At 22, a Veteran of the Madness

Abstract: Eventually, the madness of professional sports gets to everyone. Until this weekend, it might have seemed that Spanish soccer was outside the asylum. The national squad had completed the perfect World Cup qualification, winning every one of its 10 games before sending its sons back to their clubs. And Barcelona had taken the extra precaution of sending a private jet to bring Lionel Messi back from Uruguay. It figured that €80,000, or $119,000, was worth every cent to fly its star player as far and as quickly away from the hysteria of Diego Maradona as possible. Messi’s special flight across 10,000 kilometers, or 6,200 miles, landed at Barcelona’s El Prat airport at 4 p.m. Thursday. He trained with his club at 6 p.m., went on to Valencia and on Saturday played the full 90 minutes in a goalless draw that keeps Barça on top of La Liga. He didn’t sparkle, he didn’t shake all of the travel fatigue or all of the mayhem out of his system in one go. But he did complete the fifth anniversary of his Barcelona first-team career in one piece. At 22, Messi is a veteran of soccer’s ever more exhaustive demands on its players. The administrators keep finding new ways to squeeze the performers for the extra dollars. The nations in the World Cup, the clubs that pay the weekly wages and, above all, FIFA, which sets the rules and the tournament schedules, push players to breaking point, then lament their inability to entertain at every occasion. Don’t you sometimes wonder how players manage to concentrate on one ball at a time? Pepe Reina, the No. 2 Spanish goalkeeper, was seeing double in the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, England, on Saturday. He was beaten by the most farcical goal of this or many a weekend, the only goal by which his team, Liverpool, lost, 1-0. Down on one knee to gather a routine shot from Sunderland’s Darren Bent early in the game, Reina was suddenly confronted with two flying objects. The white soccer ball struck a big, red beach ball right in the goalkeeper’s line of vision. He flapped. The beach ball went to his right, the soccer ball ricocheted to his left, and he caught neither. Reina looked like a man who had just stepped off a flight from one end of the world to the other. The goal stood because the referee, Mike Jones, did not apply the rule that play must be stopped in the case of an “outside agent” of any kind interfering with the normal course of action. Although the beach ball was almost twice the size of the regulation soccer ball and was on the ground six meters, or about 20 feet, from the net, Jones and his assistants apparently failed to spot it. Sunderland celebrated, Liverpool was flabbergasted, and the boy in the crowd who had released the red beach ball had no place to hide. The irony was that he is a Liverpool fan. The beach ball, Liverpool red and bearing the club’s crest, was instantaneously identifiable. So was the boy, because, while the BBC blurred his face to spare him possible repercussions from fanatics, Sky TV news broadcast the teenager in all his embarrassment. One bizarre goal beat Liverpool, no goals were scored in Valencia, but six were scored in the Spanish capital, as Real Madrid beat Real Valladolid, 4-2. Valencia’s miracle is that it is playing at all after a summer when the bailiffs called and the club, which had run up debts of more than €500 million, or $745 million, faced bankruptcy. At the 11th hour, the regional authority, acting like a government saving a failed bank, stepped in to give Valencia €74 million. That amount is less than the club had been offered by Real Madrid, Barcelona and possibly Manchester United to sell its strikers David Villa, Juan Manuel Mata and David Silva. The three players, all members of Spain’s national squad, remain for the time being in Valencia. The club has nine lives, but it may not hold onto those players for the rest of their careers. Who, in modern soccer, plays from childhood to retirement in the color of one team? Raúl González Blanco, that’s who. Before the match Saturday at the Bernabéu stadium, Raúl was handed a unique trophy denoting his latest milestone, after he passed Manolo Sanchis’s record for the most league appearances in Real Madrid white. He thanked the club, again, with two more goals, each poached through the uncanny amalgam of instinct, expectation and trigger-finger quickness. Real being Real, despite its heavy reinvestment in new playing stars, it allowed Valladolid to come back into the contest twice, at 2-1 and again at 3-2, before Gonzalo Higuaín came on as a substitute to strike the concluding goal, a wonderful piece of improvisation using his instep to float the ball over the head of the goalkeeper. Higuaín might one day replace Raúl as Madrid’s striker in chief. But the Argentine, who, like Messi, had flown in from Montevideo for the game in Spain, would need to stay at least another decade to come close to Raúl’s achievement. “Raúl?” mused Jorge Valdano, the Real Madrid sporting director, when asked to say something more about the club’s evergreen symbol. “He is an example of professionalism.” That example can, for once, be reflected in figures. Raúl has played 711 matches and scored 317 goals at the top level with his club, and played 102 matches for 44 goals for his country since he stepped out of youth soccer, where he was even more prolific. At 32, he is not yet at the finish line. His focus is not in the past, but the future. “Tonight’s was a good victory and a much needed one,” he said. “Games like this after the international fixtures can be dangerous, but we won this one and that is all that counts.” Not quite all. “Scoring four goals looks great,” Raúl told Marca newspaper, “but we had our difficulties. We have a new project, with many different ideas and people. I’m thinking now of Wednesday.” Wednesday brings A.C. Milan to the Bernabéu, a contest in the Champions League between the two most decorated clubs in European Cup history. One game, one ball, one aim at a time.

Soccer
World Cup (Soccer)
Messi Lionel
Argentina


Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn May Close

Abstract: A struggling Brooklyn hospital is making plans to shut down in March after a decision by the Cuomo administration to delay grants to help finance a merger intended to rescue the institution, officials said on Wednesday. The hospital, Long Island College Hospital , on the border of Cobble Hill and Brooklyn Heights, announced in October that it was merging with SUNY Downstate Medical Center , a major public university and medical center, as part of a deal put together last fall by former Gov. David A. Paterson and state health officials. The deal included some $62 million in state grants — $22 million for Long Island College Hospital and $40 million for SUNY Downstate — under a program intended to encourage efficiencies and mergers in New York’s health care system. But State Department of Health officials told the hospital’s owner, Continuum Health Partners , on Tuesday night that they were delaying all undistributed grants under the program — more than a hundred awards totaling $683 million — as part of a broader effort to rethink the state’s sprawling Medicaid program. With the state in a financial hole, officials are warning of significant cuts to reimbursement rates that will probably require the closing of some health care institutions around the state. Josh Vlasto, a spokesman for Mr. Cuomo, said the administration was reassessing the undistributed grants “as part of an overall review of health care spending in order to ensure that grant money goes to the most viable projects and mergers.” State officials are weighing several options for money now committed to the overall grant program, like redistributing some of it to other hospitals in distress or using it to help cushion the restructuring of the Medicaid system that the administration envisions. But no final decisions have been made. The review is expected to take two to three weeks, Mr. Vlasto said, and most grants now in the pipeline are likely to be disbursed as originally intended. But Stanley Brezenoff , president of Continuum Health Partners, said that conversations with state officials had left “a clear implication” that the grants for Long Island College Hospital “were seriously in question.” If the $22 million grant to LICH were rescinded, Mr. Brezenoff said, the hospital, which he said was “running on fumes,” would run out of cash by mid-March. At that point, he said, he would be forced to begin bankruptcy proceedings and move forward with closing the hospital and laying off its 2,500 employees. Without the state money, Mr. Brezenoff said, Continuum could not complete moving the hospital under the SUNY umbrella. Mr. Brezenoff said that he was already putting together a draft closing plan and preparing to send out termination notices. He said that because the conversation with the state was so recent, he had not yet warned the employees that the merger might be called off. Ellen Watson, a spokeswoman for SUNY-Downstate Medical Center, said its officials knew the grants were under review. “But absent a formal announcement from the governor’s office, it’s too early for Downstate to comment,” she said. Long Island College Hospital operates about 300 beds, though it is certified for 506. It annually delivers more than 2,500 babies and has 55,000 emergency room visits. The original merger, announced in October, was considered a victory for Continuum and Governor Paterson. It came after the closing of two other hospitals — St. Vincent’s in Greenwich Village and North General in Harlem— that foundered under hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, operating losses and the economic downturn. Mr. Brezenoff said that the hospital needed an infusion of $90 million to $100 million to survive, and that he had been able to pull together the money through other sources that were contingent on getting the state grants. He expressed frustration with the idea that Mr. Cuomo might be withdrawing a promise that had been thoroughly vetted and publicly announced. “This is a stunner,” he said. “When is something done, done?”

Long Island College Hospital
Shutdowns (Institutional)
Downstate Medical Center
Continuum Health Partners
Brooklyn (NYC)
Medicaid
Paterson David A


Shock in English League Cup

Abstract: Fourth-tier Bradford pulled off another major surprise in the League Cup, beating Aston Villa, 3-1, in the first leg of their semifinal to move one step away from the club’s first major final since 1911. Bradford had stunned Arsenal on penalties in the quarterfinal. The second leg is at Villa Park on Jan. 22.


