KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — NATO says two of its service members have been killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan.
A statement said the two were killed Thursday but provided no other …
четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.
Final Four has team-oriented look
This year's Final Four will be won by the final fivesome. Not a superstar surrounded by four complementary players, but a team with players who rely on each other.
The stars of this year's NCAA tournament, players like John Wall at Kentucky and Evan Turner at Ohio State, didn't make it to the final week in Indianapolis.
In their place are …
Shaken camera syndrome; 'Bourne' audiences feel effects of unbroken action
"A spectre is haunting contemporary cinema: the shaky shot."
So writes David Bordwell in connection with the growingcontroversy over the hyperkinetic filming and editing style of suchmovies as "The Bourne Ultimatum." This is a specter that will not goaway. The quick cutting of "Ultimatum" (average shot length: twoseconds) has inspired a flood of messages to my Answer Man column,and now Bordwell, probably the most respected U.S. film academic,forwarded me a post in which "sfjockdawg," the writer, says:
"We went to see 'B.U.' on the IMAX in San Francisco. Near theend, when Webb is having the flashback to when he is forced to showhis commitment to the project, the …
среда, 14 марта 2012 г.
Texan joins thousands of Russian nationalists for anti-immigrant march in Moscow
As Preston Wiginton, a white supremacist from Texas, stepped forward to address thousands of Russian nationalists at a rally Sunday in Moscow, he lifted his black cowboy hat high in the air.
"I'm taking my hat off as a sign of respect for your strong identity in ethnicity, nation and race," he said, exposing his close-cropped head to a freezing drizzle.
"Glory to Russia," Wiginton, 43, said in broken Russian, as the crowd of mostly young Russian men raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and chanted "white power!" in English.
About 5,000 nationalists turned out for the Russian March, held for the third straight …
Plane debris found along path Air France jet took
Brazilian military pilots hunting Tuesday for a missing Air France jet spotted an airplane seat, an orange buoy and signs of fuel in a part of the Atlantic Ocean with depths of up to three miles.
Brazil's Navy said three commercial ships in the area were joining the search and France said it would send a ship capable of deep-water exploration. A U.S. spy plane was also diverted from drug interdiction efforts to help with the effort.
The pilots spotted two areas of floating debris _ but no signs of life _ about 35 miles (60 kilometers) apart, about 410 miles (650 kilometers) beyond the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, near Flight 447's path from …
Treasury's Pounds 50k from borough's six speed cameras
SLOW DOWN: 825 drivers are fined for fast driving in a year MOREthan 800 speeding tickets were issued to motorists who set offstationary speed cameras in Brentwood last year, swelling theGovernment's coffers by almost Pounds 50,000.
The Gazette has learned that the borough's six fixed safetycameras caught 825 people speeding in 2010/ 11.
Each driver was slapped with a Pounds 60 fine, raising Pounds49,500 for the Treasury.
In Essex as a whole, stationary cameras issued 29,266 speedingtickets in 2010/11 - raking in more than Pounds 1.7 million.
The most lucrative camera in Brentwood can be found in ShenfieldRoad, near its junction with Middleton …
Minghella to Write Met Opera Libretto
NEW YORK - Academy Award winner Anthony Minghella will write the libretto and direct a new work by composer Osvaldo Golijov that has been commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera.
Golijov went to Botswana last month at the behest of the Met and discussed the opera with Minghella on the production site of the director's latest movie project, based on "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" novels. Minghella, who earned an Oscar in 1997 for "The English Patient," made his Met debut last fall directing an acclaimed staging of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly."
"I only saw rehearsals of `Butterfly,' and I love his film work," Golijov said in a telephone interview Tuesday night. "The …
Ron Howard movie `Parenthood' reborn as NBC series
The 1989 movie "Parenthood" is going to be reborn as an NBC TV series.
According to people familiar with NBC's plans, the "Parenthood" drama will be part of the network's lineup next season.
The people declined to be identified because they weren't authorized to announce the show before …
NU receivers - that's the catch // Wildcats count on QB Williams Series: BIG TEN PREVIEW // Northwestern
Considering one of a quarterback's worst nightmares is tooverthrow someone, it wouldn't exactly be accurate to say there is acoup in the planning at Northwestern.
But now that receiver Richard Buchanan, the Wildcats' No. 1target last season, no longer is in the picture, coach Francis Peaysaid he is looking for a committee to handle NU quarterback LenWilliams' air attack.
"If not by committee, we'll try to move the responsibility ofcatching the football around," Peay said. "We want to make betteruse of our receiving corps.
"Len is much less likely to force the ball if he's not lookingfor just one man."
Although Buchanan, who holds the NU career …
5.8 quake shakes Costa Rican coast
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 5.8 earthquake shook the central and Pacific coastal regions of Costa Rica early Monday morning. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The geological survey says the …
Ecuador prez: US extremists plot to destabilize
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa says right-wing extremists in the United States are conspiring against his government by attempting to destabilize the poor Andean nation.
The leftist president contends that U.S.-based groups _ although not the U.S. government _ are funneling aid to parts of Ecuador's indigenous movement.
He says plots to destabilize …
Gene Process Might Help Fight Cancer
Biologists have found an exception to one of the fundamentalrules of genetics, a discovery that promises to provide newapproaches to the control of cancer and other genetic diseases.
Researchers say the finding suggests cancer could be combattedby restoring a process called imprinting, rather than by trying torepair a defective tumor gene.
"This implies that, in some situations, it may not be necessaryto kill cancer cells. It might be possible to reason with them oreducate them," said Samuel Broder of the National Cancer Institute.
Scientists have long assumed that the source of a gene, thefundamental unit of inheritance, is irrelevant. Everybody …
Act II Autry's reward-winning performance
Darnell Autry can start acting like an NFL player again.
And this time with a little more feeling.
The former Northwestern star had a forgettable rookie season withthe Bears in 1997. He was out of football since he retired from thePhiladelphia Eagles in October 1998 to pursue an acting career.
Working out since last fall, he returned to the Eagles after theseason and survived Sunday's final roster cuts.
"Not necessarily surprised, just relieved," the backup runningback said Monday from Philadelphia. "It's been a long time coming. Iworked hard, and it paid off."
In a 1-3 preseason, Autry ran the ball eight times for a seven-yard average with a long of 13 yards. He had three receptions for an11-yard average and a long of 27.
"It wasn't so much performance on the field as what I wanted toget done and how involved I wanted to be," he said. "My heart was init, and I was excited to be there. My head was screwed on straight.
"Football for me now is its own separate entity. Acting has itstime and its place. Right now is not the time or the place. I'm goingto deal with football and work hard."
вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.
Suit: Dentist left drill bit in Fla. woman's head
A lawsuit claims a dentist's drill bit was left in a Tampa woman's head for nearly a year.
The lawsuit says Donna Delgao's surgeon left an inch-long piece of steel in a wound after dental surgery in 2008. The tool lodged in her right maxillary sinus. It was only removed 11 months later by another surgeon.
The lawsuit says Delgao suffered nosebleeds, sinus infections and dizziness. Her attorney says she also may suffer side effects, including nickel poisoning.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages and a jury trial.
There was no phone listing for the oral surgeon, Ralph Eichstaedt. He told the St. Petersburg Times he wouldn't comment on the lawsuit.
A phone message was left for the Dental Health Group, which was also named in the suit.
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Information from: St. Petersburg Times, http://tampabay.com
2nd Muslim Elected to Congress From Ind.
The grandson of the late U.S. Rep. Julia Carson won a special election Tuesday to succeed her, keeping the seat in Democratic hands and becoming the second Muslim ever elected to Congress.
Andre Carson had about 54 percent of the vote compared with about 43 percent for Republican Jon Elrod after all the votes were tallied. Carson finished with a 9,000-vote edge out of nearly 85,000 votes cast.
Carson will represent a district that covers most of Indianapolis for the remainder of the year. In a primary in May, he'll seek to be the Democratic nominee for a full two-year term.
In his victory speech, Carson told more than 100 supporters gathered at a downtown Indianapolis hotel that he would have to "hit the ground running." One of his top priorities, he said, would be ending the war in Iraq.
"We need to bring our men and women back home and end this useless war," Carson said.
Elrod's campaign manager acknowledged that it appeared Carson had won. "The result tonight doesn't change his resolve to bring change to Washington and move Indianapolis forward," Kyle Casting said.
