Comet Data Clears Up Debate on Earth’s Water

Abstract: One of the first scientific findings to emerge from close-up study of a comet has all but settled a question that planetary scientists have debated for decades. The new finding, from the European Space Agency’s mission to the little duck-shaped comet called 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, appears to eliminate the possibility that the water in Earth ’s oceans came from melted comets. Water vapor streaming off the comet contains a higher fraction of “heavy hydrogen” than the water on Earth does, scientists reported on Wednesday. “That now probably rules out” comets as the primary source of terrestrial water, said Kathrin Altwegg, a scientist at the University of Bern in Switzerland and the principal investigator for the Rosetta instrument that made the measurements. With comets unlikely, most astronomers now think Earth’s water came from asteroids. The new findings , published in the journal Science, came after Rosetta arrived at Comet 67P in August, close enough for the instrument to begin detailed analysis of the molecules coming off the comet. Earlier, the same instrument discovered that the comet exuded the scents of formaldehyde and rotten eggs. “It’s a nice start to this phase of the mission,” Matt Taylor, the project scientist, said of the water findings. With Earth’s water a puzzle, scientists had long presumed that the planet was dry when it formed 4.5 billion years ago, and that the water came later, perhaps during the “late heavy bombardment” period more than 3.8 billion years ago. Comets, often called dirty snowballs, seemed a likely candidate. Comets originate from two places in the solar system: the Kuiper belt, a ring of icy debris just beyond the orbit of Neptune; and the Oort cloud, a spherical shell of frozen detritus much farther out. Asteroids are rocky bodies in the inner solar system, mostly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter . But comets’ water turned out to be different from Earth’s. A few water molecules have a heavier version of hydrogen called deuterium that replaces one of the two hydrogen atoms, forming what is known as heavy water. On Earth, about one in 6,000 water molecules contains deuterium. Oort cloud comets, it turns out, have twice the concentration of heavy water found in Earth water. Thus, when the Rosetta spacecraft was launched in 2004, most planetary scientists had already crossed comets off the list of possibilities. Landing on a Comet, 317 Million Miles From Home The Rosetta spacecraft’s Philae lander is attempting to land on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. But in 2011, a team using the Herschel Space Observatory, an infrared telescope operated by the European Space Agency, took a look at water vapor from the comet Hartley 2 and found that its deuterium signal perfectly matched Earth’s water. That opened the possibility that Earth’s water could have come from Kuiper belt comets or those even closer, like Hartley 2, whose orbit does not go much farther out than Jupiter’s. “A lot of people thought that meant comets were back in play,” said Conel Alexander, a scientist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington. The new measurements of 67P, another Jupiter-family comet, appear to rule out comets again. Its fraction of heavy water is three times that of Earth, higher than those of the Oort cloud comets. “Ten years ago I would not have been surprised at all by this result, because that’s what I expected,” Dr. Altwegg said. “But then three years ago we got this Hartley 2 measurement, and that was a real big surprise. Now we’re back to what I actually expected.” Much of the solar system’s water, including up to half of Earth’s, appears to predate the solar system, formed within expanses of interstellar space billions of years ago. The sun, like the universe over all, has very low levels of deuterium, about one-tenth as much as what is found in Earth’s water. However, under certain conditions — cold temperatures along with radiation that knocks electrons from hydrogen — chemical reactions create water molecules with a much higher fraction of deuterium. In a paper published in Science in September , scientists led by L. Ilsedore Cleeves, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, found that these conditions did not exist in the early solar system, so the high-deuterium water must have been present in the cloud of matter that collapsed to form the solar system. While the outer solar system was cold enough, the radiation was lacking. “Our paper showed that the outer part of the disk cannot be an engine for creating the deuterium fingerprint,” said Edwin A. Bergin, a professor of astronomy at Michigan who was another of the paper’s authors. Recent studies on meteorites — pieces of asteroids that fell to Earth — paint a very different history of water. Scientists had thought the newborn Earth was dry, because it formed within the solar system’s “snow line,” where the temperatures are too warm for water ice to exist in the vacuum of space. In 2012, Dr. Alexander of the Carnegie Institution and his colleagues published a Science paper finding that some types of meteorites, in particular a class of primitive ones that formed beyond the snow line, have deuterium levels similar to Earth’s. In October, in another Science paper , researchers found that meteorites that originated from the large asteroid Vesta, which is believed to have formed inside of the snow line, also possess Earthlike deuterium levels. These scientists believe that ice-rich asteroids from outside the snow line were pushed inward and were among the pieces that combined to form Vesta and Earth hundreds of millions of years before the late heavy bombardment. In other words, Earth may have been wet from almost the beginning.

Water
Comet
Earth
European Space Agency
Science Journal
Asteroid
Space
Solar System
Kathrin Altwegg


Professor-Turned-Pope Leads a Seminar on Evolution

Abstract: ROME, Sept. 1 — They meet every year, the eminent German professor and his old doctoral students, for a weekend of high-minded talk on a chosen topic. For years it was nothing more than that. But now the professor, once called Joseph Ratzinger, has become Pope Benedict XVI. And this year, for three days beginning Friday, the topic on the table is evolution, an issue perched on the ever more contentious front between science and belief. And so the questions rise as the meeting unfolds at a papal palace just outside Rome. Is this merely another yearly seminar? Or is the leader of the world’s billion Roman Catholics signaling that he may join in earnest the emotional debate over evolution, intelligent design and all that might mean for politics and faith, especially in the United States? There is no way to know immediately, though many church experts believe that the pope has fewer problems with the science of evolution than with its use to wipe God more cleanly from a secular world. No document will be published afterward, no news conference given. But the seminar comes after a year particularly fraught over the issue of evolution, in America — with the fight over intelligent design — and in the church. Last year a leading cardinal, who will speak at the meeting, expressed doubts that Darwinism and Catholicism were compatible, and the pope declared the creation of the universe an “intelligent project.” And so scientists and believers from around the world, on all sides of an extraordinarily charged debate, are watching the meeting carefully. Proponents of intelligent design, defeated in a high-profile court case last year in Pennsylvania, say they are pleased that their ideas, which posit that life is so complex that it requires an active creator, may get a fair hearing in the lofty circles of Professor Ratzinger’s seminars. “I think this is indicative of an opening and expansion of the discussion, the discussion over Darwinism and evolution generally,” said Bruce Chapman, president of the Discovery Institute, one of the main proponents of intelligent design. “It’s very helpful to our desire to see an expanded dialogue in many quarters.” On the other side, scientists and theologians who support evolution say they worry that, even inadvertently, the church may be driving a wedge between itself and science. “If for some reason the Catholic Church gets on the wrong side of the science, then it’s going to in the long term do huge damage, just as it did when they went against Galileo,” said Lawrence M. Krauss, chairman of the physics department at Case Western Reserve University and a highly visible opponent of intelligent design. “It threatened their credibility.” “Because like it or not,” he added, “evolution happened.” The meeting opened Friday morning at Castel Gandolfo, a papal palace that stands as a sort of symbol for the church’s coexistence with science. Castel Gandolfo houses a world-class observatory — with a telescope that Pope John Paul II enjoyed looking through — built a century after the church acknowledged its mistake in condemning Galileo for his postulation that planets revolve around the sun. Similarly, the church has moved from neutrality to something like acceptance of evolutionary theory, though drawing a thick bottom line that God is the ultimate creator. In 1996, Pope John Paul declared evolution “more than a hypothesis,” and in 2004 as Cardinal Ratzinger, Pope Benedict endorsed the scientific view that the earth is roughly four billion years old and that species changed through evolution. Indeed, there has been no credible scientific challenge to the idea that evolution, the foundation of modern biology, explains the diversity of life on earth. Given that history, scientists and church experts say they cannot imagine the study session ending with any alignment of the pope or the church with intelligent design or American-style creationism, which often posits that Earth is only about 6,000 years old. “I suspect they will try to avoid it,” said the Rev. Joseph Fessio, an American priest and former student of the pope’s, who is taking part in the meeting, “because intelligent design has been represented either as a religion, which it is not, or as a science, which I think is indefensible.” But Father Fessio and others say the pope, based on his statements and writings, remains deeply concerned specifically about the contention among some supporters of modern evolution that the theory refutes any role of God in creation. “Given this ideology, the temptation or danger is real to say that you don’t have any need of God, that the spirit doesn’t exist,” said Msgr. Fiorenzo Facchini, an Italian priest and paleoanthropologist. “And the church should keep guard against this and denounce it.” Monsignor Facchini wrote an influential article this year in the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, praising as “correct” the decision in January by a judge in Pennsylvania that intelligent design should not be taught as a scientific alternative to evolution. Nonetheless he cautioned that the mechanisms of evolution are not all known — and that just as religion has no business in science, science should not overstep its bounds in declaring that God could have no role in creation. That is a similar line of thinking presented over many years by Benedict, whose main preoccupation is growing secularism, and it is likely to be a central part of the discussions this weekend. In his book “Truth and Tolerance” (Ignatius Press, 2004), written when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, he wrote of what he called an effort to turn evolution into a “universal philosophy” that explained all of life. “This evolutionary ethic that inevitably takes as its key concept the model of selectivity, that is, the struggle for survival, the victory of the fittest, successful adaptation, has little comfort to offer,” he wrote. “Even when people try to make it more attractive in various ways, it ultimately remains a bloodthirsty ethic.” After John Paul died in April 2005, Benedict signaled a similar concern in his homily at the Mass in which he was formally installed as pope. “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution,” he said. “Each of us is the result of a thought of God. Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” But some students of the pope say his doubts go deeper into the science of evolutionary theory. In his writings he has echoed the questions of anti-Darwinians about how evolution can transform one species into another. The pope “does not accept at face value the scientific theory,” said Dominique Tassot, director of the French group, the Center for Studies and Prospectives on Science. “He wants to make people reconsider the question.” As might be expected from a German professor, all sides of the evolution question will get a hearing, though with an emphasis on skepticism. The seminar on Friday reportedly began with a presentation by Peter Schuster, an eminent molecular biologist, president of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and a defender of evolution. There will be three other speakers to the study group, most notably Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, who sparked a contentious debate last year after he wrote an Op-Ed article for The New York Times questioning evolution. The article was submitted by the same public relations firm used by the Discovery Institute. The two other speakers are Professor Robert Spaemann, a German philosopher who has criticized evolution as a full philosophical theory; and the Rev. Paul Elbrich, a Jesuit priest and scientist whose work on proteins questions whether chance alone could play the decisive role in evolution. The pope’s annual seminars do not shy away from difficult topics. Last year the issue under discussion was Islam.