Art Studios Where Whitney Museum Was Born Will Admit Visitors

Abstract: The New York of Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney ’s day did not respect female artists, did not prize contemporary artists and did not appreciate American artists. Mrs. Whitney set out to change all that, working out of a crazy warren of studios and salons cobbled together a century ago from abutting townhouses and carriage houses on West Eighth Street in Greenwich Village. Her eccentric compound was the birthplace of the Whitney Museum of American Art in 1931. The museum had its headquarters there until 1954. Since 1967, the interlocked buildings have housed the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture . This would be an artistic landmark of the first order if the public were admitted on a regular basis. Image Bas-relief ceiling figures carved by Mr. Chanler, who also designed and created the fireplace. Credit Benjamin Norman for The New York Times Mark your calendar. Beginning June 3, a limited number of visitors will be able to take free, 45-minute tours of Mrs. Whitney’s studios . The tours have been made possible in part by a $30,000 grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation . “We think this place is a treasure,” Stephanie K. Meeks , the president and chief executive of the trust, said, “and one that deserves more recognition for its history and more of an opportunity for the public to engage with it.” Ms. Meeks spoke while glancing around the mystically hallucinogenic studio created for Mrs. Whitney in the late 1910s and early ’20s by Robert Winthrop Chanler , an artist with an Astor pedigree whose legacy is only now being rediscovered . In this delirious space, formerly a hayloft, a 20-foot-tall fireplace seems to be consumed by sinuous tongues of bronze and plaster flames . They lick a ceiling awash with bas-relief figures of dragons, snakes and cephalopods, presided over by a demonically radiant sun — William Blake in three dimensions. Compounding the madness, there were once seven stained-glass windows , four of which flanked the hayloft doors. “Perhaps all of these colors and designs proved overwhelming to Mrs. Whitney’s own creativity,” said Alicia J. D. Cooper, the tour manager and development associate at the New York Studio School. She and Thibault Dapoigny , a first-year student, offered a dry run of the studio tour last week to Ms. Meeks, who was visiting from Washington. Whatever the reason, Mrs. Whitney moved into a larger ground-floor studio, with a rear entrance onto the artists’ enclave of Macdougal Alley . There, she worked on sculptures like the Washington Heights-Inwood War Memorial for Mitchel Square in uptown Manhattan and “ Spirit of Flight ” for the 1939-40 World’s Fair. In a 1919 interview with The New York Times (“ Poor Little Rich Girl and Her Art / Mrs. Harry Payne Whitney’s Struggles to Be Taken Seriously as a Sculptor Without Having Starved in a Garret”), Mrs. Whitney spoke frankly of the prejudice she faced: “Let a woman who does not have to work for her livelihood take a studio to do the work in which she is most intensely interested and she is greeted by a chorus of horror-stricken voices, a knowing lifting of the eyebrows, or a twist of the mouth that is equally expressive. And much more condemnatory.” Unfazed, and wealthy, Mrs. Whitney not only made art on West Eighth Street, she also collected and exhibited it. The Whitney Studio opened in 1914 . In 1929, Mrs. Whitney empowered her assistant, Juliana Reiser Force , to offer more than 500 artworks to Edward Robinson , the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He declined the donation. Image Hayloft doors to Mrs. Whitney’s studio face Macdougal Alley. Credit Benjamin Norman for The New York Times So Mrs. Whitney and Mrs. Force opened their own museum in 1931 . (Today, the Met occupies the former home of the Whitney on Madison Avenue.) Last year, the incised Whitney Museum name was briefly revealed again on the West Eighth Street building, near Fifth Avenue. The Studio School quickly covered it over again with its own sign, reflecting the tension that goes along with the building’s dual identity as a contemporary institution and a historic landmark. The grant from the National Trust was used to renovate the studio designed by Mr. Chanler. Floors, baseboards, stairs, handrails and walls were refurbished, and a structural wooden floor beam was reinforced. This work has made it possible to open the space to more visitors. Graham Nickson , the dean of the school, said $30,000 would otherwise have been a high hurdle for the school to clear. “We’re a nonprofit,” he said. “We have to raise a tremendous amount of money just to do what we do on a regular basis.” And yet the dean, whose office connects to the Chanler studio by a secret stairway worthy of medieval Italy, is happy to embrace the legacy. “We refer to the good ghosts that inhabit this building,” Mr. Nickson said. “There can be wonderful new buildings, but it takes time for them to get good ghosts.”


State Bill Expands Pool of Possible 9/11 Benefit Recipients

Abstract: Even as New York City battles thousands of ground zero workers over their health claims in federal court, New York State is making more workers eligible for health care benefits. The State Legislature has passed a bill that will make hundreds of public service workers who labored at the World Trade Center site during the nine-month cleanup after the attacks of Sept. 11 eligible for state disability payments. Aides to Gov. David A. Paterson said on Wednesday that as many as 1,800 such workers who had already been denied disability benefits could now be eligible to receive them. The measure, passed Monday, also extends the deadline for other ground zero workers to register for state workers’ compensation in case they become sick or disabled in the future as a result of their work at ground zero. Governor Paterson, who strongly supported the legislation, is expected to sign it shortly. “As the nation grieved, these heroes returned to work day and night, selflessly placing their own health at risk,” Mr. Paterson said in a statement. “It is our duty to offer them the protections they deserve in their time of illness.” The legislation broadening the number of people potentially eligible for 9/11-related disability benefits comes as about 10,000 ground zero workers are suing the city and its contractors because they say they became sick after laboring at the site. Lawyers representing the city have claimed that many of the workers are not seriously ill, while lawyers for the workers say the city’s claims are inaccurate. But those 10,000 represent only a portion of the total work force at ground zero, which is estimated to have exceeded 40,000. The additional workers aided by the Legislature’s bill include state and county correction officers, 911 dispatchers, emergency vehicle radio repair mechanics and volunteers who were excluded from health care benefits until now because they had retired from public service. Also included are nonuniformed public employees who did not undergo a physical exam before they started working. The legislation follows many of the recommendations made this year by the September 11th Worker Protection Task Force. That group, made up of public officials, union leaders and doctors, was created in 2005 when the Legislature provided disability benefits for certain public employees who worked at ground zero. That law limited coverage to workers who had undergone pre-employment physical examinations. But the task force determined that the requirement placed an unfair burden on many workers who had not had such exams before they were hired. Under the legislation passed on Monday, those workers are covered if they agree to provide access to their medical files and can demonstrate that before 9/11 they did not have the kind of illnesses that could be related to trade center dust. Also under the legislation, another type of workers — those employed by private contractors and covered by the state workers’ compensation system — have been given additional time to register for benefits, even if they are not sick. Registering is not the same as filing a compensation claim. Rather, doing so protects a worker’s right to file claims in the future if he or she should become ill. Most workers’ compensation claims have to be filed within two years of an accident or injury. But Joseph Cavalcante, a spokesman for the New York State Workers Compensation Board, said that because some illnesses related to exposure to the ground zero dust and smoke could take years to develop, that deadline had been extended to Aug. 14, 2008. The legislation passed on Monday further delays the deadline for registering, giving workers until Sept. 11, 2010.

World Trade Center (NYC)
Terrorism
Medicine and Health
New York City


Nearly a Goat, Canada’s Roberto Luongo Savors His Gold Medal

Abstract: VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Roberto Luongo stood 30 seconds from certain glory Sunday, when his place in Canadian hockey lore would be secure. Finish that half-minute without error, and his shaky gold medal hockey game would have been forgotten and forgiven, a hiccup compared with the disaster that occurred instead. His day nearly fell apart in the next five seconds, as Luongo patrolled the space he took over for most of the Olympic tournament, in front of Canada’s goal. He deflected one shot, only to watch the puck bounce off a skate and onto the stick of United States forward Zach Parise. Parise buried the tying goal in the back of the net with 24.4 seconds to play in regulation, eventually leaving Luongo in an awkward place. Because now, in Canadian hockey history, Luongo will be remembered as both the goaltender who won gold and the goaltender who almost lost it. “I’ve got a gold medal around my neck,” Luongo reminded reporters afterward. “And nobody can take that away from me.” The whole situation oozed potential awkwardness. Not only did Luongo enter the Winter Olympics as Canada’s backup goalie, but he also replaced Martin Brodeur , the N.H.L.’s career leader in wins and shutouts, after the Americans stunned Canada, 5-3, in the preliminary round. Brodeur remains hockey royalty, benching or no benching. But the Canadian coaches favored Luongo’s butterfly goaltending style, along with his range and movement. Better yet, or worse yet, depending on the outcome, was that Luongo also plays for the Vancouver Canucks, in Canada Hockey Place, the arena that staged the gold medal matchup. Imagine if Luongo allowed both the tying and winning goals, then returned to N.H.L. action on the same stage as his worst defeat. His play after replacing Brodeur did little to alleviate the fears of hockey fans across Canada. They watched Luongo’s up-and-down performance in a 7-3 quarterfinal victory against Russia. They saw his inconsistent semifinal against Slovakia, the way Luongo allowed the goal that cost the Canadians momentum, then made several late, acrobatic saves to secure the 3-2 win. Which Luongo would show up? fans wondered. Both, it turns out. Luongo played solidly through the first two periods, allowing only a goal to his Canucks teammate Ryan Kesler, who deflected a shot past him. Luongo compiled 34 saves , but not that one and not the one that mattered most. Still, he waddled into the mixed zone after the game with a smile plastered across his face and the most important medal hanging from his neck. It was an odd picture: Luongo, still wearing his beefy goalie pads, holding flowers in his left hand and constantly touching his new hardware with his right. Repeatedly, reporters asked him about narrowly avoiding the goat status that awaited him had Canada lost. On the tying goal, Luongo noted that he made the first save, only to be subject to unlucky bounces. Someone asked about the American players, who said he had been “fighting with the puck” all night. Luongo sounded the same theme. “I’m wearing gold around my neck,” he said. “I don’t really care what they think.” His position beat that of Ryan Miller, the United States goaltender. Miller carried the Americans throughout this tournament, making spectacular save after spectacular save, helping stake the team to lead after lead, never trailing. Even Sunday, Miller kept things close. On two of the Canadians’ goals, he suffered from defensive breakdowns. Miller even was voted the tournament’s most valuable player, but there was no doubting that he would trade places with Luongo. “I don’t care what anyone says — that’s the best goalie in the world,” United States defenseman Jack Johnson said of Miller. Not on Sunday, at least not if that status is determined by gold medals or championships won. Luongo praised his teammates. That kind of late goal would have crushed many teams, but not Canada, not Sunday. Forward Ryan Getzlaf said that in the locker room before the extra period, not a single player appeared concerned. Nor did the Canadians blame their goalie for their predicament. Instead, they collected themselves and vowed to give Luongo a different, more appropriate ending. “There’s always pressure,” Getzlaf said. “We embrace that. Sure, we had allowed a goal. But there was no reason to panic.” Instead, they celebrated, and Luongo joined in the euphoria just like everybody else. For years, he had dreamed of this moment, and he thought back over the last two weeks. Sure, it could have ended badly, making next week and this season awkward, to say the least. But because of Sidney Crosby, who pushed the game winner past Miller in overtime, Luongo had avoided his worst possible fate. “That was real fun,” he said. “Other than the last 20 seconds of the third.”

