an Arizona Daily Star reporter was fired for writing posts critical of colleagues and of the city of Tucson . The National Labor Relations Board said his dismissal was legal , in part because he had been warned by his employers not to post about work-related issues. Markos Moulitsas, the founder of the Daily Kos, was temporarily barred from MSNBC after getting in a Twitter dispute with Joe Scarborough on his show “Morning Joe.” The list goes on, but you get the idea. The great thing about Twitter is it offers a friction-free route to an audience — if it can be thought, it can be posted. That’s also the bad thing about Twitter. For employees of almost any company, but especially media companies, it creates an ongoing tension: Yes, build your personal brand and, by proxy, bring social media luster to your employer, but do it in ways that are consumer-friendly and taste-appropriate. That kind of contemplativeness is not generally a Twitter impulse, as Mr. Martin found out. Maybe he had too many nachos as he watched the game, or a few too many adult beverages, but when you are using Twitter as companion media to big events, be it the Oscars or the Super Bowl, it’s hard to resist the urge to say something sassy, transgressive or inappropriate. It’s been a busy week for the intersection of Twitter and mainstream media. The BBC instructed its reporters to make sure they were breaking news on the BBC and not only on Twitter. Chris Hamilton, the BBC’s social media editor, said in a blog post, “We’ve been clear that our first priority remains ensuring that important information reaches BBC colleagues, and thus all our audiences, as quickly as possible — and certainly not after it reaches Twitter.” Sky News took an even more aggressive Twitter stance in an e-mail to its staff last Tuesday: it banned the posting of stories from other media outlets, saying, “don’t tweet when it is not a story to which you have been assigned or a beat which you work.” That is a sure-fire way for the Twitter accounts of Sky News employees to get little traction going forward. In the current paradigm of media organizations and Twitter personalities, good reporters are expected to serve as a kind of wire service for information, and that includes providing links to important stories that they themselves may not have written. There is an expectation that good journalistic posters will be agnostic and even gracious about where information comes from. ( Rupert Murdoch , a prolific Twitter user himself and someone who links to media whether he owns it or not, took to Twitter to say: “I have nothing to do with Sky News.” Well, other than owning a chunk of it, but why split digital hairs?) Twitter’s speed and ease make it the world headquarters of snap judgments. From reading Mr. Martin’s post about Mr. Beckham and another one about a Patriots fan dressed all in pink, I saw little evidence per se that what he said was homophobic. So I could have joined the digital debate with something like: “Hey haters, cool it, let Martin be Martin. Let’s move on, people.” But I didn’t, even though I am something of a free speech absolutist, partly because my Twitter bio identifies me as someone who writes about media for The New York Times . When I do post on Twitter, I often look at it through the eyes of my boss and his bosses and ask, is this congruent with the journalistic values of the institution — or, more succinctly, will it create a headache for my employer? In the 15,000 or so tweets and retweets I have written, there are a few I’d like back and a few that probably made my betters uncomfortable, but mostly I’ve stayed out of the ditch. The rule at The Times is that there is no rule, but there is an expectation, as Philip B. Corbett, the standards editor for the paper, told me in an e-mail: “We expect Times journalists to behave like Times journalists, and they generally do.” A Twitter post is not a small news story or a column. It is a thought burped up, generally without consideration. Most big media organizations mediate the discourse of their employees because that’s the business they are in. More and more, media outlets may be seen as a federation of voices, but there has to be a there there, a single unifying principle or value. And even though I write a column, it has to be based on reporting. A funny thing happens when you report — things get more complicated, and less tweetable. When I thought of writing about Mr. Martin’s suspension, I was inclined to believe it was a bone-headed move by a company drunk on correctness. I found some agreement from James Poniewozik at Time, who said , “Denounce the remarks, but as I’ve said before, I’d rather journalistic outlets, which are in the business of expression and ideas, err on the side of letting people screw up.” (He also said that Mr. Martin, who is fond of wearing ascots, should probably not point a crooked finger at the fashion choices of anyone else.) But I also asked around among my friends — something I would never do as a precursor to tweeting — and got this response from Simon Dumenco, a longtime media observer and a Twitter savant. He wrote in an e-mail: “The idea of joking that a ‘dude’ expressing a positive opinion about a David Beckham ad — which was really not about David Beckham the soccer star, but David Beckham the half-naked sex god — merits a smack-down? That’s actually not hilarious to me. It’s actually scary to me because it reminds me of social situations in my life where I’ve felt like it would be literally unsafe for people to learn I’m gay.” Obviously, what seemed like harmless knuckleheaded banter to me landed very differently with people who generally share my values about free and unfettered discourse. I heard the same thing from other smart people who spend a lot of time on both reporting and Twitter. So while I’m all for letting the tweets fall where they may, I’ve come to understand that just because a thought is tapped out on Twitter doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take it seriously. Complicated, I know, and just the kind of nuanced conclusion that would never fit into 140 characters. | null;null;Roland Martin;CNN;News media,journalism |
ny0145432 | [
"us"
] | 2008/10/15 | With Little Fuel, Eco-Racers Arrive in Las Vegas | Las Vegas — In a city accustomed to the catering to the strange and offbeat, the arrival Monday evening of Jack McCornack and Sharon Westcott in a topless, two-foot-tall green and yellow roadster at the front door of the storied Sahara Hotel-Casino still turned heads. Gawkers couldn’t have known that Mr. McCornack and Ms. Westcott had just driven the vehicle more than 800 miles over three days from Berkeley, Calif., but many nonetheless noticed the plastic tank of vegetable oil — a.k.a. fuel — affixed to the back. In making it to Las Vegas in a total of 1,418 minutes without burning an ounce of petroleum, the duo from Cave Junction, Ore., collected a $5,000 prize in the Escape From Berkeley race. “We signed up to do this before we even knew there was money involved,” said Mr. McCornack, owner of Kinetic Vehicles, a maker of alternative cars, his face ruddy and his hands chapped from the constant sun exposure. “It just seemed like great fun.” Fun, perhaps, but also quite a challenge. The five teams that began the race on Saturday dwindled to just two by Monday’s start because of mechanical problems on the other makeshift vehicles that paid $500 to enter. Beyond the requirement to use no petroleum products for fuel was the added twist that the participants would have to scavenge along the way for raw materials. They weren’t allowed to buy any, but Mr. McCornack and Ms. Westcott were delighted by donations of oil from local people who would ask questions about the odd-looking vehicle as they stopped outside of grocery stores. For the favor, the duo gave out bright yellow T-shirts commemorating the race. “I’m actually kind of shocked that anybody made it at all,” said Jim Mason, the event’s organizer and founder of a 20,000-square-foot open-air garage in Berkeley called Shipyard Labs where self-described “geeks and gearheads” work in shipping containers. “It’s a pretty high bar to set to say you can use absolutely no petroleum and you can start with one gallon of whatever your fuel is and you gotta drive 600 miles. It was pretty possible nobody would even make it here and I was fine with that.” Indeed, the original route led drivers through the 9,943-foot-high Tioga Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, but that pass was closed due to a snowstorm. That meant a 200-mile detour. Mr. McCornack’s sole rival by Monday was a green Dodge Dakota that runs on oxygen, hydrogen and methane power converted from burned wood in a large black contraption. The vehicle was driven by Wayne Keith, a 59-year-old cattle rancher from Springville, Ala. Mr. Keith stopped using petroleum for his vehicle five years ago when gas soared to $1.75 a gallon. Though Mr. Keith arrived at the Sahara first on Monday, he finished about three hours behind Mr. McCornack and Ms. Westcott in total travel time over the three-day trip due to trouble Sunday with a flat tire and a some dead wood that didn’t burn properly. He used a variety of biomass along the route for the truck, which he says runs on the equivalent of a penny a mile in fuel costs. “You name it, switchback, kudzu, corn starch, cotton starch, newspaper, corn cobs, phone books,” Mr. Keith said. “Its all carbon neutral. This is more clean than an electric car.” Mr. McCornack also bragged about the low fuel cost, its environmental cleanliness and its efficiency: “Normally, we can get 60 or 70 m.p.h. on this, but we had so many hills and such headwinds, we spent a lot of time in the 40s.” Both teams that completed the race faced unusual olfactory challenges as well. They ate little while traveling so as to not waste time, but Mr. McCornacks vegetable oil evoked the scent of French fries. Mr. Keith admitted the burning biomass in his flatbed made him crave barbecue. Among the vehicles that didn’t make it were a Mercedes-Benz that runs on vegetable oil, a two-man bicycle augmented by a one-horsepower electric motor that runs on ethanol, and a 15 m.p.h. steam-powered three-wheeler (two of which are wooden). Mr. Mason chose Las Vegas to complete the race largely out of contempt for the tourist destination, he said. “Vegas is a place of excessive spectacle and consumption of other peoples creativity,” he said. “This isn’t a place of production, of citizens making, expressing, creating....Vegas is the biggest contradiction of what we just did.” Next year’s race, he said, will be held over Memorial Day weekend and will conclude in Mexico. | Automobiles;Biofuels;Sustainable Living;Environment;Berkeley (Calif);Las Vegas (Nev) |
ny0020680 | [
"world",
"americas"
] | 2013/09/03 | Brazil Angered Over Report N.S.A. Spied on President | RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s government summoned the United States ambassador on Monday to respond to new revelations of American surveillance of President Dilma Rousseff and her top aides, complicating relations between the countries ahead of Ms. Rousseff’s state visit to Washington next month. While senior Brazilian officials expressed indignation over the revelations of spying by the National Security Agency on both Ms. Rousseff and Enrique Peña Nieto, now the president of Mexico — reported Sunday on the Globo television network — they stopped short of saying whether Ms. Rousseff’s visit was at risk of being called off. “This would be an unacceptable violation to our sovereignty, involving our head of state,” José Eduardo Cardozo, Brazil’s justice minister, said in an interview. Mr. Cardozo said that Brazil had requested an explanation from Washington regarding the revelations, emphasizing that he had already proposed in meetings with American officials a legal accord regulating United States intelligence activities in Brazil. “Something like this would clearly not fit” within such an agreement, Mr. Cardozo said. The report, based on documents provided by the fugitive N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden to Glenn Greenwald, an American journalist living in Brazil, described how the N.S.A. used different computer programs to filter through communications and gain access to specific e-mails, telephone calls and text messages of Ms. Rousseff’s top aides. In the case of Mexico’s leader, the Globo report described how the N.S.A. obtained a text message from Mr. Peña Nieto himself in 2012, while he was a candidate for the presidency, that referred to an appointment he planned to make to his staff if elected. Mexico’s response to the revelations was muted compared with Brazil’s. Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it was asking the United States in a diplomatic note for an “exhaustive investigation” into the matter, while also summoning the American ambassador to emphasize the government’s position. Washington has been seeking to enhance its ties with Brazil, Latin America’s largest country, by reaching out to Ms. Rousseff. Her government was already angered by previous revelations that Brazil ranked among the N.S.A.’s most spied-upon countries. While Brazil maintains generally warm ties with the United States, resentment lingers over the repressive eavesdropping by the military dictatorship from 1964 to 1985 and the support of the United States for the coup that brought the military to power. American officials here were put on the defensive just weeks after Secretary of State John Kerry briefly visited Brazil in August in an effort to ease tension over earlier reports describing how the N.S.A. had established a data collection center in Brasília, among the strategies the N.S.A. is said to have used to delve into Brazil’s large telecommunications hubs. The American Embassy in Brasília said Monday that it would not comment on the matter. Beyond condemning American spying practices, Brazil is taking other steps. For instance, Gen. Sinclair Mayer, who runs the Brazilian Army’s science and technology department, recently told lawmakers of a plan to establish underwater Internet cables linking Brazil to Europe and Africa, reflecting an effort to reroute Internet traffic now going through the United States. Brazil also said in August that it had chosen a French-Italian venture to build a satellite for military and civilian use, part of a bid to ensure sovereignty of important communications. The Brazilian authorities have also ordered Brazil’s Postal Service to develop a national e-mail system allowing users to exchange encrypted messages that would presumably be harder for intelligence agencies to monitor. The new system, scheduled to begin in 2014, is intended as an alternative to American services like Gmail and Hotmail. Cybersecurity experts have expressed skepticism, pointing to how even hackers have found ways to penetrate seemingly secure satellites and porous parts of the Internet, but Brazil is still moving ahead with the programs. For Mexico, the report comes at an awkward time, with Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. scheduled to visit Mexico soon to promote economic talks and with American law enforcement officials continuing to chafe over the unexpected release of one of the most notorious drug lords from a Mexico prison. The security relationship under Mr. Peña Nieto has been strained at times, with his government seeking to control American law enforcement activity in Mexico more tightly, but both countries have promised to collaborate closely and have worked on arrests. | US Foreign Policy;NSA;Brazil;Dilma Rousseff;Mexico;Enrique Pena Nieto;Spying and Intelligence Agencies;Privacy |
ny0270022 | [
"us"
] | 2016/04/30 | Sexual Assault Ruling in Oklahoma Spurs Calls to Change State Laws | Outraged activists and prosecutors in Oklahoma called for changes to a state law on forced oral sex after a court rejected the prosecution of a teenage boy in Tulsa because his 16-year-old accuser had been intoxicated to the point of unconsciousness. “Forcible sodomy cannot occur where a victim is so intoxicated as to be completely unconscious at the time of the sexual act of oral copulation,” the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in the case . “We will not, in order to justify prosecution of a person for an offense, enlarge a statute beyond the fair meaning of its language,” it said. Advocates for rape victims said the decision by the appeals court was not all that surprising given the patchwork inconsistency of state-by-state sexual assault laws that leave legal gray areas. But other experts said the ruling should jolt other states into examining their own laws. Kristen Houser, a spokeswoman for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, based in Pennsylvania, said, “Each state does have a unique set of laws, and you do find, unfortunately, sometimes that things you thought were covered aren’t.” Kansas, for example, has a rape law that clearly states what Oklahoma’s does not: It includes a line for when the victim “is incapable of giving consent because of the effect of any alcoholic liquor, narcotic, drug or other substance.” The case centered on a 17-year-old boy who was accused of rape after he and a group of high school students gathered in a Tulsa park to drink and smoke marijuana in the early morning hours of June 1, 2014, according to Oklahoma Watch , a local news site, which reported on the court ruling. Witnesses said the girl had been drifting in and out of unconsciousness and had been unable to walk. The defendant took the girl to his car, and later to a relative’s house to sleep, according to court documents. The boy said the ensuing oral sex was consensual, but the girl told the police she did not remember anything else after being at the park, according to Oklahoma Watch. Tests later showed she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.341, more than four times the state’s legal limit for driving. The boy’s DNA was found on the girl’s body and around her mouth, according to court documents. The boy was initially charged with first-degree rape and forcible oral sodomy, but both charges were dismissed at trial. The district attorney’s office appealed the case, and the appeals court’s ruling March 24 set off a furor. The prosecutor in the case, Benjamin Fu, said he was “flabbergasted” by the decision. He rejected the idea that it was simply a case of a blind spot in the state legislation. The court had the ability but opted not to apply the meaning of the law to a case the Legislature had not anticipated, he said. “This does not reflect our laws, the temperament of our Legislature or the values or beliefs of Oklahoma,” Mr. Fu said. He said he was working with legislators to change the state’s sexual assault laws, including the addition of language to address the issue of consent more directly. Scott Biggs, an Oklahoma state representative, criticized the court’s “grave error” and said on Thursday that he would amend legislation to include unconscious victims in the definition of forcible sodomy. “Unfortunately, legal minds often get stuck on questions of semantics, when it is clear to most of us what the intent of the law is,” he said in a statement . The boy’s lawyer did not return a telephone call Thursday seeking comment. Rebecca O’Connor, the vice president for public policy of the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network in Washington, said the case underscored the need for legislatures to be as clear about their intent as possible, instead of leaving judges to decide. “It’s not surprising, although unfortunate, that this is how it came down,” she said. “It’s also not unique to Oklahoma. This sort of gray area of law can lead to unfortunate consequences.” | Rape;Legislation;Decisions and Verdicts;Oklahoma |
