Rights Reports Show Difficulty in Identifying Afghan Insurgents

Abstract: KABUL, Afghanistan — Two new reports addressing human rights issues in Afghanistan have raised questions about how NATO troops are conducting the war. Both reports center on a question that has vexed international forces since the war began: How can the military be sure it has killed, detained or made deals with the right people? A report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network challenges the accuracy of American intelligence used in what are known as targeted killings, and makes a case study of the killing of an alleged Qaeda-affiliated operative in Takhar Province who was attacked by NATO jets as he traveled in a convoy through a rural area. The report offers evidence that NATO forces got the wrong man and that the insurgent commander they were seeking is alive in Pakistan — an interview with him is included in the report. [The public television program Frontline also addressed the case in this segment of its program "Kill/Capture."] However, NATO officials stand by their account and the intelligence it was based on, and insist that they got the man they were seeking, Mohammed Amin. “In this instance, multiple forms of intelligence confirm that coalition forces targeted the correct person after tracking his activities for nearly six months,” said Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a NATO spokesman. Colonel Dorrian said the evidence included confirmation from a family member and “additional intelligence” showing that Mr. Amin had operated as a so-called shadow governor in Takhar on behalf of Taliban insurgents. The other report, by Human Rights First, examines the growing number of detainees and the legal rights accorded them at the detention facility in Parwan, which replaced the detention area at Bagram air base . As of April 23, the Parwan facility housed 1,750 detainees, according to Cmdr. Pamela Kunze, a spokeswoman for the American military’s detention operations here. The report notes a number of improvements in detention operations, but emphasizes that many detainees insist they were taken into custody based on false intelligence and that they take that view back to their villages when released. Detainees remain unable to see much of the evidence used to apprehend them or hold them for unlimited periods of time. “In the view of their families and communities, the United States is arbitrarily detaining people based on false intelligence,” the reports says. Underpinning both reports is the difficulty of obtaining accurate information about whether people are who they say. It is a problem faced by foreigners working here, whether as diplomats, aid workers, journalists or human rights workers. The United States government and other countries’ governments have repeatedly entered into contracts with corrupt people and paid off rights abusers thinking they were legitimate actors. “We need to be careful,” said Nadir Nadiry, the deputy director of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission. “Sometimes I’ve gone face to face with NATO because we talked to the families and it seems clear that people had been wrongly killed or detained, and then it was countered by information that shows I was naïve,” he said. There have been substantial improvements, but NATO still makes mistakes, he said. “Our findings show that in the last year, it has been much more precise in terms of what the community and people are telling us,” Mr. Nadiry said. “Most of the time, they hit the right target, but yes, sometimes it goes wrong.” The incident recounted in the Afghanistan Analysts report occurred on Sept. 2. NATO jets bombed a convoy carrying the man who was alleged to be working with the Taliban in Takhar Province. The bombs killed him and killed or wounded 8 to 12 others, believed to be insurgents, according to a NATO statement at the time. Within hours it became clear that at least one person in the convoy was a candidate for Parliament, who was wounded. He insisted that the other people in the convoy were campaign workers accompanying him to three village rallies. NATO’s target was his uncle, who was helping to support his campaign, he said. The government of President Hamid Karzai and the local provincial government said much the same. The report by Afghanistan Analysts traces the uncle’s life, in which he fought at various times on different sides and was captured and tortured by different groups. But in the period before his death, he was living peacefully in Kabul. According to the report, NATO asserted that a Taliban leader active in Takhar, whom the man knew, used his name as an alias, adding a further layer of confusion that played a part in NATO's use of flawed intelligence to kill the wrong man.

Human Rights and Human Rights Violations


Chiefs Owner’s Plan Yields Quick Fix (but Not a Hasty One)

Abstract: KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Clark Hunt is used to hearing from fans of the Kansas City Chiefs. After all, he grew up around the team, which his father, Lamar, founded as the Dallas Texans more than half a century ago, and he has been its chairman and chief executive since Lamar died in 2006. Lamar Hunt loved talking to fans and even took their phone calls at home, to the chagrin of his wife. These days, Clark Hunt spends more time responding to letters and emails offering advice about the team’s roster or the service at Arrowhead Stadium. Last season, as the team stumbled to a 2-14 finish, the negative mail spiked. A fan group, Save Our Chiefs , urged ticket holders to wear black and flew banners over the stadium calling for the general manager to be fired. While Hunt is the face of a very public institution, he is reserved and unassuming. Still, rather than duck for cover, Hunt, unbeknown to some of his top advisers, invited several of the most disgruntled season-ticket holders to lunch to hear them out. “I wanted them to understand that I cared and it was hard for me, too,” he said before the Chiefs defeated the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Last year’s bleak season turned downright ghastly on Dec. 1, when linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend and then drove to the Chiefs’ training complex and shot himself in front of the team’s coach and general manager. The murder-suicide rocked Hunt, who in his father’s tradition has tried to cultivate a family feel for the organization. Taking Action, Fast With that legacy frayed, Hunt acted quickly. Days after the Chiefs’ season ended, he fired Coach Romeo Crennel and hired Andy Reid, who had been dismissed by the Philadelphia Eagles after a successful run. Hunt then courted John Dorsey, who had worked with Reid in Green Bay, to replace General Manager Scott Pioli, whose tenure was rocky. Hunt vowed to take a more active role in running the team. He rewrote the organizational chart so Reid would report directly to him, not through the general manager, as had been the custom for decades. He also publicly apologized. “I am embarrassed by the poor product we gave our fans this season, and I believe we have no choice but to move the franchise in a different direction,” Hunt said in a statement after Crennel’s firing. The moves quickly paid dividends and have helped Hunt win over skeptics who had accused him of being disengaged. This season, the Chiefs are the last unbeaten team in the N.F.L. at 8-0, their best start in a decade. From 1970 to 2011, teams with a 2-14 record or worse had managed no better than a 5-3 start the next season. These Chiefs have been driven largely by their defense, which has held teams to 17 points or fewer in every game this season. The offense has relied on running back Jamaal Charles and quarterback Alex Smith, who has reignited his career after losing the starting job with San Francisco last season. “For the most part, most people seem to be back in love with Clark Hunt,” said Eric Granell, a founder of Save Our Chiefs who recently renamed the group the Chiefs Kingdom. “It might be the best case of selective amnesia imaginable. But now the organization seems to be on solid footing.” The euphoria is spreading. After fans at the Seattle Seahawks’ CenturyLink Field broke the Chiefs’ record for noisiest stadium, Kansas City fans rallied to take back the title , hitting 137.5 decibels during a game against the Oakland Raiders. To celebrate a recent victory, linebacker Tamba Hali left almost $1,300 as a tip at a steakhouse. Out of a Shadow While Chiefs fans are counting their blessings, questions remain for the team, which plays at Buffalo on Sunday. Like their big rivals, the Denver Broncos, the Chiefs have had an easy schedule. And without a flashy offense like Denver’s, they could fade against tougher opponents in the second half. Still, the revival has been a milestone of sorts for Hunt, 48, the youngest owner in the league. For decades, he lived in the shadow of his pioneering father, who helped found the American Football League, the N.B.A.’s Chicago Bulls, World Championship Tennis and Major League Soccer, at one point owning three M.L.S. clubs. Groomed to succeed his father, Clark Hunt has grown into his role as steward of the family’s sports empire. Hunt, the grandson of H. L. Hunt, an oil tycoon, was raised in Dallas. He could have coasted through college at Southern Methodist, his father’s alma mater, but instead finished at the top of his class and was a two-time academic all-American in soccer. With a degree in finance, he worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs before returning to Dallas to join the Hunt Sports Group. His wife, Tavia, is a former Miss Kansas USA, and they have three children. After Lamar Hunt died, N.F.L. Commissioner Roger Goodell tried to integrate Clark Hunt into the league’s management. Like John Mara, who succeeded his father, Wellington, with the Giants, Hunt is part of a generation of owners who grew up around the N.F.L. But for a son taking over for his founder-father, the transition can be tricky. “Right after my father passed away, it was intimidating because I had been around a lot of meetings but the spotlight was on him,” said Hunt, who prefers to be known as a chairman, not an owner, he said, because he feels the fans own the team. Goodell played to Hunt’s strengths, appointing him to the international, digital media and commissioner’s executive committees, as well as the powerful finance committee. In 2011, he played a key role in labor talks, briefing owners on the negotiations. When the talks stalled, a group of five owners, including Mara and Hunt, met with five players without their lawyers. It was there that Hunt tried to get the players to see how they could benefit from reaching a deal. “Whenever we got to a sticking point, especially from a financial point, he got us to look at it from a different perspective,” said Tony Richardson, a former Chiefs fullback who was at the meetings. “He’s such a mild-mannered guy, when he said something, wow, you’d pay attention. Clark was a steady force, so you put your guns down and relaxed a bit.” Hunt showed the same analytical ability when he sold the Columbus Crew of M.L.S. for $68 million. His family still owns F.C. Dallas, which Hunt’s younger brother, Dan, runs. Clark Hunt is a fixture in M.L.S., where he sits on four committees. “He’s not a splashy guy and not an ‘aw, shucks’ guy either, but he knows how to negotiate a business deal,” said Rob Tilliss, who runs Inner Circle Sports, the sports advisory firm that worked on the sale of the Crew. A Happy Home Again Finances also played a role in the renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, finished in 2010 for $375 million, one-third of which came from the Hunt family. With roughly 2.3 million people in the greater Kansas City area, the Chiefs play in one of the smaller N.F.L. markets and have some of the cheapest tickets. Building a new stadium would have probably required price increases and perhaps selling personal seat licenses, and it also would have meant abandoning an icon of 1970s architecture, with the stadium’s swooping upper deck and round scoreboards. “Dad was always conscious of pricing and sports,” Dan Hunt said of his father. “You can’t have tickets, food and parking be too expensive. Dad was a frugal guy, and he saw the benefit of that.” So the Hunts largely left the bowl alone, instead gutting the club level and concourses and adding a Hall of Honor that includes a tribute to the A.F.L., a Sports Lab to teach children about health and fitness, and an installation featuring the work of local artists. Founder’s Plaza outside includes a statue of Lamar Hunt and plaques detailing his achievements, including his coining the phrase “Super Bowl” and naming the game’s trophy after Vince Lombardi. The Chiefs are in discussions with potential naming rights partners for the stadium, although Mark Donovan, the team’s president, said the Arrowhead name would remain because it was so identifiable. “We know we’re on a lot of fans’ bucket lists,” he said. Although proud of the stadium, Clark Hunt was drained last season, and he hit the reset button as soon as the season ended, Donovan said. Hunt insisted that he be the first person to call Reid to ask him to coach the Chiefs — he reached Reid at his going-away party — and he took part in Reid’s nine-hour interview at an airport in Philadelphia. “He was the first one at the plate, so that made the decision very easy,” Reid said. “You hear nothing but good things through the coaching fraternity about Kansas City and the organization and the city.” Given all that transpired last year, Hunt is soaking up the rejuvenated vibes at Arrowhead Stadium. In a gray pinstriped suit, a pale blue shirt and a red tie, he was on the field before kickoff against the Browns, watching the Chiefs players come out of the tunnel. After the victory, he stood by the locker room door to shake their hands. It was a cloudless and crisp fall day, and before the game, Hunt rode in a golf cart through the parking lot, high-fiving fans and posing for pictures with swarms of revelers. “Thank you for everything you’ve done,” Hunt told a group of tailgaters in front of a red school bus owned by Warren Rose, a longtime season-ticket holder. Hunt shed some of his reserve, which for him meant politely declining offers of food and beer. “The credit really goes to Andy and John,” he said of Reid and Dorsey, the G.M. “Hopefully, we’ll keep it rolling.” As the crowd grew and security edged him toward his golf cart, Hunt gave a pair of field passes for the game to Rose. “I’ve got your daddy’s initials on my bus,” Rose, 62, told Hunt giddily. “The tailgating is the same, but it’s night and day inside the stadium.”