Hockey Ice
Olympic Games (2010)
Luongo Roberto


How Danelle Morgan, Radio City Rockette, Spends Her Sundays

Abstract: In her 11th season as a Rockette, Danelle Morgan spends much of her weekends during the holiday season with 35 other high-kicking dancers onstage at Radio City Music Hall. The “ Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City Rockettes ,” which runs through Jan. 2, offers up to five shows on Sundays alone, several featuring Ms. Morgan, 31. She grew up in Highland Park, N.J., where she studied dance under Mary Frangione, a former Rockette, and later graduated with honors from the Ailey/Fordham B.F.A. dance program. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, Edouard Darres, and their dog, Lula. WEARY MUSCLES AWAKEN I crawl out of bed around 7:45, and my body is pretty sore because I’ve already done 11 of my 16 shows for the week. I get coffee going, and since I’m usually starving I go to my staple breakfast of oatmeal with banana and a glass of orange juice. Then my husband and I sneak in a little family time and take Lula over to Central Park and run around with her. WINEHOUSE THERAPY I get back from the park and take a hot shower to get my muscles moving. With a full day ahead of me that involves lots of noise and intense coordinated movement, the precision of which is unlike anything else in the dance world, I just want to relax, so I sit on the couch for about an hour and listen to Amy Winehouse while I toss a few of Lula’s toys around. Image In a taxi to Radio City Music Hall. “During the ride I always call my mom,” Ms. Morgan said, “who is my No. 1 motivator.” Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times MOTIVATION IN TRANSIT I leave for work around 10:45, and if I’m hungry again, I’ll stop off at a store and grab another coffee and a scone, then I go to a bakery to pick up truffles for me and the seven girls who share my dressing room. After that I hop in a cab, and during the ride I always call my mom, who is my No. 1 motivator — just hearing her voice gets me through the day. GETTING WARMER I get to Radio City and change into my comfy theater clothes: T-shirt, sweatpants and sneakers. I go to my dressing station and sit on a heating pad while doing my makeup and eyelashes. Image Ms. Morgan applying makeup before the first of several shows she performs on Sundays. Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times TWISTING IN HER SEAT After makeup, I put my hair in a traditional French twist and make sure it’s good and tight so that it doesn’t move beneath any of the different headpieces we wear during the show’s eight costume changes. DEEP BREATH In the minutes before the first curtain rises, I can hear the sound of 6,000 people stirring in their seats, and my adrenaline starts pumping. I don’t get nervous, but in that moment, my mind always starts racing and I begin to think to myself: “Wow, I’m really here living out this dream. It’s me, I’m really doing this.” I need to take a deep breath and collect my thoughts, and then I’m ready to go. Image Ms. Morgan before the afternoon matinee. Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times CHAOS AND CHOREOGRAPHY We have a set amount of time between certain scenes for costume changes, the shortest being 78 seconds between Scene 5, “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers,” and Scene 6, “New York at Christmas.” It’s the most organized chaos you’ll ever see. TAKING A BOW, AND A NAP When the curtain goes down, we have 90 minutes until the next show. I go upstairs to a catered lunch, and usually have a turkey sandwich to get my carbs in. Then I take a 20-minute nap. Image Ms. Morgan in the day’s last show. After it, she said, “I might give a quick backstage tour to family or friends, then I go to a nearby restaurant with one of my castmates.” Credit Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times JUST A FACE IN THE CROWD Between the second and third show, I’ll eat two slices of pizza at my dressing station while I listen to some Top 40 music, for a little more relaxation. After the last show, which starts at 8, I might give a quick backstage tour to family or friends, then I go to a nearby restaurant with one of my castmates for burgers and salads. Sometimes we’ll be eating right next to people who just saw the show and are holding a program with my face on the cover, but they won’t recognize me. IN OTHER NEWS I take a cab home and get there about 11, and find Lula and my husband waiting to greet me with kisses. We spend a few more minutes of family time before I grab my cellphone and go to various news sites to find out what is happening around the world, and I read and read until all the reading just rocks me to sleep.

Radio City
Manhattan
Dance
Theater
Radio City Christmas Spectacular


EgyptAir Crash Blindsides a Nation That Thought It Was Recovering

Abstract: CAIRO — Egypt seemed poised for a modest comeback. After years of cascading crises that had devastated the lifeblood of its economy, tourism, there were signs of a turnaround. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia told his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, that he might soon resume Russian flights to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh, which had been suspended after a passenger plane was blown out of the sky more than six months ago. Then the United Nations World Tourism Organization chose Luxor, home to the famed Valley of the Kings archaeological site, as its world tourism capital for 2016. But on Thursday, Egypt found itself in a dark, if familiar, place when an EgyptAir passenger jet disappeared from radar and crashed into the Mediterranean with 66 people on board. For years now, Egyptians have barely had a chance to recover from one crisis before being hit by another: a damaged economy, a diminished currency, a repressive president and a dangerous insurgency waged by a franchise of the Islamic State militant group. This latest setback was such a shock to the nation that Egypt’s leaders abandoned their typical approach to crisis management: obfuscation. Instead, they offered what appeared to be a candid assessment, acknowledging that the disaster might well have been a result of terrorism. And that was even before there was hard evidence of terrorism. Although visibly strained, Egypt’s civil aviation minister, Sherif Fathi, admitted that some Egyptian officials had made errors in dealing with the loss of the plane, EgyptAir Flight 804, and conceded that it might be linked to Islamist militants. The possibility of a terrorist attack, he said, was “higher than the possibility” of a technical failure. “The initial response has been different this time,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, a senior fellow at the Century Foundation in New York. “We haven’t seen the kind of obfuscation that was typical of Egypt before.” Video EgyptAir Flight 804 disappeared over the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday shortly before it was due to land. Here are some of the people who were on board. Credit Credit via Facebook Mr. Fathi’s rapid acknowledgment of a possible terrorist link contrasted sharply with his government’s response to the crash of a Russian charter flight over the Sinai Peninsula in October, when the government repeatedly refused to concede any connection to militancy, only to reverse its position months later. That about-face was typical of Egyptian official reactions that have often looked like defensive crouches, and that have quietly infuriated some allies and led them to question Egypt’s ability to carry out transparent investigations. Those tactics have pitted President Sisi against some of his closest Western allies. His government has publicly clashed with Italy over the case of Giulio Regeni, an Italian graduate student whose bloodied body was discovered on a Cairo roadside in February. Egyptian officials have aggressively countered Italian accusations that Egypt’s security forces were responsible. Instead, Egypt has offered what are widely considered implausible accounts of how Mr. Regeni was killed. Egypt also tried to shift blame for the deaths of eight Mexican tourists in an Egyptian military air attack in September. After months of Egyptian inaction over the killings in the country’s western desert, apparently the result of a mistake, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement this month accusing Egypt of failing to investigate the episode properly and of not sufficiently compensating the families of the dead tourists. The government’s reputation for secrecy stoked cynicism among some of the relatives of missing passengers at the Cairo airport on Thursday. “We don’t know anything,” said Mervat Moamen, who had come for news of Samar Ezz el-Deen, a newly married flight attendant on the plane. Visibly frustrated, she dismissed official explanations about the fate of the plane as “just propaganda.” Conspiracy theories about the crash floated in the news media, including an interview in the state-run Al Ahram paper with a self-declared expert who claimed the plane had been brought down by an electromagnetic pulse. British officials have been working with Egypt to improve security at the Sharm el Sheikh airport, but they say it is unlikely they will reverse their flight ban anytime soon. Tourist numbers have fallen more than 40 percent this year, and a further drop would most likely further weaken the Egyptian currency. This, in turn, would increase inflation and put new pressure on Mr. Sisi, who has responded to criticism with an iron fist this year, silencing critics and street protests through mass arrests and convictions. Video A breakdown of the events that unfolded on Thursday after EgyptAir Flight 804 went missing. Credit Credit Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters Last weekend, 152 people, mostly in their 20s, were sentenced to two to five years in prison for participating in street protests against the transfer of two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia. The furor over the islands appeared to rattle Mr. Sisi, catching him by surprise, and dealt another blow to his sagging popularity. Still, analysts say, the EgyptAir crash could also give Mr. Sisi’s government a chance to capitalize on international sympathy — provided it does not engage in the sort of defensive behavior that has alienated allies in the past. As the search for wreckage continued Thursday evening, Mr. Sisi’s office issued a stream of statements describing calls of sympathy he had received from the leaders of Italy, Greece, Saudi Arabia and France. Mr. Hanna, the analyst, said there could be a more cynical explanation for the seemingly more candid approach of Egyptian officials: that they see an opportunity to blame another country, France, for the security lapses that led to the disaster. On social media on Thursday, some Egyptians, anticipating a terrorist link, called for Paris’s Charles de Gaulle Airport to be shut down on security grounds, much as Sharm el Sheikh’s airport was in the fall. Blaming France, though, could alienate one of Egypt’s diminishing number of European friends. The French president, François Hollande, visited Egypt last month to sign a $1 billion weapons contract and a slew of other investment deals with Mr. Sisi. Paradoxically, the proliferation of challenges facing Egypt may cause Western countries to strengthen their support for Mr. Sisi, despite his harsh policies, Mr. Hanna said. “It solidifies the status quo,” he said. “Because the country faces serious security threats with the potential to spill over into the rest of the world, other countries are loath to make a drastic change and to focus on things like human rights, politics and other freedoms.”

Travel,Tourism
EgyptAir
Plane Crash
Terrorism
Economy
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
International relations
Egypt


Police Arrest 2 in Brooklyn in 2 Fatal October Shootings

Abstract: Arrests have been made in two fatal Brooklyn shootings that occurred this month, one at a Fort Greene hair salon and another during a home invasion, the police said on Thursday. In the home invasion case, Alan Chaparro, 28, of 538 Monroe Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, was arrested and charged with murder, robbery and weapons possession in the shooting of Jessica Enger, 31, in Bensonhurst on Oct. 1, the police said. Mr. Chaparro, wearing a ski mask, entered a house on 85th Street about 6 a.m. and forced Ms. Enger and another woman upstairs to a second-floor apartment, the police said. There, the robber demanded money from a man who lived there, fired a shot that hit Ms. Enger, and stole $9,000 to $10,000 from a freezer before fleeing, the police said. The police said the robber had been told that the man, who owned a pizzeria, kept cash in the apartment. The man and the second woman were not injured. Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said on Thursday that a tip to the Crimestoppers hot line helped the police make the arrest. Ms. Enger had a 6-year-old son, who was staying with relatives at the time, an aunt, Vivian Enger, said this month. She worked as an aesthetician at a spa and as an office manager for a Brooklyn heating and ventilation company, according to her MySpace page . Mr. Kelly also said that on Tuesday, the police arrested Paul Wint in connection with a shooting on Monday at a hair salon in Fort Greene. Officials said Mr. Wint, 22, was arrested at his home on Glenmore Avenue in Brooklyn and charged with second-degree murder in the death of Lethania Garcia, 20, of Lefferts Place. Mr. Wint was arraigned on Thursday in Brooklyn Criminal Court on murder and weapons possession charges. In the shooting, two gunmen chased Mr. Garcia into the salon, the De Lux Gallery on Fulton Street, where they killed him and wounded four bystanders — including an off-duty police officer who was having her hair done — before fleeing, the authorities said. Witnesses told investigators that the two gunmen fled in a blue Chevrolet Tahoe. Mr. Wint was the driver of the Tahoe, Mr. Kelly said. “We are still looking for other individuals involved,” he said.