ny0256311 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2011/08/10 | Disruptions to New Jersey Transit Service Continue After Derailment | Riders on New Jersey Transit may face crowded trains on Wednesday morning in the aftermath of a derailment that disrupted service on Tuesday. Other service in and out of Pennsylvania Station was expected to be normal. New Jersey Transit said that its crews would be working overnight to repair the rails damaged by two of its train cars that jumped the tracks on Tuesday morning. Service to and from Penn Station in New York was set to be suspended from about 12:45 a.m. to 3 a.m. Wednesday as crews worked to clear the derailed cars from the tracks using a crane, according to The Associated Press. The Long Island Rail Road was also affected on Tuesday, but an official said service on Wednesday would be normal. Amtrak service will also run as scheduled. The derailment of two cars of a 10-car train leaving Pennsylvania Station for Trenton resulted in a day of snarls, cancellations and delays, as the accident closed one of the two Hudson River rail tunnels. Roughly 1,300 trains pass through the tunnels each day, according to Cliff Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak. Because several New Jersey Transit trains had to be rerouted on Tuesday, some trains on Wednesday might be shorter than usual, Penny Bassett Hackett, a spokeswoman for New Jersey Transit, said. Commuters “may experience more crowds than normal,” but the trains will be able to accommodate everyone,” Ms. Basset Hackett said. Overnight, as crews worked to fix the tracks, several New Jersey Transit trains on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Lines were rerouted from Pennsylvania Station and began or ended their runs in Newark. Travelers to Manhattan were advised to take PATH trains from Newark. Those New Jersey Transit lines were expected to be back on their normal routes by the Wednesday morning rush. | New Jersey Transit;Pennsylvania Station (NYC);Railroads;Commuting |
ny0279469 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2016/10/02 | The Life Cycle of One New Yorker | Dear Diary: It was my second night living in the city and it showed. Tables cleared, I was dancing at Son Cubano in the meatpacking district with fast friends, my bright red swingy dress announcing my out-of-towner status in a sea of slinky black. Spilling out onto the cobblestone streets after closing, I found myself giving out my number with shameless abandon, too flush with a newcomer’s overconfidence to care. Eight years later, another bar, a different world. It’s 2 p.m., and I’m in Brooklyn, seated at a pub in my beloved Cobble Hill. I’m holding my 6-week-old daughter as I attempt my first mom meet-up. I bumper-car my way through new faces. Labor, bodily functions, breast-feeding — we have surface conversations about the most intimate corners of our lives. Eventually we file out onto the sidewalk. Sober and achingly vulnerable, my throat gets thick as I turn to the woman I’ve been talking to. “Can I get your number?” I ask. | Cobble Hill Brooklyn;Meatpacking District Manhattan |
ny0020280 | [
"us",
"politics"
] | 2013/07/13 | A Day of Friction Notable Even for a Fractious Congress | WASHINGTON — Even in a Congress where bipartisanship and comity are now officially the exceptions to the regular order, the near implosion on Capitol Hill on Thursday was notable, as both chambers erupted in a furor that went on for much of the day. In the Senate, leaders fought bitterly over proposed changes to Senate rules that would limit the filibuster , with Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, trading barbs with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, several times on the Senate floor. “These are dark days in the history of the Senate,” Mr. McConnell said ominously, adding that the rule change suggested by Mr. Reid would lead to the Democrat’s being remembered as “the worst leader of the Senate ever.” The two men, both crafty lawmakers and once seemingly friends, seem now barely able to countenance each other’s presence. Over in the House, Republicans — without the help of a single Democrat — passed perhaps the most partisan farm bill in recent history, stripping out the food stamp program to attract enough support from conservatives. Just passing the bill, which was prepared in the House Rules Committee in the dark of night on Wednesday, proved an unusual chore as furious Democrats pulled one procedural move after another to delay the inevitable, taking turns to disparage the bill from the floor. “I am not proud of what you’re seeing here today,” said Representative Tim Walz, Democrat of Minnesota. “The disrespect shown to this hallowed ground by hatching this abomination in the middle of the night and forcing it here because of this extremist element is the reason that the American people think higher of North Korea than they do of this body.” The chaos reflects the reality that Congress has largely been reduced from a lawmaking entity to a political operation, in which positions are taken and fermented largely in the name of maintaining party unity rather than attracting votes from the other side. In the House, under the rule of Republicans, the minority is largely powerless to do anything but protest. Senate Republicans at least have the power to filibuster, which helps explain why they are so adamantly opposed to the Democrats’ gambit. Some Senate Republicans, after years of asking the majority to pass a budget, now refuse to allow the House and Senate to reconcile their two versions, less because of policy disagreements and more, it would appear, to appeal to a base that simply abhors deal-making. For their part, Democrats had been enjoying a stalemate over the issue of student loans because of its potential for campaign advertising copy next year. Bills come together now more often because of a breakdown in party unity, as was the case this week with the student loan bill, when Democrats showed signs of yielding because of disagreements within their own party over how to proceed. Likewise, Republicans occasionally will adopt Senate solutions only when their party is divided over their own bills, as was the case this year when they were forced to swallow a fiscal deal that included tax increases on high earners. The exception to the misery remains, at least largely, in the Appropriations Committees, owing perhaps to its now-waning tradition of benevolence as lawmakers take care of one another’s needs. Even as bills passed through the Senate committee on Thursday largely along party lines, laughter filled the hearing room as members joked with the amiable chairwoman of the committee, Senator Barbara A. Mikulski, Democrat of Maryland. “Illinois is now so tooted,” she noted as Senator Mark S. Kirk, a Republican, asked to toot his state’s horn in recognition of its role in creating an AIDS drug. The divide in Congress stems largely from deep disagreements “over the role and scope of government,” said Senator Angus King, independent of Maine, prompted by the 2010 Republican wave that filled the House with lawmakers devoted to reversing years of deficit spending brought on by tax cuts and increased entitlement spending. But the reality of sequestration, which set significant spending caps, combined with the ban on earmarks — once used to grease the wheels of legislation — have combined to make even historically bipartisan measures like the farm bill fraught with discord. “Sequestration is a meat cleaver,” Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, said Thursday on the Senate floor. Money, at the end of the day — when available — remains the great unifier. To wit: a bipartisan immigration bill was possible in the Senate in large part because of billions of dollars in border-control spending, both for agents and equipment, that was added to it to appease conservatives, as well as a jobs program that secured support from some of the chamber’s most liberal members. A measure to provide relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy was similarly loaded with aid to states that suffered previous disasters. Even the Appropriations Committee, while still the place of civility, shows the strains of the pinch. In the Senate committee Thursday, members lamented an amendment to an appropriations bill that would have given more money to a program that would supplement heating and cooling costs for low-income people, but that, in this new era of tight purse strings, would pay for it by cutting into education grant money, as a “Hobson’s choice.” Senator Mary L. Landrieu, Democrat of Louisiana, angrily criticized the choice, which she said made her stomach hurt, setting off one of the few unpleasant exchanges of the day among a group of senators. “The essence of what we are now discussing is the choice between helping poor families to stay warm or to send our kids to college,” she said. “It’s sad.” The measure passed, but the debate over whether paying for one group’s needs at the expense of another’s is, Ms. Mikulski warned, “a much larger issue that can’t be resolved by the debate here today. This is really kind of where we are.” | Senate;Congress;House of Representatives;Congress;Harry Reid;Mitch McConnell;US Politics;Filibusters;Farm Bill |
ny0138662 | [
"nyregion",
"nyregionspecial2"
] | 2008/05/25 | Jail and Fines Proposed for Theft of Recyclables | RECYCLABLES, particularly cardboard, have become such hot commodities that Westchester County officials want to protect them by making their theft for resale a crime. Inspired by a New York City law, county legislators are considering a proposal that would make systematic or large-scale theft of material put out for recycling punishable by up to 90 days in jail, fines that range from $1,000 to $2,000 — or both. Casual garbage picking would be spared under the law, however, officials said. The proposal is designed to stop thieves from making serious money from stolen cardboard, plastic and bottles, they said, not to end the longtime practice of picking through neighbors’ trash for personal use. “That’s the original recycling,” said Judith A. Myers, a county legislator whose Seventh District includes Rye, Mamaroneck and Larchmont. “Everyone in the suburbs knows that a great way to recycle old furniture or other household items is to put it out on the driveway. It’s a great feeling when you look outside and see it’s gone.” The proposal, which is still in the works, is being designed to spare individuals who collect materials like boxes for reuse or cans to make ends meet, Ms. Myers said. But thieves who systematically steal recyclables to sell them at market value, robbing the county of their worth, would be prosecuted, she said. Last year, New York City increased the fines for such activity after estimating that the practice cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. In 2007, Westchester made about $5.7 million selling recyclables like cardboard, plastic, glass and cans, Ms. Myers said. “If private people take the recycling, then the county does not make money on it,” she said. The wide-scale theft of recyclables has yet to hit Westchester with any force, local leaders said. In fact, officials in communities near New York City, including Yonkers and Mount Vernon, said they had not even heard of the practice, let alone considered it a problem. But outlawing recycling theft as part of the county’s larger update of its recycling laws makes sense as the materials grow more valuable, making them more attractive to thieves, said Thomas J. Lauro, commissioner of the Westchester County Department of Environmental Facilities. The increase in mail-order shopping has made corrugated cardboard particularly valuable, he said. Much as governments do, thieves sell the cardboard to brokers or industries that break it down for other uses. “Cardboard is a commodity, and right now it’s drawing a pretty good price,” Mr. Lauro said. County legislators are expected to approve the law on June 2, along with other stricter recycling rules. Legislators will also consider adding to the list of mandatory recyclables materials that, until now, have not been marketable and therefore have been exempt, like cardboard cereal and tissue boxes, they said. Other proposed changes include requiring schools and businesses to recycle — which has also not been required under county law, Mr. Lauro said. Under the proposals, nonresidential businesses or services that create large amounts of waste would also be required to submit a recycling plan, with updates required every three years, he said. Ms. Myers said the proposals were designed to keep Westchester’s recycling laws in step with the times while further reducing the amount of waste. Those efforts will continue as markets for recyclables change, she said. Buying equipment that would enable residents to recycle a greater variety of plastics will most likely be considered in the near future, she said. “The whole idea of recycling is to hopefully get to the point where consumers are not only driving it, but people are really wanting to do it,” Ms. Myers said. | Westchester County (NY);Recycling of Waste Materials;Waste Materials and Disposal |
ny0186252 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
] | 2009/03/15 | In Hard-Bitten Baghdad, Tough Tactics on Strays | BAGHDAD — While human beings in Iraq were killing each other in huge numbers, they ignored the dogs, which in turn multiplied at an alarming rate. Now stray dogs are such a menace that municipal workers are hunting them down, slaughtering some 10,000 in Baghdad just since December. This is not exactly good news, but it does seem a measure of progress that Iraqis have the luxury of worrying about dogs at all. “Give us clean water instead of killing dogs!” Hussein Ali, 62, yelled recently at a group of veterinary employees enticing a pack of strays with meat laced with strychnine. “The dogs are not harming us, it is the water.” Many Iraqis still lack the most basic of services, like sewage systems and potable water. One of the dog control officers, out poisoning dogs on a crisp and clear winter morning, explained that he was only doing his part, unglamorous maybe, to make life here better. “Iraq has many problems,” he said. “We are here on a mission to kill stray dogs.” With fewer bombs going off and hardly any bodies being dumped anymore, the dogs are perhaps the biggest problem on the filthy and rubble-strewn streets of Baghdad. Packs of strays scare schoolchildren and people who get up at dawn to go to work. They gather at open-air butcher shops where customers choose their meat from flocks of live sheep. Some people believe that the dogs spread disease, not a difficult case to make in a society that generally shuns dogs as pets, believing them to be contrary to Islamic edicts on personal cleanliness. Thus a relative peace has changed priorities, and not just in Baghdad. The holy Shiite city of Karbala was so overwhelmed with stray dogs last year that officials there offered 6,000 dinars ($5.30) for each animal caught and handed over to the municipality. The dogs were shot and buried en masse. Here in the capital, a program began late last year in which the national Ministry of Agriculture’s veterinary services teamed up with the municipality, the police and even the army in some of the tougher neighborhoods to tackle the problem. Mostly the dogs are killed with rotten raw meat laced with strychnine, a poison used in pesticides and against rodents. In some cases, particularly around the city’s sprawling garbage dumps, the dogs are instead shot. By the time this campaign is over this month, perhaps 20,000 dogs will have been exterminated, said Shaker Fraiyeh of the ministry’s veterinary services company. “Our work may be against animal rights, but there is a more important issue, public health,” said Dr. Fraiyeh, a veterinarian in his 30s. Dr. Fraiyeh cited two recent cases involving children who contracted rabies after being bitten by stray dogs in Baghdad’s impoverished Sadr City district and in the southern city of Basra. On a recent morning, a dog control team prepared for a mission in eastern Baghdad. Armed with bags of poisoned meat, they hopped into their pickup trucks. They drove past neighborhoods and markets barricaded with concrete blast walls and made their way deep into the New Baghdad district. Buildings still bore the scars of the battles fought last March between American and Iraqi troops and militiamen loyal to the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr. The first stop was a parking lot in front of a tire repair shop and a streetside butcher stand, where dogs tend to gather, drawn by the tempting discarded innards of sheep. Two men got out of one truck wearing rubber gloves and carrying the bags of meat. They walked over to the parking lot and began tossing the poisoned meat in all directions. A few dogs lazed around. Few approached the meat at first. Then the biggest dog in the pack began nibbling it. A weak brown dog with a bushy tail and a broken leg emerged from under a parked vehicle. The big dog growled to keep it away. After a few attempts, the weak dog finally managed to steal a poisoned strip. Hussein Hazza, a man who had parked his fuel truck in the lot, pitied the weak dog but did not help it. He said the dog had been wounded recently when a construction worker on a nearby site beat him with a shovel. “They have hurt no one,” said Mr. Hazza, 60. “We say, poor animals.” The crew prepared to leave, after being harassed a bit over whether dogs were really Iraq’s biggest worry. Mr. Ali, the man who yelled at the team, said he thought clean drinking water was more important. A woman said she hoped that the crew was planning a market. At any rate, the resulting dead dogs were not the crew’s business. Municipal workers pick up dog bodies; the crew was just there to kill them. Abdul-Karim Ismail, another veterinarian with the state-owned company dealing with the dogs, said building and maintaining animal shelters and introducing other methods for controlling Baghdad’s dog population — like vaccination or neutering — were too costly and complicated in a nation where people had so many more pressing needs. Some stray dogs have been fortunate enough to find new homes outside Iraq. S.P.C.A. International, a Washington-based charity, began “ Operation Baghdad Pups ” in 2007 to help American soldiers adopt and take home stray dogs they befriended while serving in Iraq. The problem of controlling the dog population is compounded, Dr. Ismail said, by most Iraqis’ negative views of dogs. He is one of the few who has owned them as pets, he said, but has not found it easy. In 1996 his dog attacked and badly wounded a man painting his neighbor’s house. The matter became so serious that it had to be arbitrated by a tribal council, which ruled that Dr. Ismail had to pay the wounded man a large sum of money as compensation. Later, Dr. Ismail got another dog, which he said also bit someone: a thief who made away with a neighbor’s carpet. But he and his dog were viewed as the guilty party, and he said he had to bribe police officers to drop charges against him. Last year, Dr. Ismail took pity on a stray female dog in Baladiyat, his neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, which was bleeding after children had hit it with bricks. He treated the dog and kept it in his house. But still there was heartbreak, the needs of dog and man irreconcilable. “She later eloped with a pack of stray male dogs,” he said, smiling. | Baghdad (Iraq);Dogs |
ny0013910 | [
"sports"