Roman Catholic Church
Evolution
Creationism and Intelligent Design
Benedict XVI
Popes
Christians and Christianity
Science and Technology


Few Nibbles for Brian Cashman as He Goes Fishing for Reinforcements

Abstract: TAMPA, Fla. — General Manager Brian Cashman sat in the team’s dugout Monday morning with his broken leg perched on the bench, discussing his desire to entice first baseman Derrek Lee out of retirement to help save the Yankees from their numerous injuries. Cashman said he called Lee and asked him to join the Yankees, and he said that Lee was intrigued, but had not said yes. Cashman was not optimistic that Lee would take the team up on its offer, so he revealed a contingency plan: to lure the Atlanta Braves longtime third baseman Chipper Jones out of retirement. That had even less chance of working, and there was almost no shot of getting Scott Rolen, another corner infielder Cashman had inquired about. But Cashman finally got a player to say yes Monday when he signed Ben Francisco only hours after Francisco had been released by the Cleveland Indians. This time, Cashman pounced before the player had a chance to retire. Francisco was signed to a minor league deal and is expected to play Wednesday, joining Matt Diaz and Juan Rivera in the competition for the outfield spot vacated — at least for April — by Curtis Granderson. Image Brett Gardner went 1 for 3 against the Cardinals on Monday. Credit Matt Slocum/Associated Press Unlike some of the other players Cashman has contemplated signing, Francisco, 31, is relatively young. He is a career .257 hitter with a .326 on-base percentage and a modest .751 on-base plus slugging percentage. In six years with five teams, he amassed 49 home runs and 104 doubles. Last year, he played for Toronto, Houston and Tampa Bay but hit just .240 with four homers in 82 games. But such is the state of the undermanned Yankees, who have resorted to rather unusual measures to address the losses of Granderson and Mark Teixeira, both of whom have sustained arm injuries. The corner infield situation is even more vexing because the choices are so limited. That was why Cashman called Lee, an excellent first baseman and strong hitter, but one who has not played since 2011. He sent an S.O.S. to Jones. He also spoke with the agents for Rolen, another unsigned third baseman, and Aubrey Huff. Cashman may be able to get someone off the scrap heap to play first or third, the way he did with Francisco for the outfield. But his search for aging retirees underscores the dearth of options. Image Ichiro Suzuki also went 1 for 3 against the Cardinals. Credit Kathy Willens/Associated Press “I would say it’s more a case of us being creative,” Cashman said. Cashman was certainly creative in his pursuit of Lee, who did not rule out the possibility of joining the Yankees, and is, as Cashman said, “a Yankee-type player.” Cashman was also creative in his method of communicating with Jones. Because he did not have a phone number for B B Abbott, the agent for Jones, Cashman told three reporters that they could disseminate his desire to sign Jones in the hope that Jones would get the message. “Get it out there,” Cashman said. “I would sign him in a heartbeat. He can play third base, first base, D.H. He would be perfect.” It worked, but only to a degree. The news was reported through Twitter, and within minutes, Cashman had an answer. Unfortunately, it was the one he expected: Jones, who retired after last season, is not playing anymore, Abbott said. “He is very flattered, and if there were ever a team he would consider, it would be the Yankees,” he said. “There were times in his career where he considered joining the Yankees, but the Braves never let him get to free agency.” Image Derek Jeter was 0 for 2 but said he would test his surgically repaired ankle at shortstop on Wednesday. Credit Kathy Willens/Associated Press When Derek Jeter heard that Cashman had asked about Jones, he wondered if he had also called Mike Schmidt. One corner infielder who was wearing a Yankees uniform Monday and did provide some reassurance was the versatile Kevin Youkilis, who hit a long home run in the Yankees’ 4-0 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was Youkilis’s second hit of the spring, in 13 at-bats. But he lends versatility to Cashman’s search with his ability to play first or third. On Monday, Youkilis was at first while Ronnier Mustelier, the minor leaguer from Cuba, played third. Cashman said that if Mustelier could show that he is adept at third base, where he played much of the time in Cuba, then he has a chance to be the solution until Teixeira returns. INSIDE PITCH Derek Jeter went hitless in two at-bats in Monday’s game, his second of the spring and second as the designated hitter. The Yankees plan to play him at shortstop on Wednesday. ... Phil Hughes threw 26 pitches in the bullpen and said he had no problems with his back and that he felt recovered from a bulging disk.

Baseball
Yankees
Brian Cashman
Derrek Lee
Chipper Jones
Scott Rolen


Yankees Find They Can’t Bear the Market

Abstract: NASHVILLE — In most years, the Yankees are the team that wreaks havoc on the free-agent marketplace and makes it difficult for other teams to fill openings on their rosters. But in a surprising twist this off-season, the Yankees — fearful of luxury tax penalties in 2014 — are seeing the market price them out of the most attractive free agents, causing them to set priorities as they try to fill their many needs. “I’m not optimistic on the catching side that this market via trade or free agency is going to produce something that I can feel comfortable with,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “To be honest, if you’re watching what we’re trying to do, you need to focus on the outfield and the left side of the infield. That’s where your priorities should be, because that’s where mine are.” On Tuesday, the day after the announcement that third baseman Alex Rodriguez would probably miss about half the season recovering from hip surgery, Cashman said he was flooded with calls from agents and teams offering players. Most of the offers were unappealing, Cashman said, but he realized there may come a point where he might have to consider them because the market is not full of good options. Cashman accepted the possibility that he might have to sign a left-handed starting outfielder even though it would mean the team would then field an all left-handed starting outfield. “Beggars can’t be choosers,” Cashman said. The notion that the Yankees have turned into beggars seems inconceivable, and there is reason to be wary of such talk of budget limitations, which the Yankees have invoked in the past but rarely followed through on. Although Cashman said he preferred not to give out expensive or long-term contracts for an outfielder or a third baseman, he had not ruled out one or both of those options. Cashman admitted that he has spoken with representatives of third baseman Kevin Youkilis and catcher A. J. Pierzynski , the two best free agents on the market at their positions. Both would require at least a sizable one-year contract or a lesser multiyear deal. At this point, it does not appear the Yankees are near a deal with either of them There is also the chance that the Yankees will trade center fielder Curtis Granderson, who will be a free agent after the 2013 season, for a younger, less expensive player to fill one of the three holes in the lineup, then use the $13 million Granderson was scheduled to make to spend on the other two needs. San Diego Padres third baseman Chase Headley has been mentioned in trade speculation, and in years past, he would have been exactly the type of player the Yankees would pursue. Headley had an .875 on-base plus slugging percentage last season while leading the National League with 115 runs batted in. But one Padres official said the Yankees had not inquired about his availability. “They know it is a nonstarter,” the Padres official said. Still, the Yankees are almost certain to acquire a player at third base. Manager Joe Girardi, as Cashman did Monday, dismissed the notion that Eduardo Nunez, 25, could replace Rodriguez. “We really don’t have anyone that has a lot of experience in that position,” Girardi said. “We don’t really have a lot of internal people.” Girardi said he hoped the Yankees could acquire a third baseman who could be a starter the whole season in case Rodriguez was limited to designated hitter duties or simply did not recover quickly. The free-agent infielder Jeff Keppinger could be an attractive option because he can play multiple positions. But Keppinger will not be available to begin any conditioning until January because he recently had surgery to repair a broken fibula he sustained in an accident at home. It is likely that he will be ready by spring training. As they assess their options, the Yankees concede that a third-base platoon is possible. “It may not necessarily be one person,” Girardi said. “We’re not sure exactly how we’re going to do it.” However they do it, the Yankees are likely to do it inexpensively.

Baseball
New York Yankees
Free Agents (Sports)
Cashman Brian


In Bensonhurst, Aleksy II Is Remembered as a Uniter

Abstract: At about 1 a.m. Friday, the Very Rev. Boris Oparin, an assistant priest in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, started receiving a barrage of phone calls from friends and relatives in Moscow, alerting him that Aleksy II, the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church , had died. In those early morning hours, between the incessant calls, the priest reflected on his two conversations with the patriarch and began to gather his thoughts for a radio message that he would deliver over a local Russian radio station to thousands of Russian Orthodox practitioners in the New York City area. “There is no tragedy or big sorrow because he was such, such a patriarch,” Father Oparin said, before offering a service Friday night at the Holy New Martyrs and Confessors Russian Orthodox Church in Bensonhurst. “In this temporary life, nothing lasts forever, and he did such things that they cannot be measured.” One of his accomplishments, according to those in the church, was helping bridge a divide among the Russian Orthodox adherents that started in 1927 when Patriarch Sergius I, the leader of the church in Moscow, declared loyalty to the Bolshevik state. Aleksy II assumed leadership of the church in 1990, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union, and during his tenure he worked to strengthen the influence of the church in everyday life in Russia . Under his leadership, an agreement was signed last year that reunified the Moscow church with the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. He built new churches and restored old ones decimated under Communist rule. Although church attendance has remained low, a growing number of Russians identify themselves as Russian Orthodox. Father Oparin is a representative of the Moscow church on loan to the Bensonhurst church, one of the three main Russian Orthodox parishes in New York City. A panihida, or memorial service, was held Saturday morning at the Bensonhurst church, a small, modest frame building on 18th Avenue near 86th Street. About 30 parishioners, including more than a dozen children participating in classes in the church’s basement, attended the service. Melodic chants from a choir in the balcony filled the rectangular hall. Candles flickered throughout the sanctuary next to framed images of saints, their colors long subdued by the smoke from incense. One of those who attended the service, Snezhana Pavlova, a medical insurance specialist who lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, said Aleksy II helped bring Russians throughout the world closer to the church. “His message was that he would call everyone to church to have God inside,” she said. “He was uniting us all the time. This way, we’re going to be stronger.” While there is a large population of Russians in New York who consider themselves Russian Orthodox, church officials said that many of them do not attend church regularly. Indeed, some of those at Saturday’s memorial said that they go to church only to celebrate religious holidays, like Christmas and Easter. Not far away from the church, at the Saint Petersburg Trade House, a book, video and music emporium on 86th Street, Anton Fedorov sold Russian newspapers dated two or three days ago, which, of course, had no news of the death of the patriarch. “To be honest, for me it’s not a huge personal tragedy,” said Mr. Fedorov, 26, who was raised in Moscow and came to the United States eight years ago to be with his family. While religion was not part of his education as a child, he still identified with the Russian Orthodox faith. During school breaks, he said, he often visited his grandmother in the countryside and attended church with her. “I really loved it. It was a really cool and calm place, and I loved the design of Russian churches,” he said. “This is the faith of my parents, of my grandma and grandpa, and I just follow in their steps.”