Mississippi was also choosing candidates Tuesday to fill two rare open congressional seats. One of those seats became vacant when Republican Roger Wicker was appointed to replace Sen. Trent Lott after his resignation.
In Indiana, District 7 is predominantly Democratic and Carson had a large fundraising advantage over Elrod, along with more than $150,000 in spending by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee on Carson's behalf.
But Carson also faced several obstacles including expected low voter turnout and potential backlash over complaints of political nepotism.
Elrod had promoted himself as a moderate focused on fiscal reforms, such as eliminating most earmark funding for projects sought by members of Congress. He had also refused to join the other 48 Indiana House Republicans in backing a state constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages.
Both candidates are young and have little political experience.
Carson, 33, has been a member of Indianapolis City-County Council since August. Elrod, 30, is a first-term state representative who won election in 2006 by eight votes over a five-term Democratic incumbent. Libertarian candidate Sean Shepard finished with about 3 percent of the vote.
Julia Carson, a Democrat who first won election to Congress in 1996 and died in December, was the first black to represent Indianapolis in Congress _ from a district that is nearly two-thirds white.
Carson, whose grandmother raised him in a Baptist church, converted to Islam more than a decade ago.
Carson will join Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., as the only Muslims in Congress. His religious identity has drawn little attention during the campaign, and Carson said he doesn't believe it hurts him politically.
"I'm a proud Hoosier," Carson said after his speech Tuesday night. "I'm an Indy 500 Hoosier, I'm a Covered Bridge Festival Hoosier, I'm a Black Expo Hoosier, I'm a state fair Hoosier. I just happen to be a Hoosier of the Muslim faith."
In Mississippi, Republicans and Democrats were choosing their candidates for two congressional seats.
Mississippi's 3rd District is open for the first time in 12 years after Republican Rep. Chip Pickering decided not to seek a seventh term. The heavily Republican district stretches from Oktibbeha County in the north to Adams and Wilkinson counties in the southwest.
Former state Sen. Charlie Ross and attorney Gregg Harper are heading for a runoff in the Republican primary. The winner will face Democrat Joel Gill.
Democrats say they have a chance to claim north Mississippi's 1st District. The district leans Republican but could be a toss-up this fall. Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers and state Rep. Steve Holland were headed for a runoff in the Democratic primary. On the GOP side, former Tennessee Valley Authority chairman Glenn McCullough and Southaven Mayor Greg Davis also were headed to a runoff.
A runoff in the congressional races will be April 1. The general election is Nov. 4.
___
Associated Press writers Charles Wilson in Indianapolis and Shelia Byrd in Jackson, Miss., contributed to this report.
FOOD SCRAPS TO COMPOSTING ... AND BACK TO FOOD
UNIVERSITY CLOSES THE LOOP
Since the program began, more than half a million pounds of food residuals have been diverted from dining facilities at the University of New Hampshire. Finished compost is used in a campus garden, with produce coming back to the dining halls.
THE University of New Hampshire (UNH) in Durham has closed the loop on food scraps recycling. Food waste is collected from the dining halls and several Durham businesses, and composted at the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture's Kingman Farm. The compost is sold locally and used by the UNH Organic Garden Club to grow vegetables in the campus organic gardens. These vegetables are sold on campus, used in the dining halls and in fun-filled Durham community dinners open to the public.
The program's roots go back many years, when now retired UNH plant biology professor George Estes wanted a location to conduct research on composting, The Compost Technology Center was born at Kingman Farm. Both Estes and Civil Engineering Professor Tom Ballestero conducted research at the site in the 1990s. Original feedstocks included manure from the UNH Equine Center, poultry manure, and liquid dairy manure from the Dairy Research Center. The goal was to achieve a C:N ratio of 35-40:1 initially, with a final product having a C:N ratio of about 15:1. The research was successful and produced two Masters theses and a Ph.D. dissertation.
In 1998, the UNH Office of Sustainability worked with UNH Hospitality Services (now UNH Dining) and the staff at Kingman Farm to add food scraps from the dining halls to the composting mix. At the time, the food residuals were "managed" through a garbage disposal, but there was a desire to change this since it added a large organic load to the wastewater treatment plant. Composting meant the organics in the waste stream would be beneficially used instead of being a burden to the wastewater stream. The UNH composting program is now a strong and successful partnership of the UNH Office of Sustainability, UNH Dining, the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA), Kingman Farm, and the Durham community.
Since the program began, more than half a million pounds of food waste have been diverted from the waste stream and composted. The primary goals of the program are to manage waste in an environmentally sound and sustainable manner, to beneficially use the organic waste to create a quality soil amendment, and to increase awareness of the food cycle. "Composting is a clear example of the ecological cycles that sustain our quality of life and a great way for students to connect with the soils that support local agriculture and healthy foods," explains UNH Office of Sustainability Director Tom Kelly.
Besides composting, UNH also has a well-developed recycling program. Contracts with Waste Management are setup to collect waste and recyclables weekly. Cardboard, paper and commingled containers (plastic/glass) are recycled in all academic buildings and residence halls for a total of 597 tons of materials being recycled in FY 2006. Figure 1 illustrates the university-wide waste diversion initiatives.
PLATES TO PULPER TO [COMPOST] PILES
During the academic year, UNH Dining serves approximately 75,000 meals/week. A wide variety of foods are offered, many prepared to order in front of the guest. A 1999 UNH food waste study conducted by dietetic interns in the Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences indicated that a total of four ounces of pre and postconsumer food residuals are generated per meal served, resulting in approximately 9,750 pounds (more than 4 tons) per week. In response to that study, and as part of its commitment to the Local Harvest Initiative to be as sustainable as possible (see sidebar), UNH Dining decided to invest in the compost operation.
"UNH Dining is committed to operating in a sustainable manner, and the compost program is just one facet of that commitment," says Rick MacDonald, Assistant Director of University Hospitality Support Services. "We have been a partner with the Office of Sustainability since its inception; we have committed intellectual capital as well as dollars and cents in the pursuit of making UNH a true leader of the realm of sustainable colleges and universities."
Actual food residuals tonnages are not as high as the 1999 study estimated. They average around 200,000 lbs/year or about 2 tons/week when divided over 52 weeks. (During the summer months material is collected two times/week versus five times/week during the school year.) All UNH dining halls (total of three as well as the faculty dining room and banquet facilities at Huddleston Hall and the Food Court at the Memorial Union Building) divert food waste for composting. Food residuals also are picked up from several local businesses including The Bagelry, Durham Marketplace and Breaking New Grounds.
At the dining halls, students load trays on a specially-designed conveyor system leading directly to the dishroom. The food is scraped into a trough of running water leading to a pulper (Somat, Super 60). The pulper reduces the food waste into very small pieces and extracts the liquid, which is recycled back into the trough system, with fresh makeup water added as needed. Periodically, some water is discharged to the wastewater system; there have been no organic loading issues to date. The pulped waste is a dry oatmeal-like material that composts quickly due to increased surface area. Increasing the speed with which the food waste decomposes helps eliminate the problem of odor at the compost site. Pulped material goes directly into a plastic garbage can. In Holloway Commons - the largest and newest dining hall on camous and designed and constructed with the composting operation in mind - the cans are stored in a dedicated refrigerator until picked up for transport to the compost site. At other dining halls and the local businesses, the waste is stored outside in the cans (all cans are covered).
From its inception in 1998 until the summer of 2006, the UNH Office of Sustainability managed the compost program. In the summer of 2006, UNH Dining took over management of the front end of the program by taking responsibility for collecting and delivering the waste to the farm. Dining interns and staff load the food waste onto the compost truck and take it out to Kingman Farm, located three miles away from campus. Kingman Farm is the University's 350-acre agronomy research facility and home to eight large compost windrows, each measuring 200 yards in length. Manure, sawdust, plant materials, and organic waste collected at UNH are also composted there.
A tractor with a bucket is used to dig a hole in the windrow into which the food waste (after being weighed) is poured and then covered. Once the pulped organics are deposited in the windrow and covered, the collection buckets are washed and returned to their original sites. In the past, the Office of Sustainability compost interns and Kingman Farm staff tested using compostable plastic bags to line the carts in order to minimize washing, which is very time consuming. At the time, the bags were found to not break down quickly enough; however, UNH Dining is now conducting a pilot study using compostable plastic bags from a new vendor to see if they will break down more quickly.