] | 2013/11/24 | Mad Dog Vachon, Pro Wrestler, Dies at 84 | Mad Dog Vachon, a Canada-born wrestler whose long career and ferocious persona earned him a place in the World Wrestling Entertainment Hall of Fame, died Thursday at his home in Omaha. He was 84. His death was confirmed by Yves Thériault, the director of a 2009 documentary about Vachon. Vachon wrestled, originally as an amateur, for more than 40 years. A growling, gaptoothed tough guy in the ring, he once said he had done everything he could to make people hate him but had “failed miserably.” He brought a degree of showmanship to professional wrestling that influenced the over-the-top antics of today. “He was the first wrestler to understand the power of television,” Thériault said. “He was the first wrestler to speak to the camera.” Image Mad Dog Vachon in 1986, the year he retired from professional wrestling. Credit Bernard Breault/Montreal La Presse via The Canadian Press Maurice Vachon, one of 13 children, was born on Sept. 14, 1929. His father was a police officer. His survivors include his wife, Kathie, and his brother Paul, who also became a pro wrestler, known as the Butcher. A sister, Vivian, who died in 1991, and a niece, Luna, who died in 2010, also wrestled. Vachon represented Canada at the 1948 London Olympics and was a gold medalist at the 1950 British Empire Games in Auckland, New Zealand. He went on to wrestle throughout Canada and the Midwestern United States, most notably in the Minneapolis-based American Wrestling Association, of which he was a five-time world champion. He earned his nickname in 1962 in Portland, Ore., when he appeared to go berserk as he waited for his opponent to arrive and tossed him out of the ring when he showed up, along with a referee and a police officer. (He insisted in a 1999 interview that none of his outburst had been scripted and that he had been fined and suspended as a result.) He retired in 1986 but did appear at a World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event in 1996, at which he provided the audience with a memorable bit of showmanship. Vachon had lost his right leg below the knee after he was hit by a car in 1987. At the 1996 event, a wrestler tore off Vachon’s artificial leg and used it against an opponent. | Maurice Vachon;Wrestling;Obituary |
ny0260024 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
] | 2011/06/05 | C. C. Sabathia Makes Himself at Home on the Road | ANAHEIM, Calif. — It was understood during the 2008 off-season that C. C. Sabathia preferred to pitch for a team on the West Coast. It is where he grew up, where he felt comfortable and where he has pitched so well over the last week for the team that signed him: the Yankees . Sabathia worked the first eight and two-thirds innings Saturday night against the Los Angeles Angels before giving way to Mariano Rivera, who needed one pitch to secure the final out of a 3-2 victory at Angel Stadium. Sabathia allowed two runs (one earned) and eight hits, extending a stretch of outstanding starting pitching by the Yankees. Their rotation has a 2.48 earned run average through the first eight games of this brutal swing, which started poorly, with two one-run losses in Seattle. Then Sabathia pitched eight innings to defeat the Mariners on Sunday, and the Yankees are now guaranteed to finish this trip with a winning record. Since May 19, Sabathia is 4-0 with a 1.60 earned run average, and on Saturday, he became the first Yankee since Andy Pettitte in 1995 to win four consecutive starts while pitching at least eight innings in each of them, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. “C. C.’s amazing,” said Alex Rodriguez , whose two-run homer in the sixth snapped a 1-1 tie. “He’s kind of been our lifesaver here for the last two or three years. He’s a guy that starts winning streaks for us and stops losing streaks." Joba Chamberlain started warming up in the eighth, when Sabathia was boosted by a brilliant defensive play at first base by Mark Teixeira to strand two runners and finish the inning with 99 pitches. As the Yankees batted in the top of the ninth, the bullpen stopped stirring. It was Sabathia’s game to finish, but he could not, retiring the first two hitters before Peter Bourjos singled, advanced to second on fielder’s indifference and scored on a single by Maicer Izturis. In came Rivera, who induced a pop out from Erick Aybar to end the game. “After he got that lead, he became more efficient,” Manager Joe Girardi said of Sabathia. “You talk about the aces and the great starters, when they get that lead, they seem to really take charge, and that’s what he did.” The Yankees scored all of their runs via the homer, with Rodriguez’s blast the difference. It had been two weeks since his last home run, on May 21 against the Mets, but in the meantime, his batting average had risen 25 points, to .292 from .267. He had not missed hitting one, but he was glad to see the ball soar over the rock pile behind the fence in left-center field, his two runs batted in tying him with Mel Ott for ninth place on the career list with 1,864. “They’re old,” said Rodriguez, when asked about the Hall of Famers he has passed in different statistical categories. “Just like me.” Facing Ervin Santana, whose start was moved up a day after Dan Haren was scratched with an injured back, the Yankees squandered a scoring opportunity in the third, failing to drive in Nick Swisher after he reached third base with one out, and so they resorted to that familiar formula, the home run, to take a 1-0 lead. This, however, was no ordinary home run. Struck by Robinson Cano, the ball soared over the fence in right field, taking with it Torii Hunter, whose futile leap landed him in the crowd. “You see him jumping, and you go, ‘No, no, no,’ ” Cano said. Hunter’s effort was rewarded in the bottom of the inning, when the Angels tied the score on a rally aided by a fielding error by Jeter. After Alberto Callaspo led off with a double, Howie Kendrick ripped a sharp grounder that handcuffed Jeter, who bobbled it. With runners on first and third and no outs, Jeff Mathis launched a sacrifice fly to deep center to drive in Callaspo. That out came toward the beginning of an efficient stretch by Sabathia, who retired 13 of 14 hitters. Given that 3-1 lead, Sabathia leaned on his changeup against the Angels’ aggressive hitters, throwing it early in the count to induce weak contact. To complete the sixth, he needed six pitches. To get through the seventh, he needed seven more. “That’s something that I was trying to be conscious of,” Sabathia said. “It was a 3-1 game, so I just wanted to go out and try to shut the door, especially that next inning, and get the guys back in the dugout.” | Baseball;New York Yankees;Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim;Sabathia C C;Rodriguez Alex |
ny0103758 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2012/03/16 | Competing Rallies in Hungary as Europe Freezes Aid | BUDAPEST — The government and the opposition held rival rallies in downtown Budapest on Thursday, using the anniversary of the 1848 uprising against Hapsburg rule to stake out their positions in the politically fractured Hungary of today. The official government commemoration and a rally organized by Milla, a civic group, both attracted tens of thousands of people on a sunny national holiday. The competing rallies were a broad measure of feelings for and against Prime Minister Viktor Orban . Hungary has been under increased pressure from the European Union because of some of Mr. Orban’s policies, with critics saying he has eroded the country’s hard-won democracy during his nearly two years in power and the European Commission threatening legal action over some laws he and his allies have approved. He has also come under fire for his management of the economy. On Thursday, Mr. Orban, who leans conservative, gave a defiant speech to an estimated 100,000 supporters who chanted “Viktor, Viktor” outside the ornate Parliament building, a landmark on the Danube River that cleaves Buda from Pest, the two halves of the capital. Without alluding directly to the European Union’s move this week to freeze about $650 million in next year’s development aid to Hungary, Mr. Orban appealed directly to the country’s strong strain of patriotism. “By the God of Hungarians we vow that we will be slaves no longer,” he proclaimed, taking a quote from the poem by the celebrated author Sandor Petofi that symbolizes the 1848 uprising. The crowd — made up of all ages — roared. He also said Hungarians would demand equality and “won’t be second-class citizens in Europe.” Ildiko Erdelyi, a retiree from Budapest, was among the prime minister’s supporters. “We trust him absolutely,” she said. Referring to the European freezing of funds, she added: “It was a political decision. I don’t understand why Greece and Spain were not sanctioned in the same way.” The European Union has given Hungary a chance to stave off the loss of development aid, agreeing to review the decision in June to see if Hungary is seen to be taking action to substantially reduce its deficit in line with the bloc’s standards. Hungary is also looking for financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund, but that has been held up in part over worries that Mr. Orban’s government is undermining the independence of Hungary’s central bank. Julia Lakatos of the Center for Fair Political Analysis, a nongovernmental group, noted that government supporters feel misunderstood. “They feel like the government is trying to do good, but Brussels acts as an oppressor and applies double standards,” she said. Supporters of the civic opposition movement have complained that Mr. Orban’s government has tightened its grip not only on the central bank, but also on the news media and the judiciary, raising concerns about Hungary’s commitment to democratic principles. “We are small, and we have to play by the rules,” said Andras Szabados, 37, holding a banner Thursday that read, “Hey Europe, sorry about my prime minister.” He added, “Democracy as an ideal doesn’t count” for Mr. Orban. While the protests were largely peaceful, the news agency MTI reported that the riot police removed several people who tried to disturb the event organized by Milla. Government and opposition groups held smaller rallies in other parts of Budapest and elsewhere in Hungary. Attila Juhasz, an analyst at the Political Capital Institute, a research group in Budapest, said the holiday was an opportunity for both sides to try to assess the other’s strength. But he stressed that turnout would not be an accurate guide of how much the opposition could accomplish, given many Hungarians’ aversion to political involvement. “The opposition is fragmented, with parties that were unable to dissolve the aversion there is against politics in the society,” Mr. Juhasz said. “Fidesz is by far the most well-organized party,” he said referring to the governing party. “The power of its organization has no equal in any other party or civil movement.” | Hungary;Budapest (Hungary);Orban Viktor;European Union |
ny0248803 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
] | 2011/05/06 | M.L.B. Report Undercuts Claims About Rigor of Drug-Testing Program | Hours after a jury convicted Barry Bonds of obstruction of justice last month in connection with his suspected use of performance-enhancing drugs, Commissioner Bud Selig did what he often has when attention is cast on baseball’s stormy history with steroids: he proclaimed that the sport had moved beyond the issue because of its robust drug program. In a statement released by his office, Selig said baseball had the “toughest, most comprehensive drug testing program in professional sports.” Two weeks later, last Friday, Selig’s office, along with the union representing baseball players, quietly released a report detailing the sport’s out-of-season drug tests. The commissioner’s office and the players union decided to release the numbers in an effort to make the drug program more transparent. The report, the first time the exact numbers of off-season tests had been released, said that slightly more than 10 percent of baseball players had been tested for drugs in the 2010 off-season. For some experts on the testing of athletes, the report’s numbers undercut Selig’s claims about the rigor and effectiveness of baseball’s drug policy. Off-season drug testing is one of the most critical components of a meaningful program, experts generally agree, because it is aimed at monitoring athletes during the time they are most likely to use steroids and other drugs as they recover and build muscle for the coming season. And so to have tested such a modest percentage of athletes during that time frame is, they say, less than impressive. The 138 off-season tests in 2010 cited in the report accounted for just 3 percent of all the tests conducted on players in the course of the year. “We see in most parts of the world that the most effective programs have 50 percent of their tests in competition and 50 percent out of competition,” said David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which oversees the testing of Olympic athletes. He added: “The numbers speak for themselves. That’s a pretty small number compared to others, and it’s an area where they can be more effective. But I know they are making efforts to be better.” The United States Anti-Doping Agency , which is an independent body that oversees the drug testing of Olympic athletes conducted 65 percent of its overall tests out of competition last year. Baseball’s off-season drug-testing numbers also contrast with those of the N.F.L. In the N.F.L., all players are tested at least once in the off-season, and half of the players are tested twice. The 4,000 off-season tests conducted by the N.F.L. accounted for 40 percent of the sport’s tests each year. The N.F.L.’s program, however, is not without its potential weaknesses. A spokesman for the league acknowledged that many of its tests came at training camps. The fact that players know they will be tested at training camps eliminates the element of surprise, which antidoping experts believe is another essential component of any effective program. Nevertheless, far more football players are being tested than baseball players. The disclosure of baseball’s drug-testing numbers comes as the commissioner’s office and the players union are in the midst of negotiating a new collective-bargaining agreement and drug-testing program, both of which are set to expire at the end of the season. In interviews, officials for both sides acknowledged that off-season testing would be discussed as part of those negotiations. Nevertheless, they defended the current off-season regimen as sufficient, considering the short off-season — roughly three months — and the fact that players are scattered throughout the world during that time. “You think about it on a year-round basis,” said Michael Weiner, the head of the players union, referring to baseball’s drug-testing regimen. “Do we have the right mix of in-season, spring training and off-season testing based on our season industry? I think we do. It’s natural to make sure we have the right balance when we look at the length of the regular season, the short postseason, combined with the fact that everybody faces a test upon reporting to spring training.” As part of the current negotiations, the commissioner’s office is asking the players union to accept the testing of blood for human growth hormone, which Selig put in for the minor leagues last season. Weiner acknowledged that the players union had met with officials from the World Anti-Doping Agency to learn more about blood testing, but would not discuss the issue further. Over the last decade, steroid use in baseball has tainted the careers of some of the sport’s marquee players, turned off fans, led to criminal prosecutions and haunted dealings between management and the players union. After years of wrangling between the union and the commissioner’s office, both sides agreed to a drug-testing program for steroids in 2002. The program was initially fairly weak but was subsequently toughened several times. Nonetheless, the sport continued to be battered with embarrassing disclosures about players’ use of performance-enhancing drugs. Selig asked George J. Mitchell to conduct a report on the use of banned substances in the game. Mitchell released his report in December 2007, providing recommendations on how to improve baseball’s testing. Four months later, the commissioner’s office and players union toughened their program in response to the recommendations. It was as part of those measures that the sport agreed to increase its out-of-competition testing. As a result, baseball went from 62 out-of-competition tests in 2008 to 375 combined over the next three years, although the overall percentage of those being tested remains small. | Baseball;Steroids;Doping (Sports);Tests and Testing;Human Growth Hormone;Major League Baseball Players Assn;United States Anti-Doping Agency;Selig Bud;Tests (Drug Use);Major League Baseball |
ny0035523 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2014/03/18 | In the New York Senate, Playing a Game of Legislative Fantasy | The State Senate leadership, that happy band of Republicans and sort-of Democrats, pushed through its proposed budget resolution early Friday morning and could not help clapping at its cleverness. “The Senate’s budget resolution is a responsible action plan that will create bright new opportunities,” the Finance Committee chief, John A. DeFrancisco, said in a news release. To which the Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein added a tweet of joy: “We have provided $540 million to fund @BilldeBlasio UPK after school programs for each of the next 5 years. #AffordableNY.” Let’s run our eyes down the joyous list. The State Senate showered lots of money for prekindergarten in New York City. It passed campaign finance reform and offered money for hard-pressed nonprofit employees, some of whom have gone half a decade without a raise. It gave a proposed sales tax break to New Yorkers who plan to buy private airplanes. (I’d give it a thought except that alternate-side parking is a pain.) It added a sales tax break for vending-machine owners, who are incessant campaign givers. Then the senators turned to those unfortunates stuck waiting for flights at New York City’s airports. They instructed the Division of the Lottery to establish video gambling casinos in the international departure lounges. In this fashion, travelers can leave late, as usual, and broke. (This proposal required careful reading, as the language is murky. It never names an airport or a city. It just mentions airports with international arrival lounges in cities of more than one million. This passes for legislative cleverness.) None of this fun is remotely real. The governor and the Legislature are weeks away from a final budget. Most senators had not even seen the underlying budget documents when they voted at 3 a.m. (It’s a reliable rule of thumb that early-morning votes bear a close relationship to hallucinogenic results.) State Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat, played spoilsport. “At best, this is a shopping list with no budgetary legitimacy,” she wrote in her official statement. “More realistically, it is a classic Albany scam designed to make everyone think they should be happy, without answering any of the important questions, like ‘How will we pay for this?’ ” I called her the next day. “There was Monopoly money available for anything and everything you could imagine,” she noted with the bemused tone of a liberal Democrat who keeps finding herself dressed in conservative sack cloth in Albany. “No one even pretends the numbers add up.” The State Senate put aside $899 million for prekindergarten and after-school programs, including $540 million for New York City alone. Its budget documents point to no such cache of money. No matter. Mayor Bill de Blasio let out a pleasured tweet of thanks, saluting the State Senate’s co-leaders, the Democrat Klein and that noted progressive, the Republican Dean Skelos. The mayor has mastered the art of the victory jig, even as he moves further from his goal of a tax increase and a quick ramp-up of prekindergarten. I asked campaign finance advocates if they knew where the money was for their proposal. They advised me to whisper. There is no actual money, they said. This is about strategy. Oh. It goes on and on. Senator Klein claims he persuaded the Republicans to help him stop Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo from repealing a bank tax. He held a news conference to crow about this. On the second floor at the Capitol, the governor’s people shrugged. They pointed out that the Senate put out a document on Friday with this wording: “3 S 2. Section 180 of the tax law is REPEALED.” I reached James Parrott, a liberal economist with the Fiscal Policy Institute. He badly wants to keep that tax on banks, and so he stood shoulder to shoulder with Mr. Klein. “They keep telling us that the resolution is the piece of paper that counts,” Mr. Parrott said. Governor Cuomo is no innocent in the game of legislative fantasy. He toured editorial boards Daddy Warbucks-style weeks ago and argued that whatever the cost of prekindergarten, he’d pay for it. He spoke of a “blank check.” The governor is counting on the new mayor to stumble. If it takes Mr. de Blasio a couple of years to ramp up his program, no one will notice there isn’t enough state money. Mr. Cuomo could be right; Bernie Madoff used to make bets like this. Late last week, reporters asked Mr. Klein’s spokesman if the Senate truly supported campaign finance reform. “The resolution speaks for itself,” he replied. “We have gotten to the point where everyone just thinks they can lie,” Ms. Krueger said, “and no one will ever say, hey, your nose is really growing long.” | Budget;Bill de Blasio;New York;Andrew Cuomo;State legislature |