Football
Kansas City Chiefs
Clark K Hunt
Lamar Hunt
Hunt Sports Group


Immigration Authorities’ No-Jail Offer Is Withdrawn

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — Immigration authorities on Friday ended a trial offer not to jail illegal immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country if they surrendered at government offices. In the three weeks that the federal immigration agency tested the program in a handful of cities, only eight people came forward. How, why and even whether the program flopped was debated by the agency, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and advocates for immigrants. The latter called the program a publicity stunt and predicted that the agency would now stage more of the raids that have forcibly removed record numbers of illegal immigrants over the last few years. Jim Hayes, who supervises deportation for the agency, said advocacy groups had undermined the program by counseling immigrants not to take part as a protest against immigration laws. “What the advocates state is that what we don’t like is enforcement of the law itself,” Mr. Hayes said in a telephone news conference. “Congress has mandated enforcement of the law, and that is what we are going to continue to do.” Under the program, Scheduled Departure, illegal immigrants who had been ordered to leave the country but did not have criminal records could avoid arrest and detention by going during certain hours to agency offices in Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Phoenix; San Diego; and Santa Ana, Calif., near Los Angeles. The immigration agency would then set a departure date within 90 days and help make arrangements for the immigrants to return home — in some cases paying for transportation — and requiring them to check in with a case officer until they left. None of the eight who came forward have yet departed, Mr. Hayes said. They are an Estonian, two Indians, two Guatemalans, a Lebanese, a Mexican and a Salvadoran. There are 457,000 “fugitive aliens” who would have been eligible for the program, he said, and about 30,000 in or near the cities in the program, which was promoted largely in the Spanish-language news media. The agency spent $41,000 on the program, Mr. Hayes said, but he asserted that it actually netted a $13,000 savings because it avoided the expense of detaining people who accepted the offer. Mr. Hayes said, “I don’t consider the program a failure” because the agency learned that such an offer would be largely ineffective and that its nearly 100 units assigned to capture fugitive illegal immigrants produced more results. Those units have arrested 29,000 people at homes and workplaces so far in the year beginning last October, and Mr. Hayes predicted that they would surpass the 30,000 arrested in the previous year. Mr. Hayes rebuked those who suggest allowing people to stay who have been ordered to leave. “In order to have laws and have them have meaning, there has to be consequences for violating those laws,” he said. “If you have laws and no consequences for violating it, you have anarchy.” Advocates for immigrants said there had been no widespread effort to undermine the program, though many had called it futile because immigrants would be reluctant to leave behind family and jobs and could usually leave the country on their own when they wanted to. “Plenty of us said it was a silly idea and not going to work, that the undocumented may be illegal but they are not stupid,” said Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights. Mr. Hoyt suggested that the agency used the program to justify more hard-line tactics. “A cynic would say they are going to say, ‘See, we tried to be nice,’ ” he said. “ ‘We don’t abuse people. Now we’re going to get tough because they didn’t come forward when we tried to be nice, so now we’re going to be mean.’ ”

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (US)


Chicago Police Say Boy, 9, May Have Been Targeted in Fatal Shooting

Abstract: The police in Chicago are investigating whether a 9-year-old boy who was shot dead in an alley may have been targeted in the shooting. The city’s chief of detectives, Dean Andrews, said in a news conference late Monday that the police responded to a call at 4:15 that afternoon of a shooting in a South Side neighborhood. The boy was found in an alley with multiple gunshot wounds to his upper body. Chief Andrews said a number of people were in the alley when an argument broke out and gunshots followed. The others fled. The police have not determined a motive. “At this point, it is unclear if this was a targeted incident or a tragic case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” the chief said in the news conference, which was televised. On Tuesday, a police spokeswoman, Officer Janel Sedevic, said in a telephone interview that detectives were canvassing the neighborhood and checking video surveillance. “We can’t rule anything out,” she said. “They do not have a concrete motive, so they are still looking at more angles.” The boy was identified as Tyshawn Lee, and The Chicago Tribune quoted Bertha Lee, his grandmother, as saying that he had been on his way to her house that afternoon. The boy, a fourth-grade student at Scott Joplin Elementary School, liked Nintendo and loved to play basketball. “He takes the basketball to school every morning,” Ms. Lee said. Several churches are offering an $11,000 reward for information about the shooting.

Murders and Homicides
Chicago
Tyshawn Lee


Scope of FIFA Inquiry Widens

Abstract: Sepp Blatter is at risk again from the World Cup bribery scandal that tainted much of his FIFA presidency. Switzerland’s justice ministry confirmed that American authorities conducting a wide investigation of alleged racketeering by international soccer leaders had formally asked for files in a kickbacks case involving the ISL marketing agency. ISL was found to have routinely bribed top sports officials, including Blatter’s predecessor, João Havelange, before collapsing into criminal bankruptcy in 2001. ■ Romelu Lukaku scored his 50th goal for Everton to give the team a 1-1 draw against visiting Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

Soccer
Bribery and Kickbacks
Sepp Blatter
FIFA
Everton Soccer Team
Crystal Palace Soccer Team


Houthi Rebels in Yemen Seize a Capital

Abstract: AL MUKALLA, Yemen — Houthi rebel fighters seized the capital of a northwestern Yemeni province bordering Saudi Arabia early Sunday, tightening their control of the country despite a monthslong, Saudi-led bombing campaign intended to force a retreat. The capture of the city, Hazm, capital of Jawf Province, highlighted the steady Houthi advance into most of Yemen’s 21 provinces over the past 10 months. In late March, Saudi Arabia and a coalition of Arab states began a military campaign against the Houthis with the goal of restoring President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi, who was forced into exile by the Houthis, to power. Saudi-Backed Forces Gain Momentum Annotated maps showing the Houthi rebels’ drive south, U.S. airstrikes and historical divisions. Witnesses said that after the Houthi advance on Sunday, the Saudi-led coalition carried out airstrikes on Hazm that lasted several hours and struck civilian areas, killing at least 20 people. The capture of the town appeared to give the Houthis another bargaining chip in United Nations-sponsored peace talks that are scheduled to begin Monday in Geneva. The capital, Sana, is already dominated by the Houthis, who are fighting for control of other major cities, including Aden and Taiz. The Houthis, who are allied with military forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh, Yemen’s former president, have also been able to carry out a string of deadly attacks across the border in Saudi Arabia.