Christians and Christianity
Russian Orthodox Church
Aleksy II
Brooklyn (NYC)
Religion and Churches
Russia


An Aggressive Slide Again Bruises the Giants

Abstract: ST. LOUIS — The San Francisco Giants do not need to be reminded of the consequences of aggressive base running. It probably cost them a chance to repeat as World Series champions last season, and now imperils their hopes of winning the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In May 2011, the Giants lost their star catcher, Buster Posey, for the remainder of the season after he tore ankle ligaments and broke his fibula in a violent collision at the plate. On Monday, in the first inning of a 7-1 Giants victory that evened the N.L.C.S., second baseman Marco Scutaro’s left hip and knee absorbed a crushing blow from the Cardinals’ Matt Holliday, who broke up a double play. “We saw what happened with Buster last year,” Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday at Busch Stadium. “That was as tough a deal as we and Buster had to go through. It’s a long rehab, and he’s bounced back and just had an incredible year. You just hope when the guys are playing hard, it’s within the rules.” Bochy said he still believed Holliday’s slide was illegal, because Scutaro was behind second base and Holliday did not start his slide until he was beyond the bag. A magnetic resonance imaging test revealed a left hip strain and contusion, and Scutaro’s knee was sore. Bochy said he was hopeful Scutaro could play Game 3 on Wednesday afternoon, and that Ryan Theriot would replace him if he could not. Scutaro seems likely to play. An hour after Bochy said Scutaro would not participate in the team workout, Scutaro came out with a bat and a glove, sprinting and taking batting practice. He would clearly like to pick up where he left off in San Francisco. “Today feels much better,” he said. “I plan to be there tomorrow.” Scutaro stayed in after Holliday’s slide and cleared the bases with a single in the fourth inning, aided by Holliday’s error in left field. As the game wore on, he said, he felt discomfort moving side to side in the field and asked to be replaced in the sixth inning. After the game, Holliday told reporters he was concerned about Scutaro and that he should have started his slide sooner. He called the Giants’ trainer to check on Scutaro’s condition, and while Scutaro joked about fighting Holliday when he sees him — “He’s only 6-4, 250, no big deal” — he absolved him of blame. “He’s a great guy,” Scutaro said. “I don’t think he tried to hurt me. Just trying to play a little harder, and he slid a little late, that’s all.” Holliday has a solid reputation in the game, and his admission took some of the edge off the issue. The Cardinals did not hold a formal workout Tuesday, and Holliday was not available to reporters, but Manager Mike Matheny defended him. “We play this game with intensity, we play this game with passion, and if we didn’t, I wouldn’t expect anybody to show up or watch,” said Matheny, a former catcher whose career ended prematurely because of postconcussion syndrome. He added, “What I see is a guy who I’ve never seen one act of trying to hurt anybody, and I would never believe that’s what he was trying to do.” Scutaro has been a force for the Giants, hitting .362 after a trade from Colorado in July. He started at third base for Pablo Sandoval before settling in at second, essentially filling the offensive void left by Melky Cabrera, who was hitting .346 when he was suspended in August for failing a drug test. An 11-year veteran of six teams, Scutaro has quickly become popular among the Giants. “He’s been really, really big for us, and he’s a great clubhouse guy,” starter Matt Cain said. “Guys really gravitate to him.” Cain will start Game 3 against Kyle Lohse; Bochy has not named his starters for Games 4 and 5. Presumably, Tim Lincecum will start Game 4 if he is not needed Wednesday, but both teams have leaned heavily on their bullpens this postseason. The Giants have had 331/3 innings from their starters, compared with 302/3 from their relievers. The Cardinals’ relievers have actually collected one more out than the starters this postseason, following a pattern from last October, when the bullpen worked more than the rotation in an N.L.C.S. victory over Milwaukee. Lohse has not been part of the problem. In two starts, including the wild-card game in Atlanta, he has pitched 122/3 innings, allowing just three earned runs. He has not faced the Giants this season and said he would focus on keeping the bases empty for Posey, who is hitting just .185 this postseason but is easily the most dangerous Giants hitter. Cain said he would follow his usual game plan against the Cardinals, without concern that an errant inside pitch to Holliday could be misinterpreted by umpires as retaliation for the slide. Scutaro got the best revenge with his hit Monday, and he had a suggestion for how the pitchers could defend his honor the rest of the series. “Yeah,” Scutaro said. “I want them to throw a nine-inning shutout, and we win.”

San Francisco Giants
Baseball
Playoff Games
Scutaro Marco
Posey Buster


A Great TV Series Set in Texas? Sorry, You’re Canceled

Abstract: It was supposed to be a watershed season for television production in Texas. While the Austin-based NBC drama “Friday Night Lights” was wrapping production on its final season, four new series set in the Lone Star State got network green lights, including three whose productions would be based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Flash forward a couple of months, though, and those series began falling like dominoes: Fox’s well-reviewed con-man drama “Lone Star” had its premiere in September, drew embarrassing ratings and was canceled after two episodes. A week later, ABC dropped the ax on “My Generation,” also after two episodes. And although Fox allowed another series, the tepidly received cops and robbers comedy “The Good Guys,” to finish its 20-episode run in December, it was not renewed. The last domino standing is the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced crime drama “Chase” on NBC, which returned Wednesday after a six-week hiatus. Considering its new, unenviable time slot opposite “American Idol” and “Modern Family,” few expect it to hang around much longer. “There’s no question there’s a sense of disappointment,” said Don Stokes, president of the Texas Motion Picture Alliance, which works to bolster film production. “These shows generated a huge amount of work for Texans and vendors within the state.” The economic impact of a network series is considerable. Mr. Stokes said a single episode was estimated to inject upward of a million dollars into a local economy. Multiply that figure by 20 (the average number of episodes in a full season of a network series) and then multiply that by 4 (the number of series that if “Chase” is also canceled will not have made it), and you’re looking at a potential loss of close to $100 million in Texas. Paradoxically, the television failures come at a time when feature film production, mainstream and independent, is flourishing in the state. The Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” which was shot in several small towns outside Austin (as well as in New Mexico), is considered a front-runner in this year’s Oscar race. “Benavides Born,” a drama shot in Austin and throughout South Texas, had its premiere Saturday at the Sundance Film Festival . In May, the director Terrence Malick will finally unveil “The Tree of Life,” a long-awaited film starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn that was shot in and around Austin in 2008 and 2009. Yet while feature films are often seen as more prestigious, television shows bring in more money and can keep locals employed for years, as was the case with “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which ran for eight seasons on CBS from 1993 to 2001. “I think Texas productions are well regarded for getting things done on an economical budget, and that’s the reputation we’re going to build on moving forward,” said Evan E. Fitzmaurice, the interim director of the Texas Film Commission, the government body that works to entice producers to film here. After arguing for many years that Texas was losing money and jobs to neighboring states, the film commission and the Motion Picture Alliance succeeded in persuading the State Legislature to pass a more inviting incentive package in 2007. Productions are now rewarded with substantial rebates and tax discounts provided that they spend at least $250,000 here and that at least 70 percent of the cast and crew is composed of Texans. But with financing up for review in an austere legislative session, and with hopes for the watershed year dashed, the fear is that some state lawmakers may turn off the tap. Mr. Fitzmaurice is quick to bat away such concerns. He points to a pilot for Lifetime Television called “Meet Jane,” which recently completed production in Austin, as evidence of the continuing health of Texas-based TV production. (The network has not announced whether the pilot will be picked up for a full-season run.) “Some things work out. Some things don’t,” Mr. Fitzmaurice said. “The hope is that we can keep enough things in the mix and that something will hit.” As for why none of this season’s shows struck a chord with audiences, even the experts seem a little puzzled. “ ‘Lone Star’ was probably the best-reviewed show of the fall season, but it just arrived D.O.A.,” said Ed Bark, a former critic for The Dallas Morning News who now blogs about television at unclebarky.com . “It didn’t matter if it was filmed in Dallas or Alaska. For whatever reason, it didn’t resonate.” Yet Mr. Bark wonders if there might be a larger perception problem at play. After all, the one thing that “The Good Guys,” “Chase,” “My Generation” and “Lone Star” have in common is that they all offer a relatively modern vision of Texas, mostly free of the rural hicks and slimy oil barons of “Walker, Texas Ranger” or “Dallas.” Could it be that even as the state attracts forward-looking productions, the rest of the country still looks upon Texas in antiquated terms? “When they think of shows filmed in Texas, they usually don’t think that’s going to be a smart, intelligent, upscale drama,” Mr. Bark said. “There’s sort of a built-in subtraction of I.Q. points when people think Texas.”