ny0189454 | [
"business",
"media"
] | 2009/05/11 | Few TV Reports on Audience Flight | Newspapers sell fewer copies than they used to, and network television news draws fewer viewers. But as that trend unfolded, newspapers and television gave starkly different accounts, a University of Pennsylvania study released last week shows. Papers found a lot to report about declining news audiences, while national television news shows had little to say. And though the problems of print and broadcast have been similar in scope, both media dwelled primarily on what was happening to newspapers. “The television networks have basically not been very interested in talking about television’s problems,” said Michael X. Delli Carpini, dean of the university’s Annenberg School of Communication and one of the study’s authors. The authors combed through reports from 2000 through early 2009 from 26 major newspapers, the evening news broadcasts of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS, and the prime-time lineups of CNN, CNBC, Fox News and MSNBC. In the newspapers, they found 900 articles about the drop in newspaper circulation and 95 about the shrinking audience for the broadcast networks’ newscasts. The TV news shows had 38 reports on falling newspaper readership and only 6 about the falling audience for national news broadcasts. (The broadcast networks’ evening news shows have lost audience more rapidly than printed newspapers, to about 23 million people each night now from 32 million in 2000. At the same time, the audience for prime-time cable news has roughly tripled, to about four million. Newspaper sales have dropped to about 47 million a day from 56 million in 2000. And all media have new — but not very lucrative — audiences online.) Of the 26 newspapers studied, three — The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post — accounted for almost half the articles about either newspaper circulation or broadcast national news ratings. On television, about half the reports came from two cable networks — CNBC and Fox. RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA | News and News Media;Newspapers;Television |
ny0221932 | [
"us",
"politics"
] | 2010/11/03 | In Governors Races Across the Country, Republicans Make Gains | On an Election Day with one of the largest number of governors’ races in memory, Republicans gained governorships across the country, and particularly in the political battlegrounds of the industrial Midwest where Democrats have dominated in recent years. In Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Republicans seized seats that had been held by Democrats. They also took seats now held by Democrats in other parts of the country, including Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Wyoming. In Wisconsin, a beaming Scott Walker, a Republican, took to a stage and praised all the voters who, he said, had emerged from the woodwork to “take our state back.” As in so many states, much of the campaign there had focused around job losses, financial woes and state budget troubles, and Mr. Walker, like several of his Republican colleagues, had pledged to cut government waste, reshape government and upend a system that he said had failed. Minutes after his victory became clear, Mr. Walker issued a release that declared: “Wisconsin is open for business!” But around the nation, the outcomes are expected to have effects that reach beyond local economic policies or legislation drawn up in statehouses. States are preparing to carry out their once-a-decade redrawing of political districts — for the House and state legislatures — based on United States census counts collected this year, and many of these new governors will have important roles in deciding what those maps look like. Going into Election Day, Democrats held 26 governorships, while Republicans had 24. Following most midterm elections after the arrival of a new president, the party in power in the White House typically loses some governorships, but the changes on Tuesday appeared to go deeper. With votes in many states still being counted on Tuesday night, Republicans were already holding on to many of the seats they currently hold — in Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Utah — as well anticipating significant gains. “People are not happy with the direction of this country,” said Terry Branstad, a Republican and former governor who defeated Gov. Chet Culver of Iowa, another state where the economy seemed to overwhelm most other issues. “The status quo is not acceptable.” Democrats were hoping that voters might turnout in high numbers and that efforts in the final weeks by President Obama and other Democratic leaders might lessen the damage. There were certainly some indications of relief for Democrats, in states that included Arkansas, Colorado and New Hampshire. In New York, too, Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo easily defeated the Republican, Carl P. Paladino, even though Republicans were expected to pick up seats in the State Legislature and the Congressional delegation. In Massachusetts, Gov. Deval Patrick, a Democrat, beat Charles Baker Jr., a Republican and a former chief executive of one of the state’s largest health insurers. And in Maryland, Martin O’Malley, the Democratic governor, fought off a challenge from Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican who had once been governor. But the Republicans’ gains in the Midwest were daunting for Democrats, in part because of the size and scope of the shift. In Wisconsin, Mr. Walker, the county executive of Milwaukee who has promised to shrink government, beat Tom Barrett, the Democratic mayor of Milwaukee. Mr. Walker equated electing Mr. Barrett with giving one more term to James E. Doyle, the current governor whose popularity ratings had become anemic. In Michigan, where Jennifer M. Granholm, a Democrat, was barred from seeking re-election by term limits, Rick Snyder, a Republican who stunned the party establishment by beating better-known, more established candidates in a primary, defeated Virg Bernero, the Democratic mayor of Lansing. The issue in the state, which had suffered devastating economic losses even before the recession , was the same as everywhere: jobs and money. Among the group of new Republican political leaders emerging on Tuesday: Nikki Haley, the nation’s first Indian-American female governor, a victor in South Carolina; Susana Martinez, a Republican district attorney who promised to end a pattern of corruption and to block illegal immigrants from getting driver’s licenses in New Mexico; and Mr. Snyder, the former head of Gateway Inc., who was elected governor of Michigan with the catch phrase “one tough nerd.” Of the 37 states voting for governor, 24 races were open seats from both parties, thanks to terms limits and to a climate that seemed to discourage some incumbents from seeking re-election. From Maine to Hawaii, the governors’ races had been hard fought, with clear indications, leaders from both parties said, of the same broad national climate that was testing the survival of Democrats — and incumbents — for the House and Senate. In another indication of how voters seemed in search of something, anything, entirely different from the status quo, third-party candidates had a particularly pronounced effect on governors races in at least five states. And in Rhode Island, Lincoln D. Chafee, a former Republican senator who ran for governor as an independent, won on Tuesday. While much of the attention this season has focused on who will control Washington, the outcomes in these governors’ races were drawing particular notice because of redistricting. The shapes of the political maps can carry lasting effects for partisan victories and losses in all sorts of offices. Governors in at least 36 states get a say in shaping Congressional maps, and governors in 39 states have a place in redrawing state legislative districts. “This is the most important governors’ election in 20 years,” said Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, which devoted $50 million to races this year, three times the amount the group spent four years ago, in the last comparable election. The Republican Governors Association spent $102 million on this year’s races. | Governors (US);Elections;Republican Party;Politics and Government |
ny0089400 | [
"us"
] | 2015/09/10 | Kerry Favors an American Commitment to Bringing in More Refugees | WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry told lawmakers in a closed-door session on Wednesday that he favored significantly increasing the number of refugees the United States is willing to accept, possibly to as many as 100,000 next year, according to congressional staff members and Obama administration officials. The United States set a limit on refugee visas of 70,000 in the 2015 fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, and the administration has signaled to Congress that it is looking to increase the ceiling next year to 75,000. But the State Department has been re-examining the issue as the migrant crisis has roiled Europe and refugee organizations have appealed for the United States to shoulder more of the burden. In his public remarks on Wednesday, Mr. Kerry said the administration was prepared to accept more refugees, but he underscored that the final number had yet to be determined. “We are committed to increasing the number of refugees that we take, and we are looking hard at the number that we can specifically manage with respect to the crisis in Syria and Europe,” Mr. Kerry said after a meeting with Senator Richard J. Durbin, Democrat of Illinois. The 100,000 figure that Mr. Kerry mentioned in his closed-door meeting with lawmakers from the Senate and House Appropriations Committees was described as notional and still under study. The administration would need to line up congressional support and funding for the increase. But the figure indicates that some in the administration are coming to the view that 75,000 is not sufficient. And some leading lawmakers have also called for stronger actions. “For months, I have urged the administration to dramatically increase the number of Syrian refugees it would accept in the face of this crisis,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee, said after meeting with Mr. Kerry. “We must do more.” Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina and a presidential candidate, said on Tuesday: “We should take our fair share. We are good people. I don’t think the average American has any idea what it’s like to live in the Mideast right now.” Sentiment on the issue is mixed in Congress, however, and some lawmakers have said they are worried about absorbing Middle Eastern refugees into their communities. Senator Jeff Sessions, Republican of Alabama, is said to have raised that concern with Mr. Kerry. Even if the refugee total is increased to 100,000 for 2016, it would hardly resolve the Syrian migrant crisis. Not all of the 30,000 additional refugees would be Syrians. A senior State Department official who briefed reporters on Wednesday on the condition of anonymity said that if the limit was increased, the United States would admit more Africans as well as Syrians. The United States has accepted 1,500 refugees from Syria since the start of the war there. American procedures for vetting Syrian migrants are slow; the State Department official said the vetting process took 18 to 24 months. The Global Refugee Crisis, Region by Region In the latest crisis, tens of thousands are racing to Hungary before a border fence is finished. The ultimate solution, administration officials have long stressed, is to find a political solution in Syria. And the more than $4 billion that the United States has provided in humanitarian assistance for Syrian refugees is more than that given by any other nation. But with no diplomatic solution to the conflict on the horizon, refugee experts have urged the Obama administration to resettle more Syrians to ease their suffering. David Miliband, the former British foreign secretary, who heads the International Rescue Committee , has called on the United States to resettle 65,000 Syrians before the end of 2016. While the Obama administration weighs how many refugees to take, some allies have announced bold steps. Prime Minister Tony Abbott of Australia said Wednesday that his country would take in an additional 12,000 refugees from Iraq and Syria, and would join in an air campaign in Syria against the Islamic State. Australia will focus on taking in women, children and families who are members of persecuted minorities and who have sought refuge in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, Mr. Abbott said. It will also pay to support 240,000 people who have fled Iraq and Syria and are now living in neighboring countries, at an expected cost of $44 million Australian dollars, or $31 million. On Sunday, Mr. Abbott said that Australia would help ease the migration crisis, without pledging to take in any more refugees, prompting criticism. Australia currently resettles about 13,750 people annually under humanitarian visas, a number scheduled to increase to 18,750 by 2018-19. The 12,000 places will be in addition to that quota, Mr. Abbott’s office said. As a percentage of its population, Australia is the leading nation for resettlement of refugees under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Abbott’s office said. | Middle East and Africa Migrant Crisis,European Migrant Crisis;John Kerry;US Politics;US Foreign Policy;Immigration;Senate Committee on Appropriations;Syria;Refugees,Internally Displaced People |
ny0023256 | [
"us"
] | 2013/09/14 | Judge Blocks Shipment of Oil Equipment Through Idaho Forest | SEATTLE — A federal judge ordered a halt on Friday to more shipments of immense loads of oil field equipment through a national forest in north-central Idaho, pending a broad review of effects on the route. The review will be conducted by the United States Forest Service in consultation with the Nez Perce Indians, whose tribal rights and lands near the forest route were central to the judge’s ruling. The case was brought by the Nez Perce tribe and an environmental group, Idaho Rivers United , charging that the Forest Service had failed to enforce its own rules and standards in protecting the forest and a river corridor through which a first shipment, known as a megaload and bound for Canada’s tar sands oil fields, was sent last month. A second shipment was scheduled for next week. The loads are more than 250 feet long and weigh about 644,000 pounds. “The plaintiffs are not seeking damages; they are seeking to preserve their treaty rights along with cultural and intrinsic values that have no price tag,” Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill of Federal District Court in Boise wrote in his preliminary injunction order, siding with the tribe. Idaho Rivers United’s executive director, Bill Sedivy, said the implications for river protection could also echo far beyond Idaho. “River managers across the United States are watching this decision,” he said. Leaders of the tribe were among the protesters arrested in early August for trying to block or delay the first equipment load as it headed for the boundary line of the four-million-acre Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests . The route through the forest, in which the tribe still has treaty rights, is part of a federally protected Wild and Scenic Rivers corridor, a fact that was also cited by the judge in his order. The equipment supplier, Resources Conservation Company International, an affiliate of General Electric, said in a statement that the injunction delayed delivery of machinery that could save billions of gallons a year in water, which is used in vast amounts in the type of oil recovery used at the tar sands. The company also said it was reviewing its options. “There are significant environmental benefits associated with these particular shipments,” the company said. The Forest Service said in a statement that it was reviewing the decision and that it would comply with the order to ban further transports temporarily. The equipment company said in court documents that shipment delays could cost the company millions of dollars. And with the road ordered closed pending the review, there is little incentive for tribal leaders to race through the process. “It’s going to take whatever time is necessary,” said Michael Anthony Lopez, a lawyer for the tribe. | Forests;Conservation of Resources;Oil and Gasoline;Forest Service;Idaho;Native Americans |
ny0123756 | [
"sports"
