четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.
Crack Sentence Gets High Court Review
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court wrestled Tuesday with how to give judges discretion to impose shorter prison terms, including for some crack cocaine crimes, without abandoning the long-standing national goal of similar punishments for similar crimes.
In a pair of cases involving drug crimes, trial court judges handed down sentences that were shorter than those called for in the federal sentencing guidelines established by the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
Justice Stephen Breyer asked whether there was a way for the court to find a path between forcing judges to adhere to the guidelines in all cases "and the opposite, which is to say they don't have to do anything the …
Obama begins holiday celebration at Camp David
President Barack Obama is helping America celebrate its birthday and his daughter Malia celebrate hers.
The president on Friday morning flew to Camp David, Maryland, for the first part of the first family's July 4 U.S. Independence Day celebration, including daughter Malia's 11th birthday on Saturday. He set off with friend Martin Nesbitt to meet first lady Michelle Obama, who was already at …
PLUS NEWS
среда, 14 марта 2012 г.
Asian stocks rise following healthy US earnings
HONG KONG (AP) — World stock markets rose Wednesday, boosted by healthy earnings reports from U.S. companies and optimism that U.S. and European politicians may be closer to working out their debt problems.
Crude oil climbed above $98 while the dollar weakened against the euro and yen.
Investors took heart after big U.S. companies such as Coca-Cola Co., IBM and Apple reported better quarterly earnings. Coca-Cola said income rose 18 percent on strong overseas sales, while IBM beat analyst estimates. Apple said sales of iPads and iPods helped profits more than double.
News that U.S. politicians were making some headway on a plan to reduce the deficit and raise the $14.3 …
Suicide bomber in burqa kills 15 in Afghanistan
An official says a suicide bomber wearing a burqa has killed 15 people and wounded 22 others in a crowded market in southwestern Afghanistan.
Farah province official Younus Rasoul said the bomber struck in Dilaram district Thursday. The dead included three policemen and 12 civilians.
…Regional weather
Hi Lo Otlk
Akron 31 29 Snow
Charlotte 62 47 Clr
Cincinnati 42 28 PCldy
Cleveland 33 27 Snow
Columbus,Ohio 38 30 Cldy
Dayton 35 26 PCldy
Daytona Beach 71 55 PCldy
Greensboro,N.C. 60 48 …
Cardinal, Vallas vow to boost uninsured by 500,000
Cardinal, Vallas vow to boost uninsured by 500,000
With the number of Black uninsured persons increasing 72 percent since 1995, Cardinal Francis George, CPS CEO Paul Vallas and health officials Thursday pledged to team up and reduce that number by 500,000 over the next three-years.
And, to help make this goal a reality, Gov. Ryan, executives from the Advocate Health Care, the Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the Metropolitan Chicago Health Care Council member hospitals, and the federal government and other civil, committed $2 million to the Gilead Center which will connect medically uninsured adults and children to health insurance programs for which they are already …
Jeffrey Ross kicked off 'Dancing With the Stars'
In the blink of an eye, Jeffrey Ross is off ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."
The comedian, who suffered a scratched cornea after his professional partner, Edyta Sliwinska, accidentally poked him during a rehearsal Monday, was the first star eliminated from the seventh season of ABC's dancing competition. The pair received a score of 14 out of 30 from the judges _ the lowest of the night _ for their cha cha cha routine.
"I'm more ha ha ha than cha cha cha," Ross joked while wearing a glittery eye patch.
Before Ross was dismissed, each couple performed a new dance Tuesday. Model-actress Brooke Burke again dominated, scoring a 26 for …
Olympics buzz drives East London [...] ; news in brief
Olympics buzz drives East London market rally With the openingceremony for the London 2012 Olympic Games now less than two yearsaway, Lloyds TSB research has measured house price performance inthe 14 postal districts located close to the Olympic Park.
Average property prices in these districts have risen by 26%since July 2005, which exceeded the average rise of 20% acrossEngland, but was below the London average of 36%.
The research also showed that house prices in the Olympic …
Commander in Iraq Asks for More Troops
WASHINGTON - The U.S. commander in northern Iraq said Friday he doesn't have enough troops for the mission in increasingly violent Diyala province.
Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon also said that Iraqi government officials are not moving fast enough to provide the "most powerful weapon" against insurgents - a government that works and supplies services for the people.
Mixon commands the area that includes Diyala province, north of Baghdad. It was a hotbed of the Sunni insurgency before the start of the Baghdad security crackdown and has worsened since militants fled there to avoid the increased U.S.-led operations started in the capital in February.
His comments on …
Russian foreign minister to visit North Korea
A Russia government official says Foreign Ministry Sergey Lavrov will visit North Korea next week.
A duty officer at the Foreign Ministry says more information about the trip will be released on Monday.
Russia is pushing for a resumption in international talks to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear program after Pyongyang …
World stocks tumble on Wal-Mart profit warning
European stock markets extended losses Thursday on predictions Wall Street will open sharply lower following profit warnings from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, and department stores chain Macy's Inc.
Wal-Mart said December sales at stores open for at least a year rose only 1.7 percent when stripping out fuel sales, worse than analysts' estimates. The company slashed its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings. Macy's likewise lowered earnings estimates as it revealed falling sales in December.
Following the brace of bad news, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was down 78.94 points, or 1.8 percent, at 4,428.57, despite another half percentage point interest rate reduction from the Bank of England, which took the benchmark rate to an all-time low of 1.5 percent.
Meanwhile Germany's DAX fell 82.86 points, or 1.7 percent, to 4,854.61, while France's CAC-40 was down 71.64 points, or 2.1 percent, to 3,274.45.
European markets were already lower after hefty U.S. losses Wednesday due to a profit warning from Intel Corp., the world's biggest chip-maker, and an employment survey predicting that the private sector shed a greater-than-expected 693,000 jobs in December. That frayed nerves ahead of Friday's official employment report from the government.
The Dow Jones industrial average, which tumbled 245.40, or 2.7 percent, to 8,769.70 on Wednesday, was expected to open sharply lower at the bell. Dow futures fell 107 points, or 1.2 percent, to 8.637, while Standard & Poor's 500 futures were 9.4 points, or 1 percent, lower at 895.80.
"In the last 24 hours, the equity markets have taken heed of the warnings and I think the likelihood is that we get a a grim jobs report that highlights the rise in the U.S. unemployment rate," said Neil Mackinnon, chief economist at ECU Group.
"The markets, which rallied in the run-up to the year-end on hopes that monetary and fiscal stimulis would bring a recovery in the second half of the year, have now hit a brick wall," he added.
Earlier, every major market in Asia posted a fall, marking an end to a New Year's rally that had been spurred by speculation that massive government spending and low interest rates would lead to an economic rebound later this year.
Tokyo's Nikkei 225 stock average lost 362.82, or 3.9 percent, to 8,876.42, snapping a seven-day winning streak as the yen traded higher, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index fell 571.55 points, or 3.8 percent, to 14,415.91.
South Korea's Kospi shed 1.8 percent, while Australia's benchmark dropped 2.3 percent and Taiwan's key index lost 5.3 percent. India's market, which plunged Wednesday after the chairman of major outsourcing company Satyam Computer admitted doctoring the firm's accounts for several years, was closed for a holiday.
As in the U.S., news on the corporate front in Asia was grim.
Shares in Lenovo Group plunged more than 26 percent in Hong Kong trade after the world's fourth-largest computer maker warned it expects a loss for its latest quarter and will lay off 11 percent of its workforce and cut executive pay.
Meanwhile, Cathay Pacific, Asia's No. 3 carrier, said it could lose nearly $1 billion from bad hedges on jet fuel and reiterated its profit warning for 2008, saying passenger and cargo traffic had weakened significantly. Cathay's shares shed 7.6 percent in Hong Kong.
In Australia, shares in Macquarie Group Ltd dropped 3.7 percent after the country's leading investment bank said "exceptionally challenging" market conditions in the fourth quarter would hurt profits.
Light, sweet crude for February delivery fell 93 cents to $41.79 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract plunged $5.95 overnight to settle at $42.63.
In currencies, the dollar weakened 1.5 percent to 91.26 yen, while the euro traded 0.1 percent lower to $1.3622.
___
AP Business Writer Jeremiah Marquez in Hong Kong contributed to this report.
Small business trends captured in separate national studies
Small businesses, their relationship with banks and outlook for the economy are featured in separate studies.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago in its 1997 CRA Small Business Lending Profile compares small business lending trends across low-, moderate-, mediumand upper-income neighborhoods. The Fed study found that, in contrast to national trends, the dollar value of loans in low-income neighborhoods decreased in most of the district's metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), except Detroit, where total dollar value of small business loans was up 61%. The report also shows that, consistent with national trends, the share of loans made in district MSAs relative to share of businesses rose as overall neighborhood income increased.
The number and total dollar value of loans to small businesses increased in 1997 from 1996 in five major MSAs in the Chicago Fed districtshicago, Detroit, Des Moines, Indianapolis and Milwaukee. The only exception was in the Des Moines MSA, where the dollar value of these loans fell almost 2%. Nationally, the total number and the dollar value of small business loans experienced an overall increase.