Yemen
Houthis
Saudi Arabia
Jawf Province
International relations
Ali Abdullah Saleh
Civilian casualties


The Food, the Wine, the Tombstones

Abstract: HARTFORD MEMBERS of a Hartford business leadership group were skeptical about the location of the organization’s annual social gathering earlier this summer. By the end of the evening, however, they had become so entranced with its serene beauty that they needed gentle prodding to leave the site — the Cedar Hill Cemetery — before it shut its gates at sunset. “Yes, we hear all the time that it’s weird to come to a cemetery for events,” said Wendi M. Fralick, director of development for the Cedar Hill Cemetery Foundation. The cemetery in Hartford is not the only one seeking to host activities other than the rituals of burying and honoring the dead. All over Connecticut , foundations and organizations charged with maintaining cemeteries are opening their grounds to other groups as a way to raise money or raise awareness of how much it takes to maintain them. Even stewards of burial grounds dating to the Colonial era, a time when cemeteries were viewed as places where the living would not necessarily dawdle, are seeking to draw visitors by making space available for jazz festivals or emphasizing that burial grounds are good spots to jog, bike, walk dogs, commune with nature or admire early American headstone artwork. “We want the cemetery used as part of the fabric of the community, not to just be lost in time,” said Raymond E. Tubbs, president of the Friends of Center Cemetery, which hosts history tours and welcomes genealogists and art historians to the oldest burial ground in East Hartford. In addition, the group is seeking ways to better publicize that the cemetery links with other local green space to create a 30-mile linear park stretching from the town green to the Hockanum River. A big part of historic cemetery preservation efforts, especially when competition for donations can be fierce among flashier and higher-profile causes, is getting people to walk through the gates and realize the history, artwork, peace and serenity to be found there. One aim of opening the cemeteries for wider use, say those who work for the preservation groups, is to persuade those who set foot on the grounds for a special event to donate money for the preservation or to volunteer their time. At Cedar Hill, a 270-acre cemetery that straddles the Hartford-Wethersfield line, groups are invited to rent space for parties and social events. The foundation also hosts jazz concerts and a variety of tours highlighting both the cemetery’s flora and fauna and notable people, like J. P. Morgan, Samuel Colt and Katharine Hepburn, who are interred there. “Our biggest event is our haunted history tour at Halloween,” Ms. Fralick said. “For that, we had 360 visitors in two hours two years ago.” The 2007 event was rained out, but the tour is planned again this year. Cedar Hill was founded in 1864 as part of the rural cemetery movement, when green spaces studded with impressive granite monuments were designed as both serene final resting places and parks where the living could picnic and stroll. The Old South Burying Ground, among the city’s oldest graveyards, dates to 1801. The Friends of Old South Burying Ground has worked with Hartford officials to raise awareness of the site, where the city’s first mayor and many Revolutionary War veterans are buried. Katherine Spada-Basto, the head of the group, said that children from a nearby school have helped plant and clean up the area, as well as come there to learn about the city’s history. Ms. Spada-Basto said the group hoped to put in several benches and other parklike amenities to entice visitors to spend a few minutes in the small cemetery. Ruth Shapleigh-Brown, who heads the Connecticut Gravestone Network, a group that works to preserve cemeteries and educate the public about the importance of burial grounds, said that while some may look askance at the idea of creating a parklike setting among gravestones, too much of the state’s history would be threatened should the burial grounds become forgotten relics. “What kind of respect is it to let them be vandalized and overgrown?” she asked. “We just want to make them pretty and appreciated so history can be respected there.”

Tombs and Tombstones
Cemeteries
Connecticut
Historic Buildings and Sites


Another Round of Appointments for Cuomo’s Second Term

Abstract: ALBANY — It is hiring season in Albany. For the third consecutive day, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York on Tuesday announced a big round of appointments to state jobs and committee posts. The governor, a Democrat, nominated his acting health commissioner, Dr. Howard A. Zucker, to take over formally at the Health Department. Dr. Zucker stepped into the spotlight late last year after he concluded that hydraulic fracturing, a controversial form of extracting natural gas from deep underground known commonly as fracking, could not be conducted safely in the state. Mr. Cuomo named William C. Thompson Jr., a former New York City comptroller who has been a reliable ally of the governor, as chairman of the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the State of New York Mortgage Agency. The housing finance agency works to create high-quality, affordable multifamily rental housing; the mortgage agency offers programs to assist first-time home buyers. Mr. Thompson, a two-time candidate for mayor of New York, was also formerly chairman of the Battery Park City Authority. The Rev. Floyd H. Flake, an influential pastor in Queens and ally of the governor, will be a member of the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities in New York. Mr. Flake has had some experience analyzing utilities: He was a member of a commission the governor established in 2012 to examine the failures of electric companies in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. Anthony J. Picente Jr., the executive in Oneida County, which includes the central New York cities of Rome and Utica, was named a trustee of the New York Power Authority. Dennis Rosen, now chairman of the State Liquor Authority, is to leave that position to become the state’s Medicaid inspector general. John Melville, a former investigator in the Orange County district attorney’s office who has been acting commissioner of the state’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, is being formally appointed to head the division. On Sunday, Mr. Cuomo named William J. Mulrow, an executive at the Blackstone Group, as secretary to the governor , his top aide. On Tuesday, the governor added three assistant secretaries: Adam Spence, who previously served as a senior vice president for an aggressive state tax-incentive program for job creation, called Start-Up NY , will be assistant secretary for economic development and innovation; Kara Allen, who managed a coalition of 57 members of Congress focused on energy and the environment, will be assistant energy secretary; and Peter Walke, a former naval intelligence officer, will be assistant secretary for the environment. Mr. Cuomo also made noteworthy appointments this week at the troubled New York State Thruway Authority, which has experienced staff turnover , a deep budget shortfall and difficulty financing the construction of a new Tappan Zee Bridge . Joanie Mahoney, executive of Onondaga County, and a Republican, was named chairwoman of the Thruway’s board of directors. Robert L. Megna, the state budget director, was named the Thruway’s acting executive director.

New York
Appointments and Executive Changes
Andrew Cuomo
William C Thompson Jr
Dennis Rosen
Housing Finance Agency NYS
Public Service Commission


Missouri: County Treasurer Chosen to Replace State Auditor

Abstract: Gov. Jay Nixon appointed a Democratic county treasurer on Tuesday to replace Tom Schweich, the Republican state auditor who fatally shot himself earlier this year. The appointment of Nicole Galloway, the Boone County treasurer, means that five of Missouri’s six statewide elected offices will be held by Democrats. Mr. Schweich, who had been running for governor, shot himself on Feb. 26 in his suburban St. Louis home in what the police have described as an apparent suicide. Ms. Galloway will serve the remainder of Mr. Schweich’s term, which runs until January 2019. Also on Tuesday, investigators said there was no evidence to suggest Mr. Schweich’s death was anything but a suicide. They said that Mr. Schweich had talked for years about taking his life, and had become increasingly agitated over politics, but that he left no suicide note. His wife, Kathleen, told investigators that her husband had talked about killing himself previously while holding guns, but that she had not thought he would actually do so. She told the police she thought he had acted spontaneously.


Maritime Group Seeks Cleaner Fuel for Ships

Abstract: Oceangoing ships are not the cleanest form of transportation. Their fuels usually have high sulfur content, which leads to high particulate emissions. And air that is high in particulates has been linked to health problems like asthma , heart attacks and lung cancer , particularly among people who live in coastal areas. As a result, the International Maritime Organization has adopted policies calling for reducing the sulfur content of marine fuels, from an average of about 3 percent currently to 0.5 percent by 2020. A few areas have been created, notably in the Baltic and North seas, that will require use of fuel with even less sulfur. A study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology suggests that such reductions, if enforced, would cut the number of potential premature deaths due to ship emissions in half in some cases. James J. Winebrake of the Rochester Institute of Technology and colleagues modeled the impact of reducing sulfur content globally, and within 200 miles of coastal areas, versus maintaining the status quo. They found that by 2012, with no reduction in sulfur content, about 87,000 premature deaths annually could be attributed to ship emissions. Reducing sulfur content to half of one percent worldwide would cut that number by about 41,000, they said.