Murders and Attempted Murders
Brooklyn (NYC)
Robberies and Thefts
Crime and Criminals
Fort Greene (NYC)


In Darkened Movie Theater, Heroes in Life and in Death

Abstract: AURORA, Colo. — Movie screen superheroes never die. But there were superheroes present in a darkened movie theater at the Town Center at Aurora mall, and some of them did die, like Matthew Robert McQuinn, who threw his body in front of his longtime girlfriend, Samantha Yowler, shielding her from the bullets that took his life. Mr. McQuinn, 27, was one of 12 people who were killed when a gunman opened fire in the theater early Friday, and like many of the other victims, he was young enough to have limitless possibilities ahead of him. He and Ms. Yowler went to see the midnight premiere of the latest installment in the Batman series with her brother, Nick Yowler. He, too, leapt to protect his sister. He pulled her from the theater to safety, escaping uninjured. Jonathan Blunk, 26, a military veteran, died when he saved his girlfriend, Jansen Young. Veronica Moser-Sullivan went to the movie with her mother. She was 6, too young to know much about Batman, too inexperienced to know that in the ferocious uncertainty of life, a movie theater could, without warning, become one of the most dangerous places on earth. Veronica died on the operating table after being wounded during the shooting, her 15-year-old cousin, Katherine Young, said on Saturday. “She was just a radiant, happy little girl,” Katherine said. “She was just so happy. She could brighten anyone’s day.” Katherine said that Veronica, who lived in Denver, had just started swimming and had fallen in love with it. “She was really good at it,” Katherine said. “I taught her to long-board, so she loved doing that too.” Veronica’s mother, Ashley Moser, was also seriously injured. She was shot twice in the abdomen and once in the neck and remained in the hospital, Katherine said. “They were just over for dinner on Tuesday,” she added quietly. Just after midnight, the gunman, armed with a small arsenal of weapons, opened fire in the theater, leaving an additional 58 people injured. By Saturday, officials had identified the 12 who died — 10 at the scene and 2 others later at hospitals. The Aurora theater, much like movie palaces everywhere, is a deeply American place where the bonds of popcorn and a refuge from daily cares unite people from all backgrounds. Mr. McQuinn and Ms. Yowler worked at Target, having moved to Colorado from Ohio to get a fresh start. On Friday morning, Ms. Yowler was shot in the knee, but is recovering in the hospital, said a lawyer who is acting as a spokesman for the families. Mr. Blunk served in the Navy aboard the Nimitz and had always wanted to die a hero, his wife, Chantel Blunk, from whom he was separated, told NBC News. Jansen Young, whose life he saved, said that is exactly what happened. “Jon just took a bullet for me,” she said on the “Today” show. Mr. Blunk moved to Colorado after leaving the service and worked here installing flooring, his father, Randall Blunk, said on Saturday. He had a 4-year-old daughter and a 2-year-old son. Alex Sullivan was a huge comic book fan who was at the premiere to celebrate his 27th birthday. “Oh man one hour till the movie and its going to be the best BIRTHDAY ever,” he wrote on Twitter shortly before he died. Alexander Boik, 18, known as A.J., graduated this year from Gateway High School, near the mall. He was recalled by a friend, Jakob Bolger, as “a very heartwarming, good-minded person.” “He’s hilarious,” said Mr. Bolger, who added that he had been friends with Mr. Boik since the two were in seventh grade. The first victim to be identified, Jessica Ghawi, 24, had narrowly escaped a mass shooting at the Eaton Center mall in Toronto. An aspiring sports broadcaster, she had written that the experience had convinced her that each moment was precious. In this city of 325,000, where the military has had a strong presence for almost a century, the Batman sequel also drew in men schooled in combat but hoping for a few hours to forget about the business of war. Petty Officer Third Class John Larimer, 27, a Navy cryptologic technician stationed in Aurora since October, died of injuries sustained in the shooting. Staff Sgt. Jesse Childress, 29, from Thornton, Colo., was an Air Force reservist on active duty with the 310th Forces Support Squadron at Buckley Air Force Base, according to Air Force officials. Rebecca Wingo, 32, was a single mother with two daughters, a “lovely young woman,” her friend Gail Riffle said, who took classes at Aurora Community College and attended Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, Colo. Micayla Medek, 23, worked at a Subway sandwich shop and was trying to figure out what to do with her life, her aunt, Jennifer Zakovich, said Saturday. The Arapahoe County Coroner’s Office also released the names of two other victims, Alexander Teves, 24, and Gordon Cowden, 51. Those who did not know the victims or their families mourned them as well. On Friday night, candles appeared across the street from the mall. A sign read: “7/20 — Gone Not Forgotten.” Many who stood around the memorial struggled for words — “shocking,” “horrible,” “unthinkable” — that were ultimately inadequate, their voices faltering with the weight of the events. And the victims’ families, now also bonded in their loss, recalled them with a mixture of love and the numbness of disbelief. Ms. Medek “was her dad’s best friend,” Ms. Zakovich said. “She and her sister were inseparable.” Petty Officer Larimer’s father, Scott Larimer, said his son John grew up as one of five children in Crystal Lake, Ill. “We’re still in shock,” Mr. Larimer said on Saturday. “Unfortunately, in the military you expect him to be in harm’s way, but not in a theater.”

Murders and Attempted Murders
Aurora (Colo)
Holmes James Eagan
Aurora Colo Shooting (2012)


Jefferson-Jackson Dinner Will Be Renamed

Abstract: An Iowa Democratic Party panel voted on Saturday to change the name of the popular Jefferson-Jackson dinner, joining several state parties in distancing itself from the legacies of the two former slave-owning presidents for whom the dinner is named. Andy McGuire, the party chairwoman, said the State Central Committee voted Saturday to begin the process of changing the name. A single-sentence resolution was approved overwhelmingly by a voice vote, said Sam Lau, a state party spokesman. The change will take effect after this year’s event in late October. The annual dinner, which draws big crowds and presidential hopefuls looking for an early advantage in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses, is named for Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson. Both owned slaves, and President Jackson carried out a bloody campaign to remove Native Americans from the South to make way for white settlers. “The vote to change the name of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner comes after much debate and discussion among our activists and grass-roots leaders around the state,” Dr. McGuire said. “This was not a decision that was made lightly. The vote today confirms that our party believes it is important to change the name of the dinner to align with the values of our modern-day Democratic Party: inclusiveness, diversity and equality.” Jefferson-Jackson dinners have been a Democratic tradition dating back decades, helping to raise money for state and local parties. Nowhere is it more celebrated than in Iowa, where more than 9,000 Democrats turned out in 2007 to hear speeches from a field led by Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in their quest for the party’s presidential nomination. State party committees in Georgia, Connecticut and Missouri also recently dropped the names of Jefferson and Jackson from the annual fund-raising dinners, and similar moves are being considered in New Hampshire, South Carolina, Arkansas, Maine and Tennessee, President Jackson’s home state. Efforts to drop names and symbols linked to slavery and the Civil War have gained traction since nine black churchgoers were killed by a white gunman in Charleston, S.C., in June. That attack prompted state leaders to remove the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina State House grounds.

Slavery
Iowa
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
2016 Presidential Election
Democrats


Scheyer Scores Career-High 36 as Duke Routs Gardner-Webb

Abstract: Jon Scheyer scored 24 of his career-high 36 points in the first half to lead No. 7 Duke past Gardner-Webb on Tuesday night, 113-68. Scheyer was 11 of 13 from the field and made a career-best seven 3-pointers while adding eight rebounds and nine assists. Duke (8-1) never trailed, broke the game open with a huge early run and shot 65.2 percent — 60.7 percent in the first half. Auryn MacMillan scored 14 points and C. J. Hailey added 11 to lead Gardner-Webb (3-5). The Runnin’ Bulldogs turned the ball over 23 times and went more than six minutes without a basket in losing their fifth straight. Kyle Singler, playing through a sprained right ankle, finished with 11 points. RUTGERS 80, RIDER 70 James Beatty scored a career-high 21 points and Rutgers held visiting Rider without a point in overtime. Mike Rosario had 18, Jonathan Mitchell 17 and Hamady Ndiaye 9 points and 11 rebounds for Rutgers (7-2), which defeated a team with a winning record for the first time this season. Rider (7-5) was led by Ryan Thompson’s 26 points and 8 rebounds. Neither team had a field goal in overtime as Rutgers made 10 of 14 free throws and held the Broncs to 0 of 8 from the floor. TENNESSEE 77, WYOMING 58 The sophomore Scotty Hopson scored 14 points to help No. 9 Tennessee pull away. The host Volunteers (8-1) struggled to slow down the normally high-scoring Cowboys (5-5) in the first half, but Tennessee’s defensive pressure and fast-break offense wore down Wyoming in the second. TEXAS 104, TEXAS-PAN AM. 42 Avery Bradley scored a season-high 18 points and had 5 assists to lead No. 2 Texas (9-0) past visiting Texas-Pan American (1-10).