The Fed study defined small business loans as loans of up to $1 million that are secured by nonfarm or nonresidential real estate, or are for commercial and industrial purposes.
The entire text of the Chicago Fed's small business lending profile is available on its web site at http: / /www.frbchi.org
Regional banks are expected to displace local banks as the top competitor for the small business dollar by 2004 and the next greatest threats to be national bank marketers and card giant American Express and brokerage Merrill Lynch. This is the assessment in the Consumer Bankers Association (CBA) 1999 Small Business Banking Study.
The study shows that at the same time, local and regional finance companies are expected to dramatically drop in importance.
The study identifies life insurance as the top new service that banks plan to offer small businesses, with banks indicating that they plan to offer a wide array of these products to their clients within the next 18 months.
The respondent group of banks in the CBA study represents the most comprehensive sample of the market in the study's 10-year history, according to officials. Respondents represent total assets of $2.59 trillion, capturing 50% of the nation's $5.18 trillion total domestic banking assets and 43% of the industry's small business loans.
The CBA survey was conducted for the third year by Furash & Co., Washington, D.C. It is designed to identify the internal practices and approaches that distinguish best performers in small business banking. CBA pointed out that over the last decade the small business market has been an important source of earnings and growth for most banks.
Among the survey findings: bankers continue to believe that their most important marketing tactic for both acquisition and retention is the direct sales force; bankers continue to expand the scope and types of products marketed to the small business customer base; and nearly 85% of the respondents count on branch managers to open new accounts and retain small business relationships.
The survey is available from the CBA at $175 for members and $400 for nonmembers. Information in on the CBA web site at www.cbanet.org.
A poll sponsored by the American City Business Journals found that despite being optimistic about how their companies will fare in 1999, U.S. small businesses are positioning themselves for harder times.
In a survey of 800 owners, presidents and chief executives of companies with one to 99 full-time employees, more than half of the respondents (55%) said they expect their sales to increase this year and 50% said they expect their profits to grow. However, half of the participants also said they believe a recession is very or somewhat likely to occur in 1999. And 69% reported they have cut back their operations or scaled back expansion plans due to concerns about the economy.
The respondents noted that the tight labor market is now the leading concern, with more than half (55%) of the companies surveyed indicating they are having difficulty retaining and recruiting employees. Nearly one-quarter (23%) said a shortage of qualified employees is the biggest problem facing their companies.
Few small business operators expect the labor shortage to improve anytime soon.
Small business operators feel better about the direction of the economy in their regions than they do about the U.S. economy. The economic conditions in their regions will improve or remain the same this year, according to 79% of the survey participants. The full text of a report on this survey is on the Internet at www.amcity.com/madway/survey_1999.
вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.
Rare mound failure
It was inevitable that the starting pitching was going to have another clunker one of these days -- Carlos Zambrano in the rotation or not.
That's what makes all those low-scoring one-run losses -- and all five of those losses when the other guys scored three or fewer -- so costly and damaging to that quick start the Cubs' talked about in spring training.
''We need to stabilize this thing now,'' manager Lou Piniella said after a 13-5 loss Thursday to the Arizona Diamondbacks assured a losing record in April. ''We're only a few games under .500. We need a nice stretch.''
For the first time in two weeks, the Cubs didn't get a strong starting pitching performance, with Ted Lilly (1-1) victimized by a strong outbound wind and uncharacteristic command issues in his second start back from the disabled list.
But the wind wasn't blowing out for just one team -- even if it looked like it. The Cubs' bats were silent again for much of the favorable-hitting day against Ian Kennedy -- managing just two singles and a run through six and four singles through seven.
The fact they couldn't hit in such hitter-friendly conditions just underscored the wrenching series against Washington this week -- with just one hit in 20 at-bats with runners in scoring position in 3-1 and 3-2 losses Tuesday and Wednesday.
On this day, that wasn't a problem considering they rarely got runners into scoring position until they trailed by 12.
''It was ugly. They just beat up on us,'' said .193-hitting Derrek Lee, who struck out twice in an 0-for-4 day and wasn't willing to spend the rest of his afternoon tipping his hat to all the pitchers who have handled this team in the early going.
''When you go this long without scoring runs, the blame is on ourselves,'' he said.
So what's the problem?
''I don't know what's going on,'' said .159-hitting Aramis Ramirez, whose average actually went up after a 1-for-4 game.
It probably starts with those 3-4 hitters in the order. Most of the hitters around them have hit more consistently, including leadoff hitter Ryan Theriot, who had two hits, and Kosuke Fukudome, who hit a too-little, too-late grand slam in the eighth to tap into a 13-1 lead.
''We need to get production [from the middle of the order],'' Piniella said. ''If we could do that, everything else will settle down.''
In the scheme of things, those are probably the two guys to worry least about turning it around. It's just a matter of when.
''My swing is just off,'' said Lee, who's just 5-for-49 (.102) in his last 12 games. ''I'm getting my pitch, and I'm rolling over it or popping up. I've got to figure out a way to get out of that.
But, he said, ''In this game you can't let yourself get frustrated. That's the worst thing you can do. ... You just keep going, and you've got to keep reminding yourself it's a long season. And that hopefully you can't keep going this bad for too much longer.''
Lee started slowly last year, too, but was one of the top hitters in the league after the first five weeks.
''You're talking about guys that can really hit and have hit in the past,'' Theriot said, ''and who will hit in the future.''
Ramirez, who was hitting .127 this time last week, has at least had a hit a day in six games since then, along with two walks, but still hasn't looked anything close to the fearsome hitter he has been the last few years.
''I actually feel a lot better now,'' he said. ''But I haven't gotten the results that I want. What can I do? Just put it in the past and look forward.''
And know that All-Star veteran hitters will start hitting again.
''I look at it that way,'' Piniella said. ''But we've got to have a little urgency with it, too.''
Especially with a schedule that appears to get a lot tougher in about two more weeks.
''You want to win as many games as you can; it doesn't matter if you're at the beginning, the middle of the season or September,'' Ramirez said of the urgency level. ''We've wasted a lot of good outings for the starting pitchers. We've just got to hit, man. ... Everybody, including myself, we've all got to start swinging.''
LaROCHE-CLIPPED
In his second start since returning from shoulder rehab, Ted Lilly (1-1) added three more scoreless innings to his six-inning effort Saturday, then gave up two quick walks and a three-run Adam LaRoche homer in the fourth. He gave up a two-run shot to Chris Snyder later in the inning and a solo to LaRoche in the fifth before exiting.
WHAT WIND?
With the wind blowing out on the first warm day of the homestand, the Diamondbacks hit four home runs and scored 13. But where were the hitting conditions for the Cubs? They were down 13-1 before they got their third hit of the game. And didn't get one for extra bases until Kosuke Fukudome's first career grand slam in the eighth.
DID YOU KNOW?
For all the shock and uproar over the bold move of using Carlos Zambrano to get the ball in Carlos Marmol's hands, the Cubs' closer hasn't had a save opportunity since he blew one April 18 -- three days before the Big Z move was announced. In fact, neither Carlos has pitched since Monday.
BOX SCORE
Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
K.Johnson 2b 5 1 4 3 0 0 .320
S.Drew ss 5 1 2 0 0 2 .291
J.Upton rf 3 2 0 0 2 2 .214
G.Parra rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239
M.Reynolds 3b 3 1 0 0 1 2 .227
Ojeda 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000
Ad.LaRoche 1b 4 3 3 5 0 0 .299
b-Ryal ph-1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .286
C.Young cf 5 1 0 0 0 1 .281
Gillespie lf 5 2 2 1 0 1 .263
Snyder c 5 2 2 3 0 1 .278
I.Kennedy p 3 0 1 1 0 1 .222
d-T.Abreu ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .323
Stange p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --
Totals 41 13 14 13 3 11
CUBS AB R H BI BB SO Avg.
Theriot ss 4 1 2 1 0 1 .340
Fukudome rf 4 1 1 4 0 0 .328
D.Lee 1b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .193
Ar.Ramirez 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .159
Byrd cf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .333
Berg p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --
c-Nady ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .194
Marshall p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --
A.Soriano lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .275
Fontenot 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .309
Soto c 3 1 0 0 1 1 .340
Lilly p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
a-Tracy ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .133
Gray p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --
J.Russell p 0 0 0 0 0 0 --
Colvin cf 1 1 0 0 0 0 .317
Totals 32 5 6 5 1 6
Arizona 000 510 700 -- 13 14 1
CUBS 001 000 040 -- 5 6 1
a-popped out for Lilly in the 5th. b-grounded out for Ad.LaRoche in the 8th. c-lined out for Berg in the 8th. d-struck out for I.Kennedy in the 9th.