International Maritime Organization
Environment
Air Pollution
Science and Technology


Msgr. Mark Miles, Pope’s English Translator, Braces for the U.S. Spotlight

Abstract: ROME — On a blustery day in January this year, Pope Francis appeared before thousands of worshipers in Tacloban City, the Philippines, and asked for permission to give his address in Spanish. “I have a translator, a good translator. May I do that? May I?” he asked in heavily accented English. When the crowd cheered its approval, Msgr. Mark Miles — a trim, bespectacled official from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State — discreetly materialized at the pope’s side and began expertly echoing the pope’s speech in English, keeping time with his pauses and his expressiveness, too. The pope did not want to use a “professional translator that hides in the wings and is only a voice,” said Cindy Wooden, the Rome bureau chief for the Catholic News Service and the author of a recent book on Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, the archbishop of Manila. Instead, Francis went out of his way to show “affection and esteem for Monsignor Miles” because the pope wanted to be able to speak from his heart, Ms. Wooden said. Overnight, Monsignor Miles became a star in the Filipino blogosphere. And he is likely to become a familiar figure to Americans when Francis visits the United States this month. Image Msgr. Mark Miles translates Pope Francis' comfortable Spanish into smooth English. Credit Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Of the 18 addresses, speeches and homilies the pope is expected to deliver during his six-day visit to Washington, New York and Philadelphia, only four will be in English, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said at a news conference on Tuesday. The rest will be in Spanish. And though the Vatican said subtitles would be used in some cases, it is more than likely that, as in the Philippines, the pope will rely heavily on Monsignor Miles on this trip to turn his comfortable Spanish into smooth English. The pontiff’s two immediate predecessors were high-profile polyglots. St. John Paul II knew a dozen languages and spoke more than half of those fluently, and Benedict XVI, the pope emeritus, is said to be fluent in five languages, as well as classical Latin. Pope Francis has more modest linguistic leanings. Born in Argentina, a descendant of Italian immigrants, he is fluent in Spanish and Italian, conversant in German, French and Portuguese, and, to a lesser degree, capable in English. “He’s very shy about not knowing English — he knows Italian and Spanish very well,” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York said at an interfaith event in New York in May. “His English is a little better than he lets on. But he’s not conversational in English.” The pope uses English so rarely that his first public address in English — a video message to a conference — merited note in the Catholic press. All things considered, Monsignor Miles should have plenty of occasions to shine this month. Yet for all his media exposure so far as the pope’s official English-language interpreter (he was at the pope’s side when the pontiff met with the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and with President Obama), the monsignor has sought to keep the spotlight off himself. Monsignor Miles, who was born in Gibraltar, politely declined to be interviewed, noting that it was office policy. “We’re pretty stringent about interviews,” he said. “I’m afraid that I am pretty boring as a customer,” he added, betraying the crisp British accent that has garnered him a following online (the pope’s interpreter “could be reading the phone directory and I’d still be intently listening,” wrote one fan on Twitter). He did, however, agree to disclose his age, 48, a much-debated factoid on some blogs and Facebook pages that share photos, newspaper clips and other odd bits of virtual-Miles paraphernalia. Some of his fans readily admit to being “stalkerish.” But the pope may also have some surprises up his sleeve. Vatican experts say he has been practicing his English, and a recent virtual audience with Americans broadcast last month by ABC News suggested improved English proficiency. As it is, the pope is “perfectly understandable when he chooses to speak English, even off the cuff,” Ms. Wooden said. “He can do it. I just don’t think he’s confident in doing it.”

Pope Francis
Translation
Mark Miles
Catholic Church
English language
US


Hewlett Unveils Servers Meant to Cut Costs

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO, June 14 — Hewlett-Packard announced a new line of servers on Wednesday that it said would play a major role in its vision of the next generation of data centers that operate with less energy and almost no people. The company said its new BladeSystems c-class servers could reduce the cost of building and running a data center by almost half in some cases. The new line will join one of the fastest-growing categories in the computer industry: blade servers, which contain multiple circuit boards, often with many processors, in a single chassis. About $1.2 billion in blade servers were sold last year, a figure expected to double this year. The concentration of circuitry means the blade servers occupy less space, but use more power and generate more heat. To solve that problem, Hewlett said the new servers use a special system of fans inside the boxes. The fans cut air-conditioning airflow by 30 percent and energy consumption by 50 percent compared with traditional fans, the company said. Software that runs the servers would also be able to adjust the performance of the fan and the server to reduce the heat on any blade that is overheating, rather than cooling the entire room to solve the problem, the company said. Reducing power consumption is one selling point. Ann M. Livermore, the executive vice president overseeing Hewlett's technology solutions group, said the new servers would save a company up to 41 percent on the equipment itself, 96 percent on setting it up and 60 percent on running the data center. The company said it would announce prices of the servers in July. The servers also play an important strategic role for Hewlett. Mark V. Hurd, the company's chief executive, wants to find a new source of growth in data centers that use these servers and a collection of proprietary software that automates most functions. Hewlett executives predict that its hardware and software will be able to reduce personnel by a factor of 10. To demonstrate its direction, as well as to reduce its own information technology costs, the company has said that it is consolidating its 85 data centers worldwide into six, located in three cities in the United States, with a goal of saving $1 billion in the next three years. "It's a showcase for the technology and to give customers a proof point of what is possible," said Randall D. Mott, Hewlett's chief information officer, who used to run information technology operations at Dell and Wal-Mart. The new servers are central to Hewlett's growth plans because their low installation and operation cost are intended to allow technology managers to use their budgets to buy yet more equipment. Ms. Livermore said the competition for this new market would come mainly from I.B.M. The leader in blade sales, I.B.M. announced a line of servers in February called the BladeCenter H, which it said moved data quickly, with less energy use. I.B.M. has positioned those servers to compete against mainframe computers, while Hewlett is aiming its c-class servers at a lower-price segment of data center computers called rack-mounted servers, said Brent A. Bracelin, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities. Prices of blade servers have risen during the last two to three years, which Mr. Bracelin said suggests that companies that buy them do so to lower maintenance costs, not acquisition costs. He said he expected Hewlett to keep its server prices low to grab a larger share of the data center market.

Computers and the Internet
Hewlett-Packard Company


Ardagh to Buy Assets From Ball and Rexam for $3.4 Billion

Abstract: LONDON — Ball Corporation said on Monday that it and Rexam had agreed to sell a variety of assets in Brazil, Europe and the United States to the packaging company Ardagh Group for $3.42 billion to satisfy regulatory concerns about Ball’s takeover of Rexam, a British maker of aluminum cans. Ball, based in Broomfield, Colo., agreed in February 2015 to acquire Rexam in a deal that would combine two of the world’s largest makers of cans for drinks, and it has been trying to win regulatory approval for the deal. The transaction would value Rexam at 4.4 billion pounds, or about $6.3 billion. Under the divestiture agreement , Ardagh, based in Luxembourg, would acquire eight Rexam plants in the United States; 10 Ball plants and two Rexam plants in Europe; and two Ball plants in Brazil. It would also acquire innovation and support functions in Brazil, Britain, Germany, Switzerland and the United States. The divested assets had revenue of about $3 billion in 2015, Ball said. Ardagh operates 89 glass and metal manufacturing production facilities in 21 countries. It had 19,000 employees and posted revenue of 5.2 billion euros, or about $5.8 billion, in 2015. The asset sale is subject to a number of conditions, including regulators and shareholders signing off on the Rexam acquisition. Ball expects to close its deal for Rexam by the end of June. After the Rexam acquisition, Ball would operate 75 metal beverage container manufacturing plants and joint ventures in Asia, Europe and the Americas. The combined company would be based in Broomfield. Rexam’s biggest clients include PepsiCo, the Coca-Cola Company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Carlsberg Group and Heineken. Rexam employs about 8,600 people and posted sales of £3.93 billion in 2015. The companies said they anticipated to achieve more than $300 million in annual cost savings in the third year of their operations being combined. The companies said they expected to incur about $280 million in nonrecurring integration costs during that period. Ball makes cans for beverages, foods, aerosols and paint, as well as materials for the aerospace industry. It employs about 15,000 people and had sales of $8 billion in 2015.


García Skips Qualifying for the British Open

Abstract: Sergio García , who has played in every British Open since 1998, withdrew from this year’s tournament qualifying because of an infected fingernail on his left hand that made it difficult to grip a club. García, 31, had to qualify this year because he has fallen to No. 73 in the world.


Evans Returns in Style

Abstract: Janet Evans, 39, set two Masters world records in the 35-39 age group Saturday, 15 years after her last competitive race. Evans, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, swam the 400-meter freestyle in 4 minutes 23.82 seconds at the Janet Evans Invitational in Fullerton, Calif. Four hours later, she shattered the 800-freestyle record with a time of 8:59.06.