COMPOST USE AND DISTRIBUTION
The compost operation is managed by Stephen Bunker, with the assistance of Farm Services, paid by Agricultural Experiment Station (AES) funding. Each spring, farm employees, led by Bunker, gather and screen the compost for retail sale as "U Doo" (named for the original materials composted) to area farmers and gardeners. The popularity of "U Doo" has grown tremendously over time. In fiscal year 2005, 134 tons of compost were generated at UNH and beneficially used.
Among the end uses is the campus organic gardens operated by the UNH Organic Garden Club (OGC), a student-run organization established in 2003. OGC is part of the Food & Society Initiative of the UNH Office of Sustainability, which seeks to create a sustainable food system at UNH and to integrate issues of sustainable food and agriculture into the curriculum, operations, research, and engagement efforts at the University. OGC maintains a two-acre farm on the Campus-Community Farm, a 30-acre USDA certified organic site. In the winter of 2004, OGC collaborated with UNH's Students Without Borders to secure a $10,000 grant from the UNH Parents Foundation to create the "built" components of the farm site, including drip irrigation and a shed with solar power. The first growing season was the spring/summer of 2004. Crops harvested at the site are purchased by UNH Dining Services and the New England Center (UNH's fine dining and conference center), sold at a weekly UNH Durham campus farm stand that runs from late spring through fall, and used to help produce meals at the Crossroads House in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, an emergency and transitional shelter serving eastern New Hampshire and southern Maine.
"We are committed to working hard to be a responsible part of the cycle by utilizing resources that are locally available from the university and providing organic produce to the community," says Bill Errickson, President of the OGC. "We are effectively reducing waste and fuel consumption while producing food that is fresh, healthy, and delicious!"
The UNH food waste composting program has been around for almost ten years and has lasted through many changes at the university. It continues to evolve, bringing people together across campus around a common cause in which they all believe and about which they are all passionate. The holistic composting program at UNH has been showcased as a model that others can follow, and many UNH classes, as well as faculty, staff, and students from other universities and colleges, have toured the operation.
[Sidebar]
Students load trays on a specially-designed conveyor system (1) leading to the dishroom (2) where food is scraped into a trough of running water leading to a pulper (3).
[Sidebar]
UNH Dining staff and interns collect food waste five times a week during the school year from facilities on campus (1) as well as participating local businesses (2). Collected materials are taken to Kingman Farm and unloaded for composting (3).
[Sidebar]
A tractor with a bucket is used to dig a hole in the windrow into which the food waste is poured and then covered (below). Compost is screened each spring (right).
[Sidebar]
Compost is sold in bulk and bags under the name "U Doo." In fiscal year 2005, 134 tons were produced.
[Sidebar]
LOCAL HARVEST INITIATIVE, CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY
THE composting program at the University of New Hampshire is part of UNH Dining's Local Harvest Initiative. The Initiative raises awareness and educates students, staff and community members about the university's local agricultural landscape and its role in sustaining physical and economic health and well-being. Other Local Harvest Initiative efforts include serving fair trade coffee and local, cage free eggs, buying local products (including produce from the UNH Organic Garden Club), and hosting a Local Harvest Dinner annually that features food and beverages made from local produce, meats and other local and regional products. For details, go to www.unh.edu/ dining/localharvest.htm.
In 1997, UNH began integrating sustainability into the University's identity, practices and land grant mission - an unprecedented commitment to sustainability on UNH's part. To help the university meet this commitment, the UNH Office of Sustainability (OS) was established with a generous gift from an anonymous alumnus to endow the program. OS is charged with collaborating with faculty, staff, administrators and students to integrate the principles and practices of sustainability throughout UNH's "CORE" - curriculum, operations, research, and engagement with local, state, regional, national, and International partners. The longeststanding endowed university sustainability program in the nation, OS has four initiatives: Biodiversity Education, Climate Education, Food & Society, and Culture & Sustainability. (see www.sustainableunh.unh.edu for more details.)
[Author Affiliation]
The authors acknowledge the work and input of UNH staff for their past contributions to the UNH Composting Program: former UNH Office of Sustainability staff person Justine Stadler, who now works at the UNH Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET), and Julie Newman, former UNH Office of Sustainability associate director, now Director of the Yale University Sustainability Program. Jenna Jambeck is a Research Assistant Professor of Environmental Engineering at UNH who conducts research in and teaches about solid and hazardous waste management. Elisabeth Farrell is the UNH Office of Sustainability Food and Society Initiative and Culture and Sustainability Initiative Program Coordinator and oversaw compost pick up and the UNH compost interns from mid2003 to mid-2006. Sara Cleaves is the Associate Director of the UNH Office of Sustainability. Visit the compost program website: www.sustainableunh. unh.edu/fas/food_syst _compost.html.
NEW YORK 2000: ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM BETWEEN THE BICENTENNIAL AND THE MILLENNIUM
NEW YORK 2000: ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM BETWEEN THE BICENTENNIAL AND THE MILLENNIUM BY ROBERT A. M. STERN, DAVID FISHMAN, AND JACOB TILOVE NEW YORK: MONACELLI PRESS. 1,520 PAGES. $100.
Start Spreading the news: The final installment in Robert A. M. Stern, David Fishman, and Jacob Tilove's five-volume saga of Gotham's architectural and urban development, New York 2000, is a completist's ode to the city spanning twenty-five years, from 1976 to Y2K. Though that's only a quarter-century run, few urban centers can match the onslaught of change experienced by New York during that time. In the mid-'70s, it wasn't very fancy on old Delancey-the Apple was broke, the Bronx (and much of the Lower East Side) was burning, and the parks were open-air shooting galleries. Today, of course, New York is turning into an American version of Macao, completely unaffordable, with cranes clogging every avenue and million-dollar condos going up in Williamsburg. New York 2000 charts how we got from there to justabout here (the book stops short of the World Trade Center attacks, which makes its story seem already a bit dated). It covers the major developments throughout every corner of the city (the Disneyfication of Times Square, the development of Battery Park City) and those that failed (the rebuilding of the Williamsburg Bridge, Westway), while also profiling the city's presence on TV and in film, as well as in the writings of major architecture critics. All that is missing, really, is a section on New York in music, which might start with the Rolling Stones's "Shattered" and Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight," move through to Fear's "New York's Alright if You Like Saxophones" ("New York's alright if you wanna get pushed in front of a subway") and Kurtis Blow's "The Bronx," and conclude with Busta Rhymes's "New York Shit." This volume details how New York carried on-in the poet's words, with "pride and joy and greed and sex"; after all, that's what makes our town the best. -ERIC BANKS
Pitino Drinks In the Successful Formula
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Not until a sliver of time was left, threefractions of a second, did he release 20 years of pressure and painand waiting. When he finally did, Rick Pitino let it pour all nightlong. He hugged his assistants like teddy bears. He flashed a grinto his boyhood home in Queens. He grasped each of his players andwouldn't let go.
He even leaned over to Antoine Walker, who has brought a titlering to Chicago, and spilled extraordinary emotions. "Watching yougrow and mature so much over the last year," he said to the formerwild child from Mount Carmel, "is the most special moment of mylife." Yes, his life.