Texas
Television
National Broadcasting Co


Racers Recall Life of Dick Trickle

Abstract: CONCORD, N.C. — Dick Trickle had a name that was so easy to mock that anchors on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” made him famous by mentioning him regularly during the network’s auto racing reports in the 1990s. If that playful teasing ever overshadowed what he accomplished as a short-track racer in the Midwest and as a mentor to some of Nascar’s best, it never diminished Trickle’s impact on the sport. But now Trickle has become a mystery to those who knew and admired him. He died on Thursday at age 71 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Lincoln County, N.C., sheriff’s office. Trickle’s body was found next to his truck, which was parked at a cemetery in Boger City, N.C., where his granddaughter is buried. Officials said he had apparently called the Lincoln County Communications Center and said that there would be a dead body and it would be his. Trickle’s family released a statement through a funeral home on Friday that read, in part: “He had been suffering for some time with severe chronic pain, had seen many doctors, none of which could find the source of his pain. His family as well as all those who knew him find his death very hard to accept, and though we will hurt from losing him for some time, he’s no longer suffering and we take comfort knowing he’s with his very special angel.” As Nascar drivers and crew members prepared for the annual Sprint All-Star Race on Saturday night at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Trickle was on the minds of many. “I knew Dick a long time,” said Jimmy Fennig, a former driver from Trickle’s home state of Wisconsin and now the crew chief for Carl Edwards, who paid tribute to Trickle during his pole-winning performance Friday. “I used to race against him in upper Wisconsin, you know,” Fennig said. “Dick was a racer’s racer.” Fennig, who won a Cup title with Kurt Busch in 2004, was Trickle’s crew chief when he was the rookie of the year in what was then the Winston Cup in 1989. Fennig recalled the first race of Trickle’s rookie season, when he showed up at North Carolina Speedway in Rockingham wearing cowboy boots for racing shoes. “I told him, ‘Dick, you ain’t gonna make it in cowboy boots,’ ” Fennig said. “We had a set of Simpson shoes there. Halfway through the race, he calls on the radio and says, ‘Where are them shoes?’ ” Image Dick Trickle, in his car before a Nascar race, died at age 71 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Credit Bill Hall/Getty Images Trickle competed in 303 Cup races from 1970 to 2002 — he ran a few races over the years before his official rookie season — and did not retire from Cup competition until he was 60. Although he never won at the premier Nascar level, he will always be remembered as a virtually unbeatable short-track driver from the Midwest. “You remembered every race you raced against Trickle,” said Butch Fedewa, 73, a longtime racer from Lansing, Mich., who now works for a parts company that supplies Nascar race teams. “Back in that time, we all drank a lot after the race, partied, and he was at the head of the pack. Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and a cigarette — after the races, you couldn’t catch him without either one.” In fact, Trickle was known to smoke during races — he kept a cigarette lighter bracketed inside the car. He smoked the competition, too. “We raced different back then,” Fedewa said. “When we raced, we raced absolutely to win. It wasn’t like it is now: ‘Geez, I can get fifth. That’s good. I’m happy.’ No, you were there to win, and he was very strong-willed, and he wanted to win and did a lot of the time.” There is not a complete record of all of his victories, but Trickle once estimated he won 1,200 races in his career. “The legend of Dick Trickle was established long, long, long, long before he ever came south to run the Cup stuff,” said Kyle Petty, who raced against Trickle for years in Nascar. “He was the Richard Petty, the A. J. Foyt, the Mario Andretti of the Midwest tracks. “It’s like saying Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty taught people here how to be Cup drivers. He taught people how to be short-track drivers.” Among those he mentored over the years were Rusty and Kenny Wallace, Alan Kulwicki and Mark Martin. Kenny Wallace was among the drivers who maintained a relationship with Trickle long after his driving career ‘ended. He said he last talked to Trickle in January. “Listen, it’s a really sad deal for me,” Wallace said. “I’m tore up over it. I’m crushed. “I want everybody to know what a great man he was. People only know about everybody making fun of his name on ESPN. But he was an incredibly awesome man.”


Deflation a Determined Foe in Japan

Abstract: TOKYO — The war against deflation in Japan will start with a battle for the pocketbooks of recession-hardened consumers like Kumiko Kuramochi. The Liberal Democratic Party, which stormed to an election victory Sunday, hopes to convince Ms. Kuramochi and other Japanese that an aggressive monetary policy is going to cause inflation. The message: Buy now before prices start rising. The problem, though, is that a bargain-hunting psychology is so entrenched in Japan — after two decades of stop-start economic growth, 15 years of falling wages and nearly 15 years of deflation — that the government will struggle to convince people that their incomes will improve enough for them to buy more expensive goods. Ms. Kuramochi, 38, is typical. With two small children in tow, she was shopping for bargains in eastern Tokyo before the election. Worried that her husband’s salary as a pipe layer could be cut next year, she is pulling back on spending. “I bought winter coats for myself and one of my kids during a sale, because we try to limit how much we spend,” Ms. Kuramochi said. “I’m worried about the finances. Money is tight, and I don’t expect my husband’s income to get better next year, because the economy isn’t doing well.” The problem of how to reverse Japan’s long-running deflation has become the defining economic issue for Shinzo Abe , leader of the Liberal Democratic Party. Mr. Abe has vowed to end the era of falling prices and slumping demand in Japan, which is in its fourth recession since 2000, through “unlimited” bond purchases by the Bank of Japan. The argument is that that will create inflation expectations, which will translate into consumption and, in turn, greater economic growth. Classical economics would argue that consumers should welcome deflation, because it increases their purchasing power, and that people hunt for bargains in earnest only when they worry that prices will rise. But in Japan’s case, data show that purchasing power has been falling faster than prices. Average earnings in Japan have fallen 12.2 percent since the 1997 fiscal year, while a core measure of consumer prices — excluding food and energy — has fallen 6.8 percent. In addition, consumers have spent so many years worrying about incomes and job security that finding ways to spend less has become a habit. “Our finances will improve next year when my wife goes back to work, but we still plan to buy the cheapest goods we can find,” said Yuichi Kawakami, 43, a freelance graphic designer. “I worry about prices, because the economy isn’t doing well. We also need to save for expenses down the road.” Mr. Kawakami, who was playing with his 1-year-old daughter in a coffee shop, said he and his wife used the Web site Shufoo to compare prices at supermarkets in their neighborhood to find the cheapest goods. Japanese daytime television regularly celebrates the bargain hunter: the young housewife who compares prices at three different supermarkets before she buys; the salarymen and office ladies who line up to buy a ¥300, or $3.58, bento box lunch; the retiree who worries that the pension system will collapse. Retailers play their part, discounting constantly to lure customers. That has partly been made possible because the strong yen — which has risen close to 50 percent against the dollar in the last 20 years — has made many imports cheaper. The result is that shoppers are always looking for a bargain and will chase down the cheapest price they can find. Ito-Yokado, where Ms. Kuramochi had been shopping, made a big splash with shoppers this month by slashing prices on some goods as much as 40 percent. It sells fresh food, daily necessities, cosmetics, furniture and clothes. Some economists support Mr. Abe’s argument that the central bank needs to ease monetary policy more aggressively to help end deflation. However, many other economists say Japan needs to make structural changes to its economy by shifting employment to services from manufacturing, encouraging more employment of women and getting families to have more children to stop the population from shrinking. Data from the Bank of Japan underline the uphill task confronting Mr. Abe. In September, 62 percent of people in the central bank’s quarterly household survey said they expected prices to rise a median 3 percent over the following year. But 94 percent expected their wages to remain the same or fall, and 96 percent expected to maintain their spending levels or cut them. The survey has shown the same underlying trend for nearly 20 years. Concerns over higher prices for energy and food could explain the inflation expectations, but the survey does not ask about specific goods, a Bank of Japan official said. What the survey does show is that households plan to spend less when they expect incomes to stagnate, which has a direct and negative effect on the economy, said the official, who was not authorized to speak to the news media and so asked not to be identified. Discretionary spending remains under intense pressure. An annual survey by Shinsei Bank compiled in September showed that the average monthly spending money available to a Japanese salaryman was down to its lowest level in 30 years in 2011. The pressure to discount has created a prisoner’s dilemma for Japanese retailers. Restaurant chains and retailers would prefer to sell their goods without discounts, but there is little reason to trust that rivals will not try to cut prices first to poach customers. That logic ignites price wars. Yoshinoya Holdings, which oversees a popular fast-food chain, cut the price of gyudon, or stewed beef over rice, at a few new stores it opened. A company spokesman said the price cut, to ¥250 a bowl from the usual price of ¥380, had been an “experiment.” Weeks later, a rival chain cut its prices to ¥250 to match Yoshinoya’s. “Companies realize that cutting prices is a war of attrition, and we see signs that companies want to get out of this pattern,” said Toshihiro Nagahama, chief economist at Dai-Ichi Life Research Institute. “Expectations for falling wages have become entrenched. However, if they think wages will rise, then people will react logically and spend more.”