] | 2012/09/15 | It Was Just Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler’s Luck | There are more than a few things that make almost no sense in sports. Normally, we’d get right to the most outrageous one, but we need to build up to the proper level of incredulous eye roll for the N.H.L.'s impending lockout . So we’ll start with something simpler, a forehead slapper with universal appeal: that Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler was actually trash-talking in the leadup to Thursday night’s game against the Packers. This astounding fact will bring instant indigestion to any Bears fan, past or present. And yes, the fact that Cutler, who rarely seems to be residing in the same universe as the people around him, is the Bears’ quarterback was probably already enough to have them on a Maalox drip. But then he went and interpreted a Game 1 victory over the hapless Colts as reason to taunt the Packers , saying good luck to the defensive backs trying to match wits with him, and well, you could have almost envisioned the outcome right there: four interceptions, seven sacks and a 23-10 Packers victory. The teachers’ strike might now be more popular in Chicago than he is. As Rick Morrissey writes in The Chicago Sun-Times , the Bears tried to oversell themselves after one win and got called on it. Yes, they made all of those nifty off-season moves and seemed to improve themselves, and yes, the Packers looked dreadful in their Week 1 loss to San Francisco. But their quarterback is still Jay Cutler, and if he were a stock, he’d be Facebook. So much potential, so much hubris, so much disappointment. Clearly the offensive line that Cutler spent his night screaming at shares a big part of the blame, but you still have to start with Cutler, writes Michael Wilbon on ESPN.com . And Chris Burke of SI.com believes it is valid to start questioning everything about the Bears’ purported strength. The flip side of the flop is the much-maligned Packers defense, which finally stood up for itself, writes Mike Vandermause of The Green Bay Press-Gazette , after a recent string of drubbings. The Green Bay offense is still a work in progress, needing a gutsy faked field goal to score the game’s pivotal points. But, well, their quarterback is still Aaron Rodgers, which makes fans in Wisconsin feel a whole lot better about things. One more thing Green Bay has over Chicago at the moment: no hockey team about to lock out its players and infuriate its loyal, high-priced-ticket-buying fans. This, of course, qualifies as the most astonishing of the week’s developments, that the N.H.L. is going to go through with its threatened lockout, which The National Post’s Bruce Arthur has penciled onto his calendar for Saturday. As Ken Dryden writes in The Toronto Globe and Mail , the N.H.L. is just joining the age of disagreement, but doesn’t realize it isn’t the N.F.L. or the N.B.A. It has a tenuous hold on its little corner of the sports universe, has jeopardized it by allowing its stars’ heads to be treated like piñatas, and now has decided shutting down the league to squeeze more money out of the piñatas is a wise move. While Damien Cox argues in The Toronto Star that no serious movement has been made because the deadlines have no penalties to them, Allen Muir of SI.com reads into the stalled negotiations a sign the lockout might not be a short one. So, we must go running back to baseball and its playoff races for some sporting diversion. The Orioles are still doing their part, a 14-inning victory over the Rays that officially broke their 14-year losing season streak. As Childs Walker writes in The Baltimore Sun , they do have bigger things in mind. For their part, the Yankees kept pace and Derek Jeter highlighted his amazing durability by tying Willie Mays on the hits list, as Kevin Kernan writes in The New York Post . This would seemingly be a death knell to the Rays’ hopes, but Jon Paul Morosi argues on Foxsports.com that they’re not finished yet. Cliff Corcoran of SI.com warns, however, that the National League wild-card race may be fizzling. Maybe they can figure out a way to throw Jay Cutler into the mix to liven things up. Follow Leading Off on Twitter: twitter.com/zinsernyt | Cutler Jay;Chicago Bears;Green Bay Packers;Football;Hockey Ice;Jeter Derek |
ny0249233 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2011/05/13 | Netherlands: Court Asks U.N. to Take Action Against Djibouti | The International Criminal Court called on the United Nations Security Council on Thursday to take action over the failure of Djibouti to arrest the Sudanese president, an indicted war crimes suspect, during a visit this week. President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan , left, has been indicted by the court for genocide in Darfur . The court, based in The Hague, has no police force and relies on countries that have signed the agreement creating the court to enforce its arrest warrants. Mr. Bashir’s trip to Djibouti on Sunday was the third time that he had visited a member country and not been arrested. | War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity;Netherlands;Security Council (UN);International Criminal Court;Bashir Omar Hassan Al-;Djibouti;Sudan;Darfur (Sudan) |
ny0097506 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2015/06/18 | Palestinian Is Detained in ’82 Attack on Paris Jewish Restaurant | PARIS — A Palestinian man who is believed to have taken part in a deadly 1982 attack on a Jewish restaurant in Paris has been arrested in Jordan , officials in Amman and Paris said on Wednesday. The man, Zuhair Mohammed Hassan Khalid al-Abbasi, 62, was taken into custody on June 1, said Agnès Thibault-Lecuivre, a spokeswoman for the Paris prosecutor’s office. She said France would seek his extradition for trial. In the meantime, he has been released on bail, but is barred from traveling, said Jordanian officials who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case. Bail in Jordan involves closer scrutiny than would usually be the case in the United States, said people familiar with the system. However, since even the most tightly monitored individuals might be able to elude the police and escape, it was not clear why the Jordanians made the decision to free him. Six people, including two Americans, were killed in the attack on the Chez Jo Goldenberg restaurant, which was located on the Rue de Rosiers in the heart of the Marais, a Paris neighborhood that once was home to a large number of Jews. At the time, the attack was considered one of the most lethal anti-Semitic attacks in France since the end of World War II. One of the attackers threw a grenade into the restaurant while others fired guns at customers; they then fled on foot. In addition to the six people who were killed, 22 were wounded. The police believed there were as many as six assailants in all, but have identified only three of the people suspected of involvement in the attack. Ms. Thibault-Lecuivre said Mr. Abassi was the “supervisor” of the attack, but it does not appear that he was present at the time it was carried out. The other two identified suspects are thought to be living in Norway and in Ramallah, in the West Bank, according to Jordanian officials. The attackers are suspected of having been part of a terrorist organization run by the Palestinian radical Abu Nidal, who died in Baghdad in 2002. The attackers were from an earlier generation of terrorists who flourished during the 1980s and targeted Westerners, Israelis and Palestinians. An offshoot of the Palestine Liberation Organization, they were secular and nationalist in contrast with current terrorist organizations that espouse a fundamentalist form of Islam and advocate the re-establishment of a caliphate in the Middle East. The cause of the Abu Nidal group was the Palestinians in Israel, who had been deprived of land and rights. The group is now considered largely inactive by the State Department, which still lists them as a terrorist organization. Mr. Abbasi was apprehended by Jordanian intelligence and police officers in Zarqa, a town that lies about 15 miles northeast of Amman. It has been known in recent years as a breeding ground for terrorism. One of its most infamous residents was the Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab Zarqawi, whose real name was Ahmad Fadil Nazal al-Khalayleh. Ms. Thibault-Lecuivre said the documents necessary to request Mr. Abassi’s extradition would be delivered to the Jordanian authorities as soon as they are translated into Arabic. She could not say how quickly the Jordanians would be likely to comply with the request. If Mr. Abbasi is extradited to France for trial and possible imprisonment, it is unlikely that the United States, whose citizens were also killed in the attack, will try to extradite him, an American official said. Though much has changed in the Marais in the nearly 33 years since the attack, the neighborhood still has synagogues, and the Rue de Rosiers is dotted with kosher bakeries and butchers and with shops selling Jewish religious items. | France;Zuhair Mohammed Hassan Khalid al-Abbasi;Jordan;Antisemitism;Terrorism;Chez Jo Goldenberg;Paris France;Judaism |
ny0116524 | [
"us"
] | 2012/10/11 | Louisiana: Oil Sheen Linked to 2010 BP Spill | The United States Coast Guard reported late Wednesday that samples from an oil sheen spotted in the Gulf of Mexico last month have been matched to the oil that gushed from the Macondo 252 well, the source of the massive BP oil spill of 2010. The sheen was first reported on Sept. 16, and its size has varied in the weeks since, the Coast Guard reported. Samples were sent to the Marine Safety Lab in Connecticut and found to match the oil from the well, which was plugged with cement in September 2010. The Coast Guard said that the sheen “is not feasible to recover and does not pose a risk to the shoreline,” but that BP and Transocean “may be held accountable for any cost associated” with assessment and cleanup. The Coast Guard also suggested that the oil could have come from wreckage or debris on the sea floor. | Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010);BP Plc;Gulf of Mexico |
ny0292154 | [
"sports",
"tennis"
] | 2016/01/22 | Another Win for a Player Getting in Touch With Her Japanese Roots | MELBOURNE, Australia — Naomi Osaka liked to think she had a universal appeal to the crowd that watched her 6-4, 6-4 win over 18th-seeded Elina Svitolina at the Australian Open on Thursday afternoon. “Maybe it’s because they can’t really pinpoint what I am,” said Osaka, who will play the two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in the third round. “So it’s like anybody can cheer for me.” Osaka, 18, is coached in the United States by her Haitian-born father, Leonard Francois. She spends little time in her mother’s homeland of Japan, the country she represents in tennis, but received strong support from Japanese fans as she pulled off the upset on Show Court 2. “I always think that they’re surprised that I’m Japanese,” she said. “So like the fact that there was like Japanese flags and stuff, it was like really touching.” Osaka, who is playing in her first Grand Slam main draw, announced herself in the sport 18 months ago at a tournament in Stanford, Calif., when, as a 16-year-old, she dominated Samantha Stosur with a rifling forehand that was clocked at over 100 miles an hour. Her second-round opponent in Stanford, Andrea Petkovic, called the shot “off the chain.” That raw power was rarely on display against Svitolina. Osaka’s style, while still aggressive, was more measured. “It’s not that she had to do things she couldn’t do to get here,” Francois said. “In fact, she had to do a little bit less. In order for her to break through, there are certain things she had to work on, and consistency is certainly one.” Osaka was born in Japan. Her family moved to the United States when she was 3, and she grew up there. She trains in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and holds dual citizenship. She only briefly considered representing the United States because the United States Tennis Association could not provide her as many opportunities as its equivalent in Japan. “Yes, we’ve spoken to U.S.T.A.,” Francois said. “But there really wasn’t much offered, compared to the situation she was in with Japan.” Osaka said the decision to represent Japan was not initially her own. “In the beginning, it kind of wasn’t me that decided; it was along the way,” she said. “But I like the food and stuff, and the city is really cool, and everyone is really nice. And I’m really introverted, so I feel like I fit in more there.” Although she is comfortable in Japan, Osaka is not fluent in Japanese, so the members of the considerable Japanese news media contingent in Melbourne had to communicate with her in their often limited English. Aki Uchida, a freelance reporter covering the Australian Open for Smash Magazine, said Osaka’s personality — especially her sense of humor — was difficult for many Japanese to read. One comment Osaka made after her first-round win, calling the national training center in Japan “really small,” was met with groans. “For us, it’s really tough to get to know her personality,” Uchida said. “Even in English, she keeps making some random jokes. She keeps making some jokes which we don’t understand. It’s tricky. We don’t know if it’s from different cultures, her personality, or could be generation gaps. When she says that the national training center is pretty small, we don’t get if that is just a joke, or her honesty and she might be a little bit arrogant, or just a difference of culture, something. If a Japanese had said that kind of comment, maybe we would get upset or think it was just a pure joke. But at this point, we are wondering. We don’t know.” Despite that uncertainty, Uchida acknowledged the efforts Osaka, ranked No. 127 in the world, had made to endear herself to the Japanese media and public. “She tries, definitely, to adjust to Japanese culture,” Uchida said of Osaka. “She bows, which looks really Japanese. She keeps saying she wants to play Tokyo Olympics in 2020 under the flag of Japan. That kind of statement makes Japanese tennis fans quite happy. As long as she claims she’s Japanese — and she wins — we are happy.” Osaka acknowledged her uncommon comedic sensibilities, saying that her humor came closest to material found on “the dark side of YouTube.” “I feel like I’m a child of the Internet, and the Internet has raised me, and its jokes might not be appropriate at certain times,” Osaka said. “So, I keep them locked inside.” As she has surpassed her 19-year-old sister, Mari, in the rankings and begun to travel with just her father, Osaka has socialized more with other players. While she is growing more comfortable on tour, Osaka cowered at the prospect of interacting with her idol, the top seed Serena Williams, when she spotted her here. “I pretended like I didn’t exist,” Osaka said. “I sat in the corner and pretended like I was looking at my phone, because I was too shy.” Though she might hesitate socially, Osaka was not timid about expressing her ambitions in the sport, albeit in her own way. “To be the very best, like no one ever was,” she declared confidently, then smiled expectantly. Not sensing any recognition, Osaka apologized. “That’s a Pokemon quote, I’m sorry,” she said. “That’s the Pokemon theme song. But, yeah, to be the very best, and go as far as I can go.” | Tennis;Naomi Osaka;Elina Svitolina;Australian Open;Japan |
ny0011906 | [
"world",
"americas"
] | 2013/11/04 | Apologizing, Toronto Mayor Vows to Stay | TORONTO — Mayor Rob Ford of Toronto apologized Sunday for being “hammered” in public and acknowledged the need to curb his drinking, but he did not address allegations of drug use and said he would remain in his job despite growing pressure to resign. “I’m going to weather this storm,” Mr. Ford said. He made his remarks on his local, weekly radio show after the police said on Thursday that they had obtained a copy of a video that appeared to show him puffing on a crack cocaine pipe. Mr. Ford did not address the contents of the tape, saying he could not comment on footage he had not seen. He called on Police Chief Bill Blair to release the video, which the police said would come out when Mr. Ford’s associate and occasional driver, Alexander Lisi, went to trial on drug and extortion charges. Chief Blair said the video did not provide grounds for charges against the mayor. “Whatever this video shows, Toronto residents deserve to see it, and people need to judge for themselves what they see on this video,” Mr. Ford told his radio audience. “I just got to maybe slow down on my drinking.” Mr. Ford acknowledged that he had made mistakes and said he could not change the past, but he vowed “to ride the storm out.” “I want to move forward, but to move forward I also have to make changes in my life, which I will assure I will do,” he said. He declined to take a leave of absence or resign, something that all four major Toronto newspapers have urged him to do. “I sincerely apologize — there’s absolutely no excuse, no one to blame but myself,” Mr. Ford said. “I am going to fight like no one has seen before to win the next election,” in October. He said he should not have been drunk when he appeared at the Taste of the Danforth street festival in August. “That was pure stupidity,” he said. “I shouldn’t have got hammered down at the Danforth. If you are going to have a couple of drinks, you stay at home, and that’s it. You don’t make a public spectacle of yourself.” | Rob Ford;Toronto;Alexander Lisi;Cocaine and Crack;Alcohol abuse |
ny0243719 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2011/03/15 | Italy: Bribery Inquiry in Berlusconi Sex Case | Prosecutors have opened an investigation into a report that two Italian men tried to bribe a Moroccan official to falsify the birth records of a teenager whom Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is accused of having paid for sex. Mr. Berlusconi has been charged with paying Karima el-Mahroug for sex last year when she was under 18, and with intervening with the police to cover up his connection with her. Mr. Berlusconi denies the charges. An Italian newspaper, Il Fatto Quotidiano, reported that two Italian men offered a registry official in Fkih Ben Salah, Morocco, thousands of euros to change Ms. Mahroug’s birth date to 1990 instead of 1992. | Politics and Government;Bribery and Kickbacks;Berlusconi Silvio;Italy;Mahroug Karima el- |
ny0198668 | [
"business",
"economy"
] | 2009/07/19 | Balancing Financial Innovation and Consumer Protection | JAMES WATT, who invented the first practical steam engine in 1765, worried that high-pressure steam could lead to major explosions. So he avoided high pressure and ended up with an inefficient engine. It wasn’t until 1799 that Richard Trevithick, who apprenticed with an associate of Watt, created a high-pressure engine that opened a new age of steam-powered factories, railways and ships. That is how innovation often proceeds — by learning from errors and hazards and gradually conquering problems through devices of increasing complexity and sophistication. Our financial system has essentially exploded, with financial innovations like collateralized debt obligations , credit default swaps and subprime mortgages giving rise in the past few years to abuses that culminated in disasters in many sectors of the economy. We need to invent our way out of these hazards, and, eventually, we will. That invention will proceed mostly in the private sector. Yet government must play a role, because civil society demands that people’s lives and welfare be respected and protected from overzealous innovators who might disregard public safety and take improper advantage of nascent technology. The Obama administration has proposed a number of new regulations and agencies, notably including a Consumer Financial Protection Agency, which would be charged with safeguarding consumers against things like abusive mortgage, auto loan or credit card contracts. The new agency is to encourage “plain vanilla” products that are simpler and easier to understand. But representatives of the financial services industry have criticized the proposal as a threat to innovations that could improve consumers’ welfare. As the story of the steam engine shows, innovation often entails tension between safety and power. We need to foster inventions that better human welfare while incorporating safety mechanisms that protect the public. Could the proposed agency accomplish this task? The subprime mortgage is an example of a recent invention that offered benefits and risks. These mortgages permitted people with bad credit histories to buy homes, without relying on guaranties from government agencies like the Federal Housing Administration. Compared with conventional mortgages, the subprime variety typically involved higher interest rates and stiff prepayment penalties. To many critics, these features were proof of evil intent among lenders. But the higher rates compensated lenders for higher default rates. And the prepayment penalties made sure that people whose credit improved couldn’t just refinance somewhere else at a lower rate, thus leaving the lenders stuck with the rest, including those whose credit had worsened. This made basic sense as financial engineering — an unsentimental effort to work around risks, selection biases, moral hazards and human foibles that could lead to disaster. This might have represented financial progress if it weren’t for some problems that the designers evidently didn’t anticipate. As subprime mortgages were introduced, a housing bubble developed. This was fed in part by demand from new, subprime borrowers who now could enter the housing market. The bursting of the bubble had results that are now all too familiar — and taxpayers, among others, are still paying for it all. This raises a question: If a consumer agency had been set up 20 years ago, would the subprime mortgage crisis have been prevented? We don’t know, but it seems improbable. Such an agency would most likely have slowed some abusive practices, like offering low teaser rates on adjustable-rate mortgages and hiding information about future rate increases in fine print that most people do not read. That kind of regulatory intervention would have reduced the severity of the crisis, and that is no small thing. On the other hand, unless these regulators were extremely vanilla in approach and just said no to any innovation, or unless they had an unusually deep understanding of speculative bubbles, I think they would have allowed most of those subprime mortgages. And they probably wouldn’t have had the detailed knowledge they would have needed to halt the decline of lending standards on prime mortgages in a timely way. In all likelihood, we would still be in this financial crisis. In short, the new agency seems a good idea, and, if it is created, it should be chartered to support innovation and should be staffed by people who know finance and its intricacies, including some who appreciate that human behavior must be understood and factored into financial design. But that leaves us with the deeper quandary: Our society needs financial innovation, and still seems vulnerable to changing animal spirits and speculative bubbles that create truly big problems. Even if they can be mitigated, periodic crises may not be preventable, at least not by banning abusive credit cards or even by throwing the bad guys in jail. We need consumer products that people can use properly, and if this is what “plain vanilla” means, that’s a good thing. But we also need financial innovation that responds to central problems. The effectiveness of our free enterprise system depends on allowing business people to manage the myriad risks — including the risk of asset bubbles — that impinge on their operations in the long term. And this process needs constant change and improvement. Complexity is not in itself a bad thing. It is, in fact, a hallmark of modern civilization. A laptop computer is an immensely complex instrument, with trillions of electronic components, and almost none of us can explain what goes on inside it. Yet it can be designed well so that it seems plain vanilla to the ultimate user. And as for steam engines, the modern turbine high-pressure versions are not plain vanilla in any sense. They are sophisticated triumphs of engineering. They help generate most of our electric power with very few accidents. | Subprime Mortgage Crisis;Regulation and Deregulation of Industry;Personal Finances;Consumer Protection;Economic Conditions and Trends |