Swimming
Evans Janet
Records and Achievements


Italy’s Petri Dish for New Path

Abstract: PARMA, Italy — The Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo, the comedian turned political insurrectionist, won municipal elections a year ago in this small northern city by campaigning on a platform of change, transparency and popular participation in decision-making, much as it had elsewhere in Italy. But all politics being local, the movement ran mostly on a pledge to stop construction of an incinerator. ‘’It will be built over the mayor’s dead body,” Mr. Grillo said at one rally with his characteristic mix of bombast and belligerence. The incinerator began operating late last month. In ordinary circumstances, broken campaign promises might be given grudging latitude by the public, the track record of Italy’s politicians being what it is. But Parma is the first major city whose administration is being run by the Five Star Movement, which has presented itself as a nearly revolutionary alternative to a political system it dismisses as ossified and out of touch. After its victory here, the movement went on to win 25 percent of the vote in national elections in February, making it the most potent threat to Italy’s traditional political parties in years. As Five Star accumulates power, Parma is now being scrutinized as a test of what the movement would do if given still more authority. So far, the prototype here has come in for decidedly mixed reviews as the movement’s lofty ambitions bump up against tough economic reality. The movement had also pledged to lower a loathed property tax. That promise was broken, too, as the new City Council found itself faced with a billion-dollar debt, the legacy of previous center-right governments. The City Council has raised fees for municipal day care centers and the price of school lunches. This from a movement that has ritually hammered the austerity measures that Italian politicians have put in place at a national level. ‘’Reality has contained them,” said Marco Severo, a reporter in Parma who wrote a book on the movement’s first year of governing the city. ‘’They made the decision that they had to put the city budget in order. A decision dictated by good sense, perhaps, but by raising taxes they’re making a political choice. It’s not just a technical necessity.” Image In Parma, the Five Star Movement’s true believers are unperturbed that Web-based democracy may cut out people, especially the elderly, without regular access to the Internet. Credit Marco Gualazzini for The International Herald Tribune He added, ‘’We’re seeing the contradictions of a movement as it becomes institutionalized.” Such steps have divided Parma residents. Some say the mayor, Federico Pizzarotti, a political neophyte, has alienated a vocal segment of citizens who feel that the movement has not lived up to its ideals. Others say he and his crew have done the best they could in a challenging economic climate. Camillo Conte, the owner of a tobacco shop, was sympathetic. ‘’Parma was crippled by huge debts, so their hands have been tied,” he said. Given that the movement will run only candidates with no prior political affiliation, the candidates’ lack of experience is understandable and a steep learning curve inevitable, Mr. Conte said. Still, he added, ‘’they were rather cocky when it came to electoral promises.” In an interview, Mr. Pizzarotti acknowledged that he and Five Star were ‘’under a magnifying glass.” A principal challenge, he said, has been to get Parma’s population of 180,000 to better understand what the movement is about, and to get involved. ‘’We have to show society how we move, and so we are a lightning rod for criticism,” he said. ‘’But we want to give a message of action. We are pioneers of something that can grow and improve, and Parma is the starting place.” So far, the results of direct citizen participation have been less than movement officials had hoped. Town-hall-style meetings, held neighborhood by neighborhood, attract few residents and tend to bog down on minor issues, Mr. Pizzarotti said. He and his council members have been trying to teach by example. Bicycles have replaced chauffeured luxury cars. The leadership took a cut in pay — and trimmed the salaries of municipal employees, to their chagrin and protests — shaming other local administrations into doing the same. They have taken aim at what they consider excess spending, but a sober white municipal Christmas tree made of Styrofoam and recycled cardboard did not go over well in Parma, which takes pride in its renown as a rich, somewhat vain, city. Shopkeepers say that councilors are more accessible than before; they now use Facebook and Twitter to keep citizens apprised of their decisions. Council meetings can also be viewed online. But the jury is still out on an Internet-driven movement that aims to circumvent the existing political process by allowing citizens to vote on programs and positions through online forums. Image The party ran mostly on a pledge to stop this incinerator. It began operating last month; Mayor Federico Pizzarotti said it was too far along to halt when he took office. Credit Marco Gualazzini for The International Herald Tribune Many question the transparency of Five Star’s system, and its democratic credentials. ‘’Direct democracy does not exist; there is no revolution happening in Parma,” said Vincenzo Bernazzoli, the president of Parma Province, who lost to Mr. Pizzarotti in the mayoral runoff election. ‘’For now the honeymoon continues, but the contradictions will serve as the final judge on the revolution.” For critics of Mr. Pizzarotti, the honeymoon is already over. A group of citizens who want the mayor to take a more critical look at the debts accrued by his predecessors, as well as several questionable financial and real estate dealings, accuse him of ignoring their concerns and refusing to meet with them. Despite the Five Star Movement’s pledge of greater participation, it has also yet to fulfill a promise to devote 5 percent of the city budget to projects decided on by the populace. The town-hall-style meetings have drawn snickers from some participants because a psychologist was called in to moderate the proceedings. Others have dismissed them as collective condominium meetings. Then there are those disappointed that the movement has not spearheaded civil liberties. ‘’They haven’t addressed same-sex civil unions, which any administration that labels itself as progressive should do,” said Antonello Saiz, a Parma book dealer. ‘’They campaigned by appealing to populist slogans, but then in practical terms they’ve done little to deal with the real needs of people. Populism is not what the country, or the city, wants.” Mr. Pizzarotti, the mayor, acknowledged the grumbling but countered that his hands were tied by budgetary constraints, bureaucratic hoops, administrative regulations and the negative economic circumstances — the same obstacles that abound all over Italy. ‘’We had to be realistic,” he said. ‘’We could cut taxes or cut services, and we decided to be realistic.” And in the case of the incinerator, he said, it was too far along to halt. He has now pledged instead to monitor emissions closely. ‘’We still don’t want it to be open,” Mr. Pizzarotti said. ‘’We just weren’t the only ones making a decision.”

Italy
Politics
Five Star Movement Italy
Beppe Grillo
Parma
Federico Pizzarotti


Pounding the Pavement to Buy a Car

Abstract: Some products lend themselves to online sales — books, computers and toys come to mind. But cars are a tougher sell. Most consumers still head to the lot to seal the deal. Direct sales of new cars over the Internet will increase from 100,000 in 2007 to just 300,000 in 2012, when they will represent only 1.7 percent of all new cars sold, according to a report by JupiterResearch. On the other hand, the number of consumers who use the Internet to contact a dealer for more information (that then results in a sale) will rise to 7.7 million from 5.1 million over the same period, Jupiter says. The online outlook for financing and insurance is sunny. Direct auto financing over the Web will rise to more than $19 billion in 2012 from $13 billion in 2007, Jupiter projects, and direct online auto insurance sales will climb to $11.7 billion from $6.6 billion. That ancillary growth should come as no surprise. After all, no one raves about that new car financing smell, and no one wants to take new car insurance out for a spin.

Automobiles
Computers and the Internet
Automobile Insurance and Liability


Phil Mickelson Keeps Lead in Phoenix Open

Abstract: SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — While Phil Mickelson, the 18- and 36-hole leader, was grinding like a pepper mill Saturday at the Phoenix Open, Padraig Harrington kicked footballs into the crowd at T.P.C. Scottsdale’s signature par-3 16th. At one point in the third round, Harrington, who began the day nine strokes behind Mickelson, had pulled within three. Harrington’s footloose and stress-free eight-under-par 63 underscored why so few golfers manage to lead a tournament from start to finish, as Mickelson is trying to do for the first time since his 13-stroke victory in the 2006 BellSouth Classic. The last golfer on tour to pull off a wire-to-wire win was the world No. 1, Rory McIlroy, at the 2011 United States Open. The last champion here to hold the outright lead every round was Steve Jones in 1997. “It is a lot easier stress-wise for the guys chasing,” Harrington said. Mickelson, a former Arizona State star who led by four after 36 holes, carded a bogey-free 64 that was hard-earned. A two-time winner of this event, he drained birdie putts of 21 feet on the first hole and 27 feet on the fifth, then made seven consecutive pars as Harrington and Brandt Snedeker, who was five strokes off the pace at the day’s start, steadily gained ground. “At this golf course, especially, you’ve got to keep it going because you’ll get passed pretty quickly,” Mickelson said. On the front nine, Mickelson said, he struggled in the warm conditions to get the right yardages on his irons. At 13, he finally got dialed in. He carded birdies on five of the last six holes as Mickelson tied Mark Calcavecchia’s 54-hole tournament record at 24-under 189. He is six strokes ahead of Snedeker, who carded a 65, and eight in front of Harrington. Mickelson was so zoned in on the last holes, his nine-iron shot at the 16th stopped 20 inches from the cup. “Being in the lead is probably the hardest thing to do in professional golf, there’s no doubt about it,” Harrington said. “You’ve got to try and keep going forward. The pressure is on not to mess up.” The way Mickelson is playing, Snedeker said he was not sure he could deny him his 41st tour victory. “Phil is playing pretty unbelievable right now,” he said. In honor of Super Bowl weekend, Harrington was asked to kick a football into the left-side bleachers at No. 16, a terrifying prospect given that he had never booted a football. His caddie did his best imitation of Lucy van Pelt, the Peanuts character, pulling the ball away the first time Harrington made his approach. After that false start, Harrington got the ball airborne, which made him prouder than his par on the hole. He tried a few more times, and his last kick cleared the grandstand, he said. “I made a little adjustment,” he said, “and I was fine.” Mickelson summed up his game the same way and said it would be an important title if he was able to hold onto the lead Sunday. “The way the people treat me here and having gone to A.S.U. and having been a past champ is pretty cool,” he said, “and I would love to add another victory, if possible.”