Debt Fears Slink Back in European Markets

Abstract: When the European Union stepped in this spring with a €750 billion rescue package to back Europe’s weaker economies, the threat of imminent default practically disappeared. Little of the money has actually been spent, but borrowing costs fell and pressure on the banks that hold much of Europe’s sovereign debt eased. So where, then, have the bond buyers gone? As Europe’s long summer vacation nears its end, investors appear reluctant to take on additional debt from "peripheral" economies like Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece, economists and analysts say. As a result, spreads — the difference in yields on bonds deemed safe and those with greater risk — are widening. Funds are gravitating to safer German bunds as well as French and British bonds, where the economic outlook is clearer. At the same time, recent news reports — like the downgrade of Ireland’s credit rating Wednesday and evidence of renewed intervention in bond markets by the European Central Bank this month — have added to unease about the ability of countries like Spain and Greece to manage their debts over the long run. "The specter of default is still there for some countries, it has just been displaced to later on," said David Marsh, chairman of the financial advisory firm SCCO International. "The safety net has to be tested." This net is a complex set of state-backed structures, including the European Financial Stability Facility, set up in Luxembourg inresponse to the Greek budget crisis this year, which could provide up to €440 billion, or $506 billion, in support. For investors, these official mechanisms do not seem to have removed the risk of holding bonds in the affected countries, partly because of high price volatility and partly because there is uncertainty about how long the backing will be in place. The German government wants the Luxembourg fund to lend only at punitive rates, partly because Berlin is worried that Germany’s own top-flight debt rating might be compromised, while troubled borrowers like Ireland and Spain want to avoid at all costs the stigma of borrowing from their neighbors, Mr. Marsh added. Underlying this is a skepticism about whether politicians, notably in Paris and Berlin, have the will to enact the changes to the structure of the euro zone — either by moving toward fiscal harmonization or a multispeed project — that would be needed to avoid a repetition of this year’s political and economic crisis. As a result, many investors are only willing to re-enter the market for these assets gingerly, and the rates they require to hold the bonds of the affected countries have climbed back, in some cases close to the highs seen in May. For example, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Irish bond peaked at 5.865 percent in May before falling. It has since drifted back up and was at 5.478 percent Wednesday. Meanwhile, some investors fear that a number of countries, having pledged deep spending cuts and revenue-raising steps, may struggle to fulfill their promises, facing pressure from frustrated voters and angry unions. "Austerity is key and it’s probably only in the third or fourth quarter that you will be able to start assessing how the programs are going," said Theo Phanos, co-founder of Trafalgar Asset Managers in London. "Beyond that, it probably won’t be until 2011 when you have an idea of how far governments are able to maintain reasonable growth alongside austerity." In particular, there are worries over the tricky political and social battle in Madrid to implement the spending and pension cuts presented in the spring by the Socialist government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who lacks a parliamentary majority. Discussions about changing the pension system are continuing between the government and companies on one side and the unions, which have called a general strike for the end of September. Demonstrations against pension changes in France are also planned next month. Reports last week that quoted the Spanish finance minister, Elena Salgado, as saying that Spain would spend at least €500 million more than initially planned on infrastructure next year brought concerns about how fast that country would be able to lower its deficit. Antonio Garcia Pascual, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London, said that Madrid needed additional fiscal consolidation measures to reach its goal of reducing the budget deficit to 6 percent of gross domestic product for 2011 and 3 percent in 2013. The government’s growth projections of 1.3 percent in 2011, 2.5 percent in 2012 and 2.7 percent in 2013 are far too optimistic, he said. The government "would need to complement the current austerity measures with further cuts in current government spending and investment, as well as with a further increase in VAT rates and excises," he wrote in a research note. And as Spain restructures its troubled savings banks, many of these lenders remain reliant on the E.C.B. for financing. More broadly, recent data showed that the E.C.B. bought €338 million in euro-zone government bonds during one week of August, a relatively small amount but well above the €10 million bought during the previous week. There has also been a string of negative reports from Ireland, where the bill for recapitalizing its tattered banking sector keeps rising, weakening the government’s fiscal flexibility. On Wednesday, Standard & Poor’s cut Ireland’s sovereign rating by a notch to AA-, still a high investment grade, from AA, with a negative outlook. The agency, worried by the protracted and expensive bailout of the banks, raised its estimate of the total cost of the rescue to ¤90 billion, equivalent to 58 percent of G.D.P., from ¤80 billion last year. The recent announcement of new capital injection into Anglo Irish Bank suggests that Ireland’s net government debt will rise toward 113 percent of G.D.P. in 2012, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said. Analysts are wondering what Ireland is going to do about a government guarantee on the debt of its six biggest financial institutions — one that expires Sept. 28. There are also doubts about Lisbon’s ability to push through rigorous spending cuts. The budget deficit in the first six months of the year was ¤500 million higher than a year earlier. The jump largely reflected increased social security spending, caused by higher unemployment, which offset higher weighed down better receipts from value-added and corporate taxes. "Even though figures are likely to improve in the months ahead: the target announced in May, i.e. reducing the deficit to a ratio of 7.3 percent is still a long way off," said a report from the Commerzbank economists Ralph Solveen and Jörg Krämer. "While reaching the target remains possible, it has become more difficult." Data on receipts from Italy, Greece and Spain have been more positive. "Italy and Spain look like they are ahead in their austerity plans but will that mean they under-deliver in 2011?" asked David Schnautz, an interest rate strategist in London for Commerzbank. He said the recent trend in bond yields — low in the core of Europe, high on the periphery — was partly a "flight to quality" into German bunds. But the decline in German yields had "caught many investors off guard" as the negative Irish reports were filtering out and as unexpectedly robust second-quarter growth numbers from Germany raised the likelihood of a two-speed recovery in the euro area. Mr. Phanos, of Trafalgar said, "Sovereign debt’s a buyer’s market." He added, "And natural buyers will tend to hold back and see if yields go a bit higher. It is, of course, not in the interest of issuers."

Europe
Credit and Debt
Economic Conditions and Trends


2 Suicide Bombers Strike at Shiite Processions in Pakistan

Abstract: LAHORE, Pakistan — A teenage boy blew himself up on Tuesday evening while trying to break through heavy security for a Shiite procession here, killing at least 10 people and wounding 79, the police said. A second bomber struck a similar procession in the southern port city of Karachi shortly afterward, killing at least two more people, The Associated Press reported. The Shiites were marking the end of a 40-day mourning period for the martyred Imam Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. In Lahore, the attacker was 14 to 16 years old, the police said, and was carrying a handbag that he said held CDs. When he tried to enter the procession and was about to be searched, he detonated his explosives, said Rao Sardar, the operational chief of the Lahore police. A branch of the Pakistani Taliban, the Qari Hussain Mehsud group, claimed responsibility, according to Geo, a Pakistani television channel. The procession was to end near the tomb of a revered figure, where a number of suicide bomb attacks had occurred in the last year. One man, Hashmat Khan, said he had been standing outside his house with family members, watching the procession, when the blast occurred. “We ran towards the spot and saw dead bodies lying on the road,” he said. With no immediate help from emergency workers, he said, they took many of the injured and dead by rickshaw to a nearby hospital. In Karachi, The A.P. reported, the suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and carrying his explosives in a bag, said a senior police official, Shaukat Shah. The bomber detonated them near a police van protecting the Shiite marchers, the news agency quoted a witness, Akbar Jaffry, as saying.


In Ad Wars, Democrats Shy From Ties to Own Party

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Representative Mark Schauer of Michigan does not dwell on the legislation he has voted for during his first term in Congress, which includes the Democratic stimulus plan and health insurance overhaul. But he reminds his constituents what he has fought against, declaring, “I must ask myself 10 times a day, what is Washington thinking?” Representative Glenn Nye of Virginia does not mention in his television advertisements that he is a Democrat. But he expresses a deep worry about the national debt, saying, “I stood up to my party leaders and voted no.” Representative Suzanne M. Kosmas of Florida looks straight into the camera during her latest commercial and declares, “People in this district are mad, and I’m mad, too.” The advertisements from these three vulnerable Democrats offer a window into the party’s strategy to try to keep control of the House in November at a moment when Republicans and their allies are substantially outspending Democrats and their backers. Two years after arriving in Washington on a message of hope and change, Democratic candidates are not extolling their party’s accomplishments, but rather distancing themselves from their party’s agenda. The midterm elections may revolve around a series of big issues, particularly with control of Congress at stake. But a look at the advertising themes and images being employed by Democrats shows all the ways they are trying to personalize their contests and avoid being defined as ideological partners of President Obama ’s or as part of the Washington establishment. In the last six weeks, Republicans have outspent Democrats $20 million to $13 million in television advertising, according to an analysis by The New York Times of 56 of the nation’s most competitive House and Senate races. The Republican advantage includes $9 million in spending from outside groups, compared with $3 million from left-leaning interests. The disparity in spending, particularly from third-party groups, is the central reason Mr. Obama has agreed to step up his fund-raising efforts for the party in the coming weeks, aides said, and why Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking leading donors to dig deeper. The images of Mr. Obama and Ms. Pelosi appear with more frequency than those of any other political figures — but nearly always in Republican advertisements. They have been mentioned so many times that in their advertising some Democrats have started calling out their Republican rivals, including Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri , who is running for the Senate. “Congressman Roy Blunt seems to think he’s running for the Senate against Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi,” says Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate, standing in the middle of a cow lot on her farm. “Hey Roy, you’re running against me!” For all the evolutions in technology, with voters able to gather information instantly about candidates from an ever-widening array of sources, television advertising remains the most central ingredient of political races. Many candidates say they are buying more spots than in previous election cycles, hoping to break through to viewers who often tune out the first few times they come across a commercial. The voices of politicians, along with soothing-sounding narrators talking about the economic stimulus, federal spending and bank bailouts, resonate from television sets throughout the morning, afternoon and evening. In the last six weeks alone, Republicans broadcast 45,100 commercials and Democrats broadcast 38,400 in the competitive races included in the Times analysis of advertising data collected by the independent Campaign Media Analysis Group. “The political response to a fragmented media world is to talk louder and longer,” said Evan L. Tracey, president of the group, which monitors political advertising. “This will be the most negative election we’ve probably ever seen, because everyone is trying to tap into voters on an emotional level and no one is looking to entertain right now.” Many of the most serious and stark messages come in advertisements sponsored by Americans for Prosperity , an advocacy group financed in large part by David Koch, who invests millions of dollars on behalf of conservative causes. The group has focused on a handful of races, spending $1.5 million in seven competitive House seats in the last six weeks, leaving the Democratic candidates under fire at all hours of the day on television. “To small businesses, Betsy Markey is the same as Nancy Pelosi,” a man says in one of the advertisements, referring to Representative Betsy Markey, Democrat of Colorado . For a one-week stretch in August, the group ran $40,000 worth of commercials every day against her. In Florida, Marco Rubio , the Republican candidate for the Senate, has spent $1.1 million over the last six weeks on advertisements that are largely positive and biographical, telling the story about how he is a first-generation American of Cuban heritage. Yet in the closing moments of his spots, he says he is worried about his children’s future. “As the son of exiles, I understand what it means to lose your country,” Mr. Rubio says. “I approve this message because we can’t afford to bankrupt ours.” Senator Harry Reid of Nevada barely appears in many of his commercials. In one of his latest, he said nothing about his time as majority leader, but instead talked about milk. A dairy owner offered a testimonial that Mr. Reid “really came through for us.” A review of hundreds of advertisements broadcast over the last six weeks found that Republicans were more than twice as likely to talk about jobs, often criticizing Democrats as not creating them. Republicans also mentioned health care far more than Democrats did. And when Democrats do bring up the issue, 38 percent of the commercials are critical of the new law. “I’ve said no to more government spending, no to President Obama’s big health care plan and no to Wall Street bailouts,” Representative Walt Minnick, Democrat of Idaho , said in a solemn voice, sitting on the front steps of a house in jeans and shirtsleeves, looking as if he is worlds away from Washington. The themes on display in the advertising campaigns reflect months of polling and focus groups by candidates in both parties. Democrats were twice as likely to mention financial regulation or Wall Street, according to the analysis, while Republicans mentioned the budget or government spending nearly twice as often as Democrats. With Democrats holding a 39-seat majority in the House and Republicans 10 seats short of a Senate majority, there are more Republican candidates introducing themselves as outsiders, without the need to defend their voting records in Washington. But for the few seats where Democrats are aggressively trying to knock off a Republican incumbent, the spending argument has also been deployed. A Democratic candidate in Nebraska ’s Second District, Tom White, is urging voters to consider that Representative Lee Terry, a Republican, is to blame for the size of the debt. “Every day, every child in America grows deep and deeper in debt, thanks to Washington politicians like Lee Terry,” said the advertisement sponsored by Mr. White, who does not mention that he is a Democrat, branding himself “Nebraska Independence for Congress.” With early voting beginning in several states in a few weeks and with Election Day less than two months away, some of the most vulnerable Democratic candidates have turned to another approach: pleading for a second chance. “I’ve made my share of mistakes, but they were honest mistakes, and I’ve listened to your concerns and I’ve grown on the job,” said Gov. Chet Culver of Iowa , wearing a solemn expression that gives way to a slight smile. “I hope you give us the chance.”