E--Ryal (1), Ar.Ramirez (2). LOB--Arizona 5, CUBS 3. 2B--Ad.LaRoche (7), Gillespie (3). HR--Ad.LaRoche 2 (4), off Lilly 2; Snyder (3), off Lilly; K.Johnson (9), off J.Russell; Fukudome (4), off I.Kennedy. RBI--K.Johnson 3 (18), Ad.LaRoche 5 (17), Gillespie (1), Snyder 3 (12), I.Kennedy (1), Theriot (12), Fukudome 4 (15). S--Lilly. SF--I.Kennedy. RLSP--CUBS 1 (Fukudome). DP--Arizona 1 (K.Johnson).
Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
I.Kennedy W, 1-1 8 6 5 4 1 6 110 4.45
Stange 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 0.00
CUBS IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA
Lilly L, 1-1 5 7 6 6 2 6 98 4.91
Gray 1.1 2 2 2 1 2 23 7.11
J.Russell 0.2 5 5 1 0 1 32 3.86
Berg 1 0 0 0 0 0 9 3.60
Marshall 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 3.00
Inherited runners-scored--J.Russell 2-2. HBP--by I.Kennedy (Fontenot). WP--I.Kennedy. PB--Soto.
Umpires--Home, Mike DiMuro; First, Tim Welke; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, D.J. Reyburn. T--2:40. A--36,850 (41,210).
HOW THEY SCORED
Cubs THIRD Fontenot was hit by a pitch. Soto struck out. Lilly sacrificed, Fontenot to second. Theriot singled, Fontenot scored. One run. Cubs 1, Diamondbacks 0.
Diamondbacks fourth J.Upton walked. Reynolds walked, J.Upton to second. Ad.LaRoche homered to center on a 3-1 count, J.Upton scored, Reynolds scored. C.Young flied out. Gillespie doubled. Snyder homered to left on a 2-1 count, Gillespie scored. Five runs. Diamondbacks 5, Cubs 1.
Diamondbacks fifth J.Upton grounded out. Reynolds struck out. Ad.LaRoche homered to right on a 1-1 count. One run. Diamondbacks 6, Cubs 1.
Diamondbacks seventh S.Drew singled. J.Upton walked, S.Drew to second. Reynolds struck out. J.Russell pitching. Ad.LaRoche doubled, S.Drew scored, J.Upton to third. C.Young safe at first on Ar.Ramirez's error. Gillespie singled, J.Upton scored, Ad.LaRoche to third, C.Young to second. Snyder singled, Ad.LaRoche scored, C.Young to third, Gillespie to second. I.Kennedy hit a sacrifice fly, C.Young scored. On Soto's passed ball, Gillespie to third, Snyder to second. K.Johnson homered to right on a 2-0 count, Gillespie scored, Snyder scored. Seven runs. Diamondbacks 13, Cubs 1.
Cubs eighth Ryal in as first baseman. Soto walked. Colvin safe on fielder's choice and Ryal's error, Soto to second. Theriot singled, Soto to third, Colvin to second. Fukudome homered to left on a 0-0 count, Soto scored, Colvin scored, Theriot scored. Four runs. Diamondbacks 13, Cubs 5.
Photo: Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images / Derrek Lee, 5-for-49 in his last 12 games, takes the long walk back to the dugout after striking out on Thursday.
Rapid-Fire Attacks in Iraq Kill 47
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A barrage of coordinated bomb and rocket attacks on eastern Baghdad neighborhoods killed at least 47 people and wounded more than 200 within half an hour on Thursday, police and hospital officials said.
The latest spasm of violence - which included explosives planted in apartments, car bombs and several rocket and mortar attacks on mainly Shiite neighborhoods in the capital - came even as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Iraqi forces should have control over most of the country by year's end.
The Baghdad bombings - csentered on neighborhoods controlled by Shiite militias, some of which Sunni Arabs accuse of running death squads - brought the day's death toll across the country to at least 68.
Attackers rented apartments and shops in buildings a few days ago and planted explosives in them, detonating them by remote control almost simultaneously Thursday evening, said Maj. Gen. Jihad Liaabi, director of the Interior Ministry's counterterrorism unit.
One of the targeted buildings was a medical center housing doctors' offices in al-Hamza Square on the outskirts of the Sadr City slum in east Baghdad, he told state television.
The attacks occurred between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and included a car bomb at a market, another behind a telephone exchange building and several rocket and mortar attacks, police said.
Police and witnesses said bodies, many of them charred, had still not been recovered from the buildings and the death toll could rise.
Earlier in the day, a suicide car bomber killed two people at a gas station, while a British Embassy convoy was targeted in the upscale Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad. Two passers-by were wounded in the convoy attack, police said.
The bloodshed was part of a violent week that has left hundreds of Iraqis dead.
The U.S. military also announced that two American soldiers and a Marine were killed Wednesday. According to an Associated Press count, that death brings to 18 the number of U.S. soldiers killed since Sunday.
But authorities said they were optimistic about the handover of security control.
Al-Maliki said Iraqi forces will assume responsibility for Dhi Qar province in the south in September, making it the second of Iraq's 18 provinces that local forces would take control over.
"This makes us optimistic and proud because we managed to fulfill our promise," al-Maliki said. Iraqi authorities took over Muthanna province in the south from the British in July.
Dhi Qar is populated mainly by Shiite Muslims. Compared to more volatile areas, such as Anbar province in the west and Baghdad, it has been spared much of the sectarian violence. However, U.S. commanders recently expressed concern about the growing influence of Shiite militias in the area, many of whom they say receive support from Iran.
"This year will witness the handing over of other provinces, and we hope that by the end of the year, our security forces will take over most of the Iraqi provinces," al-Maliki said.
The Defense Ministry said it would sign a memorandum with coalition forces on Saturday "about strategic control and operations." U.S. authorities said the Defense Ministry would begin assuming direct operational control of the country's armed forces.
Handing over territory from coalition control to Iraqi control is a key part of any eventual drawdown of U.S. troops in the country.
On Wednesday, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. George Casey, said Iraqi troops were on course to take over security control from U.S.-led coalition forces over the next 12-18 months with little coalition help.
President Bush insisted American troops must remain in Iraq until the country's forces are capable of full control.
"If America were to pull out before Iraq could defend itself, the consequences would be absolutely predictable, and absolutely disastrous," Bush said as he began a pre-election series of speeches in the United States.
"We would be handing Iraq over to our worst enemies - Saddam's former henchmen, armed groups with ties to Iran and al-Qaida terrorists from all over the world who would suddenly have a base of operations far more valuable than Afghanistan under the Taliban," he said.
Despite the rash of violence over the past week, U.S. officials have lauded the results of a security crackdown in the capital that they say has resulted in a dramatic fall in sectarian killings. They reported the murder rate in Baghdad dropped almost 50 percent in August compared to July, but that figure could not be independently confirmed.
The crackdown by Iraqi and U.S. forces began Aug. 7, targeting some of the capital's most problematic neighborhoods. In the past, similar operations have lowered violence for short periods of time, but attacks then escalate after American forces leave.
In other violence Thursday, according to police:
- Gunmen in Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, killed two brothers in a cotton shop.
- Gunmen killed a police colonel and his bodyguard and wounded another bodyguard in Hibhib, 12 miles east of Baqouba.
- Police found the bodies of four men in southern Baqouba. All had been shot.
- Gunmen shot and killed a member of the Oil Ministry's security service and wounded another in Baghdad.
- An Iraqi soldier in civilian clothing was shot and killed in Mosul, 225 miles northwest of Baghdad.
- In Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, the bullet-riddled body of a young woman was brought to the morgue after being dumped on a main road.
- Gunmen killed a former intelligence official in Saddam Hussein's regime as he was walking in Mahaweel area, about 35 miles south of Baghdad.
----
Associated Press reporter Murtadha Abdul Karim contributed to this report from Baghdad.
Bravehearts did us all proud
We Can all hold our heads high thanks to Scotland's Bravehearts.
We emerged beaten - thanks to some questionable refereeing - but unbowed after a fantastic performance against the best in theworld.
Never mind Europe 2008, roll on the World Cup 2010.
Here's hoping for a better break and no group of death inSunday's qualifiers draw.
Rights group: Israel rarely prosecutes soldiers for violence against Palestinian civilians
In the past seven years, the Israeli military has indicted just 10 percent of soldiers suspected of criminal offenses against Palestinians, an Israeli human rights group reported Tuesday, saying the figures raise questions about Israel's willingness to prosecute.
The Yesh Din group said just 9 percent of investigations led to convictions. The conviction rate was less than 7 percent when the investigations focused on the killing and injury of civilians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, it said.
"The low number of investigations opened and the minute number of indictments served reveal the (military's) de facto derogation of its duty to protect the civilian Palestinian population against offenses committed by its soldiers," said Michael Sfard, Yesh Din's legal counsel.
"It means that ... non-enforcement prevails in the occupied territories, and there is no doubt that the soldiers who serve there enjoy a feeling of immunity from investigation and prosecution, which inevitably leads to a rise in the number and severity of the offenses committed by them," Sfard added.
Basing its report on statistics solicited from the military, Yesh Din reported that 1,091 criminal investigations were launched between September 2000 _ the start of the second Palestinian uprising against Israel _ and June 2007. Of that number, 118, or 10 percent, were indicted, and 101, or 9 percent, were convicted.