That is, until he saw his wife coming out of the stands.Joanne has suffered and sacrificed in a way only a coach's wife wouldunderstand. The curious symmetry of this championship game was thattwo decades ago this Wednesday, her man was downstairs in the hotellobby on their wedding night, negotating a contract with JimBoeheim, the man he faced on the other sideline. She has sold housesand moved and cried.But now, at last, they had won. The Pitinos had won theirfirst championship, first of many. "It has been so difficult forher," he said. "I kept telling her through the years, `It'll happen.Someday, it'll happen.' Now that it has, she's so happy." When hebrought her over for the TV interview with Billy Packer, Joanne'seyes gleamed.Monday night, one of the best coaches in basketball won hisholy grail. Monday night, Kentucky won the national title for thefirst time since 1978, satisfying the demanding thirst of a slightlywacko state. "Our fans are kind of like those of the Green BayPackers," Pitino said. "We belong to the state, and this is forthem." The coach with the New Yawk accent and the bluegrass headssatisfied their obsessions together, back on Pitino's home turf. Itwas a sweet, delightful scene.But it wasn't an easy night. Contrary to predictions the worldover, Kentucky didn't blow out Syracuse. The final was 76-67, andnot until the final 66 seconds, when the great John Wallace fouledout after scoring 29 points for the Orangemen, could Pitino finallysense he was going to win. The school band played "My Old KentuckyHome," but it was played with a sigh of relief, everyone knowing theWildcats survived the game more than they dominated it.With Boeheim's team showing so much heart, a Kentucky team thatdoesn't allow egos suddenly needed one. A wondrous team of cohesiverole players urgently needed someone to play Pop-A-Shot, like abarfly with a beer and a pocket full of quarters. Over the tentaclesof Syracuse's 2-3 zone, shots had to be launched and buried.Tony Delk was open, repeatedly. So they got him the ball andhe shot and he shined, hitting 7 of 12 three-pointers to tie atitle-game record. He didn't want to be a gunner, knowing the Pitinocredo of unselfishness. "You have to be humble on this team," saidDelk, the senior. "There are just too many great players to keep youhonest. You don't have time to be a celebrity."You do now. Delk is a celebrity in the Commonwealth for lifeafter his 24-point performance. The seven three-pointers tied SteveAlford's mark in 1987. That also came against Syracuse, which thepundits surely will note. But don't blame Boeheim. His teamoverachieved like few have in recent years, taking a superteam to thebrink. We would have loved to see Kentucky play a North Carolinateam with Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace. But maybe UKwouldn't have won, shooting worse Monday than any title team sinceLoyola back in 1963.The Syracuse players swaggered into the arena, strutting whenall the basketball nation was yawning and expecting a bloodletting.From the start, it was apparent they weren't going to roll over.When they raced back from an early deficit to take a lead, thedevilish Wallace, doing his Oscar Meyer wiener bit, flashed a nastygrin at the Syracuse fans and stuck out his tongue.But even he wasn't enough to overcome the Wildcats, who areyoung enough to return to the Final Four again. With Walker, whosays he'll resist the NBA for at least another year, this could be amini-dynasty in the works. That's the last thing the coach wants tohear, naturally.As much as Pitino denied it, the pressure on him here wasstifling. As much as he scolded media people for writing about it,he had to win this time to avoid a Dean Smith, can't-win-the-big-onestigma. He even made mention of having more books than rings. "Twobooks and no title. I want to tell you something. I didn't writethose books because I had something to say, OK? I did it for themoney. I've got some kids whose college I want to pay for," he said.There was the pressure of trying to win a championship in NewYork, his hometown and former coaching workplace. There was thepressure of facing his protege, John Calipari. There was thepressure of his inner demons, the obsession with winning that Walkerdescribed as "the most intensity I've ever seen in a person." And,of course, there was the pressure of Kentucky fanaticism.But Rick Pitino wasn't going to lose, despite his team's unevenshowing. He isn't Guy Lewis. He isn't Billy Tubbs. He didn't haveFred Brown throwing the ball away. He had himself and his wife. Inbasketball and life, the formula usually works.Jay Mariotti's column appears Sunday, Monday, Tuesday andThursday.
Nation/World BRIEFINGS
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If you listen to some of the biggest hits of 2009, they'll seem familiar. That's because they came from albums released in 2008. That Beyonce smash? From "I Am ... Sasha Fierce," released last year. "Poker Face"? It was on Lady Gaga's 2008 debut. It's the same with the Kings of Leon and Taylor Swift.
Though last year's releases dominated, great music was still put out in 2009 that helped define the year sonically. The best of the best, starting at the top:
1. "The Here and the Now," Sam and Ruby: This Nashville duo has been deemed exotic because of their ethnicity _ she's a black woman from Ghana, he's a white dude from Wisconsin. But their blend of acoustic folk, country and soul sounds homespun, as though they've been making music together for a lifetime. And they've reached near-perfection with this CD.
2. "The Fall," Norah Jones: Jones switches things up on her fourth CD: She swaps her trademark piano for guitar and rocks out (well, as much as Norah Jones can rock out). But it's the mainstays of Jones' music _ her smoky voice and evocative songs _ that are constant, and those are the elements that make "The Fall" a listen worth taking again and again.
3. "The E.N.D.," Black Eyed Peas: Knock the Black Eyed Peas all you want, but there's no denying they know how to make a great groove. On "The E.N.D.," the group keeps you on your feet from beginning to end, with frenetic grooves to get your body moving, and a few downbeat songs to help you catch your breath. They deserved respect a long time ago, but they may have finally won it with "The E.N.D."
4. "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel," Mariah Carey: OK, so it's hard to take Carey seriously _ she of stiletto heels, spandex dresses and girlie, butterfly motifs _ but her music is always on point. On this CD, she is poignant, romantic and hilarious _ sometimes, all in one song.
5. "The Blueprint 3," Jay-Z: We were expecting a sparkling, genre-defining comeback from a veteran rapper who hasn't released an album in a bit, but we were expecting that album to come from Eminem, not necessarily Jay-Z. While Eminem flopped with "Relapse," Jay-Z reasserted himself as rap's leader with rhyme after rhyme of Hova-isms that give more credence to the argument that Jay-Z may indeed be the greatest.
6. "Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future," The Bird and the Bee: This quirky, futuristic-sounding duo returned with their blend of jazzy pop, but they ratcheted up the funk quotient for an even more potent music mix.
7. BLACKsummers'night," Maxwell: Maxwell's comeback album was so eagerly awaited that a letdown seemed inevitable. After all, eight years of anticipation is hard for anyone to live up to. But with "BLACKsummers'night" _ a compact, cohesive gem of an album _ we were reminded of how much we missed Maxwell's sensuous songs and plaintive croon. Maxwell's music also provided R&B with what it sorely lacked: a grown and sexy man who offers layered songs about relationships instead of sex, sex and more sex (are you listening, R. Kelly?).
8. "Songs From Around the World," Playing for Change: This inspiring CD shows the common thread we all have through music, as a global array of musicians provide performances of songs _ some famous, some not _ that all stir the soul.
9. "Zee Avi," Zee Avi: Listening to Zee Avi might make you recall Kimya Dawson's quirky lyrical style, but the Malaysian-born Avi has an eclecticism all her own on her debut CD. Her voice sounds dreamy, her lyrics smart and humorous. And paired with her acoustic picking, she sounds intoxicating.
10. "11:11," Rodrigo y Gabriela: The guitar duo of Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero are spellbinding with their dueling guitar wizardry. On their latest, the pair pay tribute to influences ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Metallica with original tunes, inspiring new legions of guitarists along the way.
Dundee U beats Raith to reach Scottish Cup final
David Goodwillie and Andy Webster fired Dundee United into the Scottish Cup final in a 2-0 victory over Raith Rovers on Sunday to prevent a meeting of two-second tier clubs for the title.
Goodwillie struck in the 28th minute at neutral Hampden Park and Webster added the second in the 59th minute to keep Dundee United on course for only its second cup triumph, the other being in 1994.
Another division one team, Ross County, made it to its first cup final by upsetting Celtic 2-0 on Saturday. The final is May 15, also at Hampden.
In Sunday's lone Premier League game, St. Johnstone won 3-1 at Aberdeen.
понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.
Experience key in Indian win over Winfield
DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER
WINFIELD - Just call them the young and the experienced.
Sissonville's girls basketball team has a roster full of playerswith state tournament experience in one or more sports who alsohappen to be underclassmen. Tuesday night the advantages anddisadvantages of that combination showed as the talented Indiansfought off the likewise young and talented but smaller and much lessseasoned Winfield for a 60-50 road win in front of 300 fans.
Sophomores Emily Facemyer, Christina Kessell, and Andrea Lewisled the way with 16, 10 and 10 points respectively. Junior MaryFowler added 12.
All four started or played lots of minutes for last season'sstate finalist team, experience that has proven valuable.
"You learned how to get focused," Facemyer said. She was also thegoalie for the soccer squad that made the state finals this pastfall. "I don't even realize if there's pressure."
Lewis, the point guard, not only started last season but alsopitched the Indians to the state softball title last spring.
"This year I feel more comfortable," she said. "I'm not reallynervous."
The lone senior on the squad, Krissy Cavender, completes thestarting five and also started last season.
Sissonville (5-3) came out with an intensity that the Generals (7-1) were able to match in only two of the first three quarters andnot exceed until the fourth quarter when they made a run to get backinto contention after trailing by as many as 20 with 3:34 left inthe third period.