Campaign advertising
Democrats
Election
US Politics


L.S.U. Fires Les Miles After Failure Most Programs Would Love to Experience

Abstract: Les Miles, Louisiana State’s always eccentric, sometimes frustrating and never boring football coach, was fired four games into his 12th season, the university announced Sunday. Miles, 62, was as much a mascot of L.S.U. football as Mike the Tiger. His most famous quirk was tearing up a handful of grass from Tiger Stadium’s turf and eating it. But he was also wildly successful, with an overall record of 114-34, five top-10 finishes, two national championship game appearances and, after the 2007 season, one national title. But Miles’s teams, which were always made up of many of the country’s best players according to national recruiting rankings, were seen as disappointments, particularly over the past two seasons, when the Tigers finished 8-5 and 9-3. And one of the country’s most fanatical fan bases grew antsy as Alabama and Auburn, two division rivals, won a combined five national titles since L.S.U. last won one. The final straw apparently came Saturday at Auburn. L.S.U., which entered the game 2-1 and ranked 18th, trailed by 18-13 as the final seconds ticked away, and appeared to score a thrilling go-ahead touchdown on the game’s final play. But an official review revealed that the ball had been snapped after the clock expired, negating the score, handing Auburn the victory and dropping L.S.U. to 2-2. L.S.U. said in a statement that Miles and the offensive coordinator Cam Cameron had been fired, and that the defensive line coach Ed Orgeron had been offered the job of interim coach. The news was first reported by The Advocate of Baton Rouge. Miles’s buyout, for a contract that had been set to pay him at least $4.3 million per year through 2019, could be as high as $12.9 million, USA Today reported last year. In virtually any context, even a relative down period like the one that L.S.U. is undergoing, would be seen as tolerable. Miles’s teams have won nine games or more in nine seasons despite playing in college football’s most competitive division, the Southeastern Conference West (all of whose seven head coaches make at least $4 million a year), at a time when that division was dominated by Alabama’s unparalleled dynasty. But L.S.U. is not virtually any context. As the only major-conference team in one of the country’s most recruiting-rich states, the Tigers are primed for excellence. And the Tigers’ fan base, known for delicious tailgates followed by intense game-time cheers, demands it. Miles has been skating on thin ice for a while. After the 2014 season, L.S.U. was unranked. Last year, an undefeated start for the team and a front-running Heisman Trophy campaign for running back Leonard Fournette both skidded to a halt in a November loss to Alabama that began a three-game losing streak. Before last year’s regular-season finale, at home against Texas A&M, Miles essentially said goodbye at a gathering of L.S.U. boosters, according to reports. But Miles kept his job a little longer by winning that game against A&M, and then winning the Texas Bowl, and claiming several victories on the recruiting trail, where L.S.U. netted the third-highest-rated recruiting class in the country. Alabama and its head coach, Nick Saban, have set an unmatchable standard for Miles, with four national titles in the past seven seasons (and a current No. 1 ranking). It was Saban who led L.S.U. to its first national title in decades, after the 2003 season, and who recruited several of the stars of the 2007 team that won it for Miles. Dating from the national title game after the 2011 season, in which the Crimson Tide shut out the Tigers, 21-0, at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, Saban has won the last five meetings with Miles. Miles’s firing — the high cost it will require, the intolerance for what seems like sustained success it evinces — is further evidence that at its highest level college football is indistinguishable from the N.F.L. in its eagerness to try out new coaches in the quest for ultimate success. The expansion of college football’s playoffs, the continued rise in media-rights deals and the existence of entire cable networks devoted to single leagues — such as the ESPN-owned SEC Network, which began two years ago — has upped the ante for athletic directors, giving them more money to play with but also raising expectations for a return on investment. To that end, the Tigers will probably hunt for a brand-name, expensive coach. Leading candidates are likely to include Tom Herman, who has Houston ranked sixth over all in his second season, and Jimbo Fisher, Florida State’s coach.

College football
Coaches
Louisiana State University
Les Miles
Nick Saban


Mice Deaths Are Setback in Gene Test

Abstract: A large number of mice died unexpectedly in a test of a new technique for inactivating genes that has been widely proclaimed a breakthrough, scientists are reporting today. The finding could give rise to new caution about the technique, called RNA interference, which is already widely used in laboratory experiments and is starting to be tested in people as a means of treating diseases by silencing the genes that cause them. But Dr. Mark A. Kay and colleagues at the Stanford University School of Medicine report today in the journal Nature that the technique, also called RNAi for short, caused liver poisoning and death in mice. "It's a very striking result — all of the fatalities observed and the toxicity, which was unexpected," said Timothy W. Nilsen, director of the center for RNA molecular biology at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. "It's really a note of concern for rapid therapeutic development of RNAi." But Phillip Zamore, an RNAi expert at the University of Massachusetts, said the Stanford scientists had used a variation of the technique that was "no longer state of the art" and required a very high dose. The tests already conducted in people involve a different technique and lower doses, said Dr. Zamore, who is a co-founder of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, a company in Cambridge, Mass., that is developing drugs using RNAi. Dr. Kay himself said he thought the findings were "not a showstopper by any means" for the field. "It's like any drug," he said. "The toxicity depends on the dose." RNA is the chemical cousin of DNA , which encodes hereditary instructions in genes. RNA was once thought to be a mere messenger in the cell. But in a rush of discoveries over the last few years, scientists have found that RNA plays a more active role in controlling gene activity. They have found that cells make tiny snippets of RNA, called microRNA, that silence particular genes. And they have learned how to harness that natural mechanism to turn off any gene of their choosing by inserting the proper piece of RNA into cells. But Dr. Kay said his experiment showed that if too much interfering RNA was put into a cell, it could overtax the cell's ability to process its own microRNA. "The good news about RNAi is that it uses the cell's machinery to do its work, and that is why it's so effective," Dr. Kay said. "The bad news about RNAi is that it uses the cell's machinery to do its work. If you overload the system, you hijack the machinery from performing its normal duties." Dr. Kay and his team, led by a postdoctoral researcher, Dirk Grimm, wanted to cure mice of hepatitis B, not to kill them. They induced RNA interference in the mice's liver cells, intending to silence one of the hepatitis virus's major genes. In some cases this worked, and the virus was suppressed without side effects. In other cases the mice got liver poisoning, and some of them died. The researchers tried the same thing in mice without hepatitis and then they tried using RNA interference to turn off different mouse genes. Of 49 different RNA snippets meant to shut down six different genes, 36 caused liver injury and 23 led to death within two months. The RNA at the highest concentration was most toxic. But some scientists said the problem appeared to be related to the technique used by Dr. Kay, which is a type of gene therapy. The Stanford team put DNA, not RNA, into the mouse liver cells. The DNA became part of the mice's genetic makeup and the mouse cells then produced the gene-silencing RNA, which was carried out of the nuclei into the body of the cells. The scientists hypothesized that a protein that transports RNA out of the nucleus became overloaded. The other technique is to put the interfering RNA itself into cells. That RNA does not need to be transported out of the cell nuclei, so that transporter protein would not be overloaded, some scientists said. "These data really represent the fundamental limitations of gene therapy, not of RNAi," John Maraganore, chief executive of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, said of the report in Nature. The company has already reported that it safely tested a nasal-spray RNA drug intended to treat a respiratory infection, on 65 healthy volunteers.