Of the 239 investigations into the killing and injury of Palestinian civilians, 16 resulted in convictions, or 6.7 percent, Yesh Din reported.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said the Israeli legal system takes all complaints seriously.
"Israel is a country in which we pride ourselves on our independent and professional judiciary," he said. "No one _ no institution and no individual _ is above the law."
The military said it was looking into Yesh Din's report.
Yesh Din's board includes Michael Ben Yair, a former Israeli attorney general, and retired Gen. Shlomo Lahat, a former Tel Aviv mayor.
The military statistics showed that 427 of the investigations were opened on suspicion of violence not involving gunfire, like abuse at West Bank checkpoints, and 308 involved property offenses, Yesh Din said.
Earlier this week, the Yediot Ahronot newspaper reported that one-fourth of the Israeli soldiers who have served at West Bank checkpoints have witnessed, heard about or taken part in the physical or verbal abuse of Palestinians. The newspaper report cited an internal military survey.
Israel has put up hundreds of roadblocks and barriers across the West Bank since late 2000 to keep militants from attacking Israel.
The Haaretz newspaper reported that the military revised its investigations policy in the West Bank and Gaza shortly after the uprising began and quickly escalated to investigate only cases in which civilians were suspected of being harmed without justification. The earlier policy had been to investigate every Palestinian death.
Civilian casualties during airstrikes are rarely investigated.
Bush Defends Pakistan Fight Vs. al-Qaida
WASHINGTON - President Bush said Saturday that the United States must continue fighting in Iraq and support Pakistan's battle against al-Qaida and other extremists entrenched along its rugged frontier.
In his weekly radio address, taped before he had a colonoscopy at Camp David, Md., Bush cited the latest National Intelligence Estimate. It said al-Qaida had managed to establish a "safe haven" in the tribal areas of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan.
Bush said Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf reached an agreement last fall that gave leaders in his nation's tribal areas more responsibility for policing their own territories. But the U.S. intelligence report said that agreement had backfired and had actually given al-Qaida new opportunities to set up terror training camps, improve international communications and bolster operations.
"Unfortunately, tribal leaders were unwilling and unable to go after al-Qaida or the Taliban," Bush said. "President Musharraf recognizes the agreement has not been successful or well-enforced and is taking active steps to correct it. ... Pakistani forces are in the fight and many have given their lives. The United States supports them in these efforts."
Violence has spread from Pakistan's tribal areas to the nation's capital in Islamabad and elsewhere since last week, when militants abandoned the 2006 peace deal they signed with the government to stop attacks on troops and officials. Suicide attacks, shootings and a siege and army raid on a mosque in Islamabad have killed about 289 people in Pakistan so far this month, raising concern about the threat posed by Islamic extremists and the country's political instability.
Bush also used his radio address to argue that keeping U.S. troops in Iraq is central to the security of the nation.
"The men who run al-Qaida are determined, capable and ruthless," Bush said. "They would be in a far stronger position to attack our people if America's military, law enforcement, intelligence services and other elements of our government were not engaged in a worldwide effort to stop them."
Pressure is building on the Bush administration to change course in the war, now in its fifth year and with a death toll of at least 3,628 members of the U.S. military.
On Friday, White House press secretary Tony Snow said that despite widespread skepticism in Congress, there have been significant results one month after the U.S. completed a buildup of 21,500 additional combat troops.
So far, GOP lawmakers have been mostly united in rejecting Democratic demands to set a deadline for troop withdrawals. On Wednesday, they helped scuttle a bill by Sens. Carl Levin, D-Mich., and Jack Reed, D-R.I., that would have ordered troops to start leaving this fall and end major combat by April 30. The legislation would allow some troops to remain behind to conduct counterterrorism, protect U.S. assets and train the Iraqis.
"This week, the Senate had the opportunity to do what most Americans want us to do: change course in Iraq," Levin said Saturday in the Democrats' weekly address. "Although a bipartisan majority of the senators supported an amendment to do just that, we were blocked by the Republican leadership from voting on it."
Levin added, "President Bush claims that we must keep paying this terrible price to protect America from terrorism, but even the administration's own intelligence experts are saying that during the war in Iraq there has been an increase in the threat of terrorism and that al-Qaida has regained its strength."
Yeltsin Rolling the Dice With Clinton Summit
MOSCOW The first summit meeting between President Clinton andRussian President Boris N. Yeltsin holds much promise for the Russianside, which wants new aid to help prop up faltering reforms, but isalso fraught with tremendous risks for Yeltsin, under increasingattack for "selling out" to the West.
This summit was eagerly sought by Yeltsin last month asopponents of his reforms were trying to oust him. Yeltsin and otherRussian officials are hoping a new infusion of U.S. aid for veryconcrete, visible projects, coupled with some easing of oldanti-Soviet trade restrictions, will give Yeltsin and his free-marketprograms a needed boost going into a critical nationwide referendumon April 25.
But, in the current extremely unpredictable political atmosphere- in which many Russians feel impoverished by Yeltsin's economicreforms and disheartened at their country's collapse from superpowerstatus into an international basket case - the summit easily couldbackfire, many here believe.
Yeltsin cannot afford to be seen as an unequal partner beggingfor help from the United States and willing to make concessions onforeign policy and other issues to stay on America's good side. Hiscritics - mostly hard-line nationalists and former Communists -already have accused the United States and the West of wanting todestroy Russia with aid packages conditioned on stringent economicchanges. While the critics still represent only a fraction of publicopinion, their influence is growing both in the legislature and amongthe hard-pressed general public.
Even Clinton's strong personal support for Yeltsin is a mixedblessing. Some voters take Western endorsements as important signsof confidence, while others believe the West should back democracywithout "meddling" by singling out specific people for support.
"If Clinton is going to give aid personally to Yeltsin, it will be counterproductive, because it willimmediately be used against Yeltsin by the opposition," said YevgenyAmbartsumov, a centrist who heads the parliament's foreign affairscommittee. "There must be assistance to the processes ofdemocratization."
What Retirement?
Sitting on a boat watching the sun set on a warm Florida evening in March, Tom Garrity jokingly asks how the weather is back in NH. The 71-year-old doesn't exactly miss the recent snowstorms that blew through the Granite State - he's "busy" living the retirement dream.
Garrity sold Adams Marina on Lake Winnisquam in Tilton for less than $5 million last spring. "I had 23 good years and we enjoyed it," Garrity says of his former business. "It was time to have more time for myself. Finally after 23 years, we have time to boat."
When Garrity decided to call it quits, he called NH Business Sales Inc. to sell his marina. The business brokerage firm had helped a friend of Garrity's successfully sell a marine business.
With a sea of "baby boomers" about to dive into retirement, firms like NH Business Sales are anticipating brisk business for years to come. After all, that generation got its name from the record 75 million babies born between 1946 and 1964. Since then, that generation has redefined everything - from the way we do business to entertainment to technology. So why wouldn't they redefine what it means to retire?
Yes, there will be many who will sell businesses and then flock to golf courses and jet around the world. Others, however, will see their golden years as a chance at a second career and buy a business.
According to BusinessesforSale.com, an online business marketplace, there will be more than 30,000 small- to medium-sized businesses bought and sold in the United States in 2007, with most selling for $5 million or less. About 40 percent of those transactions will involve a boomer. During the past five years, there has been a 55 percent increase in the number of baby boomers buying businesses.
Other industry watchers says such data is simply "guesswork." Tom West of Business Brokerage Press in Westford, Mass., says boomers have always made up the bulk of buyers and sellers. With that age group's growing number of retirees, West has seen increased business brokerage activity in the last few years.
For business brokers, the boomers - now between the ages of 43 and 61 - are dreams come true. They have valuable assets, money to spend, business acumen, and are serious about sealing the deal. "Our whole business model was spawned from that demographic shift," says Michael Coyle, owner of CenterPoint Business Advisors Inc. in Littleton. "Business has been great."
Coyle worked in real estate for five years while providing business brokerage services. However, seeing the pending influx in boomer business, he decided to switch to business brokerage services full-time two and half years ago. His company deals in businesses that generally sell for $250,000 to $5 million. Last year, 69 percent of his sellers were people looking to retire.
While boomers are finding their way to business brokers, brokers are also courting the boomers. Louis Pereira, owner of The Herold-Lambert Group Inc. a business brokerage firm in Salem, sends letters to potential customers. "You know where to buy your TV set, whereas what I do for most people is a once-in-a-lifetime service. When they need me they need me, but I'm not at the front of their mind." He has been at the front of more minds lately, though. Pereira used to get one call a week from boomers looking for business appraisals. This year, that number jumped to three to four a week.
That number will likely continue to grow. From 2000 to 2010, the number of people aged 55 and older is projected to grow from 20 to 29 percent of the NH population, according to the NH Office of Energy and Planning. By 2020, they are projected to be 38 percent of the population.