BBC to Trim World Service and Lay Off 650

Abstract: LONDON — Facing a 16 percent reduction in its budget, the BBC World Service said on Wednesday that it would close 5 of its 32 language services and reduce its work force by about a quarter, cutting around 650 jobs over the next three years. The service, which began broadcasting in 1932, is one of Britain ’s most visible exports and is known for bringing uncensored news to places where there is no free press. It currently has a budget of $433 million a year, a staff of 2,400 and a listening and viewing audience of 180 million a week across television, radio and the Internet. The BBC is facing deep cuts in spending over the next several years, and this week announced that it would cut 25 percent, or $54 million, from its online budget. But it hastened to point out that it was the government, which is responsible for financing the World Service through the Foreign Office , that made the decision to cut the budget so sharply in this case. “I want to stress that these are cuts that we would not have chosen to make without the funding reduction by the government,” Peter Horrocks, the BBC’s global news director, told reporters. “We made our case as strongly as we possibly could.” The government had praised the importance of the World Service, Mr. Horrocks said, but “the funding that we have received makes it difficult to reconcile that.” In fact, he said, when other factors were taken into account, the budget cuts were equal to about 20 percent annually for three years, or $73 million a year by 2014. In the House of Commons, angry legislators, some from the governing Conservative Party, lined up to denounce the plans. “There is very deep concern in the House about this decision,” said Andrew Tyrie, a Conservative member of Parliament. Mr. Tyrie pointed out that the government was planning to increase its overseas aid budget by 37 percent in real terms. Referring to William Hague , the foreign secretary, who was appearing on behalf of the government, he said, “I hope that he will hear the message from the House that if there is a choice between the two, we want to put the World Service first.” Sir Gerald Kaufman, a Labour member of Parliament, said that the BBC World Service was “the most trusted voice in the world — more trusted than any government, and more trusted than any other broadcaster in English or any other language.” He added, “To undermine the BBC World Service is to undermine truth.” But Mr. Hague said that the BBC had to accept that cuts were being made across the government and that it had to shoulder some of the burden. “The BBC World Service has a viable and promising future, but it is not immune from public spending constraints or from a reassessment of its priorities and services that have become less well used,” he said. Outside the World Service offices, staff members held a demonstration against the impending cuts and laid wreaths with messages like “R.I.P. World Service.” “As far as I’m concerned, this announcement is a death knell for the World Service,” Michelle Stanistreet, deputy general secretary of the National Union of Journalists , told The Guardian. “We knew there were cuts coming down the line, but I think the scale of the cuts that are proposed has staggered everybody.” The cuts include the closing of the Macedonian, Serbian and Albanian services, as well as broadcasts in English for the Caribbean and in Portuguese for Africa . The broadcaster also intends to cut radio broadcasts to China , Russia , Ukraine and Turkey , and to cease evening radio broadcasts in Arabic. In addition, the service will cut off radio programming in Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese, Ukrainian and Azeri, the official language of Azerbaijan , as well as radio broadcasts to Cuba in Spanish . The BBC pledged that it would reverse the cuts in 2014, when it takes over responsibility for financing the World Service from the Foreign Office .

BBC
Layoffs
News media,journalism
Great Britain


Japan Vows More Stimulus Spending

Abstract: The Japanese government promised on Friday to provide another round of spending to help its economy, the second largest in the world, emerge from a recession. The pledge came on the eve of a weekend meeting of finance officials from the Group of 20 nations, which are split over the need for additional spending. The United States and Britain have been pressing other nations to step up stimulus measures, while continental Europe has instead favored an overhaul of financial market regulation. The position of deeply indebted Japan has been unclear, but Friday’s renewed pledges put Japan in the camp of the United States, sharpening a possible face-off with Europe when finance officials meet outside London this weekend. Kaoru Yosano, the finance minister, said in Tokyo before leaving for the G-20 meeting that he hoped Japan would have its spending plan in place in time for the summit meeting in April. Mr. Yosano said he “intended to voice his strong approval” for a call by the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, for nations to start stimulus measures equivalent to 2 percent of their gross domestic products. Prime Minister Taro Aso’s popularity has hit a low ahead of national elections later this year. His ruling Liberal Democratic Party risks losing power, and Japan’s flailing economy is partly to blame. Japan’s economy slid into a recession last year as global demand for its export goods slumped. The economy contracted 12.1 percent on an annualized basis during the last quarter of 2008, according to revised government statistics released this week. The government has already announced spending programs worth about $100 billion and other steps to ease the financial squeeze that many companies there face. Other measures include purchases of commercial paper , a type of short-term corporate debt, by the central bank, as well as a decision, announced Friday, to inject 121 billion yen, or $1.2 billion, into three regional banks. Still, many economists have criticized the government’s policy action to date as inadequate and as dominated by political posturing ahead of the elections. Mounting evidence in the last few weeks that the global slowdown is deeper and is likely to be more protracted than initially feared has heightened the debate about whether governments should focus first on better regulation or on emergency spending. Several European governments, notably Germany, are wary of the swelling debt they are accumulating and favor a more cautious approach. They argue that the time is not yet right for more spending or tax cuts, and that the focus for the time should be on regulatory improvement.