Palin’s E-Mails Undercut Simplistic Views of Her, Both Positive and Negative

Abstract: JUNEAU, Alaska — In the three years since Sarah Palin stormed the national political stage, her brief tenure as governor of Alaska has often been reduced to caricature. Critics cast her as petty, preoccupied and disengaged. Supporters say she was a maverick reformer, a salt-of-the-earth true believer who bucked the establishment elite. Yet what is clear in the 24,000 pages of her e-mails released Friday — completing Ms. Palin’s transformation from one of the most obscure politicians in America to one of the most scrutinized — is that her governing style was not necessarily an either-or proposition. Sometimes she seemed to be everything all at once. She sought to be an encouraging leader one moment, lauding her team for a breakthrough on oil production: “You guys are doing awesome.” She could be distrustful and accusatory the next: “I can’t handle staffer leaks.” She would focus on the progress of substantive legislation, including supporting a major increase in oil taxes, but then become distracted by “un-flippin believable” criticism directed at her by a popular radio host. Winning the governorship here as a what-you-see-is-what-you-get hockey mom from Wasilla, she won fans for her promises to break with politics as usual. But, the e-mails show, she nonetheless went on to rely on standard statehouse fare like ghost-written Op-Eds and supportive letters to the editor, even prodding staff to flood online opinion polls to influence results. She was also, in the years before her national emergence, more open to compromise and political dealing than her more recent image suggests. The release of Ms. Palin’s e-mails add nuance and depth to the portrait of a major political figure — and possible Republican presidential candidate — who is almost frozen in the perceptions of many of her supporters and her critics. The e-mails contain some embarrassing exchanges that would make any working person reliant on the technology wince, but her aides could also point to what they said were examples of an active chief executive. “This surreal ‘colonoscopy’ by the cartoonish mainstream media is backfiring,” said the supportive Conservatives4Palin Web site, co-founded by a close aide. The e-mails, it said, show “a serious and highly effective executive who was in full control of her administration.” Still, nearly 8,000 pages were either withheld or redacted, sometimes heavily, in a process that began 10 months before Ms. Palin left office — when the news media first began requesting them — and continued under the direction of two former close aides who now work for her successor, including her chief of staff, Mike Nizich. And in some cases, the documents show Ms. Palin defending herself vigorously against attacks — something she has said her handlers on the McCain campaign kept her from doing. Perhaps the biggest scar on the governor’s tenure was the scandal known as Troopergate , which involved accusations that her administration improperly pressured the state’s top law enforcement official at the time, Walt Monegan, to fire a trooper, Mike Wooten, who had been in an ugly divorce with Ms. Palin’s sister. The governor later fired Mr. Monegan. Even as one investigation found fault with Ms. Palin’s action in the case, she repeatedly insisted publicly that she had done nothing wrong. The e-mails show that she was even more emphatic in private exchanges with her closest staff. “He can try to deflect from the reasons he was let go by blaming it on the Wooten issue, but he knows it’s not true and perhaps he doesn’t want a public discussion about his administrative skills being made public,” Ms. Palin wrote in July 2008 to several staff members from her Yahoo account. In another note, she added, “Help me get the truth out” about “Walt’s stirred-up controversy.” In still another e-mail, to her deputy press secretary, Ms. Palin attacked a string of what she said were false claims her former brother-in-law had made about her misusing a moose-hunting permit to deflect from her family’s accusations that he had illegally killed a moose. “Wooten has NEVER hunted with me,” Ms. Palin wrote, “and except for his illegal moose hunt in question he has never hunted moose or caribou with my family.” While e-mails like these might fuel critics who question her policy acumen, others show Ms. Palin clearly engaged in lawmaking. She paid close attention to the legislative progress of what had been the top item on her 2006 campaign agenda, a plan for developing a natural gas pipeline. “Even CP has admitted locking up tax rates for 30 years as Glenn suggests is unacceptable to the legislature, the Alaskan public, this administration and the Constitution,” she wrote, referring to the oil company Conoco Phillips. “They don’t even ask for a 30 year lock-up. He said that ‘the campaign’ didn’t have a problem with that fiscal certainty? Huh? And that he was the gas line consultant to the campaign? Huh?” Ms. Palin’s regular combativeness could come across as pointless or noble. When she learned that Ben Stevens, the son of former Senator Ted Stevens and a former state Senate president, was still the state’s national Republican committeeman, Ms. Palin decided to call for his resignation. Ben Stevens was embroiled in a corruption investigation and Ms. Palin had built her statewide reputation, and her successful campaign for governor, on challenging Republican leaders she said were corrupt. “It is time to call for Ben’s ouster from that position,” Ms. Palin wrote to Frank Bailey, a former close aide with whom she has since split. “A short comment on this is long overdue, and now that Ben’s been named as one who was bribed it’s irresponsible of me NOT to call for him to step down.” (Ben Stevens was not indicted.) Her fights could take her to odd places that even she sometimes found humorous. In March 2008, Ms. Palin seemed to enjoy telling Sharon Leighow, a press aide, that her office had received a “Security Report Reprimand” after her daughter Willow had sneaked their dog into the Capitol building . “It came from Cowdery!” Ms. Palin wrote, referring to Senator John Cowdery, a Republican from Anchorage who had been caught up in the same scandal as Ben Stevens. She used an abbreviation for the Corrupt Bastards Club, the nickname some lawmakers had given themselves. “Cowdery telling a kid what’s acceptable and what isn’t inside these four walls??? Puleeeze. A three-pound puppy vs. all the CBC crap that he helped dump around here?” Ms. Palin considered trying to use the episode to her political advantage by passing it on to an Anchorage gossip columnist, but she decided against doing so. “I don’t want to request the official report because according to it, Willow had a flippant response — like “So?” “That’s my girl!” she said, before adding, “Nah ... but I don’t want that part advertised.”

Palin Sarah
Alaska
Politics and Government
Electronic Mail


At Moscow Rally, Arrests and Violence

Abstract: MOSCOW — The police and antigovernment protesters clashed just outside the Kremlin walls on Sunday, adding the images of flying bottles, smoke bombs and thumping nightsticks to those of Vladimir V. Putin ’s third inauguration as president. Sunday’s demonstration, a day before the inauguration, drew at least 20,000 people, organizers and news outlets said. It began peacefully with a marching band and Muscovites waving placards lampooning Mr. Putin and his government. But the situation became chaotic when protesters tried to break through a column of riot police officers in an apparent effort to reach the Kremlin. Some participants said they had been prevented from entering Bolotnaya Square, the site that had been sanctioned by the authorities, creating a tight, tense bottleneck on a bridge over the Moscow River. Dozens of protesters sat down on the pavement, declaring it a sit-in. The result was a prolonged confrontation. The police in full riot gear charged into the crowd, dragging out people they suspected of pelting them with bottles and chunks of asphalt, and beating some brutally with nightsticks. On the other bank of the river, a large crowd cheered when protesters snatched helmets from officers and threw them into the water, and chanted, “Shame, shame, shame.” The police reported that 20 officers had been injured, many by stones, and 3 were hospitalized; it was not clear how many protesters were hurt. Among more than 400 protesters in custody on Sunday night were most of the event’s organizers, including the blogger Aleksei Navalny and the leftist leader Sergei Udaltsov, who both face 15-day sentences. For Mr. Putin’s supporters, the violence seemed to confirm suspicions that the anti-Putin protest movement that began in December is led by radicals and would-be revolutionaries. “You were warned that all your starry-eyed idealism would end in fanatical carnage,” Margarita Simonyan, the head of the Kremlin-backed channel, Russia Today, wrote on Twitter. “You didn’t believe this? Or are you just naïve? Or do you like it?” Mr. Putin’s press secretary, Dmitri S. Peskov, told the Interfax press service that he was impressed with the conduct of the police. “From my point of view, the police acted mildly — I would have liked them to act more harshly,” he told Dozhd, a Web-based news channel. “These are the same provocateurs that the authorities in Moscow are constantly warning about.” The clash came at a critical moment for Russia ’s protest movement, whose first gatherings knitted together a broad coalition of office workers, bloggers, nationalists and hipsters into a giant, peaceful crowd. Interest had seemed to ebb after Mr. Putin’s re-election, and some of those who attended on Sunday complained of a lack of direction or clear accomplishment. As the shock of the violent confrontation sank in, various political activists blamed radical elements for hijacking the energy of a newborn force. The anticorruption activist Yelena A. Panfilova wrote later Sunday night that the protest had two flanks — a “huge, beautiful mass of people” who simply wanted to protest, and another which “had a plan to demonstrate their strength, that they can do whatever they think was necessary.” “People were tricked,” she wrote in a blog posting. “They came, they wanted a protest, they painted posters, dressed up and wanted to hear their idols. And they got trapped there, running around, not understanding anything.” In the crowd, which surged forward and back with each thrust by the police, some were exhilarated by the confrontation, saying it offered stimulus to the movement. As a line of police pushed protesters back over the bridge, a man with a guitar began playing a song called “Homeland,” and everyone around him joined in singing. Anna Kocherova, 21, said it was a turning point that the protesters were no longer afraid to confront the police. “Our previous demonstrations made no difference, but this one will make a difference,” she said. “History shows that there are no revolutions without victims.” Several organizers of earlier protests had skipped Sunday’s event, arguing that it was time to direct public energy to other outlets, like running for municipal office or traveling to regions outside Moscow, where dark-horse candidates have a shot at winning elections. Sergei Parkhomenko, a journalist, took a family vacation in lieu of attending because of what he said was a lack of enthusiasm. “Insisting or forcing political life to return to the form it took in the winter — though that was very attractive, bright and emotional — is pointless,” he said. Kremlin forces on Sunday organized a parallel pro-government event, now a familiar response to substantive opposition displays. The police reported that 30,000 people attended the rally, held by Mr. Putin’s All-Russian People’s Front. Participants carried the flags of their employers, like “Russian Post” and “Russian Milk,” though when asked, they said groups of employees attended voluntarily. The authorities also appeared to have taken assertive measures to keep the numbers at the anti-Kremlin rally low. Opposition leaders complained that the police in several cities had detained activists planning to come to Moscow, at times removing them from trains. A spokesman for the military’s conscription office told the Interfax news service that all young men detained during the protest would be drafted. Opposition protests in several other Russian cities drew only thin crowds. In the Siberian town of Novosibirsk, only about 100 people gathered in a square just outside the city center. “Even in my own circle no one supports me in this,” said Tatyana Ozernaya, a 45-year-old corporate manager at the protests. “As long as people have a little money to buy sausage and grilled meat, no one will have time to go to protests.”