And they've been putting thought into their futures. Drew Nelson was in banking in 1988 when he attended a course at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in
California where the teacher asked how many people wanted to stay with their current employers until retirement. Out of 60 people, two raised their hands. When asked how many wanted to own a business, all but two raised their hands. "That was a wake-up call for me," says Nelson, who is nearing 62. In 2002, he and his wife bought the Board & Basket, a kitchenware store in West Lebanon. "I had always had that idea in the back of my mind."
NH's Market
So what's the marketplace like for those "retiring" boomers? Pereira compares NH's business landscape to a pyramid with most businesses selling for $200,000 or less, and increasingly fewer as you reach $500,000 and into the million-dollar-plus apex. Sellers are putting all types of businesses on the market, ranging from hospitality to retail to construction to manufacturing. While smaller companies that are sold tend to stay in-state with their customer base, larger businesses that sell for $3 million to $50 million are usually purchased by out-of-state companies, and in most cases move out of NH after a transition period.
Small companies continue to be a hotbed of sales activity. BizBuySell.com, the country's largest Internet business sales marketplace, had 289 NH businesses listed for sale in late March. Most are in the hospitality, retail, or service industries, and most are listed for under $1 million. Phil Steckler, a principal and vice president of Country Business Inc., which covers Northern New England, sees more equity groups getting involved in smaller deals lately - those valued at a couple million instead of $25 million.
Making the Deal
Boomers are bringing considerations other than bottom-line finances to the bargaining table. Take the sale of Garrity's marina. Garrity didn't just want to get a big check and gosouth. He wanted to make sure the new owner would take care of his customers, whom he considered friends.
Such a desire is not uncommon among boomers who have invested their lives in a business. "It's about selling a vision," says George T. O'Brien of G.T. O'Brien Inc., a Manchester-based business brokerage firm serving the Northeast. O'Brien deals in the merger and acquisition market, working with people selling larger businesses for $3 million to about $50 million. "They built up the company. It's a significant portion of their net worth and it's probably the biggest asset they'll ever sell."
It's also a sale that will only happen once, so doing right by customers who will then recommend future customers is paramount for brokers. Managing the personal side of a deal also involves working with different age groups, and that generation gap is getting increasing attention. The new dynamics led the International
Business Brokers Association (IBBA) to discuss that generation gap at its meeting last year.
Boomers who are selling businesses worry that someone who is 30 may not have the knowledge to successfully run it, says Maurice A. Desmarais. president of the IBBA. "It's become more prevalent now. It's a whole new set of dynamics in terms of interactions."
Coyle of CenterPoint is very aware of that difference. Like all brokers, he is working primarily for the seller, but his brokers play an increasing role as bridges between the generations.
He says his brokers are able to "speak the language of that younger generation" while also helping the sellers understand and access a group of buyers they might not otherwise be able to reach. And that bridge will become more important as more boomers enter the marketplace in coming years.
The Art of the Deal
Whether a business is on the market for $5 million or S50 million, brokering a deal is a lengthy process that generally takes about a year. The first step is making sure the buyer is serious, and boomers and older sellers usually are, brokers say.
"It's a waste of our time to deal with someone who is just testing the market," says Leon M. Parker, president of New Hampshire Business Sales Inc., headquartered in Meredith. "We need to get what their compulsion is." Parker has a commission floor of about 10 percent, similar to that of other brokers willing to disclose their rates.
Buyers and brokers then need to agree on a business's value to provide a broker with confidence they can sell it. Valuing a business involves accounting for tangible assets, such as real estate and equipment, as well as intangible assets, such as the business's reputation, O'Brien says.
That can get tricky. "In a service-orientated business heavily dependent on sales, a company might be worth what's being offered, but the question is, is the buyer capableof operating it at the same level," says Michael Losapio, a valuation expert and owner of M.P. Losapio & Co., LLC in Exeter.
Many brokers turn down businesses they don't think they will sell. Given that numerous brokers agree that 30 percent of businesses never sell, they say they have reason to be picky. But with the number of boomers who will be retiring in the coming years, they'll have plenty to choose from.
понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.
Albania army depot blast injures at least 120, damages airport
A powerful explosion at an army depot injured scores of people near Albania's capital, Tirana, and damaged the city's nearby international airport, authorities said.
The blast prompted authorities to suspend flights for at least 30 minutes at Mother Theresa Tirana International Airport.
The explosion occurred at Gerdec village, some 10 kilometers (six miles) north of Tirana.
Police spokesman Klodian Branko said no fatalities had been confirmed but that at least 120 people had been hospitalized.
The blast was heard more than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the area.
Prime Minister Sali Berisha described the situation as "serious", adding that the area near the depot was being evacuated, his spokeswoman Juela Mecani said.
"It is an alarming situation," Mecani told The Associated Press.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
Vale are improving
AVONVALE The under-12s showed how much they have progressedduring the past year as they pushed Chew Valley all the way in anencouraging start to the season. They lost the corresponding fixture60-0 last season but, despite conceding two early tries, only wentdown 38-26 to a very good Chew side this time around. Inspired bysome resolute tackling from man of the match Harry, they scoredtries through captain Toby B, Ollie C, Scott and Kieran. Patrick andScott added conversions. Avonvale under-9s had their first taste ofcontact rugby last weekend, recording a win and a draw.
They twice had to come from behind to share the spoils with ChewValley, with Dominic skipping through both times to round off goodmoves.
Harry made a number of good darting runs, while Rhys produced atry-saving tackle in the last minute to ensure the honours finishedeven.
Dominic scored twice again as Vale came from behind to beatColerne 2-1 in the second match. Ben and Morgan were in the thick ofthe action, while Myles made good runs.
Today in History
Today is Tuesday, June 29, the 180th day of 2010. There are 185 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On June 29, 1910, composer-lyricist Frank Loesser (LEH'-suhr), who wrote the songs for such Broadway musicals as "Guys and Dolls," "The Most Happy Fella" and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," was born in New York.
On this date:
In 1776, the Virginia state constitution was adopted, and Patrick Henry was made governor.
In 1946, authorities in British-ruled Palestine arrested more than 2,700 Jews in an attempt to stamp out extremists.
In 1954, the Atomic Energy Commission voted against reinstating Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer's access to classified information.
In 1966, the United States bombed fuel storage facilities near the North Vietnamese cities of Hanoi and Haiphong (HY'-fahng).
In 1967, Jerusalem was re-unified as Israel removed barricades separating the Old City from the Israeli sector.
In 1970, the United States ended a two-month military offensive into Cambodia.
In 1972, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty as it was being meted out could constitute "cruel and unusual punishment." (The ruling prompted states to revise their capital punishment laws.)
In 1988, the Supreme Court upheld the independent counsel law.
In 1995, a department store in Seoul (sohl), South Korea, collapsed, killing at least 500 people. Actress Lana Turner died in Century City, Calif. at age 74.
In 2003, actress Katharine Hepburn died in Old Saybrook, Conn., at age 96.
Ten years ago: An overloaded ship carrying some 500 people, many fleeing sectarian violence in Indonesia's Maluku islands, sank, killing all but 10 known survivors. President Bill Clinton nominated former Congressman Norman Mineta to lead the Commerce Department and become the first Asian-American Cabinet secretary. Actor Vittorio Gassman died in Rome at age 77.
Five years ago: President George W. Bush, embracing nearly all the recommendations of a White House commission, said he was creating a national security service at the FBI to specialize in intelligence as part of a shake-up of the disparate U.S. spy agencies. Mexico released a series of postage stamps depicting an exaggerated black cartoon character known as "Memin Pinguin," prompting protests from U.S. activists.
One year ago: U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraqi cities, the first major step toward removing all American forces from the country by Dec. 31, 2011. Disgraced financier Bernard Madoff received a 150-year sentence for his multibillion-dollar fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were denied promotion because of their race. Indoor tennis came to Wimbledon as the new retractable roof over Centre Court was closed after rain halted play during a fourth-round match with Amelie Mauresmo leading top-ranked Dinara Safina, 6-4, 1-4. (Safina ended up winning, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.)
Today's Birthdays: Movie producer Robert Evans is 80. Songwriter L. Russell Brown is 70. Actor Gary Busey is 66. Comedian Richard Lewis is 63. Actor-turned-politican-turned-radio personality Fred Grandy is 62. Rock musician Ian Paice (Deep Purple) is 62. Singer Don Dokken (Dokken) is 57. Rock singer Colin Hay (Men At Work) is 57. Actress Maria Conchita Alonso is 53. Actress Sharon Lawrence is 49. Actress Amanda Donohoe is 48. Rhythm-and-blues singer Stedman Pearson (Five Star) is 46. Actress Kathleen Wilhoite is 46. Musician Dale Baker is 44. Actress Melora Hardin is 43. Rap DJ Shadow is 38. Country musician Todd Sansom (Marshall Dyllon) is 32. Singer Nicole Scherzinger is 32.
Thought for Today: "A hypocrite is a person who _ but who isn't?" _ Don Marquis, American journalist-author (1878-1937).