Japan
Economic Conditions and Trends
Subprime Mortgage Crisis


To Raise the Curtain, New Jersey Theaters Are Pulling Together

Abstract: New Jersey theaters are lighting up again this month and next after a post-holiday lull. In the months ahead, they will be producing more than a dozen plays that are new to local stages. And to make those plays happen, a certain amount of cooperation is often involved. For instance, a new comedy by Suzanne Bradbeer, “Shakespeare in Vegas,” is a joint venture of Playwrights Theater of New Jersey , which is based at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, and the Dreamcatcher Repertory Theater in Summit, where it is being staged in April by Playwrights’ artistic director, John Pietrowski. The cast features Laura Ekstrand, Dreamcatcher’s artistic director. By splitting the budget of around $30,000, Ms. Ekstrand said, the companies can afford more elaborate costumes and special effects for the play, which demands flashy visuals. “It is better for this show and our audiences that we are able to combine resources,” Ms. Ekstrand said. The show is the 17th production that Playwrights has shared with another company in the last dozen years, Mr. Pietrowski said. Since relocating to the Fairleigh Dickinson campus in November 2011, Playwrights has presented readings and educational programs but has yet to produce a main-stage work there. “We have been integrating our activities slowly into our new partnership with the university so it is done right,” Mr. Pietrowski said. He added that the company planned to produce a play — as yet to be determined — in a 200-seat space on the campus later this summer. Among other notable joint projects are “The Winter’s Tale,” at the McCarter Theater Center in Princeton, done with the Shakespeare Theater Company in Washington, and George Street Playhouse’s “Good People” by David Lindsay-Abaire, shared with the Seattle Repertory Theater . Image Anton Floyd, Terrell Wheeler and Jaime Lincoln Smith will star in “Carnaval” at Luna Stage in West Orange. Credit Colin Lawler Here are some other highlights of the season through May: The McCarter’s production of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” features Kathleen Chalfant and John Glover as anxious suburbanites; the revival continues through Feb. 17. It is followed by Shakespeare’s dark romance “The Winter’s Tale” (April 2 to 21) and the Stephen Sondheim musical “Into the Woods,” performed by the Fiasco Theater, specialists in minimalist interpretations, with 10 actors and a single piano (May 3 to June 2). George Street Playhouse mounts two recent Broadway hits and a new play in New Brunswick. Ellen McLaughlin portrays a scrappy single mother who looks up a former boyfriend in David Lindsay-Abaire’s “Good People” (Jan. 29 to Feb. 24). The new work, “Rich Girl,” is Victoria Stewart’s modern-day variation on “Washington Square,” the Henry James tale about an heiress (March 12 to April 7). David Ives’s “Venus in Fur” is a steamy two-character comedy involving a mysterious actress (April 23 to May 18). Next door to George Street, the Crossroads Theater Company offers “Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest,” written and performed by Geoffrey C. Ewing (Feb. 7 to 17). Rohina Malik embodies five Muslim women of the post-9/11 world in the one-woman show “Unveiled” (April 24 to 28). Walter Mosley relocates the trigger-happy character of Mouse Alexander from his book “Devil in a Blue Dress” in a new one-act thriller, “White Lilies.” It is paired with France-Luce Benson’s comedy “The Talk,” about a Haitian mother and her daughter (May 9 to 19). The Two River Theater Company in Red Bank presents “Two Trains Running,” August Wilson’s drama set in a Pittsburgh restaurant in 1969 (Feb. 2 to March 3), followed by “The Electric Baby,” Stefanie Zadravec’s new play about lives that intersect in a car crash (April 6 to May 5). Lisa Kron, the playwright and performer known for “Well,” appears in her solo piece “2.5 Minute Ride,” about her Michigan family (April 20 to May 12). Michael Cumpsty stars in “Present Laughter,” Noel Coward’s 1943 comedy depicting a matinee idol’s domestic life (June 1 to 23). Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn brings back Ken Ludwig’s “Lend Me a Tenor,” a 1930s-style hotel farce (Feb. 13 to March 10), in which Judith Blazer reprises a role she played in the theater’s 1991 version as the temperamental wife of an opera star. Next arrives the flapper frolic “Thoroughly Modern Millie” (April 10 to May 5), followed by Disney’s musical version of “The Little Mermaid” (May 29 to June 30). The Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey commences its 2013 season in Madison with “The Playboy of the Western World,” J. M. Synge’s comical Irish masterpiece (May 29 to June 23). New works remain the focus for the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch, including Saviana Stanescu’s “Ants,” a comedy about joblessness and motherhood (Feb. 7 to March 10); “Noir,” by Stan Werse, a tribute to hard-boiled thrillers (April 4 to May 5); and Robert Caisley’s “Happy,” about a middle-aged professor who reassesses his contented life (May 30 to June 30). Image Kathleen Chalfant and John Glover are in “A Delicate Balance” at the McCarter Theater Center in Princeton. Credit Frank Wojciechowski The premiere of “Carnaval,” a play about sex tourists in Rio de Janeiro by Nikkole Salter, co-author of the Obie Award-winning “In the Continuum,” is at Luna Stage in West Orange (Jan. 31 to March 3). Luna’s season continues with Eugene O’Neill’s “A Moon for the Misbegotten” (April 6 to May 5). Dreamcatcher Repertory Theater offers the local premiere of “The Language Archive,” Julia Cho’s 2009 comedy-drama regarding a linguist’s failing marriage (Jan. 25 to Feb. 10). The coproduction with Playwrights Theater of New Jersey, “Shakespeare in Vegas,” is about a questionable classical troupe in Sin City (April 4 to 21). The Centenary Stage Company in Hackettstown presents “The Cripple of Inishmaan,” Martin McDonagh’s piece about a remote Irish community invaded by a Hollywood film crew (Feb. 22 to March 10). Centenary then stages “The English Bride,” a psychological drama by Lucile Lichtblau (April 5 to 21). The Bickford Theater in Morris Township has three shows scheduled: “Murder in Green Meadows,” Douglas Post’s 1990 thriller about adultery and homicide in the suburbs (Jan. 31 to Feb. 17); “Plaza Suite,” Neil Simon’s 1968 comedy (April 18 to May 5); and “Nunsense II: The Second Coming,” a musical by Dan Goggin (May 30 to June 23). Other companies plan single main-stage events. The Passage Theater Company in Trenton premieres “Roundelay,” R. N. Sandberg’s globe-spanning romance (March 21 to April 7). In Rahway, the American Theater Group is staging “Himself and Nora,” a musical by Jonathan Brielle about James Joyce and his longtime muse (April 24 to May 12). The Theater Project in Maplewood plans a revival of Emily Mann’s “Having Our Say,” a visit with the two Delany sisters whose oral history about their African-American family spanned a century of social change (April 4 to 21). At the shore, Cape May Stage opens its 25th season with “How to Make a Rope Swing,” Shawn Fisher’s look at a small town’s sorrowful secret (May 17 to June 7). Repairing damage to its Beach Haven home from Hurricane Sandy, Surflight Theater begins its nine-show season with a musical revue yet to be determined (April 23 to May 4), followed by the thriller “Sleuth” (May 7 to 19) and the 1920s-style musical comedy “The Boy Friend” (May 24 to June 16). Around the State A listing of some of the theaters that will be staging plays in New Jersey in the coming months. Image Lisa Kron’s “2.5 Minute Ride” will be at the Two River Theater Company in Red Bank. Credit Courtesy of Two River Theater BEACH HAVEN Surflight Theater, (609) 492-9477; surflight.org. CAPE MAY Cape May Stage, capemaystage.org; (609) 884-1341. HACKETTSTOWN Centenary Stage Company, (908) 979-0900; centenarystageco.org. LONG BRANCH New Jersey Repertory Company, (732) 229-3166; njrep.org. MADISON Shakespeare Theater of New Jersey, (973) 408-5600; shakespearenj.org. MAPLEWOOD The Theater Project, thetheaterproject.org; (973) 763-4029. MILLBURN Paper Mill Playhouse, papermill.org; (973) 376-4343. MORRIS TOWNSHIP Bickford Theater, bickfordtheatre.org; (973) 971-3706. NEW BRUNSWICK Crossroads Theater Company, crossroadstheatrecompany.org; (732) 545-8100. NEW BRUNSWICK George Street Playhouse, (732) 246-7717; gsponline.org. PRINCETON McCarter Theater Center, mccarter.org; (609) 258-2787. RAHWAY American Theater Group, americantheatergroup.org; (732) 499-8226. RED BANK Two River Theater Company, (732) 345-1400; trtc.org. SUMMIT Dreamcatcher Repertory Theater, (800) 838-3006; dreamcatcherrep.org. TRENTON Passage Theater Company, passagetheatre.org; (609) 392-0766. WEST ORANGE Luna Stage, (973) 395-5551; lunastage.org.


City’s Water Is Ranked Best in a Taste Test

Abstract: Beating more than 150 other municipal water systems, New York City came in first — for the first time — in the New York State Water Taste Test at the State Fair in Syracuse this week. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wasted no time issuing a statement on Wednesday bragging about the distinction and calling the tap-water system “the lifeblood of our city.” But who came in second? The second-place winner, announced on Tuesday, was the village of Pulaski, population 2,398, in Oswego County, near the eastern edge of Lake Ontario. By car, the upstate village (locals pronounce it pull-ask-EYE) is nearly five hours from New York City. So far, Pulaski is taking the news well. “We were very proud to have come in second place,” Gary M. Stevens, superintendent of public works for the village since 1992, said in a phone interview. “First place would have been better, but things happen.” The village’s mayor, Ernest C. Wheeler, said, jokingly: “We’d like to know where you get your water from. You don’t get it from Lake Ontario, do you?” The annual water taste test — this was its 22nd year — is a “nonscientific competition” sponsored by the State Department of Health and the New York section of the American Water Works Association. About 250 people attending the fair judged the blind taste test. Mr. Stevens, of Pulaski, has never been to New York City. Mr. Wheeler, who has been the mayor for two years, said he last visited three years ago. He did not remember the city’s water too well. “It tasted O.K., but ours is better,” he said. “Whatever.”

Water
Tests and Testing
New York City
State and County Fairs


Braden: Mouth That Roared (Perfectly)