Moscow (Russia)
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Putin Vladimir V
Navalny Aleksei N
Udaltsov Sergei
Elections
Russia


A Win for Workers Even Before the London Olympics Begin

Abstract: LONDON — Enveloped in a warm, glimmering haze, the Olympic Stadium looks like a vast, silvery spaceship come to unlikely rest in the working-class East End. Our viewing platform is no less unlikely. I’m standing with Lina Jamoul , a community organizer, at the top of a giant new shopping mall. It feels as though someone in Santa Monica should file a claim for grand-theft mall. Brutal, despairing riots swept across the ancient working-class neighborhoods near here less than a year ago, and vast public dollars devoted to sport could appear grotesque. Except that Ms. Jamoul and her fellow thousands with the East London Communities Organization have turned these games into a triumph. In a few months, as tourists descend on these neighborhoods, every Briton working inside the Olympic perimeter, including tea fetchers and souvenir shop workers, will make wages worth about $4 an hour above this country’s minimum wage. It is the world’s first Living Wage Olympics. And after the games end, an Olympic corporation will produce housing, with perhaps 2,000 homes — 2,012 is what East London has in mind — set aside for working-class Londoners. None of this was a given. Were the negotiations with Olympic officials tense? Ms. Jamoul smiles. “They said they had obligations to their contractors.” She pauses. “We said what you have is a bureaucracy. That isn’t our problem.” We yap of globalization but often assume we live in sui generis worlds. What works here could not work there. But Britain and the United States , and London and New York, are worlds converging. Unemployment runs at near 9 percent; the term here is “redundant.” London, a 2010 book stated , was the world’s most unequal city, and New York was not far behind. The very wealthy pursue their Oxbridge degrees, their for-fee schools and gated societies. For a New Yorker to stand outside a white-washed town house in Notting Hill, and watch Eastern European nannies herd children to waiting Range Rovers, is to feel utter familiarity. The richest tenth of the population here, according to a professor at Sheffield University, has amassed 273 times the wealth of the bottom tenth. As a tart-tongued Guardian columnist put it last week, London feels in “ transition to a full-blown creep haven .” That’s well overdone. There is a more complicated beast that breathes beneath the gilded skin of this city, and our own for that matter. In New York, activists and the City Council recently cobbled together a proposal in which a few thousand workers would get a few more dollars an hour if they worked on certain tax -subsidized projects. East London shot off a more vibrant flare, thanks to fierce organizing and a mayor not so trapped by his own free-market assumptions as Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg is. A DECADE ago, when London began its Olympic bid, most residents of East London — a polyglot place of whites, Bangladeshis, Arabs and Africans — spoke of the games as a bloody headache . Years earlier, the government had sluiced millions in subsidies into Canary Wharf , a new financial district there. Officials promised jobs for local lads and lasses, but most of those became minimum-wage positions. Then Neil Jameson, an organizer with London Citizens , trained years ago in Brooklyn by the Industrial Areas Foundation , recalled thinking: “Hang on, everything is an organizing opportunity. What if we had construction training and living wages?” The group offered the Olympics a suffocating embrace. Nuns showed up on Oxford Street holding candles. Abdul Khaliq Durrant, a building cleaner, out-organized the banks and forced them to make contractors pay cleaners a living wage. Then Mr. Durrant looked to the Olympics. They held an Olympic “celebration” and invited the Olympic chief. “He said, ‘Oh, right, of course I’ll be at your “celebration,” ’ ” Mr. Jameson said. The meeting was, in fact, a trap, and the organizers extracted more concessions. You say wages are beyond your control, they said to the Olympic officials. Pity. Just make it happen. “It was,” Mr. Jameson said, “all very tense.” London Citizens, which is affiliated with the East London Communities Organization, is an organization that does not get hung up on ideology. The former Labor mayor was a supporter, as is the current Tory mayor. Just before the International Olympic Committee announced its decision, the community organizers gathered 100 East Londoners and trooped off to Trafalgar Square for the announcement. “We shouted louder than anyone when it happened, because it was our deal,” Ms. Jamoul said. “Democracy and politics really do work — if you’re organized.”

2012 Summer Olympics
Jobs
Living Wage
London
Wages and salaries


Spies? Perhaps. Bad Parents? The Evidence Says No.

Abstract: Among the 11 people arrested this week on suspicions of espionage were four couples, which brought much about their suburban lives into question — except, perhaps, for their parenting. By all accounts, the four sets of parents who are accused of being Russian spies raised seven children without fault. In Montclair, N.J., Kate Murphy, 11, and her sister Lisa, 7, rode matching blue bicycles and had water balloon fights on the streets. In Yonkers, Juan José Lázaro Jr., 17, practiced for his piano recitals in the family’s living room. In Arlington, Va., Patricia Mills and Michael Zottoli doted on their little boys. Tracey Foley and Donald Heathfield had a son in college and another at home in Cambridge, Mass. But with their parents in detention, the children face the trauma of separation, confusion over the true identities of their parents and the prospect of an uncertain future. Who will raise them while their parents are gone? It is a decision that the arrested couples will most likely make for them, even as they wait behind bars for a judgment of their own. Husband-and-wife arrests are not uncommon, but their crimes almost always involve some type of behavior that poses risks to a child, like domestic violence or drug use. The only case involving espionage that most people could remember was that of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, who were executed as Soviet spies in 1953, leaving their sons Robert and Michael, who were 6 and 10 at the time. The charges against the parents and three others arrested this week include money laundering, conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents. According to criminal complaints, the Russian government planted them as spies in the United States to collect information about nuclear weapons and other sensitive programs. Terri Braxton, vice president of the Child Welfare League of America , an umbrella organization based in Arlington, said that because abuse and neglect did not figure among the accusations, custody arrangements for the children would be made in much the same way as parents would make arrangements for child care before they left on a trip. “In general, the police will ask the parents if there’s a relative, a friend or a neighbor who might take the children, but it’s ultimately the parents who lead the way,” Ms. Braxton said. Foster care is an option only if no caregiver is found or if the courts place the children under a child welfare agency’s care. And while the agency can play a supportive role at times, it may not get involved at all. As of Wednesday, the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families had not been called to help place Ms. Foley and Mr. Heathfield’s son, who is 16. (Their other son is 20.) Alison Goodwin, a department spokeswoman, said that if there was no report of abuse or neglect, the agency would intervene only if the family asked for help. A lawyer for Ms. Foley, Robert S. Sinsheimer, did not return messages left at his office. In Virginia, the Arlington County Department of Human Services did a standard background check on friends whom Ms. Mills and Mr. Zottoli suggested as temporary guardians for their sons, who are 1 and 3. The agency’s director of social services, Valerie Cuffee, said that it continued to work with Ms. Mills to help place the boys under the care of relatives. “Our priority is the safety of the children, but we also want to make sure they are with people they know,” she said. It is unclear what happened to Juan, the pianist from Yonkers, or Kate and Lisa Murphy, the Montclair sisters who were last seen Sunday night carrying sleeping bags and leaving with a family friend. Officials in New York and New Jersey either did not know or refused to comment on their whereabouts, citing privacy laws. Lauren Kidd, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Children and Families, said that parents arrested for reasons other than neglect or abuse “maintain the right of making arrangements for the children.” In Cusco, Peru, the hometown of Juan’s mother, Vicky Peláez, relatives said they remained in the dark, unaware of who was caring for the boy. “Is he sad? Is he alone?” one of his aunts, Elvira Peláez Ocampo, said in a telephone interview. “We are desperate for news of his situation.”

Russian Espionage Ring (2010)
Espionage
Russia
Murphy Kate
Heathfield Donald
Pelaez Vicky


Journalists in Yemen Say They Are Being Attacked

Abstract: SANA, Yemen — Journalists covering the antigovernment movement in Yemen are reporting being attacked by supporters of President Ali Abdullah Saleh and in some cases by state security officers. The Yemeni Journalists Syndicate has been alerted to 53 cases of harassment in the last few weeks. Those included threatening phone calls and serious physical attacks. One Yemeni journalist, Mohammed al-Jaradi, said he was walking from the antigovernment demonstration at Sana University back to the office of the newspaper Al Ahali on Friday, when three men dressed in civilian clothes approached him. One grabbed him by the collar. Mr. Jaradi said he immediately knew why. “They asked me what I had been taking photos of,” Mr. Jaradi said. “They accused me of taking photos of women.” In Yemen, it is traditionally inappropriate to photograph women. “I said to them, ‘I am taking photos for the sake of freedom,’ ” he said. Mr. Jaradi said he was then beaten and thrown to the ground. One attacker took out a jambiya , a traditional dagger that is customary for Yemeni men to carry, and stabbed Mr. Jaradi in the arm. The attackers stole his jacket and shoes, but did not get his camera, which was in his pocket. Journalists in Yemen typically enjoy greater freedoms than those in most other Arab countries. Many independent news outlets freely criticize government policies, and some opposition members directly attack the president. But the government also has a history of preventing coverage of specific events, like its war with Houthi rebels in the northern Saada Province. Human Rights Watch , which issued a statement urging the authorities to stop these attacks, believes the government is trying to carry out this type of selective news blackout now. “Beating up journalists is a blatant attempt by the authorities to prevent the Yemeni people and the world from witnessing a critical moment in Yemen,” Sarah Leah Whitson, director of the group’s Middle East and North Africa division, said in a statement. Ashraf al-Raify, of the journalists’ syndicate’s committee for press freedom, said that before the current political unrest began, the Ministry of Interior would respond to claims of harassment by sending officers to investigate. But in recent weeks, he said, “nothing” has been done. “There has been an escalation in this crackdown campaign,” Mr. Raify said. While the opposition believes the government is paying the attackers, Yemeni officials deny any relationship with them. But protesters have filmed police officers giving out sticks to government supporters, who use them to attack protesters. Mr. Saleh has spoken out publicly against attacks on journalists, though that has not stopped them. “No one is above the law,” said a high-ranking government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the news media. “Whoever is attacking the journalists should be brought to justice and will be brought to justice. People have the right to express their opinions and write.” The official added that the attacks were “isolated incidents.” Nasser al-Dubaiby, the publisher of a local opposition weekly, Al-Hurrah, said he woke up Wednesday to find his living room in flames. He suspected arson because the electrical equipment in the room did not appear to be the cause of the fire. Mr. Dubaiby said that he remembered closing all the windows in the living room, but that one facing the street was open when he got up. If the fire was arson, the syndicate, which confirmed this episode, said it was the second case against a journalist’s home. Mr. Dubaiby said he had received phone calls threatening him if he did not stop publishing coverage of the protests. “They said, ‘Stop messing with us, or you will be punished. And what you write, it will not go unnoticed,’ ” he said. “O.K., set my car on fire, set the office of the newspaper on fire, but my house?” Mr. Dubaiby said, adding that he has continued covering the protests. The American Embassy in Sana said in a statement last week that it had “watched with concern recent infringements of press freedom in Yemen,” and it urged Mr. Saleh’s government “to demonstrate its respect for the role of independent media as stipulated by Yemen’s Constitution and laws.” Mr. Saleh is a strategic American ally who saw foreign aid to his country more than double to $300 million in 2010 after a failed attack on a Detroit-bound airplane by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula on Dec. 25, 2009. “Saleh talks on the television that journalists won’t come under attack, the next day he attacks them,” said Abdul-Rahman Barman, a Yemeni human rights lawyer. “He talks on the television that he won’t attack the protesters, the next day they are attacked. He only does what he wants.”