(Above Advance for Use Tuesday, June 29)
Copyright 2010, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Near replica of Amistad to join regatta Ship on which slaves revolted depicted in Spielberg film
Chicago's summer regatta of tall ships will feature a virtualreplica of La Amistad, the infamous schooner depicted in the StevenSpielberg movie about a slave rebellion that challenged U.S. law.
Sailing the boat into Chicago will be shipmaster and nativeChicagoan Bill Pinkney, 67, the first African American to sail soloaround the globe.
Beginning July 30 through Aug. 4, "you'll see up to 30 majestictall ships docking at Navy Pier, the Chicago River and DuSableHarbor" in the biggest tall ships festival ever on the Great Lakes,said Jim Law, director of the Mayor's Office of Special Events.
Freedom Schooner Amistad is scheduled to be docked at Navy PierJuly 26-Aug. 13.
Since its launch in 2000, the near replica has educated Americansin other ports and set off discussions, soul-searching and townmeetings, Pinkney said.
"What this should do for all people is to understand what canhappen when people of goodwill and faith come together around aproblem that faces us as human beings and are willing to take astand," Pinkney said.
In 1839, 49 men and four children were kidnapped from what is nowSierra Leone in West Africa and illegally sold into slavery, but a 25-year-old Mende rice farmer named Sengbe Pieh, renamed "Cinque" by hisSpanish captors, led a revolt.
It's believed the slaves organized after the ship cook used handgestures--possibly in jest--that led them to think they were going tobe killed and eaten, according to the Amistad America foundation.
The captives used sugar cane knives stored with them in the holdto take over Amistad. The cook, the captain and a slave were killedin the process.
"They simply wanted to go home," Pinkney said.
The Amistad was seized by a U.S. naval ship, and the Africans werecharged with murder.
But black and white abolitionists seized on the case, according toChicago's DuSable Museum of African American History.
Former President John Quincy Adams argued for the captives beforethe U.S. Supreme Court, which ended in the first court- orderedfreeing of slaves in the United States.
During the Amistad's docking in Chicago, Pinkney will be on deck"as much as possible," he said.
The re-created Amistad is 136 tons, 126 feet long and 91 feethigh. Average speed is 10 knots an hour. It can travel about 100miles a day.
It's a sailing ship, but it is longer than the original toaccommodate engines for when there is no wind.
The Amistad carries shackles, but since it was a cargo ship, it re-creates the nautical feel of the 19th century rather than represent aslave ship, said ship Master Bill Pinkney.
It features video presentations on the Amistad mutiny, sketches ofthe captives and reproductions of letters of former President JohnQuincy Adams, who backed freedom for the slaves.
To learn about Amistad, log on to www.amistadamerica.org.
Daily passes for tours of the tall ships will cost $8, andmultiday passes will sell for $15.
Maureen O'Donnell
Seven POWs in Germany return to Texas bases today
LANDSTUHL, Germany--Showing the bonds forged during captivity,freed American POWs playfully hoisted a comrade in her wheelchairFriday as they greeted a crowd from the balcony of a U.S. militaryhospital--their last stop on the way home.
U.S. Army Spc. Shoshana Johnson was shot in both ankles during anambush, but she and six others who were held captive for three weeksin Iraq were eager to return home after spending several days inGermany resting, watching movies and mentally preparing to return toeveryday life.
Smiling and waving from the balcony at the Landstuhl RegionalMedical Center, the seven made their first public appearance sinceMarines rescued them north of Baghdad last Sunday. Though Johnson andtwo others suffered gunshot wounds, hospital officials said all weremaking an excellent recovery and would fly home today.
"We all would like to thank our Americans for the tremendoussupport we've been getting, and we're looking forward to coming homeas soon as we possibly can," said Chief Warrant Officer David S.Williams, 30, an Apache attack helicopter pilot who spoke for thegroup. He urged Americans to pray for U.S. troops still in Iraq.
At one point, Pfc. Patrick Miller, 23, and Chief Warrant OfficerRonald D. Young Jr., 26--also an Apache crewman from the 1stBattalion, 227th Aviation Regiment--reached down to help lift Johnsonso she could see over the balcony railing.
It wasn't the first time that fellow soldiers have been eager tolend a hand to Johnson, the only woman in the group.
During the military flight from Kuwait to Landstuhl on Wednesday,a medical technician helped her to the galley where staff were bakingcookies for the former POWs and others aboard.
"Shoshana, I got her up and had to hobble her the length of theaircraft on one foot to go up to the kitchen area," RussellGoodwater, 45, told reporters Friday.
"And throughout the aircraft ... I think every step we took therewas another hand that came out to hold her up, and it was like thewhole airplane was full of high-fives."
Today, the group was to board a plane to Texas--the two Apachecrewmen headed to Fort Hood; the five others, all from the 507thMaintenance Support Company, to Fort Bliss.
"All of the returnees are in good spirits and are eagerlyanticipating their journey home," hospital commander Col. DavidRubenstein said.
The two other soldiers who suffered gunshot wounds are Spc. EdgarHernandez, 21, who was shot in the elbow, and Spc. Joseph Hudson, 23,who was shot twice in the ribs and once in the buttocks, said U.S.Marines who flew them to safety. The injuries were minor, Rubensteinsaid.
Johnson, Hudson, Hernandez, Miller and Sgt. James Riley, 31, arecomrades of former POW Jessica Lynch from the 507th MaintenanceSupport Company, which was attacked in the southern Iraqi city ofNasiriyah on March 23.
AP
Child Molester's Request For Castration Is OKd // `I've Still Got The Disease,' Says McQuay
AUSTIN The Texas attorney general on Thursday said an admittedpedophile who is up for parole can be voluntarily castrated before heis released from prison.
The ruling by Attorney General Dan Morales could pave the wayfor convicted child molester Larry Don McQuay, 32, to undergo theprocedure he says will curb his lust for children.
Whether he is castrated or not, Morales said McQuay should beclosely monitored after his release from prison because castrationdoes not ensure that he will not follow through on threats to rapeand kill his next victim."It appears to be the opinion of a majority of clinicians whohave written on the subject that no surgical procedure - includingcastration - can be viewed as a foolproof method of `curing' sexoffenders," Morales said in a letter to the state's parole board.McQuay claims he has molested more than 200 youngsters and haspromised to attack again. He has served six years of an eight-yearsentence for molesting a 6-year-old boy.McQuay earned early release for good behavior and will probablybe released Monday, said Victor Rodriguez, chairman of the TexasBoard of Pardons and Paroles."It's headed that way, and we intend to follow the law,"Rodriguez said Wednesday. He said the paperwork should be completetoday.Details of McQuay's release, including where he will live andhow closely he will be monitored, will be announced Monday, Rodriguezsaid."We have to be extra, extra careful and do everything that wepossibly can within the means of the law to protect the people thathe may find himself around," he said.McQuay was supposed to have been released Tuesday to a Houstonhalfway house, but those plans were scuttled after an outcry from avictims' rights group.Meanwhile, McQuay, who was waiting at a prison near the town ofRusk, renewed his call that he be castrated and said he would welcomethe operation if it is required for his release."I've still got the disease and I know my weaknesses," McQuaysaid.McQuay has promised to attack again if released - and to killhis victims. On Wednesday, however, he said he made those remarks inan effort to bring attention to his plea for castration."I was trying my best to get the surgery, trying to angerpeople," McQuay said. "I wish I hadn't been so adamant."McQuay said he wants to start a lawn-care business and "getmarried and have a decent life."As for his victims, "There's not much I can say. I can say I'msorry. But that's not enough to take care of the damage I'vecaused."Contributing: Associated Press
PET PROJECT AFTER THREE SEASONS IN THE SHADOWS, TRACY MCGRADY GETS HIS CHANCE TO STAR
The 6-8 point guards were going at it, one of them a nobody andone of them a somebody, and they weren't supposed to be hand-checking, but they were hand-checking and they were bumping andgrinding, and the nobody was winning. One had jersey No. 175-one ofthe highest numbers known to man-but he was lucky to be at thisbasketball camp, lucky because he almost had a fight on the bus. Somekid named Zach Marbury, younger brother of a certain Stephon Marbury,had ticked him off, and they had almost come to blows, and if theyhad, that would have been it-he would've been sent back to the swamp.And the idea had been to get out of the swamp, out of that Floridaheat, out of that Florida anonymity. He'd already been kickedoff his high school team as a junior for, according to him, "talkingnoise" to a teacher. He'd been late for class all the time, and hisdog was always eating his homework, and the teacher challenged him.So he gave her some lip, and he was told to hand in his jersey-jersey No. 1-and so that's why, five months later, in July 1996, hewas a desperate 17-year-old, wearing No. 175 at this basketball camp,wearing it because he was a nothing, an absolutely unrated, unheard-of nothing.