"We played hard," Indian Coach Annette Olenchick said. "Thefourth quarter we kind of lost our composure."
Winfield took its last lead of the game 18 seconds into thesecond period when a Karah Cloxton 3-pointer gave the Generals a 16-15 advantage.
Sissonville answered with an 11-1 run using its height advantageto pound the ball inside and either hit easy buckets or draw a foul.
Facemyer, Fowler, and Kessell are 5-foot-10, 5-10, and 6-0respectively while the Generals front line stood at 6-0, 5-8, and 5-7 at its tallest.
With the Generals leading scorer, Kristin Crede, forced to thebench with foul difficulties Winfield could score only six morepoints in the quarter.
The Indians ended up hitting 10-of-18 shots from the floor and 13-of-16 from the free throw line as they took a 12-point lead into thebreak.
The more outside-oriented Generals could sink only 7-of-24 shotsin the first half and were out-rebounded 18-8.
"We were nervous tonight," Winfield Coach Paul Sutherland said."They played smart."
In the second half, Winfield often went to a five-guard setupwith the tallest player 5-8 Stephanie Murnahan and actually pulleddown 13 rebounds to Sissonville's 12 and cut the lead to as littleas eight
The Indians ended up making 19-of-36 field goal attempts, 53percent. The Generals actually shot better from 3-point range, wherethey hit 8-of-19, 42 percent, than from 2-point range where they hitonly 8-of-35, 23 percent. Overall Winfield finished at 30 percent.
Sissonville's Cavender made her team's only 3-point attempt.
"We're starting to click more," Facemyer said. "We're just nowreally getting started."
Last year Sissonville stood at 5-4 at one time before reeling off15 wins in its last 17 games.
"We're looking for improvement every game, every practice,"Olenchick said. "We played better defense tonight."
Tiffany Martin led the Generals with 13 points, StephanieMurnahan added 11, and Cloxton 10.
Facemyer led all rebounders with eight and Martin had seven tolead Winfield.
the dating diet
And the Oscar goes to
Come closer. I have a sweet little secret. I like penis. Oh, wait. That's not a secret. That came out in kindergarten. The real secret is there's a new club in the dating world - a rather large, fraternal organization of gay men who fake seeking amate, only to reveal at a later time, they 're actually on the market for something much more screwed up.
Oh yes, my readers, it's quite fun dating in the new millennium, especially when your date surprises you with what they're really looking for in an intimate relationship. Like for example, picture yourself out to dinner with this totally sexy lawyer, and the next thing you know, he's asking for permission to call you "dada" before wondering if you'll change his diaper after dessert.
Believe me, stranger things have happened.
I should know....
Once, I had the painful pleasure of going on a first date with a guy who forgot to inform me he'd planned for us to run naked along the beach at the end of the evening. Sure, the idea seemed fresh and sexy at first. That is, until he filled me in on all the details, like the fact he wanted to mount me by the rocks near the jetty while howling at the full moon like a wolf. "But no worries, bro," he said. "If you let out your inner-werewolf, you'll be fine. My five-inch silver bullet won't kill ya."
"It might...if it were bigger than five inches," I replied.
Oh, I suppose we all have random stories when it comes to the roles people take when dating. Unfortunately, few of us realize the character's we're becoming involved with until it's too late. Take my fabulous friend Doug, for example. He didn't realize his last boyfriend had suddenly morphed into his adoptive son until months after they stopped having sex.
It's a shame, really. You see, Doug thought he'd met the one. His fetching new man shared his quirky sense of humor, and they loved staying home together to do puzzles, watch TV, and eat and eat and eat. The only problem (well, not the only problem) was Doug's boyfriend would scream each time Doug tried to caress him. "No! Don't touch me!" he'd yell. And soon, Doug became perplexed. His new love would jump into his bed every night but never allow him a chance to cuddle.
Lucky for this column, Doug would call me during their nightly fights. "He won't ever let me touch him. Plus, he laughs at me for wearing shoes and carrying a wallet," Doug admitted. "I don't know. Maybe he's too young for me."
"How young is he?" I asked.
"Young enough to get away with not wearing shoes," he replied.
It seems Doug had been dating a college boy - not your typical frat guy - but the annoying type who refuses to shower and bitches about people who don't recycle. He'd make fun of Doug for having a job and keeping a clean house, and in return, Doug would fix him dinner, take him to school, and tell him when it was time to bathe. Their relationship had developed into something completely platonic and ended a few weeks after Doug found his man (or should I say boy?) eating scrambled eggs out of one of his stemless wine glasses.
True, it's easy to laugh, but haven't we all been in (pardon the pun) Doug's shoes before? How many of you have attempted to date someone you felt was an equal, only to find that person wasn't looking for an equal?
Usually, it takes more than one or two dates to discover your love is actually on a quest for a therapist, a master, a mommy or a daddy. The question is: If you've fallen in love, do you play along? Could you be a lover and a parent simultaneously? Would the relationship seem incestuous? If you had a vagina and reproduced, would your offspring have rat hands and webbed-feet? I'm confused! Whatever happened to looking for a partner who can provide plain old-fashioned love, or better yet - mind-numbing sex? These days, it appears more and more gay men expect their lovers to mutate in order to fill the voids plaguing their lives.
I'm no better, except I load my holes with dirt from outside sources. Sitting in traffic, I look into the cars of strangers in search of the face of my deceased mother. I treat friends like family members to dull the pain of not having an accepting father. Is this any better? No. But for me, maintaining a healthy relationship with my boyfriend is hard enough. And though I ask a lot from him, I love him enough to not ask more from him than to be himself.
[Sidebar]
Whatever happened to looking for a partner who can provide plain old-fashioned love, or better yet - mind-numbing sex? These days, it appears more and more gay men expect their lovers to mutate in order to fill the voids plaguing their lives.
[Author Affiliation]
Anthony Paull is a freelance columnist for Between The Lines. The Dating Diet runs in BTL the second week of each month. To comment on this story, send an e-mail to chns@pndesource.com.
Shots fired at leading Iranian opposition figure
Pro-government demonstrators opened fire on the car of one of Iran's opposition leaders and shattered his windows, but he escaped unharmed from the rare armed attack on a top reformist, his Web site reported on Friday.
Hard-liners called last week for the execution of opposition leaders, raising tensions that could spark a cycle of political violence beyond even the government's control.
Mahdi Karroubi blamed authorities after shots were fired at his car late Thursday from a crowd of about 500 government supporters surrounded by police in the town of Qazvin, some 90 miles (140 kilometers) west of Tehran.
At the time of the shooting, Karroubi was leaving a house he was staying in while visiting a friend in the town, and government supporters were rallying outside the building. Karroubi's bodyguards, who were with him at the time of the incident, did not return fire. They were also unharmed.
"God knows why a hand, which should defend people and the country, opens fire on the people," Karroubi said. The shots shattered the carwindows, reported Sahamnews Web site.
Karroubi ran in June's disputed presidential election that the opposition says Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won by fraud. Unrest began immediately following the government announcement declaring Ahmadinejad the victor, with mass street protests followed by a ferocious government crackdown. The opposition says more than 80 protesters have been killed in the crackdown, but the government puts the number of confirmed dead at less than 40.
In late December, protests gained momentum again and clashes between security forces and opposition supporters killed at least eight people _ the worst violence since the height of the unrest in the summer.
The shooting against Karroubi, however, was unusual. Karroubi's car was pelted by a brick-wielding mob in December. In 1999, another pro-reform politician, Saeed Hajjarian, was shot in the face and paralyzed.
The attack raised concerns that the political turmoil rocking Iran could be spiraling out of the government's control. An editor of a reformist Web site in Tehran said he feared for Karroubi's life.
"It was not just a single threat," the editor said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. "It's a move for the physical elimination of Karroubi and other opposition leaders."
None of Iran's official or semiofficial news outlets reported on the shooting on Karroubi.
Since the bloodshed last month, death threats against opposition leaders have increased, with pro-government demonstrations last week calling for the execution of Karroubi and the top opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.
Senior cleric Kazem Sedighi appeared to give the green light Friday for people to take matters into their own hands against opposition figures.
"I am concerned that people will lose patience if the legal apparatus does not conduct its affairs in a timely manner," Sedighi said during Friday's sermon in Tehran. He also claimed some of the 500 protesters arrested around the Shiite holy day of Ashoura Dec. 27 were intoxicated.