ny0068554 | [
"world"
] | 2014/12/21 | Kabul Residents Watch as Heroin Addiction Grows | KABUL, Afghanistan — Each afternoon, spectators line a bridge in west Kabul and gaze down. They have not come to stare at the Kabul River — a dismal trickle of muddy runoff this time of year — but at the figures huddled on its garbage-strewn banks. Some of the men below rock back and forth, or crawl on all fours. Others sit perfectly still, with blankets over their heads, shielding lit matches from the wind and their gaunt faces from the men on the bridge above. This is where Kabul’s surging numbers of heroin addicts gather to smoke, inject and occasionally die — usually with an intently staring audience. Some look on in judgment, others with pity. As opium cultivation has soared in Afghanistan over the course of the war, addiction levels have followed. Kabul residents have increasingly watched the problem play out in public, a spectacle in a city with few others. “We just watch them,” Ali Juma, 30, a construction worker, said. “We want to see the fate of these people.” On a recent afternoon, some of the observers covered their noses, partly because of the stench below and partly because they worried that the smoke wafting up might trigger addiction in them, they said. Most of them had been watching for at least 10 minutes, some for twice that long. For a time, their focus converged on an addict, likely dead, whose twisted body had not moved for as long as anyone had been watching. Then they went back to looking at the living, including those just hanging on. “Look at that person and the condition he is in,” Abdul Qadir, 32, said, pointing to a man struggling up the riverbank to where another man lovingly smoothed out a piece of aluminum foil used to smoke heroin. “Why do people live like this?” Mr. Qadir had been on his way home — in his hand he carried a bag of cabbage — when he decided to stop and watch the addicts, a part of his normal routine. “Not every single day, but I come here most days,” said Mr. Qadir, who works as a driver. Hamidullah, 27, an off-duty soldier, took a sterner view. “They are destroying themselves right in front of us,” said Hamidullah, who goes by just one name. “I believe people are accountable for their own actions and if you start smoking hashish, it can become heroin. The last thing will be death for them.” Image People observed from the Pul-i-Sokhta bridge in Kabul as men used heroin below. Afghanistan has one of the world’s highest rates of opiate use. Credit Bryan Denton for The New York Times A little ways down the bridge, an apple seller named Ahmed Javid said he felt only pity and believed the addicts were the victims of larger societal problems. “They are suffering a lot.” Some, he noted, had picked up the habit in Iran, working as migrant workers. “Others got it from bad friends.” Mr. Javid offered that he had a cousin “in the last stages; now he injects heroin.” But the country was to blame, more than his cousin, he said. “It was due to all the war and fighting,” he said. “That’s how it is in this country.” Many on the bridge blamed the government for not doing more to care for its citizens. “It’s embarrassing to see that the government is doing nothing to help all these hopeless people,” said Faz ul-Din, another off-duty soldier. “I wonder how the government officials sleep at night, not even thinking of the pain that their fellow countrymen are going through.” Government officials do have a plan. It involves moving addicts from encampments around Kabul to a large facility where they will be weaned off opiates. The treatment center will be on the grounds at Camp Phoenix, a former United States Army base handed over to the Afghan government. Camp Phoenix was once one of the largest Army bases in Afghanistan, suggesting that some foresight went into its selection as a future home for the addicts. Accurate figures regarding the number of heroin and opium users across Afghanistan are hard to come by. In recent years, United Nations officials have estimated that about 2.7 percent of adults in Afghanistan are opiate users, one of the highest rates in the world, similar to that of Russia and Iran. Over all, officials with the United Nations estimate, there are 1.3 million to 1.6 million drug users in the country, about 5 percent of Afghans. But a former counternarcotics official with the Afghan government, Hadi Khalid, said most official reports played down the extent of the problem. He said there was deep embarrassment over how addiction rates had risen despite billions of dollars in development assistance. “We have about two million addicts,” Mr. Khalid, a retired lieutenant general, said, claiming that Afghanistan had a higher rate of addiction than any other country he knew of. Experts say the addiction rates are largely driven by surging poppy cultivation across Afghanistan, along with the proliferation of laboratories within the country that refine the opium paste into heroin. For the time being, encampments of addicts out in the open are still a novel sight for many Kabul residents. And they seem to attract more attention than other forms of suffering. Not far-off, a woman in a burqa begged amid traffic as her toddler sat in a pothole, perilously close to passing cars. Nobody paid them much mind. But on a recent afternoon, a teenager got off his bike and bent down to where an elderly addict was asleep on the street. Then he snapped a close-up photo with his cellphone. | Kabul;Heroin;Drug Abuse;Afghanistan;Opium;Addiction |
ny0252841 | [
"sports",
"hockey"
] | 2011/10/03 | A Changed N.H.L. Guards Against Shots to the Head | DETROIT — It has been said that the N.H.L. season beginning on Thursday is about Sidney Crosby . But it is also about ideas, about vast changes in perception and philosophy across the league, both among the people who run the game and those who play it. And that, too, is largely about Sidney Crosby. The 2011-12 season will be very different from any season played before, even if Crosby will not be on the ice for the start of it. It is a season that will be watched closely to see whether the N.H.L. will continue to enforce its new, rigorously applied rules against boarding and checks to the head, which resulted in nine suspensions in the preseason through Saturday. “I’m not surprised, to be honest with you,” Crosby said of the new regulations. “That’s kind of where everything’s going.” Crosby, the youngest team captain to raise the Stanley Cup, the scorer of the goal that won an Olympic gold medal and by common agreement the sport’s best player, had just darted and glided through an hourlong practice at Joe Louis Arena ahead of the Penguins’ preseason game Sunday, looking terrific. He skated wide circles and joked with Penguins Coach Dan Bylsma, defenseman Deryk Engelland and forward Joe Vitale. He skated through heavy traffic behind the net and, suffused with the abundant joy of playing shinny, sprayed snow on goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Crosby, 24, seemed ready to play hockey in earnest. But there was his black helmet, the only one among the Penguins’ white helmets, designating that Crosby was not to be hit. He is still not ready. Afterward Crosby sat in the cinder block confines of the visitors’ dressing room, talking about his long recovery from the concussion that has sidelined him since last January, saying there is no way he can even consult his doctors about being cleared for contact in practice until at least a week after the season starts in Vancouver on Thursday. “It’s going great, but at this point I just want to make sure that things keep going well,” Crosby said, indicating just how far he still has to go. “Even being lightly involved in scrimmages, it’s different, it takes a little more energy. Just trying to get used to all that. You have to learn that stuff again.” Crosby’s earliest conceivable return to play would be mid-October, but will almost certainly be later, perhaps much later. As he and Penguins General Manager Ray Shero said Saturday, there is “no date” for his return. But ever since Crosby went out, his injury has animated a discussion already under way about head trauma in hockey, the team sport that trails only football for frequency of concussions. The discussion — including Crosby’s own pointed advocacy of stronger rules governing checks to the head — has been ubiquitous in hockey circles. A few feet away from where Crosby was speaking, Matt Cooke, suspended five times since January 2009 for boarding and illegal checks to the head, was talking about the adjustments he is finding difficult but necessary to make under the new, more stringent rules. “I never, ever thought of things that I think of now when I’m going in to make a hit,” Cooke said about his effort to relearn the game and avoid a long-term suspension for his next offense. “My thought process is completely different. Now there’s just too much risk. A situation that looks harmless can go bad so quick. I’ve made a lot of changes.” Down the hallway, a Penguins team official spoke with reporters about a recent essay by Ken Dryden, the Hall of Fame goalie and chronicler of the game, that has become required reading around the league. Dryden, writing on the Web site Grantland , called on N.H.L. Commissioner Gary Bettman to lead a complete “head smart” rethinking of the game to bring down the number of concussions. “The common explanations,” Dryden wrote of hits to the head, “ ‘Because he deserved it’ or ‘Because I can’ — are not good enough in this age of concussions and dementia .” Such ideas, and the rapid evolution of the league office under its strict new on-ice disciplinarian, Brendan Shanahan, are attributable in large part to reaction to Crosby’s injury. Shanahan, now enforcing rules that penalize most contact to the head, has already said he is open to a discussion in which all head contact would be banned for 2012-13. Such a statement would have been unthinkable from an N.H.L. official just a handful of years ago. “As we evolve, we learn more and more about head trauma and brain trauma,” Shanahan said in an interview with CBC on Saturday. “We’re definitely very serious about making advancements and studying blows to the head.” Crosby’s concussion resulted from two hits: the first a glancing blow to the head from Washington’s David Steckel on Jan. 1, the second from being hit into the boards by Tampa Bay’s Victor Hedman on Jan. 5. For the next several months, he was bothered by headaches, dizziness , problems with balance and sensitivity to light. Crosby said that he talks with doctors monitoring his recovery “every few days.” He will be with the team in Vancouver, he said, but he will not play. Other N.H.L. players are trying to return from long-term concussions. Toronto’s Matt Lombardi was cleared for contact last week after being sidelined for almost a year. St. Louis’s David Perron, out since last November, announced last week that he would begin light workouts with the team. Colorado’s Peter Mueller, sidelined for one year until returning to action this preseason, is wearing a special helmet with extra padding, but remains somewhat skeptical. “Let’s be real: if you want to take out hits to the head, why are we wearing ‘Terminator’-sized shoulder pads?” Mueller told reporters in Denver. On the ice here, during a stretch of mucking along the corner boards, Crosby was looking down at the puck with his back turned to defenseman Alexandre Picard. Picard would have shoved any other player up against the boards, but he refrained from hitting Crosby — he simply stood behind him while Crosby continued to dig. “You see him out there, and he’s in a jostling mode, basically,” Shero said of Crosby. “He’s participated in every part of camp except intrasquad games and exhibition games. Knock on wood, everything’s progressing for him.” In the dressing room, Crosby was asked whether his concussion might have served a greater good because of the awareness it raised. “It was already starting to become a topic,” Crosby said, referring to some high-profile hits that had put concussions on the N.H.L.’s agenda. “And then a lot of other guys after me got concussions, so I think that was just kind of a snowball effect.” Crosby said he had already seen players adjust the way they play because of the new rules, and the increased awareness of how serious head injuries can be. “I’ve seen a lot of examples of guys pulling up who have seen numbers,” he said, meaning the numbers on the back of a player about to be checked. “Last night I saw Cookie coming around the net, and one of the defensemen was turned the other way, and he saw his numbers, and he let up and bumped him. Could’ve hit him pretty good, would’ve been blind side. He showed some pretty good control to let up.” Cookie is Crosby’s teammate Cooke. At least one of the high-profile concussions that preceded Crosby’s was delivered by Cooke, whose 2010 head shot on Boston’s Marc Savard, ruled legal at the time, led to the first round of rule-tightening by the N.H.L. League executives, physical players like Cooke, commentators and fans all seem to be coming around to Sidney Crosby’s way of thinking about a new kind of hockey. But it may still be some time before Crosby gets to play it. | Crosby Sidney;Hockey Ice;Concussions;National Hockey League;Sports Injuries |
ny0131480 | [
"world",
"middleeast"
] | 2012/12/16 | Republican Guard Members Sentenced in Yemen | SANA, Yemen (Reuters) — A Yemeni military court sentenced 93 members of the Republican Guard to prison terms of up to seven years for an attack on a military complex in August, the Defense Ministry said Saturday. The sentences, which were more lenient than expected, were announced amid heightened tensions between factions loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh , whose son commands the Republican Guard, and the interim government led by President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi. On Tuesday, the former president’s son, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Saleh, refused orders to hand over long-range missiles to the Defense Ministry, raising fears of a showdown that would threaten the fragile transition of power that was worked out in February. The United States and Persian Gulf states fear that political instability in Yemen could allow a branch of Al Qaeda based there to mount strikes against Saudi Arabia and Red Sea shipping lanes. The Republican Guard, the best-equipped of Yemen’s military units, is seen as important in efforts to contain Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups that took over towns in the south this year. Former President Saleh, who was pushed from power in February after more than a year of protests, was granted immunity from prosecution and is seen by some Yemeni politicians as intent on finding ways to retain influence. Judge Abdulmalik Ali Rashid al-Arshi convicted the members of the Republican Guard of offenses that included assaulting a defense complex in Sana, the capital, on Aug. 14; deserting their military posts; refusing orders from President Hadi; murder and attempted murder, a statement on the Defense Ministry’s Web site said. The men were sentenced to prison terms of three to seven years, while five other Republican Guard members were acquitted, according to the ministry’s statement. The assault on the complex in August was set off by President Hadi’s decision to put two Republican Guard brigades under the control of the southern and central military regions, which are not under General Saleh’s control. Hundreds of guardsmen attacked a Defense Ministry compound in Sana but were captured by other military forces, and about a hundred were arrested. | Yemen;Saleh Ali Abdullah;Sentences (Criminal);Defense and Military Forces;Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- ) |
ny0241473 | [
"world"