Genetics and Heredity
Biology and Biochemistry
Medicine and Health


Yankees’ Robertson Hitting His Stride Setting Up Rivera

Abstract: The way Dave Robertson remembers it, no more than 150 people lined Broad Street in Rome, Ga., the night before the 2007 South Atlantic League All-Star Game. Sitting in the back of one of the vintage convertibles that ferried athletes along the parade route, Robertson waved to his parents. Then he felt a thud. He lurched forward. His car had collided with the car in front. “So that was pretty memorable,” Robertson said. A much bigger — and presumably safer — All-Star parade is scheduled for July 12 in Phoenix. If Robertson, a 26-year-old right-hander, is not riding in it, the Yankees just may file a protest. In their constellation of high-priced stars, perhaps no one has been more valuable than Robertson, an indispensable bargain at $460,450. His versatility has stabilized an injury-ravaged bullpen. His eighth-inning dependability has supplied a sturdy bridge to Mariano Rivera . His penchant for strikeouts — 53 in 331/3 innings — has rescued the Yankees from several precarious situations. “Out of anybody on the team, if he doesn’t make the All-Star team, that’s just weak,” catcher Russell Martin said. “If you want to win the game, you want that guy on your team. It’s that simple. I’ll take him over 90 percent of the closers out there.” Normally, Rivera would not fall into that category. But this season, while leading the Yankees’ bullpen in innings and appearances (36), Robertson has outperformed Rivera in earned run average (1.08), strikeouts per nine innings (14.31), hits allowed (23), opponents’ batting average (.187) and opponents’ on-base plus slugging (.512). Traditional statistics underscore his All-Star credentials, but so does the advanced metric wins above replacement (WAR), which measures how many victories a player contributes relative to someone called up from the minors. According to FanGraphs.com , Robertson is valued as the best reliever in the American League. Closers usually fill an All-Star team’s bullpen, but every so often, a setup reliever is chosen if he is having a remarkable season. Last year, that group included Arthur Rhodes, Evan Meek, Hong-Chih Kuo and Matt Thornton, whom Manager Joe Girardi added to the A.L. team. Robertson is having one of those remarkable seasons — “That kid don’t get nearly the credit he deserves, and it boggles the mind,” the Yankees’ Nick Swisher said — and Texas Manager Ron Washington, in charge of filling out the A.L. roster, has noticed. “When I look at the Yankees’ sheet in there,” Washington said in a recent interview at Yankee Stadium, tapping a folder containing his All-Star material, “he’s one of the guys I’m looking at. I like his arm a lot, and when he comes in, it’s tough. There’s no doubt about that.” What makes Robertson so tough is his ability to retire left-handed batters, a responsibility that has assumed greater importance because of injuries to Rafael Soriano, Joba Chamberlain and Pedro Feliciano, and the inconsistency of Boone Logan. In 65 at-bats against Robertson, left-handers have struck out 34 times with 10 hits and a .169 slugging percentage. “Where would we be without him?” Girardi said. The running joke is that Girardi does not call on Robertson unless the bases are loaded, which is only a slight exaggeration. He has entered 17 games with runners on base — 12 of the games with at least two on — and left them there 12 times. With the bases loaded, Robertson has struck out eight batters in a row, tying Jeff Nelson for the longest such stretch since 1995, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. All that practice, and Robertson’s heart still thumps, his mind still races, when he is summoned into a pressurized situation. Teammates marvel at his escape acts, and he often does, too. “The thing is, I like the competition, I like the pressure, I like to try to get out of it,” said Robertson, who has stranded 19 of his last 23 inherited runners. “But sometimes I’m like, ‘How did I get out of this one?’ Man, they wear on you. I’ll think back and I can’t remember the pitch I threw. All of a sudden, it just happens and it’s over.” The popular theory is that Robertson grew into this role in his first postseason outing, in Game 2 of the 2009 division series against Minnesota, in which he preserved a tie in the 11th inning by pitching out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam. There is some truth to that. But during a conversation Wednesday, Robertson came around to an alternate explanation, that years of playing competitive tennis are the cornerstone to his pitching style. Before he could throw a baseball 95 miles per hour, he could serve a tennis ball 100 m.p.h. He said he envisioned becoming “the next Andre Agassi.” Robertson said: “I was aggressive and I played to win. I hit winners, had a big serve, I tried to win quickly and fast. I didn’t want to trade ground strokes with somebody else, and I guess that’s the way that I approach pitching. I go after hitters. I’m coming to get you. I’m coming to get three outs and get the ball to Mo. That’s my job every time.” He goes after hitters using a mid-90s fastball with a slight cut, a sharp curve and an occasional changeup. At 5 feet 11 inches, Robertson generates his velocity from powerful legs, but what separates him from other smaller hard-throwing relievers — Billy Wagner, for instance — is a freakishly long stride. Robertson’s coaches at Alabama would always tell him, “Get out there,” and he does, unspooling fastballs from seven feet in front of the rubber — 14 inches closer to the plate than the average fastball extension, according to a Sports Illustrated account of data by the Danish company TrackMan. That extension, combined with Robertson’s high release point, often makes hitters think that his fastball hops as it nears them. Kerry Wood had similar late movement, which Robertson noticed when they played catch last season. Martin likened the trajectory of Robertson’s fastball to a rock skidding low across the water. “He’s real sneaky,” said Milwaukee outfielder Nyjer Morgan, who flied out against Robertson in the eighth inning last Wednesday. “The next you know, it’s 95 coming by you. He’s got this smooth delivery, and the ball kind of explodes on you.” In the midst of this satisfying season, Robertson has occasionally found it difficult to enjoy his success. His hometown, Tuscaloosa, Ala., was devastated by tornadoes in April. Full Moon Bar-B-Que , where his photograph from the Crimson Tide hung on a wall, was leveled. So was P&P Produce, where he and his wife, Erin, bought their Christmas tree in December. On May 26, a scheduled day off, Robertson, who warms up to “Sweet Home Alabama,” returned home to survey the damage. Early the next morning, he flew to Seattle to join the team. Having barely slept, he was summoned in the eighth inning with the Yankees losing by a run, and he retired all three hitters. “It feels like everything about this year has been really stressful, really hectic,” said Robertson, who is donating $100 for every strikeout. His foundation, through the Web site highsocksforhope.com , is raising money for the relief effort. “And if I had to pitch that night after getting back, I didn’t want to let my team down.” Since then, Robertson has allowed one run in 14 games, as his All-Star candidacy has gathered momentum. Every team must be represented, and given the Yankees’ expected domination of the starting lineup — four position players, to say nothing of C. C. Sabathia or Rivera — Robertson could be at a disadvantage when the rosters are announced Sunday. “It would be a great surprise, but I’m really not thinking about it,” Robertson said. “It’s something that you associate more with Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira. For someone like me to go, it would be enormous.” He and Erin plan to spend the three-day break at their favorite Connecticut vacation spot doing a little sightseeing, maybe some fishing. But he can always find a way to fit in another parade, one that ends at Chase Field. That would be pretty memorable, too.

New York Yankees
Robertson Dave
Baseball
Rivera Mariano


Q. and A.: William Lindesay on ‘The Great Wall in 50 Objects’

Abstract: William Lindesay , 59, has written five books on the Great Wall of China. His most recent, “ The Great Wall in 50 Objects ,” has just been published by Penguin China, and it will be released in Britain and the United States next year. In an interview, Mr. Lindesay, a native of Wallasey, England, discussed a bronze warrior’s face, a recalcitrant curator at the Vatican Museums and how he first got interested in the wall. Q. You’ve been living in China for 30 years. What got you interested? A. My first headmaster, who was a church minister, said we should have three books at our bedsides: a Bible, a prayer book and an atlas. I vividly recall seeing in the “Oxford School Atlas” the Great Wall with its battlement symbol. From that moment, I had in my mind that when I grew up I’d go to China and walk along the Great Wall from end to end. Like most childhood dreams, that was almost forgotten. But then in my 20s, my brother suggested running the length of Hadrian’s Wall, from Newcastle to Carlisle. During a break, he turned to me and said, “Hey, Will, you should go to China and do the wall!” It was 1984, China was open, there were stories about China in the press. China was on the map, but kind of the great unknown. I thought, well, I am not going to have this chance again. I had no loves or loans to hold me back. I was in good shape — a two-hour, 39-minute marathoner — so I set off. Image Credit Courtesy of William Lindesay Q. You’d written four books already on the Great Wall. Why another? A. Thus far I’ve studied the wall by looking at its grand remains, the ruins. You see ruins. You see things are missing, but what and where? Naturally, I visited museums and saw many relics behind glass. Many of the objects just had a name and a date and a place where they were found. Sometimes they would have a tantalizing label like “an important relic for understanding life on the Han dynasty Great Wall,” but they didn’t explain why. So I thought, I’ll have to do that one day. I want to let these objects speak. I also saw objects in Mongolia, realizing that, although the Great Wall as a building is Chinese, as a story it has two sides. Q. You make a point of telling the nomads’ side of the story, too. A. I went to Mongolia in 2011 and realized that for 20 years I had largely studied the wall from just the Chinese side. I was Sinocentric. I visited a private museum there and saw a tiny, yet amazing, bronze belt decoration depicting a Xiongnu warrior’s face, which is Object 3 in the book. These were the people who had attacked the Han dynasty [206 B.C.-220 A.D.] for centuries, but this was the first time I’d seen a representation of what one looked like. This object humanized them. Q. Your method of focusing on objects reminds me of the podcasts and book published by Neil MacGregor of the British Museum, “A History of the World in 100 Objects.” A. I’m a great fan of his. He’s a fantastic interpreter of history. Out of the millions of objects in the British Museum, he chose 100 and enthralled people around the world. He showed objects that seem unrelated, but which have so many connections. He showed that the formula worked. But only when you try to do it yourself do you realize how much hard work it is! Image Object 3 from "The Great Wall in 50 Objects," a bronze belt ornament depicting the face of a Xiongnu warrior. Credit Courtesy of William Lindesay Q. You order your objects chronologically, but start with eight that give an overview. A. I started out with objects to illustrate how Europeans first heard about the wall, and how Chinese did. For foreigners, it was through maps. For the Chinese, it was through the heartbreaking legend of Meng Jiangnu, whose tears of mourning for her husband, a wall builder, caused the fortification to collapse. Also, in the opening group of objects I introduced two of the most common building materials. In the west of China I showed that water was a key building material as evidenced by the plethora of broken water pots. Every museum has rooms of pots you have to go through before you get to the gold and jade, but actually pots tell you a hell of a lot. Q. What was the most challenging section of the book? A. I have a section called “Intrusions.’’ This is the middle period of the Great Wall’s 2,300-yearlong story, after the collapse of the Han dynasty and before the rise of the Ming [1368-1644] and its famous wall. I learned a lot, such as why the Tang [dynasty, 618-907] didn’t build a wall. This is often considered China’s “golden era.” I chose a gorgeous triglazed camel figurine carrying a small group of foreign musicians to illustrate the prosperous trade on the Silk Road, which brought in the taxation to fund alternatives to ultracostly walls, namely pacification policies and military offensives. Q. I note that the heart of your book centers on the Ming Great Wall. A. Yes, Objects 27 to 41 cover the Ming. Most people who come to China see the Ming wall, typically the brick-and-stone “dragon” snaking through the mountains north of Beijing. That’s the core, the zenith of the story. Image The Borgia Great Wall Scroll, a detailed map of the wall, bequeathed to the Vatican by Cardinal Stefano Borgia after his death in 1804. Credit Courtesy of William Lindesay Q. Were all the museums you approached helpful? A. Museums in Mongolia were most helpful. When I started, my rule was to be able to see each object, and examine it up close. They allowed that. They’d take the plate glass off the display case with suction pads and lift the object out and take it to the office and let me look at it. The national museum’s curator said the only thing we haven’t got here is live horses, but you must include this in your 50 objects. Without the Mongolian horse, he said, there would be no nomads attacking China, no cavalry, no means of conquering. I included it as a “living antiquity.’’ Q. Which museum was the least cooperative? A. I was very keen to include a 7-meter-long [23 feet] map that was in the Vatican Museums , listed there as the Borgia Great Wall Scroll and dating from circa 1695. I wrote to them, but they didn’t reply. I wrote in Italian, but still no reply. I went there, but not at the right time. It had been sent overseas on loan for the first time. I later saw the museum was soliciting money to conserve it, and asking for donors. So I raised the money, $25,000, and offered to help. I was astonished when they told me that another group had pledged to fund the map’s repair. Never giving up, I wrote again to the curator — who finally gave me a reply, but a rather nasty and unfriendly one. He didn’t want to let any outsider in, least of all one who is considered a friend of China, as I am, for the conservation contributions I have made to the Great Wall. Museums are the best classrooms for knowledge and education, but some curators are like prison wardens, holding the keys, keeping the antiquities imprisoned, not allowing visitors, trying to keep people out.