Middle East and North Africa Unrest (2010- )


Brown Is Taken to Hospital After Knicks' Loss in Cleveland

Abstract: CLEVELAND, April 13 - Knicks Coach Larry Brown was taken by stretcher to an area hospital late Thursday night after experiencing an undisclosed ailment during the game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Brown, 65, looked ashen as he was wheeled out of Quicken Loans Arena by emergency medical technicians at about 11:40 p.m. Brown was strapped to a gurney and had an oxygen tube attached to his nose. The Knicks did not provide any specific information about Brown's condition, but a spokesman said that his vital signs were stable. Brown, who had at least one heart test, believed to be an EKG, was expected to spend the night in the hospital for observation. Brown was examined for at least an hour by a Cavaliers team physician and accompanied to the hospital by a Knicks physician, Dr. Martin O'Malley. Neither doctor was available to reporters. The Knicks' director for player care, Dr. Lisa Callahan, spoke by telephone with the Cavaliers' physician and relayed the information to the Knicks' spokesman, Jonathan Supranowitz. Supranowitz, quoting Callahan, said that the decision to hospitalize Brown was made because "it came on so suddenly." Supranowitz had earlier described the ailment as an upset stomach. A statement from the Cavaliers said Brown had acid reflux. This is the second time in six weeks that Brown has checked into a hospital during a road trip. Brown had chest pains on a flight to Memphis from San Antonio on Feb. 27. Brown later played down that incident, saying, "I have an athletic heart and sometimes it gets crazy, beats crazy, but that's been my whole life." Brown's health has been a concern for more than a year. He missed 17 games during his last season with the Detroit Pistons after having a hip-replacement operation, which led to a bladder problem. He has talked about possible surgery to correct the bladder problem this summer. Brown left the bench Thursday night with 3 minutes 6 seconds left in the third quarter and the Knicks leading, 62-52. An assistant, Herb Williams, coached the rest of the game, which the Knicks lost, 91-87. For 45 minutes after the final buzzer, a parade of Knicks assistants and staff members, and Cavaliers General Manager Danny Ferry and Coach Mike Brown -- both of whom have worked under Brown -- visited Brown in a room down the hallway from the Knicks' locker room. At one point, Supranowitz emerged from the room and said that Brown told him, "I'm fine." Given Brown's health and his history, and his struggles to coach the Knicks this season, Thursday's incident raises the possibility that Brown could seek an early exit from a five-year deal worth $10 million a season. He has clashed with many of his players, including the star guard Stephon Marbury. Earlier in the day, the injured Marbury seemed eager to unload about the issues he has had this season, saying he would have much to say after the season ends Wednesday. "I told Jonathan to get the podium ready," Marbury, wearing a mischievous grin and nodding toward Supranowitz, said after the morning shoot-around. When asked to reflect on the Knicks' dismal season and his own tumultuous year, Marbury said it was not time yet. "We can talk about that the last day we get to speak. Don't worry, I'm going to answer all of y'all questions," Marbury said. Efforts to trade Marbury are certain to top the Knicks' off-season agenda because of his public feud with Brown. While Marbury did not specifically criticize Brown on Thursday, he repeated some of the sentiments that sparked their debate last month. Marbury has missed seven consecutive games because of a knee strain and has given no indication he will return. "I ain't never worried," Marbury said, referring to the possibility of a trade. "I'm going to be back in New York. I'm not going anywhere, I don't think. As far as I know. I don't see why I'd be anywhere else other than New York." Despite his assumption that he and Brown will spend another season together, Marbury said he saw no need to hash out their differences this summer. "I'm fine," he said. "I'm comfortable with myself and I'm content. Like I said, I came here willing and able, 100 percent committed to do whatever he wanted me to do. I did it, it didn't work, so I'm going to play like how I know how to play." That remark was an echo of Marbury's comment last month that he needed to go back to playing like "Starbury," his alter ego. Brown prefers his point guards to pass first and score when necessary. Marbury, a scoring guard for his entire career, has bristled at changing his style. But, he said, "There have been people who've played for a coach who didn't see things the same way, and it worked out. I don't see why it can't work out. But like I said, and I'm going to say it again: I played like Stephon Marbury this year, and next year I'm going to play like Starbury." Later, he sounded defiant about Brown's wishes. "Oh, he don't have to worry, I'm going to do everything that I did before he came here. I don't care what he wants to hear. I'm telling you what I'm going to do." If Marbury is still a Knick next fall, it could be as a shooting guard, a role he has coveted. "I don't know if I want him as a point guard," Brown said. "I want him as a basketball player." Brown and Marbury appeared in sync when the Knicks won six consecutive games to open 2006. Then Marbury injured his shoulder and the team went into a tailspin. By the time Marbury was healthy, the season was lost -- as was whatever unity Brown and Marbury had. "Believe me, this ain't going to be the same team," Brown said. "I think from Day 1, we've got to have a defensive mindset and we've gotta share the ball, we've gotta find people that'll do that, especially in the backcourt."

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
NEW YORK KNICKS
NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS
BROWN LARRY
COACHES AND MANAGERS
BASKETBALL


New Premier Is Appointed After Ouster in Cayman Islands

Abstract: The governor of the Cayman Islands on Wednesday appointed Juliana O’Connor-Connolly as the new premier of the British territory. The former premier, W. McKeeva Bush, was ousted Tuesday by the Legislative Assembly, a week after his arrest in a corruption investigation. Ms. O’Connor-Connolly , a former teacher and lawyer, became the first female minister of the Caymans in 1997, heading the Ministry of Community Affairs, Sports, Women, Youth and Culture.

Bush W McKeeva
Cayman Islands
O'Connor-Connolly Juliana


Eloping to Vegas? Why Not Lower Manhattan?

Abstract: Someone plopped an iPod into a docking station and strains of Vivaldi filled the room as the couple strode in — she in a white minidress and peep-toe shoes; he in black slacks, maroon shirt and an ivory rose clipped to his collar. “This place is really lavish,” said the bride, Jennifer Avila, 22, taking in the chandeliers, bronze counters and shiny marble columns. “It’s really romantic to me,” said the groom, Carlos Sanchez, 27. Those words were rarely used to describe the old Manhattan Marriage Bureau, a cramped space with cracked tile floors and plastic chairs in the Municipal Building across from City Hall. But, with revenues tight and tourist dollars desperately needed, the Bloomberg administration has created a 24,000-square-foot wedding palace, in the hope of increasing the number of couples who marry at the city clerk’s office. “We want to be the wedding destination of the world,” said First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris. And it’s not just the $25 wedding fee the city is selling. Forget the wedding band? No problem. The new bureau offers an elastic faux-diamond band for $9. No flowers? They are available as well — $4 to $7 for a single stem and $25 to $50 for a bridal bouquet. There is also hairspray ($4), disposable digital cameras ($16.25) and tissues, at $1.75 a pack, for the weepy types. The $12 million project, overseen by the designer Jamie Drake, who did Madonna’s Los Angeles home and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s Upper East Side town house, involved the renovation of an old Department of Motor Vehicles office up the street from City Hall. Mr. Drake created two separate wedding chapels off the building’s central rotunda. In the east chapel, the sofa and walls feature apricot and peach colors; the west chapel is done in purple and lavender. Each chapel has an abstract painting that matches the walls and hangs next to the lectern from where the clerk performs the ceremonies. Nearby bathrooms were turned into expansive dressing rooms, with full-length mirrors and long vanity counters lit by the soft hue of recessed wall fixtures. The city has even set up an oversize photograph of City Hall to be used as a backdrop for pictures. Bloomberg administration officials declined to estimate how much money the weddings would generate. But the city’s marketing agency, NYC & Company, has already struck a partnership with TheKnot.com , a Web-based wedding clearinghouse, to create travel packages that would include a ceremony at the bureau followed by a weekend in a hotel. “I have a warning for Las Vegas: You better watch out,” said Carley Roney, founder of TheKnot.com. “With these new digs, there might just be a new world wedding capital.” The city clerk’s office issued 66,600 marriage licenses in 2007 and performed about 40,000 weddings throughout the five boroughs, including 16,000 at the Manhattan Marriage Bureau, city statistics show. There were 106,000 licenses issued in 2007 in Clark County, Nev., which includes Las Vegas, according to the Nevada Wedding Association. And while the number of licenses issued in New York City increased by 4,000 between 2005 and 2007, it fell by about 20,000 in the Las Vegas area, according to statistics from both cities. Still, Las Vegas remains the country’s top wedding destination and weddings are the city’s second-biggest source of revenue, after gambling. “Weddings are a $72 billion business in this country,” Ms. Roney said. “And despite what’s going on in these tough economic times, the brides will go on” with their plans. Renovations on the New York project began in August 2006. Mr. Drake said the marble on the floor, walls and columns that line the main hallway are all original to the 1920s building, as are the Art Deco crown moldings, ornamentation and the bronze on the counters. All that had to be done, he said, was to clean, polish and restore them. But it is not simply an aesthetic upgrade. City officials are trying to overhaul the whole experience in the new space. Gone are the metal detectors and security guards who used to greet couples at the entrance to the Municipal Building, bellowing, “Put your cellphones on the tray! Take your coins out of your pockets!” The interminable lines — to apply for a marriage license, to pick up the license, to get on the chapel’s waiting list — will be condensed into one. A phone service will offer translations to 170 languages. And instead of written forms, couples can fill out computerized ones online or use the self-service kiosks right near the front door. Also, for the first time, the marriage license, which costs $35, and the fee to have the wedding performed there, $25, can be paid for by credit card — putting an end to the need for about-to-be-wed couples to dash out to the closest A.T.M. As for minuses, aside from the fact that the new bureau is a longer walk from the subway than the old one, they are hard to find. “This place is beautiful,” Najwa Bousaid, who works in the bureau, said from behind the bronze-and-stone counter. “I love the lighting. It’s so much better than the fluorescent lighting we have in the other place.” The new Marriage Bureau, on the ground floor at 141 Worth Street, will open to the public on Monday, but reporters were given a sneak peek on Wednesday morning. City officials chose Ms. Avila and Mr. Sanchez who are from Sunnyside, Queens, from among couples who applied for licenses last week to be the first to be married in the new bureau. That was in part because the couple wanted to marry fast: Mr. Sanchez, a former Marine who served in Iraq in 2005 and has since joined the Army, is leaving on Friday for training at Fort Knox, Ky. "We’re ready for whatever comes our way," Ms. Avila said. "We’re just happy we’re together."