] | 2011/03/05 | Soldier in Leaks Case Will Be Made to Sleep Naked Nightly | WASHINGTON — Pfc. Bradley E. Manning , the Army intelligence analyst accused of leaking government files to WikiLeaks , will be stripped of his clothing every night as a “precautionary measure” to prevent him from injuring himself, an official at the Marine brig at Quantico, Va., said on Friday. Private Manning will also be required to stand outside his cell naked during a morning inspection, after which his clothing will be returned to him, said a Marine spokesman, First Lt. Brian Villiard. “Because of recent circumstances, the underwear was taken away from him as a precaution to ensure that he did not injure himself,” Lieutenant Villiard said. “The brig commander has a duty and responsibility to ensure the safety and well-being of the detainees and to make sure that they are able to stand trial.” Private Manning is a maximum-security detainee under “prevention of injury watch,” a special set of restrictions — a step his supporters, who contend that he is not suicidal, have said is unjustified. He has not been elevated to the more restrictive “suicide watch” conditions. Lieutenant Villiard said the new rule on clothing, which would continue indefinitely, had been imposed by the brig commander, Chief Warrant Officer Denise Barnes. He said that he was not allowed to explain what prompted it “because to discuss the details would be a violation of Manning’s privacy.” In recent months, Private Manning’s supporters have criticized his treatment as unduly harsh, contending that he is being pressured to agree to implicate Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks co-founder, as a conspirator in the leaking of diplomatic and military files. Lieutenant Villiard denied that the new conditions were intended to “pressure or punish” Private Manning. Private Manning’s lawyer, David E. Coombs, first complained in a blog posting on Thursday that his client had been stripped the previous night, and wrote on Friday that it had happened again. He criticized the measure as an unjustified “humiliation” of his client. “There can be no conceivable justification for requiring a soldier to surrender all his clothing, remain naked in his cell for seven hours, and then stand at attention the subsequent morning,” he wrote. “This treatment is even more degrading considering that Pfc. Manning is being monitored — both by direct observation and by video — at all times.” Mr. Coombs contended that stripping his client was medically unjustified. “If a person is at risk of self-harm, then you get them treatment, you get them to a mental health professional and address the issue — you don’t strip them,” he said, adding in a separate telephone interview, “There is no excuse, no justification to having a soldier stand at attention naked. There can be no mental health reason for that.” Lieutenant Villiard, who says Private Manning is permitted to have two blankets at night, says detainees are awakened each morning and immediately come out of their cells. Private Manning cannot be given his underwear back before then, he said, because that would require waking him up ahead of time. | Manning Bradley E;Wikileaks;Classified Information and State Secrets |
ny0014473 | [
"sports",
"autoracing"
] | 2013/11/14 | Twisting and Turbulent Case for Formula One Chief | LONDON — As 11 Formula One teams prepared recently to head for Austin, Tex., where the penultimate round of this year’s 19-race championship will take place Sunday, it was not the domination of the German driver Sebastian Vettel, winner of 11 of this year’s races and a strong favorite in Austin, that spurred the most fevered talk among grand prix racing insiders. Instead, it was the proceedings in Courtroom 26 of the High Court’s Chancery Division in London, set in an annex to the 150-year-old, crenelated complex known as the Royal Courts of Justice. The case there is one of four that Bernie Ecclestone, the 83-year-old billionaire who is the ringmaster of Formula One, faces in coming months. Two other civil cases, in Munich and New York, and a possible criminal trial in Germany are also on the horizon, all related to allegations of fraud by Ecclestone in the 2006 sale of Formula One’s commercial rights. A verdict in the London case is expected next spring. If it goes against Ecclestone, it could force a quick end to the iron-fisted control he has built since entering the sport as a team owner in the 1970s. That has alarmed those in Formula One who credit him with turning the sport into the globe-spanning financial bonanza it has become in the last 25 years. Others have been encouraged by the sweeping changes they believe would be possible in a post-Ecclestone era, including new rules for profit-sharing by the teams that would end the era of cloistered, billion-dollar agreements and secret payments into Swiss bank accounts that have been exposed in the London court. Those deals have effectively stripped Formula One over the past decade of control of its own affairs, handing the sport’s ownership — and billions in profits — to outside investors, and enabling Ecclestone to accumulate a personal fortune of at least $4 billion. They have also left all but 4 of the 11 teams that will compete at Austin — Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz and Red Bull — flirting with bankruptcy on a race-to-race basis. One team, Lotus, has admitted that it has been unable to pay Kimi Raikkonen, a former world champion who is the team’s lead driver, any of the $15 million it owes him for the 17 races he has contested this year. Ten days into the London case, Ecclestone, who cuts a distinctive figure with his 5-foot-3-inch frame and his over-the-ears mop of gray hair, has dominated the proceedings. He has brushed off evidence showing his personal involvement in a secret $44 million payment to a German banker involved in the 2006 sale of a majority ownership in Formula One to a London-based venture capital firm, CVC Capital Partners, for $1.5 billion. The court case, Ecclestone told reporters Monday, was “good because a lot of facts come out of it,” facts that he implied were favorable to him. The presiding judge, Sir Guy Newey, a former bankruptcy lawyer, will have to weigh a claim by the German media company suing Ecclestone and his associates that the payment to the banker, Gerhard Gribkowsky, was a bribe engineered by Ecclestone. Gribowsky is serving an 8½-year jail term for his role in the affair, imposed by a Munich court after he was found guilty of fraud and embezzlement earlier this year. The company, Constantin Medien, a former part owner of Formula One, has contended that the payment, $17 million of it in the form of a personal check from Ecclestone, was part of a “corrupt agreement” intended to ensure that Gribkowsky, representing the banks that then controlled Formula One, would approve the sport’s sale to CVC. Constantin’s lawyers contend that the price agreed to in the deal, $1.5 billion, vastly undervalued Formula One, thus depriving the company of $170 million — the sum it claims to be its rightful dividend from the sale. Image Bernie Ecclestone with his wife, Fabiana Flosi. Accused of fraud, he has often seemed perplexed. Credit Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Ecclestone’s version is that the money paid to Gribkowsky was a response to his being “shaken down” with a threat to go to the British tax authorities with evidence that Ecclestone retained secret control of a family trust that was the depository for most of the $3.1 billion Ecclestone earned from a previous sale of the Formula One rights in 2000. If that claim were upheld by the British authorities, Ecclestone has said, it would have cost him $2 billion in taxes and condemned him to bankruptcy. Even before the hearings, Ecclestone lent a farcical start to the proceedings when he treated camera crews waiting at the courthouse entrance to a performance worthy of Charlie Chaplin. In a scene that quickly found its way onto YouTube , he emerged from his chauffeur-driven limousine and strode up to the courthouse’s street-side revolving door, then appeared to become confused, reaching the building’s foyer before the rotating door spun him full circle back onto the street. Muttering about wanting to give the cameramen a second chance at recording his arrival, he made a second bid to enter the building, by a side door that turned out to be locked, adding a further touch of burlesque to the occasion. The sequence raised questions that went to the heart of his behavior in court. Was Ecclestone simply showing his age? Or was he engaging in a bit of wily theater to set himself up for the character he has adopted on the stand, as a man too befuddled, too overworked and too forgetful to recall in detail what he did in his Formula One dealings? He has peppered his testimony with professions of bafflement as to what is being asked of him, requests for a repeat of questions he says he has not grasped, and complaints that the court is moving too quickly. Paging laboriously through thick folders of court documents and rubbing his eyes, he has said repeatedly that the rigors of the case are taxing his memory, his intellectual capacity and his hearing. “I have a bit of difficulty to remember what happened last week,” he said at one point. “It could have been, I don’t remember,” at another. “I had no idea, I still don’t,” at still another. Sometimes, it has been the legal language itself that Ecclestone has found puzzling. When confronted with the phrase “extraneous to requirement” in a document dealing with a possible rival bid for the Formula One rights by the Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, Ecclestone responded, “I don’t know what that means.” On several occasions, he professed to have no knowledge of documents bearing his signature. “I sign so many things, I’ve no idea what I’ve signed,” he said at one point. Shown a letter on the CVC deal bearing his signature, he invoked difficulty in reading anything he had written himself. “Yes, that’s my writing,” he said, “because I can’t read it, so it must be mine.” | Car Racing;Formula One;Bernie Ecclestone;Fraud |
ny0018487 | [
"sports",
"basketball"
] | 2013/07/11 | Jackson Is Leaving Job at N.B.A.; Thorn Will Return | Stu Jackson will step down as executive vice president for basketball operations at the N.B.A., and Rod Thorn will return as president for basketball operations, the league said Wednesday. Jackson spent more than 13 years at the league. He has been in charge of all rules, conduct and discipline on the court. Thorn previously spent 14 seasons at the N.B.A. office and has been a team executive with Chicago, New Jersey and Philadelphia. He drafted Michael Jordan with the Bulls and was executive of the year with the Nets. | Basketball;NBA;Stu Jackson;Rod Thorn;Appointments and Executive Changes |
ny0184270 | [
"us"
] | 2009/03/03 | Suit Seeks to Force Government to Extend Benefits to Same-Sex Couples | BOSTON — The legal advocacy group that successfully argued for sex-same marriage in Massachusetts intends to file suit here on Tuesday seeking some federal benefits for spouses in such marriages. The target is the Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996, which prohibits the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriage . That law denies federal benefits, like Social Security survivors’ payments, to spouses in such marriages. Because same-sex marriage is allowed in only two states, Massachusetts and Connecticut, the number of spouses who are denied such benefits is fairly small. But Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, the group planning to file the federal suit, believes the number will grow as more states consider granting gay and lesbian couples the right to marry. At least eight other states, including New York, are considering same-sex marriage bills. “In our view, it’s a straightforward equal-protection issue,” said Mary L. Bonauto, civil rights project director for the group, referring to the constitutional mandate that laws be applied equally to everyone. The suit, to be filed in Federal District Court in Boston, does not challenge a separate provision of the act that says states do not have to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. Information about the suit is posted on the advocacy group's web site . While the Government Accountability Office has identified more than 1,100 federal statutory provisions in which marital status is a factor in rights and benefits, the suit focuses narrowly on equal protection as applied to Social Security, federal income tax, federal employees and retirees, and the issuance of passports. “We picked programs every American can relate to,” Ms. Bonauto said. The plaintiffs in the suit include eight couples and three widowers, all of whom were married in Massachusetts after the state began allowing same-sex marriages in 2004. All have applied for federal benefits, Ms. Bonauto said, but have been denied because the federal government does not recognize their marriages. Some of the plaintiffs are federal employees who cannot share their health benefits with spouses; others cannot file taxes jointly or are receiving less generous Social Security retirement benefits. The widowers include Dean Hara, the spouse of former Representative Gerry E. Studds. After Mr. Studds died in 2006, Mr. Hara, 51, was denied his Congressional pension and other benefits normally extended to surviving spouses of federal employees. Another married couple, Melba Abreu and Beatrice Hernandez, estimate they would have saved about $20,000 in federal income tax over the past few years if they had been able to file jointly. “In our case, the core of our American dream has always been for Melba and I to provide for one another,” said Ms. Hernandez, 47, of Boston. “This presents a real threat to that, when we take a good hard look at our future years.” Another plaintiff, Herbert Burtis, 78, lost his spouse last year and would be entitled to about $700 a month in Social Security survivor benefits if his marriage had been heterosexual. “Nobody else has to go through that begging to be considered equal to other married people,” said Mr. Burtis, who married in 2004 but was with his partner for more than 60 years Although federal courts have heard other challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, Ms. Bonauto said, this is the first in which plaintiffs who were married in their state of residence applied for federal benefits and were denied them. Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, a group that has lobbied against same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, said he did not think one part of the federal act could be singled out and struck down. Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law scholar and dean of the law school at the University of California, Irvine, said that the case seemed strong but that victory was not certain. “I think that under established equal protection law, they have strong claims,” Mr. Chemerinsky said. “But it does raise issues that courts haven’t dealt with before, so that makes it more difficult to predict what the courts will do.” Mr. Burtis, who was among hundreds of gay, married residents of Massachusetts whom Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders reached out to, said he did not expect to receive federal benefits in his lifetime. “But at least I can be part of what I think would be a historic moment to help someone in a future generation get equality under the law,” he said. | Homosexuality;Marriages;Social Security (US);Same-Sex Marriage Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships |
ny0096890 | [
"us"
] | 2015/06/03 | Video Shows James Holmes Recalling Colorado Theater Shooting | DENVER — The gunman’s voice was flat, unshaded by emotion, as he told a psychiatrist how he had slipped through the emergency exit door of a packed movie theater and opened fire on the crowd. He was on autopilot, he said. He turned up the electronic music in his headphones to drown out the screams. He knew he would probably end up arrested or dead, but he was carrying out what he called “the mission.” If you knew the consequences for yourself, why did you go through with it, the court-appointed psychiatrist, William Reid, asked the gunman, James E. Holmes, during a video-recorded interview that played in court on Tuesday. “That’s just the price you have to pay for completing the mission,” Mr. Holmes said. Jurors are watching nearly all 22 hours of the recorded interview, which forensic psychologists say provides an exceedingly rare and chilling window into the plotting and psyche of a mass killer. Many mass shootings end with the gunman killing himself or being killed by the police, but Mr. Holmes surrendered and was arrested after he killed 12 people and wounded 70 in a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012. As part of his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, Mr. Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student, underwent hours of psychiatric examinations that plumbed his childhood, his schooling, his social isolation, and the weeks in which he meticulously planned the rampage. His 2014 conversation with Dr. Reid — the only examination that was recorded on video — has become a focus of his murder trial, which is now in its second month. Jurors will have a voluminous record to sift through when they sit down to determine whether Mr. Holmes had the ability to tell right from wrong on the night of the shootings, and thus, whether he was legally sane or insane. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case, and have described the defendant as a calculating killer who carried out the murders because he had no purpose in life after losing his girlfriend and dropping out of his graduate program at the University of Colorado. Dr. Reid has testified that he believes Mr. Holmes was legally sane, and prosecutors have said that a second psychiatrist who evaluated him for the court reached the same conclusion. Defense experts are expected to argue the opposite. In addition to the videos, jurors have examined a spiral notebook that Mr. Holmes kept before the shooting. In it, he debates how he wants to kill people, sketches out theaters to attack, and estimates how long it would take the police to respond to reports of gunfire from inside the theater. Jurors are expected to hear more testimony from other mental health experts who saw Mr. Holmes before and after his arrest. In the videos, Mr. Holmes faces the camera, dressed in a blue smock. He speaks in short sentences, in the same tone whether he is talking about eating chili for lunch or firing a shotgun blast into a rear corner of Theater 9 when he saw people get out of their seats. Before the shooting, he said he felt “calm and collected.” Afterward: “Successful in the mission.” He says the purpose of the shooting was “increasing my self-worth” through taking lives, though he said he tried to minimize the number of children he killed by attacking a midnight screening. The wounded — who include Caleb Medley, an aspiring comedian who briefly testified from his wheelchair — were “collateral damage,” he told Dr. Reid. He said he imagined people in the theater felt shock and terror. Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist in Arizona who has been following the case, said that much of the questioning sought to tease out whether Mr. Holmes, despite a severe mental illness, was able to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Under Colorado law, prosecutors in insanity cases have to prove a defendant’s sanity. Mr. Holmes described how he thought the F.B.I. was following him as he drove to the theater and might stop him. Minutes before the attack, he called a mental health hotline “to see if I should turn back or not,” but hung up without speaking to anyone when he did not hear a person on the other end of the line. “It sounds like someone who is concerned about getting caught or getting stopped and in many ways wants to be caught,” Dr. Reid testified. “There’s a strong implication, I think, that he wants to be stopped from doing something wrong.” | Aurora Shooting;Mental Health;James Eagan Holmes;Murders and Homicides;Aurora Colorado;Forensic science |
ny0004555 | [
"nyregion"