Also during Friday prayers, hard-line lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel appeared to lash out Karroubi, accusing him of serving the enemies of Iran. Authorities have repeatedly accused the United States and Britain of fomenting Iran's unrest and supporting the opposition.
"Why did you pave the ground for the plots of foreign enemies?" said Adel, an ally of Iran's supreme leader. "You damaged the reputation of the system," he added, without mentioning Karroubi by name, and warned those going against the establishment "will melt like snow under rays of the sun."
Tehran's prosecutor said Friday a German national and a Syrian reporter for Dubai TV who were among those detained during the latest opposition protests in December would soon be released, but gave no timeframe.
The prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, said five other detained protesters will go on trial next week. He described them as members of the armed opposition group MEK, or Mujahedeen Khalq, and said they will be tried on charges of defying the clerical establishment and could face the death sentence under Iranian law.
The group fought Iran's Western-backed monarchy in the 1960s and the current Islamic establishment in the 1980s. It moved its base to Iraq soon after 1979 Islamic revolution and is said to have provided Americans with intelligence on Iran. The U.S. lists MEK as a terrorist organization, but the European Union removed it from its terror list last year.
The prosecutor also said several followers of the Bahai faith were detained in December protests. He said they helped "in organizing the riots and sending pictures of the protest abroad." Bahaism is considered illegal after the 1979 Islamic revolution.
(This version CORRECTS New approach; UPDATES overlines; corrects that EU removed MEK from terror list last year sted this year.)
Cu-Zeolite Adsorbent Nixes Nitrogen in Diesel
Nanoporous materials (NPMs)materials featuring accessible, molecular-size pores - have many environmental applications, such as the adsorption of metals, organic chemicals and other pollutants from gaseous or aqueous waste streams. Zeolites, a mature category of NPMs, captured 48% of the market share for NPMs in 2002 and are expected to grow 3.4%/yr from $740 million in 2002 to $875 million by 2007, according to the Freedonia Group (Cleveland. OH; www.freedoniagroup.com), Zeolites have carved out significant niches in petroleum for the removal of organonitrogen compounds from liquid fuels in order to lower NO^sub x^ emissions upon fuel combustion.
This process, known as hydrodenitrogenation (HDN) is typically performed simultaneously with desulfurization by reacting the fuel with H^sub 2^ at 20-100 atm and 300-380�C using a CoMo/Al^sub 2^O^sub 3^ or NiMo/Al^sub 2^O^sub 3^ catalyst. While successful at removing heterocycles (where N^sub 2^ is bound in rings, such as in pyridine and pyrrole), HDN fails to remove non-heterocycles (e.g., N^sub 2^ is contained in linear molecules, such as anilines and aliphatic amines) due to stearic interference.
Univ. of Michigan (Ann Arbor; www.umich.edu) chemical engineering professor Ralph Yang and PhD student Arturo Hernandez-Maldonado have developed a regenerable copperzeolite (CuY) sorbent that works at room temperature and atmospheric pressure in a fixed-bed adsorber to reduce the overall N^sub 2^ content of diesel from 83 ppm to under 0.1 ppm.
Their patent-pending technology was demonstrated in a bed containing 1-2 g CuY, with a diesel fuel feed rate of 0.5 cm^sup 3^/min and a capacity of 43 cm^sup 3^ diesel per g sorbent (or 3 mg N^sub 2^ per g sorbent). Effluent (or eluent) is collected until saturation is reached and is analyzed using a gas Chromatograph (GC) equipped with a chemiluminescent N^sub 2^ detector.
The adsorbent is prepared by ion exchange of NaY zeolite (Si/A1 = 2.43) with Cu^sup 2+^ followed by reduction to form CuY. Molecular orbital (MO) theory calculations were used to determine the type and location of the cation that should be placed on the surface of the zeolite to bond the organonitrogen molecules most strongly. "We found that nitrogen bonds to the adsorbent by p complexation, during which electrons are donated from the p orbital of, say, a pyrrole ring to the vacant s orbital of metals (a process known as s donation), and simultaneously from the d orbitals of the metals to the p* orbital of pyrrole. "As a result of p complexation, organonitrogen adsorbs on CuY in a flat, face-down manner, eliminating the steric hindrance that inhibits its activity during HDN," says Yang. CuY is regenerated by treatment with air at 350�C (to burn off organonitrogen) followed by auto-reduction (of Cu^sup 2+^).
Aragones calls up De La Red for Spain's friendly against Italy; Raul still out
Spain coach Luis Aragones called up Getafe midfielder Ruben De La Red into a largely unchanged squad Saturday to face Italy in a friendly match.
FC Barcelona's Bojan Krkic was omitted against the World Cup champion after being selected by the under-21 team. Krkic had earned a first call-up for last month's 1-0 friendly win against France, though the 17-year-old striker didn't play.
The match takes place Wednesday at the Martinez Valero stadium in Elche, Spain.
Valencia and Liverpool contributed four players each with Liverpool defender Raul Arbeloa making the squad after missing the match against France due to injury.
De La Red replaces David Albelda, who was dropped by Aragones after playing against France. That was Albelda's only competitive game since Valencia coach Ronald Koeman told him in December that he no longer featured in the Spanish club's plans.
Barcelona defender Carles Puyol returns from injury, while Mallorca's Fernando Navarro was also called in to anchor the backline.
Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez _ Spain's all-time leading scorer with 44 goals in 102 games _ appeared no closer to returning in time for the 2008 European Championship after being left off the team again. Raul, who has scored 18 times this season, hasn't featured for Spain since September 2006.
Spain, which also has friendlies against Peru and the United States in the buildup to Euro 2008, has seven victories in 26 matches against the Italians, who have won nine. The last result was a 1-1 draw in a friendly played at Genova, Italy, in April 2004.
___
Spain Squad:
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool)
Defenders: Raul Albiol (Valencia), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Raul Arbeloa (Liverpool), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona)
Midfielders: Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona), Albert Riera (Espanyol), Andres Iniesta (FC Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), David Silva (Valencia), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal)
Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Luis Garcia (Espanyol).
Higher oil prices could be boon to Iraq and its struggling rebuilding program, report says
Rising Iraqi oil production and higher world oil prices could mean a multibillion dollar windfall to help Baghdad rebuild, a report said Wednesday.
Insurgent violence still hobbles the country's $114 billion (euro77.2 billion) reconstruction effort, and the possible flood of new money makes it all the more important for Iraqis to fight harder against corruption, said the quarterly report by Stuart W. Bowen Jr., special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction.
Iraq's oil production during the last quarter averaged 2.38 million barrels a day, the highest level since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion although still below prewar levels of 2.6 million, the report said.
That, coupled with record world oil prices, means that Iraq's national income could rise significantly in 2008, "creating the opportunity for significant economic investment," Bowen said in an interview Tuesday in advance of the report.
"How the government of Iraq manages that boon will in part determine the scope of the continuing success in Iraq," he said.
Iraq could get an extra $15 billion (euro10.2 billion) for its oil, he estimated. The nation's 2008 budget is about $48 billion (euro32.5 billion) with some 84 percent coming from oil. That was calculated using a $57-a-barrel (euro39-a-barrel) price, whereas the U.S. Department of Energy now estimates the 2008 average price will be $85 per barrel (euro58-a-barrel), the report said.
"The possible rise in Iraq's revenue emphasizes the need for the government of Iraq to pursue its fight against corruption with renewed vigor" and for more progress on legislation laying out how oil profits will be shared among the Iraqi people, it said.
Endemic corruption such as theft, bribery, oil smuggling and fraud amount to what Bowen last summer called a "second insurgency" standing right behind violence as a top challenge to Iraq's development.
Previous reports concluded that U.S. efforts against corruption were disorganized, poorly managed and not given high enough priority. Wednesday's report said officials are reorganizing the effort in the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad to provide better staffing and give more attention to anti-corruption programs, on which the United States already has spent millions of dollars.
The Wednesday report also found, as did Bowen's October report, that violence still hampered reconstruction despite the much-promoted improvement in security in Iraq in recent months.
"Despite the palpably improved security climate, violence continues to impede the efforts of agencies working on Iraq's relief and reconstruction" and "poses a deadly threat," the report said.