Vatican Museums
China
Great Wall of China
Mongolia


Chronicle of a Changing City

Abstract: THE NEW YORK UNIVERSITY QUIDDITCH TEAM started Monday, with a surprising turnout of 95 students. To those who somehow slept through the Harry Potter craze, quidditch is that fantastical sport played by wizards and witches on flying broomsticks. But there is an earthly game known as Muggle Quidditch , adapted for a grassy field, in which players use volleyballs, basketballs and dodge balls instead of quaffles. “We didn’t really get any big bruisers — they were mostly nerds,” said the club’s founder, Sarah Landis, 20, a sophomore from New Jersey. “A lot of them have never played sports before.” Ms. Landis said the players hoped to persuade the university to bestow official team or “competing club” status by doing well next month in the fourth annual Quidditch World Cup, in Manhattan. THE NOTORIOUS A.T.M. OF WEST 12TH STREET appeared in August on a pristine block between Greenwich and Washington Streets. It was outside the well-known Recette restaurant , in a residential building at 328 West 12th, and was not exactly welcomed by its neighbors. “This was an A.T.M. covered with stickers and graffiti,” complained Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. “It was particularly intrusive.” People began yelling at workers installing the A.T.M., and someone baptized it with a can of tomato sauce. But the building’s landlord, who was already on uncivil terms with the owners of the recently renovated town house next door, held his ground, installing a surveillance camera to discourage vandalism. Here in the Greenwich Village Historic District, however, a sidewalk fixture like the A.T.M. must be blessed by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission. Last month, after the commission sent the landlord a letter, he finally succumbed and removed the machine. COREY KILGANNON

Historic Buildings and Sites
New York University


Amid California Wildfires, Escapes and Choices

Abstract: MIDDLETOWN, Calif. — As they watched the sky go black and flames race toward their homes, the artists and campers, retirees and families living in this mountain town knew it was time to flee. Some, fearing that the drought-fueled fires raging across California would bring this moment to their door, had bags packed, ready to go. Others did not. So as the fire crested a ridge line on Saturday afternoon, people grabbed insurance papers and birth certificates, shoes and extra socks. They loaded up antique rugs but left behind a mother’s quilts. They wrangled horses and pets. The Nelson family grabbed Tick, their Chihuahua mix. Steve Shurelian, 60, picked up an ailing neighbor. Neighbors screamed at one another to get out. The embers streaked down like missiles. By night, escaping families were driving through curtains of flame. “I felt like it was the end times,” said Janis Irvin, who believed her house was destroyed. “It was red and black and boiling.” By late Monday, 11,000 firefighters across California were still battling to contain a dozen large wildfires that had destroyed hundreds of homes, displaced 13,000 people and turned white-fenced neighborhoods into char. At least one person had been killed, an elderly disabled woman unable to escape when her house here in Lake County was swallowed in flames, officials said. Image A residential area near downtown Middletown, Calif., was left in ruins by the Valley Fire. Most of the commercial district survived untouched. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times The blaze that began in Lake County, called the Valley Fire, has burned across 62,000 acres, and was only 10 percent contained. In Middletown, most of downtown — including a new arts center and Noble’s Saloon — survived untouched, but entire residential blocks were heaps of ash. Grape fields were scorched black. A scrim of smoke continued to rise from the tinder-dry mountains that ring the town. A trickle of people were allowed to return on Monday to inspect their homes and retrieve livestock, but hundreds more were still sleeping on cots or in tents at evacuation shelters on the northern and southern edges of the fire. “I’m looking for my wife,” one man said as he walked into the cafeteria of a Red Cross evacuation center at the Napa County Fairground, about 30 miles from Middletown. Over crumb cake and pancakes, neighbors reunited, asked about each other’s homes and recalled how the erratic, whipping winds had brought the fire down from the mountainsides on Saturday afternoon and transformed their town into an inferno. “It did things fire isn’t supposed to do,” said Capt. Mike Walton, a bulldozer operator with Cal Fire , the state fire agency, who escorted a friend into Middletown to see his destroyed home. He pointed to the black skeletons of trees and a neighborhood grid reduced to ashes. “Fire does weird stuff. But look at this.” Middletown, population 1,300, is a winding mountain drive away from the wealth of Napa Valley’s vineyards, a town that residents say is part cowboy and part hippie. The clothing-optional Harbin Hot Springs — destroyed in the blaze — was a cultural anchor for many artists and liberal transplants from San Francisco who said they had fallen in love with the mountains and Middletown’s small-town eclecticism. “We’re more like family here than a town,” Deanna Hingst, 32, said as she stood in her family’s charred backyard. All that was left of the house was an interior brick wall, a chimney and her mother’s Corningware cook set. For some, Saturday began with uneasy premonitions. The winds were blowing in all directions, whirling dust and leaves. As the day wore on, people in town started to notice fire trucks streaking up Highway 175. Others started to watch growing columns of smoke rising around Cobb Mountain. Other blazes during this fire season — among the worst in the state’s history — had come uneasily close, but Ms. Hingst said she never believed a fire could rake across the center of town. Even as the fire spread down from the mountains after about 4 p.m. and cars streamed away, Ms. Hingst said, she packed up to evacuate on the assumption that she would soon be back. Image Cecilia Nelson, an evacuee whose home burned to the ground, on the phone on Monday outside a Red Cross shelter set up at the county fairgrounds in Calistoga, Calif. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times In the wooded neighborhood of Anderson Springs west of Middletown, people were getting frantic. Margit Pataki raced from room to room, trying to decide what to take. Ms. Irvin packed her laptop but forgot it as she rushed out the door. As the flames raced through, Ms. Pataki and other neighbors gathered at a friend’s home in Middletown, expecting to wait out the fire. They opened a bottle of Champagne as it grew closer to town. “I guess we were just in denial,” Ms. Pataki said. Eventually, the police warned them that the fire was approaching the school and several large propane tanks, and the women fled down the road and to shelter. At the Harbin Hot Springs, Harlan Sadberry, 71, the head of security, knew the situation was dire when an ember ignited a spot fire near a guest building. All afternoon, he had been visiting campsites and cottages to tell the 533 guests about the looming danger. Most left quickly, but one guest told Mr. Sadberry that she would not leave. He finally persuaded her to go. Major Fires in California Three large fires are raging in California and have consumed more than 270,000 acres. “It was shooting up the hill to all the conifers,” Mr. Sadberry said. “The smoke got heavier and heavier.” He tried to hike back through the mountains to his home, but he could not make it. He believes it has been destroyed, along with thousands of paintings, drawings, photographs and negatives he created over 50 years. As the flames closed in on him Saturday night, William Slack, a metalworker who goes by the name Jivano, abandoned the camper trailer that held all his possessions. On his way out of town, he stopped at the home of a friend who had decided to try to defend his home with a garden hose. Mr. Slack said he had dragged his friend away as falling embers set a nearby field ablaze. “We were surrounded on three sides,” Mr. Slack, 59, said. “It was like a furnace. I’ve never seen anything so big before.” Image Deanna Hingst at the remains of her home in Middletown. Credit Ilana Panich-Linsman for The New York Times He said he had moved to Middletown three years ago to escape the soaring cost of living in San Francisco, but was now facing a future without work or a home. “My job is over, and I have no place to live,” he said. “I’ve got 50 bucks in my pocket, and I got a credit card payment due this week. I don’t know what I’m going to do.” Others said they had to stay. Dan Beckwith, a firefighter in San Francisco, decided to hunker down at his home in Hidden Valley Lake after his girlfriend, her sister and their children evacuated. As fires crept up a ravine toward the house or tried to sneak down a hillside, Mr. Beckwith said, he doused them with hoses. When a neighbor’s fence caught fire, he said, he knocked it down and soaked it to keep it from igniting the house. “You can’t let it get to the house,” Mr. Beckwith said. He succeeded. After Mr. Shurelian fetched his neighbor, who is frail and uses a walker, a tree crashed across the road, blocking his exit route from his wooded neighborhood, he said. Trapped, they bivouacked at a community pool, soaking T-shirts in the water to use as masks against the thickening smoke. All night, Mr. Shurelian said, he hosed down spot fires and flaming bushes to try to keep the fire from surrounding them. “I’m coughing up green stuff,” he said on Monday morning, as he ate crackers at the Red Cross shelter. Originally from Philadelphia, Mr. Shurelian said he had become enraptured with the quiet beauty of the area, its streams and woods and hummingbirds. He said he believed the home he rented was gone. “It’s a special area,” he said. “It was all I really required in life. Now, it’s toast.”

Evacuation Wildfires Fires California Middletown