] | 2013/04/21 | In ‘Picturing Power,’ a Look at New York’s Leaders | Talk about having intimidating people constantly looking over your shoulder! Founded in 1768, the New York Chamber of Commerce was one of the nation’s premier business organizations, and over its history it amassed nearly 300 portraits of American civic leaders and captains of industry. They hung in the chamber’s headquarters at 65 Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan in rows of bankers, lawyers, judges and politicians. (Alexander Hamilton was one of the first, painted in 1792.) The individual and collective significance of these works is explored in “Picturing Power: Portraiture and Its Uses in the New York Chamber of Commerce” (Columbia University Press, $60), by Karl Kusserow, the curator of American art at the Princeton University Art Museum. Among essays by contributors, Dr. Kusserow devotes one of his own to Daniel Huntington’s 1895 heroic group portrait of the nine men who were instrumental in linking New York with Europe by the Atlantic Cable, an achievement the author likens to a 19th-century moon shot. The painting brought renewed attention to the undersea telegraph, completed 30 years earlier, a high point in national and New York chauvinism. By the 1980s, though, the chamber had merged with the Commerce and Industry Association (now the combined Partnership for New York City ), sold 65 Liberty and moved to more modern offices. The portrait collection (much of it lavishly reproduced in Dr. Kusserow’s book) was considered an anachronism and largely sold off or donated — all the old white men hanging around on the walls did not fit in with the Partnership’s commitment to diversity. Today the building, once a monument to American capitalism, houses a Taiwanese bank. ● In another paean to form and function, the architect Hugh Hardy secures his place on the New York stage by reminding readers of his role in shaping the “Theater of Architecture” (Princeton Architectural Press, $50). Mr. Hardy finds a common thread in the 21 designs he offers up, many for theaters and arts centers, and all accompanied by interviews with clients or other stakeholders. “Even though these projects do not all look the same,” he writes, “they all were created with the intention of setting the stage for their inhabitants’ different journeys of discovery.” He describes in engaging detail his work on the New Victory and New Amsterdam Theaters in Times Square, as well as the still-unfinished Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Richard B. Fisher Building and the Theater for a New Audience . “Theater publicly reveals the human condition through appealing to both intellect and emotion,” Mr. Hardy concludes. “Architecture, whether lowly or exalted, can do the same.” ● What an intriguing project. In 2009, Becky Cooper printed hundreds of outline maps of Manhattan, stamped and inscribed with her return address. She distributed them from Marble Hill to the Battery, inviting people to map memories. The resulting ad hoc, hand-drawn cartoon cartography has been collected in “Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers” (Abrams Image, $19.95). Ms. Cooper, who was raised in Queens, graduated from Harvard with a degree in comparative literature and worked as an editorial assistant to Adam Gopnik at The New Yorker. “Each map in this book diagrams the one thing we most want a map to show us, and that is a way home,” Mr. Gopnik writes in the foreword. | Books;NYC;Becky Cooper;Hugh Hardy |
ny0118738 | [
"world",
"europe"
] | 2012/10/25 | BBC Scandal Threatens to Become a Political Crisis | LONDON — The scandal precipitated by the torrent of sexual abuse allegations against Jimmy Savile, one of Britain ’s most successful television hosts, showed signs on Wednesday of broadening into a damaging political crisis as Prime Minister David Cameron and his Conservative-led government clashed openly with the hierarchy of the BBC , the state-owned broadcaster that was Mr. Savile’s employer for more than 40 years. The clash took the form of an unprecedented public warning to the official who sits atop the pyramid of 23,000 BBC employees, Christopher Patten, chairman of the BBC’s governors, that the government’s patience was wearing thin in the wake of the broadcaster’s shaky explanations as to why no action was taken from the 1960s on to end a pattern of what accusers have described as blatant child sexual abuse by Mr. Savile. At least 200 self-proclaimed victims of Mr. Savile, who died last year at the age of 84, have become known to police investigators in recent weeks. The warning took the form of a letter to Mr. Patten — a former Conservative cabinet minister himself, Britain’s last governor in Hong Kong and Mr. Cameron’s handpicked choice for the top BBC post last year — from Maria Miller, the culture minister in the Cameron cabinet. She told Mr. Patten that “very real concerns are being raised about public trust and confidence in the BBC,” which is financed by nearly $6 billion a year in license fees paid by all television viewers in Britain, She said it was “essential that license-fee payers are assured” that the BBC’s own investigations of the Savile scandal “are being conducted thoroughly” in line with the BBC’s duty to maintain “high standards of openness and transparency.” That was taken by many political commentators as a blunt warning that the government, concerned for its own popularity at a time when opinion polls show it trailing badly behind the opposition Labour Party, was prepared to take responsibility for investigating the scandal out of the BBC’s hands by appointing a judicial inquiry. Some Conservative backbenchers have even said the government was also ready, if necessary, to fire Mr. Patten and other top BBC executives in a purge to show sympathy with public concerns about the scandal. Mr. Patten, celebrated among many in Britain for the maverick, often idiosyncratic ways in which he confronted Chinese officials in the countdown to China’s 1997 takeover in Hong Kong, fired back a rebuttal of his own that demanded, in effect, that the government honor the commitment made in the BBC’s charter not to interfere in the broadcaster’s affairs. As the scandal broadened, Mr. Savile appeared to be on course to becoming once again a public figure of outsize dimensions — though this time as a man universally reviled for the sex-abuse accusations, not as the wildly popular presenter of two shows, “Top of the Pops” and “Jim’ll Fix It,” which drew audiences of as many as 20 million people in the 1960s and 1970s, in a country that then had a population of barely 50 million. As ever more lurid accusations against Mr. Savile have emerged from individuals who were boys and girls barely past puberty at the time, many in Britain have struggled to deal with the sudden reversal in national fortunes. From the euphoria of the summer, with its celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s 60th anniversary on the throne to the triumph of the Olympic and Paralympic Games held in London, the country has been plunged into a new trauma of gloomy introspection, asking what new shocks may be in store as one national institution after another — the banks, Parliament, the popular press and now the BBC — have been tainted by scandal in the past five years. | British Broadcasting Corp;Savile Jimmy;Entwistle George E;Sex Crimes;Great Britain;Child Abuse and Neglect |
ny0059238 | [
"business"
] | 2014/08/28 | Gift-Bearing Officials Try to Lure Chinese Factories Inland | HONG KONG — The Renley Watch Manufacturing Company is one of the companies that helped coastal southeastern China displace Switzerland as the center of the world’s watchmaking industry. But now Renley, like many watchmakers, is mulling whether to move far into China’s interior. Just last week, officials from Chongqing, a sprawling metropolis in western China, met with a group of watch industry executives and offered an enticing package for them to move their factories there, said Stanley Lau, Renley’s managing director. The incentives included deeply discounted land, less-intrusive environmental inspections and lower wages. When some of the executives expressed concern about moving costs, the answer came immediately. “The government in Chongqing said, ‘Don’t worry. If you agree to move your factory to Chongqing, I’ll pay your moving costs,’ ” Mr. Lau said, adding that at least 10 watch factories were already preparing to move. Such meetings are increasingly common as the Chinese economy gradually slows. With foreign investment falling, inland provinces are in a cutthroat competition to attract domestic industries, offering significant financial incentives to businesses and even undercutting one another in crucial areas like environmental regulation. Companies, driven to cut costs, are taking the offers seriously. The turf war echoes the efforts by state governments in the United States, which have long used tax sweeteners to persuade companies to relocate. And the trend in China is infuriating the coastal provinces, which contend that businesses should be deciding where to locate factories based on economic merits like the quality of ports and highways. “It’s really a problem. I think governments should not give money to companies for relocation,” said Li Chunhong, the top economic policy maker in the southeastern province of Guangdong. “It violates the transparency of the market.” Mr. Li predicted that Guangdong would hold on to higher-wage jobs, particularly in the electronics, design and software industries. Already enough high-tech companies are moving engineers and other staff members into Shenzhen that the city easily has the strongest commercial real estate market in China, with office space in short supply, said Sanjay Verma, the chief executive for Asia at Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate brokerage firm. Pausing during an interview to pull a large Samsung smartphone out of his suit pocket, Mr. Li described how 90 percent of the phone’s components had been manufactured within a 60-mile-wide circle near Hong Kong that encompasses cities like Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai. “If a factory needs components, they can make a call, and in just one hour the components are sent to their factory,” he said. Guangdong Province led China in embracing capitalism in the late 1970s and continues to rival the Shanghai area as one of the country’s two main export hubs. Tens of millions of migrant workers flocked from all over China to fill Guangdong’s factories, many of them built by Hong Kong investors. More recently, Guangdong has been a leader in China in trying to tackle pollution by forcing many factories to install new equipment, move to outlying areas far from population centers or even close entirely. Now, Guangdong is losing lower-wage jobs to inland provinces. Blue-collar workers are scarce across China, and their wages are surging, because college enrollment has quintupled in the last decade and few graduates will consider factory labor . With the jockeying over jobs, many migrant workers have been able to stop taking 30-hour bus and train trips to coastal provinces and find jobs closer to home — leaving factories, in Guangdong particularly, scrambling for people to work on assembly lines. New railroad routes from western China to Europe, as well as sprawling new airports with freight terminals built deep in China’s interior, are also making it possible to ship goods directly from inland factories to foreign markets without relying on the giant ports of Guangdong, Shanghai or other coastal areas. “More and more manufacturers are considering relocating their production operations from Guangdong to more inland in China, or even to other countries,” said Mr. Lau, who is also the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, a broad coalition of trade groups with factories across southeastern China. Mr. Lau’s company, which he founded in Hong Kong in 1983, currently makes watch components and assembles less-expensive watches in Dongguan, in Guangdong Province. Renley also assembles midmarket watches at a factory in Hong Kong and luxury watches in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. Renley has brands like Buler, Temporis, Sultana and Jean d’Eve, but most of the production is sold under other brands for retailers that do not have watchmaking operations. Sitting in his company’s conference room, lined with display cases that glitter with expensive watches, Mr. Lau ticked off the pros and cons of moving his Dongguan factory 630 miles northwest to Chongqing. With an urban population of 17.3 million, Chongqing is building a “Jewelry City” and trying to persuade manufacturers to relocate there. The appeal starts with lower wages. Although pay in the Chinese interior is rising fast, it has not quite caught up. Chongqing has assured watchmakers of an ample supply of workers, and Mr. Lau estimated that they would be paid $375 to $405 a month, excluding government-mandated costs for employers like basic health insurance, pensions and housing subsidies. That compares with $490 a month in Dongguan — when manufacturers can find employees. “There is a shortage of workers in every industry,” Mr. Lau said. Chongqing also has abundant land. The city charges one-third less than Dongguan, and the land is near large roads and commercial districts. Dongguan is so built up that the only new sites tend to be several hours’ drive into outlying areas. Image A wind turbine plant in Guangdong Province. Local officials in interior cities like Chongqing are offering enticing financial incentive packages to try to persuade manufacturers to relocate. Credit Tyrone Siu/Reuters Environmental regulation is one of the touchiest issues. Mr. Lau said that Chongqing required new factories to install modern pollution-control equipment and adopt certain procedures, but then had fairly few follow-up inspections. Four Chongqing municipal agencies declined to comment on their activities. Guangdong has been gradually reducing air pollution over the last several years partly by closing older factories and requiring new equipment and procedures for other sites. But for many industries with histories of pollution problems, like metal plating — an important part of watchmaking — Guangdong is also requiring that factories move to a few designated industrial zones. Chongqing is also an emerging hub for railroad shipments across Central Asia to Europe, said several executives who have operations in the city or are considering them. Hewlett-Packard already ships entire trainloads of computers along the “new Silk Road” route. In a speech on Wednesday, Mr. Li, the economic policy maker for Guangdong, called for renewed emphasis on a “maritime Silk Road,” the ships that still haul the bulk of China’s commerce. Many freight executives are skeptical that transcontinental railroad routes spanning Asia and Europe would supplant container ships. “We do not see it as an alternative replacing or denting the status of ocean shipping as the main mode of transport between the two continents,” said Jens Eskelund, the managing director at the China division of A.P. Moller-Maersk, the world’s largest container shipping company. Mr. Lau said that the watch industry still relied almost entirely on air shipments, so rail services were irrelevant. Each bulk buyer of watches in Europe and elsewhere typically arranges its own shipment from the factories, and the result is many small shipments, none of which is big enough for rail, which works best with full container loads. Renley Watch has not made a decision on whether to move. Chongqing has offered this year to cover 2 million renminbi, or $325,000, in moving expenses for each of the first 20 watch factories in Guangdong that agree to relocate. Other countries may not be viable alternatives for manufacturing. Workers in Vietnam and Indonesia are paid less than half as much as their Chinese counterparts. But investment interest in Southeast Asia has temporarily slowed following a spasm of anti-Chinese violence in Vietnam last spring, when rioters destroyed hundreds of factories after a Chinese state-controlled company began drilling for oil off Vietnam’s coast. “That was one of the problems we never predicted,” Mr. Lau said. “Nowhere in the world is safe — wherever you go, you have to take a risk.” Another factor may yet motivate manufacturers like Mr. Lau to stay in Guangdong. “If we move to Chongqing, will my assistants and technicians come with us?” Mr. Lau asked. “We have to see.” | Relocation;China;Chongqing China;Guangdong;Hong Kong;Silk Road;Manufacturing |
ny0218104 | [
"sports",
"baseball"
] | 2010/05/27 | Mets Keep Winning With Improvised Rotation | Now the Mets are winning again, beating good teams, even shutting them out. The Phillies fell for the second consecutive time, this one by 5-0 before 33,223 pleasantly surprised witnesses Wednesday night at Citi Field. On Tuesday, the Mets beat the Phillies, the defending National League champions, 8-0. The Mets have won four in a row and five of their last six. They are one game over .500 and within three games of the first-place Phillies in the National League East. The Phillies were shut out for the third time in four games and have scored three runs in 38 innings. The Stanley Cup finalist Flyers have outscored the Phillies, 23-14, over each team’s last seven games. The Mets are doing it in large part with second-line starting pitchers. Hisanori Takahashi, a Japanese veteran who was signed before the season to a minor-league contact, threw six shutout innings to raise his record to 4-1. The night before it was R. A. Dickey, a 35-year-old knuckleballer called up from the minor leagues, who threw six shutout innings. On Saturday in Milwaukee, the Mets plan to give Fernando Nieve his first start of the season after 27 relief appearances, the most recent a clean ninth inning Wednesday night. Who would have thought that injuries to starters Jon Niese and John Maine and the banishment to the bullpen of Oliver Perez would result in the sudden dominance of the starting rotation? The hitters have helped. One of them on Wednesday was catcher Rod Barajas, who drove in three runs but finished with a sore right wrist after blocking a low pitch. Barajas felt unwanted in spring training before signing a free-agent contract. “Now’s the time,” he said. “I have the opportunity. I have the stage.” Another catalyst Wednesday was Jose Reyes, who continued his first torrid stretch of the season with a home run and an R.B.I. single. “I feel good,” Reyes said. “I feel like me.” Reyes also made a running catch in short center with his back to the plate in the fifth inning and ended the game with his arm raised, leaping to spear a line drive, an exclamation point on a hot night. Reyes missed most of last season with leg injuries, but has sparked a group that struggled through early-season streaks that seemed to endanger the job security of Manager Jerry Manuel. “We’re having a blast, we believe in ourselves,” Barajas said. “We’re a very talented club. This is a team to be reckoned with.” His right arm was wrapped in ice. “It’s really sore,” he said. “I don’t want to rest.” He has 27 R.B.I., second on the team to David Wright. The Phillies, who held a clubhouse meeting after the game to discuss their malaise, were unable to reckon with Takahashi, who mixed changeups and curves with occasional fastballs. In the game’s most emotional moment, Takahashi allowed Phillies to reach first and third with one out in the sixth before striking out Ryan Howard and retiring Jayson Werth on a fly ball to right field. Before his final pitches, Takahashi took deep breaths, wiped perspiration from his brow and listened to the roar of the standing fans. “I just wanted to take time and relax and think,” he said through his interpreter. When he reached the dugout, Manuel gave him a little hug. “As usual, he just said, ‘Good job,’ ” Takahashi said. “I could take a deep breath.” He lowered his earned run average to 2.13. Reyes said, “It’s fun to play behind Taki.” Barajas added: “He works both sides of the plate. He changes speed.” The Mets stole four bases and seem to have embraced the small ball that can be effective in a big park like Citi Field. In Tuesday’s game, Reyes stole two and had three hits. In the last six games, he is 11 for 28. “The power’s going to come for sure,” Reyes said. “I’m getting my confidence in my legs back.” Last season, Reyes played in only 36 games, the fewest of his seven-year career, because of knee and hamstring injuries. He was sidelined in spring training this year with a thyroid condition. Jason Bay, the left fielder who arrived as a free agent, noted what Mets fans have long known about Reyes. “He’s a game-changer,” Bay said. “He changes the whole dynamic of our offense. When he’s going well, we look like a completely different team.” Barajas added, “He causes havoc.” INSIDE PITCH R.A. Dickey has a large purple bruise on the inside of his left arm behind the elbow but said it would not affect his next start. Dickey was hit by Ryan Howard’s line drive Tuesday. | New York Mets;Philadelphia Phillies;Takahashi Hisanori;Baseball |
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