There are attacks on both infrastructure and workers. U.S. diplomats and development workers are limited and sometimes barred from leaving the fortified Green Zone to visit Iraqi ministries, and auditors have been unable to visit some project sites because it is too dangerous.
Since the beginning of the U.S. reconstruction effort, 242 U.S. civilian workers have died in Iraq, seven in the past quarter, the report said.
Bowen noted that Iraq is a patchwork of security conditions, with more rebuilding progress being made in places like Anbar province in the west, where commanders say many al-Qaida fighters have been pushed out.
Places to which militants have fled, such as Diyala province to the east of Anbar and Iraq's third largest city of Mosul in the north, are still very difficult areas to work in, he said.
The report said Iraq needs to meet three important milestones in 2008. It must take more control over planning, managing and paying for projects; must take over from the U.S. management of projects already built; and must take more responsibility for security.
As of the end of December, the United States has appropriated $47.5 billion (euro32.2 billion) for Iraq's $113.95 billion (euro77.1 billion) reconstruction program. Some $35.5 billion (euro24 billion) of the U.S. money has been obligated and $29 billion (euro19.6 billion) spent on projects that include the effort to put in service new Iraqi security forces; rebuild and upgrade infrastructure to restore electricity, water and other basic services; and train Iraqis on governance issues.
The other money in the $113.95 billion (euro77.1 billion) total comes from Iraq _ $50.6 billion (euro34.25 billion) _ and the international community _ $15.8 billion (euro10.7 billion).
The massive effort has had mixed success. Most services still are lagging, some projects very poorly done and uncounted money lost to waste, fraud and abuse, officials have said.
Bowen said Americans should look at the expense as an investment to get infrastructure working again and services going again after the invasion.
"It was never intended to be a package for the complete reconstruction of Iraq. Therefore, as an investment in getting them started ... it worked," he said. "Did it work as well as we would have liked? No, it didn't."
среда, 7 марта 2012 г.
ALL BUSINESS: Crippling effect of global inflation
There is nowhere to hide from inflation.
Prices in one in four countries, many of them in emerging markets, are accelerating at a double-digit pace, which puts them at least two and a half times the 4 percent annual U.S. headline inflation rate, according to new research from Morgan Stanley.
That should be a wake up call for anyone counting on investments abroad to prop up their portfolios as U.S. stocks teeter on the edge of a bear market.
Sure, the "decoupling" strategy worked for investors in the recent past. Foreign holdings fared better because international economies were outperforming U.S. growth.
The U.S. economy has slowed to nearly a standstill in the last year because of the mounting inflation and the collapse in the housing and mortgage markets. Other industrialized countries have seen about a 2 percent average rate of growth while emerging economies have topped 7 percent.
That growth is now being threatened by inflation. And remember: In the developing world, a larger portion of household expenditures tends to go to the most inflationary items _ food and fuel.
Food prices have jumped 39 percent from February 2007 to 2008, led by wheat, soybeans, corn and edible oils, according to the International Monetary Fund.
That hits residents of emerging markets much harder than those living in more advanced economies. People in countries like Vietnam, Russia, Egypt and India put at least 30 percent of their total spending toward food, well above the 6 percent allotment for U.S. households, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture.
That's why Morgan Stanley economists Joachim Fels and Manoj Pradhan said they were "flabbergasted" by their findings that 50 countries had double-digit inflation rates. On that list were six of the 10 most populous countries in the world, including India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Russia.
In total, those facing such pricing pressures accounted for 42 percent of the world population.
"In other words, close to three billion consumers are currently experiencing double-digit rates of price increases," they wrote in a note to clients.
Soaring inflation is not easy to tame. Some countries, such as India where inflation is running at around 11 percent, may have no choice but to boost interest rates.
The Reserve Bank of India earlier this month announced an inter-meeting rate hike. It said in a statement accompanying the move that the "overriding priority for monetary policy is to eschew any further intensification of inflationary pressures and to firmly anchor inflation expectations."
Others, however, will balk at tightening monetary policy because they don't want their currencies to surge, which would then raise the price of their exports.
Many emerging-market economies also link their currencies to the dollar, and because of the U.S. Federal Reserve's loose monetary policy stance right now _ the central bank has aggressively cut interest rates in response to the credit crisis _ that has helped feed inflationary pressures.
The longer inflation remains elevated, the more damage it will do to long-term economic growth.
"There is plenty of reason to worry about the continuation of the bull story for emerging markets, especially in those countries that have seen a sharp acceleration in inflation, are unable or unwilling to tighten policy sufficiently, and are commodity consumers rather than producers," the Morgan Stanley economists wrote in their report.
But even as prices surge, earnings forecasts aren't coming down in many global markets. That may give investors false hope that many countries will bypass the inflation storm.
For instance, in Asian countries outside Japan, earnings forecasts are still for 11.6 percent growth over the next 12 months and 15.1 percent growth in calendar year 2009, according to Barclays Capital.
Those estimates "are implicitly assuming that inflation will either miraculously disappear on its own accord or that central banks are not going to bother doing anything about it neither is particularly believable," wrote Tim Bond, head of global asset allocation at Barclays.
Barclays is recommending that investors either avoid owning stocks in that region or that they short shares, meaning bet they will decline.
"Although the area is currently outperforming in terms of economic growth, the inflationary environment is not far short of disastrous," Bond said.
Clearly, the inflation bogeyman is haunting all corners of the world.
___
Rachel Beck is the national business columnist for The Associated Press. Write to her at rbeck(at)ap.org
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS PRODUCE LOTS OF SMOKE BUT LITTLE SUBSTANCE.(Editorial)(Column)
How many special investigators can dance on the head of a president?
Sen. Al D'Amato's Whitewater committee issued its final report last week: an 800-page report by the committee's Republican majority that contains not a single conclusion that is not flatly contradicted by the accompanying 400-page dissent by the Democratic minority. This week, staffers for several other congressional committees are already readying investigations into the White House's request for FBI files, while Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered the FBI itself to make a ``complete and thorough investigation.''
Meanwhile, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to make his own investigation of Whitewater, declined to get involved in the file controversy. But Starr is hiring more staff prosecutors every day for his inquiry, which seems to take in wider and wider territory. He says it will take many more months to complete the job.
Enough already.
Government and politics are inextricably intertwined. But seldom has the blatant partisanship and self-interestedness of today's politics been on clearer display, and seldom have politicians been so willing to sacrifice the governance of the nation on its altar.
D'Amato, et al., spent 13 months holding hearings, questioning dozens of White House staffers and former staffers, leaking hundreds of juicy tidbits and earning almost daily headlines. The final report is full of suggestion, inference and accusation. It contains lots of words and phrases such as ``evidence suggests,'' ``troubling pattern,'' and ``apparent, if not actual, conflict of interest.'' Like all the previous Whitewater probes, it could not find a single clearly illegal or unethical act by either the president or his wife. It concludes by opining that, despite that failure, more months of work by Starr's separate (and presumably more able) staff would ``certainly'' come up with something.
However many millions of dollars have been spent on this stuff so far, it's far too much. There is almost no chance any charge will ever be filed in a court of law against the Clintons. Even if one were to make it that far, and by some miracle a conviction obtained, what would be the result? Hillary resigns as first lady?
It is not, of course, about the law. It's about politics, and the presidency. If Clinton is demonized in the minds of those who already oppose his political positions, if political disagreements are turned into ideological wars, if our already fragmented nation is pulled further apart, that's just the price the Republicans are willing to have us all pay to give them the chance at moving back into the White House.
That's why the administration's explanation of how an incompetent lower-level staffer came to ask for FBI files, including those of 400 Republicans from the previous administration, received not a heartbeat's consideration from the majority party on the Hill. That's why public apologies from senior White House officials, and quickly thereafter, the president himself, were brushed aside so quickly, as were the dismissal of the official involved and the reorganization of his office. And that's why whatever the FBI turns up in its investigation of ``Filegate,'' as it was instantly labeled, will be rejected out of hand. We are inevitably in for another long, expensive, disruptive and divisive battle.
Al D'Amato was unable to reach his real goal - prolonging the Whitewater ride all the way to the November elections. Whoever on the Republican side ends up in charge of this one will surely manage the task.
Terry Anderson is a columnist with King Features Syndicate.
c
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS PRODUCE LOTS OF SMOKE BUT LITTLE SUBSTANCE.(Editorial)(Column)How many special investigators can dance on the head of a president?