Manhattan Marriage Bureau
Weddings and Engagements
New York City
Marriages
Restoration and Rehabilitation


Guard Families, on Their Own for the Holidays, Retrench

Abstract: ASBURY PARK THIS year, there are no Christmas decorations in front of the Wallses’ Teaneck home — no reindeer, no Frosty the Snowman, no gift basket, no lights. “That’s Gregg’s job,” said Iris Walls. And Gregg — Specialist Gregg Walls of the New Jersey National Guard, an accountant in civilian life — is in Iraq this Christmas. Cathy Jefferson of Prospect Park, the mother of five, and Nicole Lewis of Edgewater Park, the mother of four, don’t know each other, but each made the same decision about a Christmas tree this year. “We didn’t get a real one,” said Mrs. Lewis. “We got a fake!” shouted her son, Kenneth, 6. “It’s really fake.” Her husband, Specialist Kenneth Lewis — a transit worker at home — is in Iraq, and getting their usual real tree felt wrong, Mrs. Lewis said. “My husband is the one who makes a big deal out of picking it out and decorating it,” she said. “I just didn’t want to do it without him — too painful.” Mrs. Jefferson, whose husband, Cpl. Thomas Jefferson, a water purification specialist, is doing his second Iraq tour, agreed. “With Tommy not home,” she said, “a fake tree’s good enough.” Erin DeLuca-Knighton of Vernon, and her husband, Dane Knighton, a district manager for Radio Shack, normally put on a big Thanksgiving for their five children. “He’s always shouting out the turkey countdown,” said Mrs. DeLuca-Knighton. “ ‘Four more hours to turkey, three more hours...’ ” But with Staff Sergeant Knighton in Iraq, his wife decided to skip Thanksgiving this year. “We had plenty of invitations, it wasn’t that,” she said. “It just would not have been the same. I didn’t want to be reminded he wasn’t here. I took the kids to the movies and we ate movie food.” THIS is a hard month for the families of the 2,850 New Jersey National Guard men and women who are now halfway through their deployment in Iraq. “They leave a big hole,” said Adriana Roldan, mother of two small boys, whose husband, Sgt. John Roldan, is doing his second Iraq tour. Christmas Eve, the Roldans usually have 20 family members over to their basement apartment in Cliffside Park, and Mr. Roldan, the building superintendent, runs the show, standing by the tree and handing out gifts. “John makes a little speech for every gift,” Mrs. Roldan said. “He makes people try on their new clothes. Every time he gets a gift, he starts screaming.” For Christina Laclaire, 17, the hole in Christmas is her dad, Pvt. Joe Laclaire, a sewer department worker in Carneys Point, doing his first tour in Iraq. “Christmas morning, Dad comes into our rooms at 4 a.m., he turns on the light, he won’t leave us alone until we get up. He can’t wait for Christmas.” Corporal Jefferson is the star of his family’s Christmas. “Every present Tom opens,” said Mrs. Jefferson, “he makes a big: ‘Oooo-ahhh. Come on, you guys, oooo-ahhh.’ For breakfast, he always makes eggs Benedict, that’s his thing.” She’s unsure: Is it better to make eggs Benedict this Christmas, because that’s what Dad does? Or not make eggs Benedict, because that’s what Dad does? While the biggest overseas deployment of the New Jersey National Guard since World War II has caused plenty of strain for those left behind, it is also true that the military, the state, local charities and individual citizens have worked diligently to help these families make it through to June. Last weekend, the state and a nonprofit charity, Holiday Express, ran a big party here at the convention center attended by about 1,000 family members of deployed soldiers, complete with a live holiday show, face-painting for children, free food and gift bags, and an appearance by Gov. Jon S. Corzine , who thanked the families for their sacrifice. The state has set up family support centers for New Jersey’s 33 National Guard armories. Master Sgt. Minnie Hiller-Cousins, who runs the program at the Teaneck Armory — which has deployed more than 300 soldiers — crammed December with free events for the families: Dec. 6, a trip to a New York winery ; Dec. 7, two chartered buses taking families to the Asbury Park celebration; Dec. 13, a formal party at a catering hall; Dec. 18, a party during the monthly family support meeting; Dec. 20, a party for the armory’s Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops. “We try to keep them so busy,” said Sergeant Hiller-Cousins, who has a master’s degree in counseling. “Keep their minds off their worries.” Thanks to donations from the United Way , V.F.W., American Legion and the Rotary, she gave out 115 turkeys to Guard families at Thanksgiving, along with 300 boxes of stuffing. “We had seven people just walk in off the street and hand us turkeys,” she said. While polls indicate the public strongly opposes the war and the president who undertook it, Sergeant Hiller-Cousins said people have not taken those feelings out on the soldiers, as they did in the Vietnam era. “I see a lot of support for our troops and their families,” she said. Last week, while shopping in Teaneck for Christmas ornaments and Hanukkah menorahs to send to Iraq to decorate a mess hall there, she was stopped by several strangers at Walgreens and at the Amazing Savings who thanked her for serving. Busy traffic along Cedar Lane that did not stop for a reporter stopped for the sergeant in uniform. When the sergeant explained that the holiday decorations were going to Iraq, Walgreens gave her a 20 percent discount. “My future son-in-law has been in Iraq twice,” said the store manager, Mitra Mirzaaghasi, giving the sergeant a big hug. DESPITE so much well-meaning support, a lot of families live with a low-grade sadness that’s hard to shake. “I keep myself busy all day, so I don’t think of the loneliness,” said Mrs. Jefferson, who works as an assistant librarian, volunteers as adviser to the teenage group at the Teaneck Armory, and goes to every family-support program she can. “Staying around a lot of people, there’s less chance to get lonely, although I do.” Sergeant Hiller-Cousins isn’t sure if the new technology makes things better or worse for the families. “They talk to Iraq by computer, they see their soldiers’ faces on the screen,” she said, “but there’s an absence of the soul.” Mrs. Roldan worries that her younger son, Samuel, 14 months, thinks his father is a computer. “John’s missed most of Samuel’s life,” said Mrs. Roldan. “He started walking, John missed that. He’s talking, John missed that. If he hears a computer on, Samuel runs in the room and says, ‘Da-da.’ Samuel only knows him through Skype.” The underlying problem is not the least bit high tech: “You just miss their companionship,” said Peggy Giordano of Williamson, mother of four, married to First Sgt. John Giordano, who’s on his second Iraq tour. The deployed soldiers have left behind more than 1,400 children in New Jersey, turning hundreds of families into single-parent households for the year. Mrs. Jefferson has watched the grades of her two youngest, Jasmine, 14, and Thomas, 12, suddenly slip, and she believes it’s because of their dad’s absence. “I told someone it was because of the deployment,” recalled Mrs. Jefferson. “They said to me, ‘Your expectations are too high.’ Tom would never say that to me. He understands exactly.” Mrs. DeLuca-Knighton was being called to the middle school daily by her youngest, Chloe, 13. “She was forgetting everything,” said the mother. “Can you bring my homework? Can you bring my lacrosse stick? Can you bring a cough drop? Finally I said, ‘We can’t keep doing this, what’s going on?’ Chloe told me, ‘I’m afraid something is going to happen to you while Dad’s away.’ It was her way of checking up on me.” Even good news can make them feel isolated. Mrs. Walls’s older child, Gabriella, 6, came home with a great report card recently. “Who do I share this with?” she said. “I tried calling Gregg. He texts me back about one thing at a time.” “I put the kids down for bed at 9,” said Mrs. Walls, a real estate agent. “I think I’ll stay up, but I don’t have the energy. I don’t have the desire. I just go to sleep. It’s lonely, lonely, lonely.” THEY make it work anyhow. When Mrs. Jefferson said goodbye to her husband last summer, she swore she would not have Christmas this year. “I don’t want Christmas without my husband,” she said. “We’ve never celebrated without Tom.” But now that it’s December, the Jeffersons are having Christmas. “I decided I was being selfish,” she said. “The kids want it. I’ll do it, somehow.” After her husband left for Iraq, Mrs. DeLuca-Knighton had a life-size photo foam board of him made and she takes it to all the family activities — Emma’s volleyball, Zach’s cross-country, the holiday party in Asbury Park. “Zach was embarrassed at first,” she said. “He kept saying, that’s not Daddy, it’s just cardboard, but I think he’s O.K. about it now.” They take photos of the fake daddy at each activity, then post it on MySpace so their actual sergeant daddy in Iraq can see what they’re up to. “She brings it to all my games, it’s kind of embarrassing,” said Zach, 16. “but I guess it’s cool, too.” The first week of December Mrs. Roldan and her older son, Brandon, 5, went Christmas shopping. Brandon picked out a Christmas stocking filled with candy and a stuffed reindeer that sings “Merry Christmas” for his dad. Together, the mother and son packed a box as big as Brandon, then mailed it to Iraq on Dec. 5. Via computer, Sergeant Roldan explained to Brandon that Santa Claus spends a lot of time in Iraq and they’ve come to know each other quite well. So Brandon told his father what he wanted for Christmas, and Sergeant Roldan told Santa, and Santa used a laptop at Camp Bucca to shop for Brandon online. Mrs. Roldan is determined to give Brandon his regular Christmas. The night before, they will bake chocolate chip cookies for Santa, and since they don’t have a chimney, they open the window in Brandon’s room so Santa can get in. Brandon is allowed to spend the night in his parents’ bed, and once he’s asleep, Mrs. Roldan will go into the hallway storage closet, get the presents, and put them in Brandon’s bedroom. Usually, he is up by 6, and races to his room to open his presents, then the family spends the day in their pajamas playing with the new toys. But this year, the plan is for Sergeant Roldan to be on Skype when Brandon wakes and the boy will open his presents in front of the computer. LAST fall, after Pvt. Jonathan Gordon, 21, of Hackettstown, left for Iraq, his 18-year-old wife, Adrianna, moved in with his mother, Denise Gordon, taking Jonathan’s old bedroom. The mother was living alone and welcomed the company. On Dec. 4, the two women got an early Christmas present — Private Gordon came home on a two-week leave. He was one of the lucky ones; few New Jersey Guard members have been given leaves so far, and not everyone is expected to get one during the year in Iraq. Adrianna met him at Newark Liberty International Airport on a Thursday, and the next day they put up a Christmas tree. They’ve been visiting with family and friends, shopping and are planning to go into Rockefeller Center to ice skate. Private Gordon was excited to see snow again. This weekend his mother is planning to have Thanksgiving for him, and before he leaves on Dec. 20, they’ll do Christmas. “I can’t stop talking to him,” said the mother. While he was in Iraq, his mother and wife cleaned out several bags of junk from his bedroom including what appeared to be a year-old, half-eaten doughnut. (Private Gordon was known as a serious slob in civilian life.) Then his wife painted the room, put up shelves and redid the electrical fixtures. “The room is very nice, compared to how it was,” he said. “Unbelievable, actually.” He’s been away only six months, but it has taught him not to take things like his bedroom for granted. “You can actually lie in your bed here and feel safe and actually sleep and not worry,” said Private Gordon.

New Jersey
National Guard
Christmas
Family