The college coaches had all come to see the somebody. They'd cometo see Lamar Odom, the left-handed point guard; center. And none ofthe kids wanted to guard Odom. None of them wanted to be abused inpublic. But No. 175 wanted him, and in the first game of the camp, hegot him. "What, are you nuts?" someone said. He weighed 100-nothing,and a few months before, he'd struggled to bench-press 135. Hismother had always thought he looked like J.J. from the old show "GoodTimes." But he was 6-8, his hands were huge, his arms went on fordays, his vertical leap was 40 inches and he had his grandmother'sfire. His grandmother Roberta drove a pickup truck, worked as ajanitor at his grammar school and fished for dinner every morning inthe local pond. She had raised him herself because his mother had hadhim straight out of school, and Roberta always used to tell him,"You're the best athlete I ever done seen, and don't ever forgetthat."
And so he asked to guard Odom that day, and the college coachesyawned, and then this nobody took this somebody to school. He tookhim for some 30 points. He'd back Odom in or he'd lure him outside,and what he did was put his No. 175 on the map. All the collegecoaches went running to the camp's director, Sonny Vaccaro, andVaccaro told them that the kid was a mystery. That he wasn't even atop-500 prospect. That no one had scouted him down at the swamp. Thata friend had begged to get him into the camp. And the coaches wantedthe kid's name, and they wanted it now.
"It's McGrady," Vaccaro said. "Tracy McGrady."
He spent the next year in a bunk bed, next to an alarm clock setfor 4:45 a.m. He spent it running the wooden steps of a footballstadium. Success hadn't spoiled him; it had just landed him time withthe self-proclaimed "black Bobby Knight."
The coach's name was Joel Hopkins, and he had come to the swamp torecruit McGrady. He had come to Auburndale, Fla., near Orlando, andhe'd waited in the kid's living room, and when the kid walked in withan earring in each ear, the coach pointed to the jewelry and said,"That got to go."
The kid listened. But he listened to a lot of people now. A streetagent for Adidas, Alvis Smith, had gotten him into Vaccaro'sbasketball camp, and now Alvis had the kid's ear 24; 7. Alvis wantedhim to spend his senior year playing for this black Bobby Knight atMount Zion Academy in Durham, N.C., because he wanted to see if thekid could take "the noise" and not talk back. He figured if the kidcould handle the five-mile runs and the midnight practices and theban on girlfriends, he'd be ready for the NBA. Ready out of highschool.
"I'd decided he was going pro," Smith says. "I was not gonna letsome college coach screw him up. If he was gonna get screwed up, hewas gonna be a screwed-up millionaire."
But the 5 a.m. runs at the stadium were killing the kid. "Finishthese runs, and you're a horse," Hopkins would say. "If not, you'renothin'." The kid would call his grandmother at the swamp, and he'dtell her he wanted out, but she'd tell him he'd have to hitchhikehome. He started spending evenings with the coach's family, watchingthe NBA with him on DirecTV. He was averaging 28 per game on a 26-2team that defeated powerful Oak Hill twice. One game, he camedowncourt 1-on-3, lobbed a pass to himself off the backboard anddunked on all three.
"He was the best player in the state of North Carolina," Hopkinssays. "Including the Charlotte Hornet players and the ACC players."
But late that season, the kid's mind drifted. He started seeinggirls behind Hopkins' back and started loafing. Alvis was afraid thekid was jeopardizing it all, and he told Hopkins to push him. SoHopkins pushed. "It might have been a little bit worse than BobbyKnight," Hopkins says.
He literally choked the kid one day, and the shocker is the kidfought back. The kid fought back and laid hands on his coach the wayLatrell Sprewell laid hands on P.J. Carlesimo. This had been brewing.The coach, for weeks, had been telling the kid he wasn't hustling.And then, one time, he told the kid he wasn't shooting right, that hewasn't snapping his wrist right.
"But Coach, it went in."
"You're doing it wrong."
"But Coach, it went in."
"You do it my way or I'll whip your tail."
"Bring it on."
And so the coach brought it on. "I grabbed him in a headlock andtried to break his neck," the black Bobby Knight says.
"Well, he was tougher on me than the other guys," the kid says."Yelling at me. I didn't want to listen, and it kind of got a littlephysical. We were rasslin'."
The brawl lasted five minutes, until the coach said, "Stop. I loveyou and want the best for you. Let's pray." And they dustedthemselves off and prayed, and that's how Tracy McGrady says hebecame a man.
"It was the breakthrough of my life, that day," he says. "Fromthen on, I went to a whole other level. I could take `the noise'now."
After the season, Alvis and Hopkins took McGrady to a Magicplayoff game. They had advised him to turn pro, and because he wasunsure and still looking like J.J., they decided he should see an NBAgame. See Penny Hardaway up close.
Penny had been his childhood hero. He'd always worn Penny's number-No.1-and he'd kept a Penny beach towel in his room. He would cut hishair like Penny and trim his goatee like Penny. But now, after thisplayoff game, he was going to visit Penny in the exclusive Isleworthcommunity of Orlando. They walked into Penny's house, after Penny hadjust scored 40, and the kid was numb. "You know how when you meetfamous people and you're a nobody, you usually have a millionquestions for them?" he says. "I couldn't say nothing. My mind wentblank. I was a black hole, man."
He ended up turning pro. But he always remembered that house, andthat street. And to himself, Tracy McGrady said, "Gonna live theresomeday."
He was taken ninth overall by the Raptors in '97, who put himninth in their rotation. It was an ugly rookie year he had, and hiscoach, Darrell Walker-who mistook his droopy eyes for a bad attitude-told him if he didn't work harder he'd be out of the league in threeyears.
He was 18 and alone in Canada, and there were lessons to learn.They played the Heat once, and McGrady talked trash to Tim Hardaway.
"I'll light your (butt) up in the second half," Hardawayresponded.
"Do it then," the kid said.
And Hardaway got 30 that second half.
"I'm never talking noise again," McGrady told himself. "Never."
What he needed was a partner, and what he ended up with was acousin. The Raptors drafted Vince Carter before the kid's secondseason, and, according to the kid, they became "like white on rice."
They'd been friends back in Florida, but now they began callingeach other "Cuz." They'd been told that the stepfather-in-law ofCarter's grandmother was the brother of McGrady's grandmother, andthat's all they needed to hear. "It's not like they're first orsecond cousins-it's way on down there," says McGrady's mother,Melanise. "But if they want to call themselves `Cuz,' they can goahead."
But soon the Raptors were calling plays only for Carter. He gotthe game-ending shots, and over the next two seasons, the kid startedonly 28 percent of the time. The fans were wearing Carter jerseys-not the kid's-and even if he wouldn't say it, it was Lamar Odom allover again. "In Toronto, it was Vince this, Vince that," Melanisesays. "I got sick of it."
The kid wanted to share the load. Hopkins had hooked him up with apersonal trainer, Wayne Hall, and the trainer had him up to 212pounds. He was no longer a J.J. He'd work out wearing a weightedvest, and scouts compared his all-court game to Scottie Pippen's. Heaveraged 15.4 points during the 1999-2000 season and had the bestplayoff series of any Raptor in their loss to the Knicks. Hiscontract was expiring, and other teams were drooling. "I keep hearingthe comparisons to Pippen," Magic coach Doc Rivers was saying. "Ithink he can be better than that."
People assumed that if Carter asked him to stay, he'd stay. But,turns out, Carter had zero pull. "I don't think he and Vince are thatclose," says Vaccaro, now a McGrady confidant. "They respect eachother, but it wasn't like their families shared chicken and picnicsgrowing up."
The truth is, Toronto had been cold and lonely, and the cousinshad helped each other through some rotten times. But, from abasketball standpoint, there were inequities. Carter was taking 20-some shots a game; the kid could barely get a dozen.
"It's my time now," the kid says. "It's time now I get some shotsat the end of a game. It's time I bring my team back when we'redown. Get the ball in my hands and see what I can do. Call mynumber."
So at midnight July 1, he was gone.
"Four years ago, Tracy McGrady had $70," Vaccaro said. "Now, he'sabout to have $70 million."
He spent his 21st birthday taking a bubble bath. He spent iteating a low-sodium meal cooked by his private chef. He spent itthinking about finding a new team. Toronto was out. On the weekend ofhis birthday, he had thrown a party in Orlando, and not one Raptorshowed up. When Carter called to say he was stuck in Chapel Hill atsummer school, McGrady rolled his eyes. Asked why other Raptorshadn't made it either, the kid says, "Don't know" and rolls themagain. "All I can tell you is I'm gonna guard Vince next year," thekid says, winking. "I know all his moves, so he better watch out."
Meanwhile, Alonzo Mourning was recruiting him hard for the Heat,and Elton Brand was recruiting him for the Bulls. But there wasreally only one team for him. He would look outside his new house,and he would see the vacant lot Tiger Woods had just bought acrossthe cul-de-sac, and he would laugh. He would laugh because he'd doneit; he'd bought a house on Penny's old street.
He'd always wanted to come back to the swamp, to come full circle,to come to the Magic. His old teachers wouldn't have recognized him.He was going to school now at Rollins College, taking a leadershipcourse. He was doing his Mount Zion routine again-running the stadiumsteps. And that's why he and Rivers hit it off. Rivers decided thekid was wise beyond his years, and the kid decided Rivers was similarto the black Bobby Knight-only quieter. Rivers had promised him last-second shots and a hybrid position that included playing some pointguard. Just four years ago, he'd been nobody. But he had lived and learned. From his Odom experience, he'd learned he had the goods.From his Sprewell incident, he'd learned how to be coached. From hisTim Hardaway experience, he'd learned to zip his lip. From theCarter experience, he'd learned to share a spotlight. And from Penny,he'd learned the value of home.