Sen. Al D'Amato's Whitewater committee issued its final report last week: an 800-page report by the committee's Republican majority that contains not a single conclusion that is not flatly contradicted by the accompanying 400-page dissent by the Democratic minority. This week, staffers for several other congressional committees are already readying investigations into the White House's request for FBI files, while Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered the FBI itself to make a ``complete and thorough investigation.''
Meanwhile, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to make his own investigation of Whitewater, declined to get involved in the file controversy. But Starr is hiring more staff prosecutors every day for his inquiry, which seems to take in wider and wider territory. He says it will take many more months to complete the job.
Enough already.
Government and politics are inextricably intertwined. But seldom has the blatant partisanship and self-interestedness of today's politics been on clearer display, and seldom have politicians been so willing to sacrifice the governance of the nation on its altar.
D'Amato, et al., spent 13 months holding hearings, questioning dozens of White House staffers and former staffers, leaking hundreds of juicy tidbits and earning almost daily headlines. The final report is full of suggestion, inference and accusation. It contains lots of words and phrases such as ``evidence suggests,'' ``troubling pattern,'' and ``apparent, if not actual, conflict of interest.'' Like all the previous Whitewater probes, it could not find a single clearly illegal or unethical act by either the president or his wife. It concludes by opining that, despite that failure, more months of work by Starr's separate (and presumably more able) staff would ``certainly'' come up with something.
However many millions of dollars have been spent on this stuff so far, it's far too much. There is almost no chance any charge will ever be filed in a court of law against the Clintons. Even if one were to make it that far, and by some miracle a conviction obtained, what would be the result? Hillary resigns as first lady?
It is not, of course, about the law. It's about politics, and the presidency. If Clinton is demonized in the minds of those who already oppose his political positions, if political disagreements are turned into ideological wars, if our already fragmented nation is pulled further apart, that's just the price the Republicans are willing to have us all pay to give them the chance at moving back into the White House.
That's why the administration's explanation of how an incompetent lower-level staffer came to ask for FBI files, including those of 400 Republicans from the previous administration, received not a heartbeat's consideration from the majority party on the Hill. That's why public apologies from senior White House officials, and quickly thereafter, the president himself, were brushed aside so quickly, as were the dismissal of the official involved and the reorganization of his office. And that's why whatever the FBI turns up in its investigation of ``Filegate,'' as it was instantly labeled, will be rejected out of hand. We are inevitably in for another long, expensive, disruptive and divisive battle.
Al D'Amato was unable to reach his real goal - prolonging the Whitewater ride all the way to the November elections. Whoever on the Republican side ends up in charge of this one will surely manage the task.
Terry Anderson is a columnist with King Features Syndicate.
c
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS PRODUCE LOTS OF SMOKE BUT LITTLE SUBSTANCE.(Editorial)(Column)How many special investigators can dance on the head of a president?
Sen. Al D'Amato's Whitewater committee issued its final report last week: an 800-page report by the committee's Republican majority that contains not a single conclusion that is not flatly contradicted by the accompanying 400-page dissent by the Democratic minority. This week, staffers for several other congressional committees are already readying investigations into the White House's request for FBI files, while Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered the FBI itself to make a ``complete and thorough investigation.''
Meanwhile, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to make his own investigation of Whitewater, declined to get involved in the file controversy. But Starr is hiring more staff prosecutors every day for his inquiry, which seems to take in wider and wider territory. He says it will take many more months to complete the job.
Enough already.
Government and politics are inextricably intertwined. But seldom has the blatant partisanship and self-interestedness of today's politics been on clearer display, and seldom have politicians been so willing to sacrifice the governance of the nation on its altar.
D'Amato, et al., spent 13 months holding hearings, questioning dozens of White House staffers and former staffers, leaking hundreds of juicy tidbits and earning almost daily headlines. The final report is full of suggestion, inference and accusation. It contains lots of words and phrases such as ``evidence suggests,'' ``troubling pattern,'' and ``apparent, if not actual, conflict of interest.'' Like all the previous Whitewater probes, it could not find a single clearly illegal or unethical act by either the president or his wife. It concludes by opining that, despite that failure, more months of work by Starr's separate (and presumably more able) staff would ``certainly'' come up with something.
However many millions of dollars have been spent on this stuff so far, it's far too much. There is almost no chance any charge will ever be filed in a court of law against the Clintons. Even if one were to make it that far, and by some miracle a conviction obtained, what would be the result? Hillary resigns as first lady?
It is not, of course, about the law. It's about politics, and the presidency. If Clinton is demonized in the minds of those who already oppose his political positions, if political disagreements are turned into ideological wars, if our already fragmented nation is pulled further apart, that's just the price the Republicans are willing to have us all pay to give them the chance at moving back into the White House.
That's why the administration's explanation of how an incompetent lower-level staffer came to ask for FBI files, including those of 400 Republicans from the previous administration, received not a heartbeat's consideration from the majority party on the Hill. That's why public apologies from senior White House officials, and quickly thereafter, the president himself, were brushed aside so quickly, as were the dismissal of the official involved and the reorganization of his office. And that's why whatever the FBI turns up in its investigation of ``Filegate,'' as it was instantly labeled, will be rejected out of hand. We are inevitably in for another long, expensive, disruptive and divisive battle.
Al D'Amato was unable to reach his real goal - prolonging the Whitewater ride all the way to the November elections. Whoever on the Republican side ends up in charge of this one will surely manage the task.
Terry Anderson is a columnist with King Features Syndicate.
c
SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS PRODUCE LOTS OF SMOKE BUT LITTLE SUBSTANCE.(Editorial)(Column)How many special investigators can dance on the head of a president?
Sen. Al D'Amato's Whitewater committee issued its final report last week: an 800-page report by the committee's Republican majority that contains not a single conclusion that is not flatly contradicted by the accompanying 400-page dissent by the Democratic minority. This week, staffers for several other congressional committees are already readying investigations into the White House's request for FBI files, while Attorney General Janet Reno has ordered the FBI itself to make a ``complete and thorough investigation.''
Meanwhile, Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel appointed to make his own investigation of Whitewater, declined to get involved in the file controversy. But Starr is hiring more staff prosecutors every day for his inquiry, which seems to take in wider and wider territory. He says it will take many more months to complete the job.
Enough already.
Government and politics are inextricably intertwined. But seldom has the blatant partisanship and self-interestedness of today's politics been on clearer display, and seldom have politicians been so willing to sacrifice the governance of the nation on its altar.
D'Amato, et al., spent 13 months holding hearings, questioning dozens of White House staffers and former staffers, leaking hundreds of juicy tidbits and earning almost daily headlines. The final report is full of suggestion, inference and accusation. It contains lots of words and phrases such as ``evidence suggests,'' ``troubling pattern,'' and ``apparent, if not actual, conflict of interest.'' Like all the previous Whitewater probes, it could not find a single clearly illegal or unethical act by either the president or his wife. It concludes by opining that, despite that failure, more months of work by Starr's separate (and presumably more able) staff would ``certainly'' come up with something.
However many millions of dollars have been spent on this stuff so far, it's far too much. There is almost no chance any charge will ever be filed in a court of law against the Clintons. Even if one were to make it that far, and by some miracle a conviction obtained, what would be the result? Hillary resigns as first lady?
It is not, of course, about the law. It's about politics, and the presidency. If Clinton is demonized in the minds of those who already oppose his political positions, if political disagreements are turned into ideological wars, if our already fragmented nation is pulled further apart, that's just the price the Republicans are willing to have us all pay to give them the chance at moving back into the White House.
That's why the administration's explanation of how an incompetent lower-level staffer came to ask for FBI files, including those of 400 Republicans from the previous administration, received not a heartbeat's consideration from the majority party on the Hill. That's why public apologies from senior White House officials, and quickly thereafter, the president himself, were brushed aside so quickly, as were the dismissal of the official involved and the reorganization of his office. And that's why whatever the FBI turns up in its investigation of ``Filegate,'' as it was instantly labeled, will be rejected out of hand. We are inevitably in for another long, expensive, disruptive and divisive battle.
Al D'Amato was unable to reach his real goal - prolonging the Whitewater ride all the way to the November elections. Whoever on the Republican side ends up in charge of this one will surely manage the task.
Terry Anderson is a columnist with King Features Syndicate.
c
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