Now he's about to have his Grant Hill experience. He'll be playingshooting guard, and Hill will be playing small forward. Butessentially they'll be interchangeable, and they'll be unselfish, andthis time there will be Hill jerseys in the stands, and also McGradyjerseys.
He told the Magic he would be wearing No. 1.
But only because No. 175 wasn't available.
среда, 7 марта 2012 г.
Group: China Stamps Out Dissent
BEIJING - China is cracking down on dissent in the run-up to the 2008 Olympics by persecuting and harassing human rights activists, a rights group said Friday.
The Chinese Human Rights Defenders group said the situation deteriorated last year, with activists increasingly arrested and intimidated.
"The government appears determined to stamp out any sign of discontent and dissent so as to present a happy facade of social stability and social harmony to the world as the 2008 Summer Olympics draws closer," the group said in a report.
It was the second such report this week after Amnesty International said Monday that Beijing had failed to live up to promises to improve human rights for the Olympics despite death penalty reforms and increased freedoms for foreign reporters.
China, which rejected the Amnesty International report, has said it is meeting its commitments and that the human rights situation in the country is improving.
It was a holiday in China this week and no officials were available to comment on the latest report.
It said that despite a growing human rights movement in China, the communist government was suppressing moves to defend land rights in rural areas, intimidating and persecuting lawyers, and restricting the movements of activists in many cities.
"Persecution of rights activists has in fact worsened in that the methods are more sophisticated, hence harder to hold authorities accountable," Chinese Human Rights Defenders said.
"Punishment typically through deprivation of freedom, livelihood, housing or family, has continued," it said.
The report cited the case of Huang Weizhong, a farmer in southern Fujian province. He was sentenced to three years in prison last year for "assembling a crowd to disturb social order" after appealing to the authorities for the protection of land rights.
It also pointed to the case of Chen Guangcheng, a blind activist who has recorded complaints of officials compelling villagers to undergo late-term abortions and sterilizations.
In January, the Linyi Intermediate Court in central Shandong province rejected an appeal against a sentence of four years and three months handed down last year after Chen was convicted of instigating an attack on government offices in his home village because he was upset with workers sent to carry out poverty-relief programs.
Chen also was accused of organizing a group of people to disrupt traffic.
Chen's supporters say he is innocent and that officials fabricated the charges after he documented complaints that officials trying to enforce China's birth-control regulations forced villagers to have late-term abortions and sterilizations.
Chinese Human Rights Defenders is a network of Chinese human rights activists and groups who monitor the government's adherence to its international and constitutional obligations.
Top of the 2nd
WVU Saturday: vs. UNLV, 3:30 p.m. Oct. 14: vs. South Florida,7:30 p.m.
Marshall Oct. 13: vs. UCF, 8 p.m. Oct. 23: at East Carolina, 4p.m.
Charleston Saturday: vs. Fairmont State, 2 p.m. Oct. 16: vs.Seton Hill, 1 p.m. State Saturday: at Seton Hill, 3 p.m. Oct. 16:vs. West Liberty, 1:30 p.m.
WVU Tech Oct. 16: vs. Ky. Christian, 5:30 p.m. Oct. 23: vs.Georgetown, 1:30 p.m.
GW takes over top spot in playoff rankings
PARKERSBURG - George Washington's win at Parkersburg High lastweek helped propel the Patriots (6-0) into the top spot in the ClassAAA football playoff ratings, released Tuesday by the West VirginiaSecondary School …
Pentagon Robot Challenge Goes Corporate
LOS ANGELES - When the Pentagon's research arm first called for innovators to design and race a self-driving car to make warfare safer, a ragtag bunch of garage tinkerers, computer geeks and even high school students answered.
No one won the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's inaugural contest in 2004. An encore the following year produced five robots that crossed the finish line, and a team from Stanford University drove away with the $2 million prize.
If yesteryear's contests evoked the Wild West, with teams working in the open desert on a shoestring budget, this year's is modern: The field is more savvy, the terrain is urban and corporate sponsors and public relations machines have entered the fray.
"They've become like NASCAR teams with multiple sponsors and stickers on everything," said Peter Singer, a Brookings Institution senior fellow who has followed the DARPA competitions. "It shows that it's becoming big business."
For the first time, there even will be a sponsors-only section for companies to display their swag next to the pit stop on the grounds of the old George Air Force Base east of Los Angeles on race day, Nov. 3.
The races are part of the Pentagon's effort to fulfill a congressional mandate to have a third of military ground vehicles unmanned by 2015. The increasing corporate participation points to the reality that money matters in the taxpayer-funded race if competitors are to have any chance of winning.
"Long before the winners receive their checks, they will need support from sponsors to help them compete to win," DARPA said on its Web site.
While corporate sponsorship does not guarantee success, it does help teams offset their costs. Auto makers often donate a vehicle and loan engineers to teams while suppliers offer sensors, cameras and other equipment at discounted prices. In return, teams stick corporate logos on their race vehicles and publicize them on their Web sites and in promotional brochures.
Sponsors in the first two challenges mostly were bit players. Today, they are more likely to back several teams and in some cases, help lead one.
Part of the reason has to do with new rules that made the contest more lucrative. Unlike in past years when competitors raised their own money, DARPA gave up to $1 million each to 10 teams in return for the right to use some of the technology that's developed.
Stanford, whose Volkswagen Touareg beat out two vehicles from archrival Carnegie Mellon University last year, received so many sponsorships for the upcoming race that team leaders rejected about a half dozen offers because of a lack of real estate on their latest vehicle, which has the body of a VW Passat.
Stanford was among the richer teams last year with support from big-name sponsors including VW, chip-maker Intel Corp. and energy drink maker Red Bull. Junior, as the Passat is called, now sports the colorful trademark of Internet search leader Google Inc., one of three new sponsors this year.
Stanford team leader and computer scientist Sebastian Thrun believes corporate involvement has not diluted the competition.
"It still has a strong university flavor," Thrun said.
Google donated $150,000 each to Stanford and Carnegie Mellon universities, which it helped in the past.
"We have our logo on both cars," said Jeff Walz, head of university relations at Google. "We're proud to have that there, but it's not a driving factor."
DARPA chose 35 tricked-out robo-cars to square off in the weeklong semifinals that began Friday in Victorville; 20 will move on to the finals.
This year, computer-controlled cars must pass a driving test in a setting made to look like a city. Using only its computer brain and sensors, each vehicle must carry out mock supply missions by navigating a 60-mile obstacle course. The vehicles will be graded on how well they flow with traffic, heed stop signs, maneuver traffic circles and avoid accidents.
The first three robots to complete the mission in less than six hours will win $2 million, $1 million and $500,000, respectively. DARPA has spent $20.5 million to put on the race. There are no reliable estimates on how much competitors have spent, but teams that received government funding have used up about $1 million, with some spending much more.
The migration of sponsors to the front line doesn't surprise veterans competitors, who say the race has reached a new level. It also reflects the reality that robotics research increasingly involves a collaboration among universities, businesses and the military.
DARPA does not endorse any team or corporate sponsor, but it encourages academia and business to work together.
"It's wonderful to have associates to complement each other. Together you're much greater than the sum of the parts," said William "Red" Whittaker, Carnegie Mellon robotics professor who is competing for the third time.
Carnegie Mellon paired with General Motors Corp. this time around and will enter a converted Chevrolet Tahoe named Boss. It's the first time the auto maker has had a direct role in the competition. Last year, it supported two teams from Virginia Tech behind the scenes.
Similarly, Autonomous Solutions Inc., which designs and makes unmanned vehicles for the military, sponsored two Florida teams the past two challenges, but broke out on its own this year. Team leader Paul Lewis said it was easier to persuade the company to get on board after snaring some government funds.
This summer, DARPA released a "sponsorship fact sheet" listing benefits companies can reap, including "corporate and brand positioning as forward-thinking" and "unique environment for delivering key messages."
DARPA director Tony Tether predicted 10 to 15 robots will finish this year's course. He said the concern that the race may become too corporate is valid.
"DARPA only takes things to a certain extent ... we might be approaching that point," he said.
Another team, the Golem Group, started out all volunteers in 2004 with $50,000 that team leader Richard Mason had won on the game show Jeopardy! With three official sponsors this year, the team and its Toyota Prius is on the smaller side compared to its competitors.
"It is a little bit more upscale, a little less three guys in a garage," Mason said of the current field.
Singer, the Brookings scholar, said the influence of sponsors on the DARPA race remains to be seen.
"Whoever wins, are they going to talk like NASCAR drivers and remember to thank all the key sponsors?" he asked rhetorically.
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On the Net:
DARPA Urban Challenge: http://www.darpa.mil/grandchallenge/index.asp
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