Abstract: ARLINGTON, Tex. — The Class A Stockton Ports opened a new ballpark in 2005, but the players still parked at the old one. The day of the first practice, Daric Barton and Richie Robnett, both first-round draft picks, rolled into the old lot and dropped off their cars: a Tahoe for Barton, a Range Rover with 24-inch rims for Robnett. The next day, their new teammate Dallas Braden, a lanky left-hander, approached them and asked if the cars did, indeed, belong to them. Warily, Barton said yes. “Well, it’s a good thing that I’m here, because a couple of my buddies came up to me asking whose cars they were, because they wanted to steal them,” Braden replied. “I told them not to, because they were your guys’.” And that, Barton said, was his first impression of Braden: make sure you stay on his good side, or his buddies from Stockton may steal your car. Five years later, the scene shifted to the Oakland Coliseum, about 70 miles west of Stockton. There were two outs in the top of the ninth inning Sunday, and Braden, now pitching for the parent club, the Athletics , had retired all 26 Tampa Bay hitters. The count was 3-1 to Gabe Kapler, but Braden did not realize it; he thought his 2-1 fastball had clipped the outside corner for a strike. The catcher, Landon Powell, called for a fastball, and Braden delivered one at 87 miles per hour. Kapler bounced to shortstop Cliff Pennington, and at first base, Barton’s mind flooded with details. “The first thing was get to the bag,” he said. “The second thing was make sure you catch the ball. But my legs were shaking, my eyes were jumping all over the place, and I was nervous. I wanted to celebrate before I got the ball. It was tough to just stay there. Once I caught the ball and held onto that sucker, then it was all celebration and happiness.” Barton caught the ball and charged toward Braden, wrapping him in an embrace. Powell and Pennington, also first-round picks, joined the celebration. Braden had just authored the 19th perfect game in major league history , an underdog defying the odds again. “His name will be synonymous with it for as long as we live, as long as our kids live, as long as anybody’s around,” said Todd Steverson, the Athletics’ first-base coach, who managed Braden in Stockton. “He’s etched his name in there, and you can’t take it away from him.” As the party unfolded on the field, the television cameras panned to Section 209 at the Coliseum, in the second deck behind first base. The seats there were sold at a discount, the section number a nod to the Stockton area code that is tattooed across Braden’s chest. Down on the field, Braden embraced his grandmother Peggy Lindsey, who raised him after his mother, Jodie Atwood, died of cancer when Braden was a senior in high school. Just that morning, on Mother’s Day, his childhood friend Jimboy Rabanal had placed flowers at Atwood’s grave. “Jodie wanted nothing more in the world than for Dallas to play baseball,” Rabanal said. “He slept in his car a few times in the parking lot at the ballpark. His mom wanted it so much for him, he felt obligated to make it happen.” The dream seemed unrealistic. The other six pitchers who have started for the A’s this season were drafted in the eighth round or higher. Braden was taken in the 24th round in 2004, 727th over all , out of Texas Tech. Braden had played the previous two seasons at American River College in California, so he was not well known. Other pitchers from Texas — Homer Bailey, Yovani Gallardo, Jeff Niemann — attracted more scouts that spring. With a fastball that never crept above 88 m.p.h., Braden was widely ignored. Blake Davis, then an area scout for the Athletics, saw Braden pitch early that spring, but it was not a memorable impression. Later, though, Davis found himself staying at the same hotel as the Texas Tech team, and he talked to some of the players. All of them raved about Braden’s makeup, calling him the leader of the team. Davis was intrigued. “He was a 21-year-old man as far as taking care of himself and knowing what was in front of him,” Davis said. “He had seen some of the worst. There was nothing in pro ball that was going to scare him.” As a prospect, Braden did have an excellent changeup, and what he lacked in velocity, he made up for with a fearless approach, challenging hitters with inside fastballs. Davis thought he might make a useful reliever and asked Braden if other teams had contacted him. Braden said no. Such honesty stood out to Davis; most players said they were coveted by many teams, to improve their draft position. Braden, who had no agent, told Davis to take him in the first 24 rounds, and he would sign. Davis trusted Braden, took him in the 24th round and signed him for $15,000. The Athletics offered to pay for Braden’s final year of college someday, but Braden asked that the money be rolled into his bonus instead. Ever since he was 4, he said, he had no doubt he would make the majors. “That was the game plan,” Braden said Tuesday at a news conference at Rangers Ballpark. “It was either that or asking you if you wanted to supersize that. I stuck with this.” The A’s put Braden in the bullpen at first, but that did not last long. He pitched well in 2004 and 2005, missed most of the next year with shoulder trouble, but was in the majors by April 2007. He went 5-4 in 2008 and started on opening day last season. “The reason was that we knew he could handle that responsibility,” Oakland General Manager Billy Beane said. “He wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the opportunity. With some of the other guys, we felt they would be.” This season has been Braden’s breakthrough, as a pitcher and a talker. Just 18 days before his perfect game, he famously criticized the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez for crossing over the mound — his mound — after a foul ball. Now, after one perfect day, Braden is known for his pitching. That is how he wants it. That is how he got out of Stockton, even though he never really left. “I guess A-Rod said it best: it’s good to be noticed and recognized for things you do on the field,” Braden said. “That’s always a positive. I guess that’s why I live in Stockton, because I can go home and be me there, and I’m not really worried about what anybody else thinks.”

Braden Dallas
Oakland Athletics
Baseball


Lew, Treasury Nominee, Got Exit Bonus From N.Y.U.

Abstract: President Obama’s nominee to lead the Treasury Department, Jacob J. Lew , got a $685,000 severance payment when he left a top post at New York University in 2006 to take a job at Citigroup. The payment, which a university official acknowledged on Monday, is considered unusual by outside experts in benefits and raises questions about why a tax-exempt university would give a large exit bonus to an executive who was departing voluntarily. The payment was not disclosed in the university’s publicly available tax records, and it is receiving scrutiny from Senate Republicans as they consider Mr. Lew’s nomination, which is expected to come up for a vote in the Finance Committee on Tuesday. At the time of his departure, Mr. Lew had been executive vice president at N.Y.U. He had typically earned $700,000 to $800,000 a year since his hiring in 2001, and sometimes more, according to the university’s tax records. He also received mortgages of roughly $1.5 million through the school as a perquisite — $440,000 of which was forgiven by the university over time. University officials defended the additional lump-sum payment, which was not required by his original employment contract, citing Mr. Lew’s role in addressing some of the university’s major problems at the time. While severance payments are not unheard-of among universities, they are more typical when executives of long standing are ushered out. They can also be required by employment contracts, like the $1.2 million that Pennsylvania State University’s former president, Graham B. Spanier , received when he departed amid a child sexual abuse scandal in the football program. But Mr. Lew’s exit was amicable. The revelations about his pay are not the first to raise questions about how tax-exempt, nonprofit groups in the state shower largess on their top officials . Less than a year after Mr. Lew went to Citigroup, the company agreed to pay $2 million as part of a settlement reached with the attorney general at the time, Andrew M. Cuomo, over Citigroup’s role as a preferred lender to students at N.Y.U. and other colleges. The case focused, in part, on what were basically kickbacks being paid by preferred lenders to universities; N.Y.U. paid $1.4 million to reimburse students as part of the same settlement. Image Jacob J. Lew is the president’s choice for Treasury secretary. Credit Doug Mills/The New York Times The university chose Citigroup as a preferred lender during Mr. Lew’s tenure, a subject that has arisen during questions to Mr. Lew from Senate Republicans. “I do not recall having any conversations with Citigroup officials regarding Citigroup’s selection or actions as a preferred lender for N.Y.U. students,” Mr. Lew told senators. “Also, I do not believe that I approved the selection of Citigroup as a preferred lender for N.Y.U. students.” Senator Charles E. Grassley , an Iowa Republican and member of the Finance Committee, has a history of scrutinizing how nonprofit groups spend money. “Mr. Lew’s track record of getting well paid by taxpayer-supported institutions raises questions about his regard for who pays the bills,” Mr. Grassley said in a statement on Monday. “The problem of colleges that always seem to find money for the executive suite even as they raise tuition is not unique to New York University. “However, New York University is among the most expensive, has a well-funded endowment, and has high student debt loads. It should explain how its generous treatment of Mr. Lew and other executives is necessary to its educational mission.” An administration official working on Mr. Lew’s confirmation said, “Mr. Lew reported all income earned from his position at N.Y.U. on his tax returns and paid all taxes due.” In a statement on Monday, John Beckman, a spokesman for N.Y.U., said: “It is not uncommon for large organizations to make payments to senior officials on their departure, as happened in this instance.” The spokesman added that Mr. Lew “was instrumental in resolving the structural budget deficit N.Y.U. faced when he arrived, putting in place our current budgeting process, addressing N.Y.U.’s deferred maintenance backlog and — in collaboration with other senior colleagues — addressing the complex challenges of unwinding N.Y.U. Medical Center’s merger with Mount Sinai Medical Center.” Outside consultants expressed surprise at Mr. Lew’s exit bonus. “It’s pretty unusual to get severance payment upon a voluntary departure,” said Daniel Boyer, a senior consultant at Marts & Lundy, which advises higher education organizations. “There are long-serving presidents, whether it’s at a big Ivy, that will get severance upon retirement. But that’s different from voluntarily leaving to get a ton of money anyway.” John J. McGowan Jr., a partner at the Cleveland firm BakerHostetler who specializes in employee benefit plans, offered a similar assessment. “Why are they doing that when he’s moving on to bigger and better things?” he said. “It’s the type of thing that might raise eyebrows.”

Jacob J Lew
NYU
Senate Committee on Finance
Executive Compensation
Treasury Department
College


For Pamperers of the Pampered, It’s Beauty, Interrupted

Abstract: THE situation seemed dire. About 40 beauty care workers from Georgette Klinger, many of them employees for decades, had been locked out of their salon, housed in a prewar building with filigreed silver doors on Madison Avenue at 53rd Street. The salon had closed abruptly on Dec. 18, and the women worried that clients would think they had been abandoned. “I’m still shocked,” said Eugenia Sakharny, 60, a red-haired manicurist who was born in Odessa and had worked for 29 years at the Madison Avenue salon. “You don’t want to believe it.” That date in December, the salon’s hair stylists, colorists and aestheticians, most of whom are from Ukraine, Russia and Romania, were informed, many by telephone, that the place would not open the following day. The elegantly appointed shop, which was founded in 1941 by Georgette Klinger, a Czechoslovak émigré and nurse, was known in its heyday as an exclusive sanctuary for socialites seeking to pamper their skin. The company grew into a small empire of 10 salons around the country. When Ms. Klinger died in 2004, at 88, the company had already changed hands several times. In July, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, and in the ensuing months, its salons nationwide were quietly shuttered. The Dallas salon closed abruptly in October, and eight others, including the New York shop, would quickly follow. “We had no product,” Ms. Sakharny said of the jars and bottles of shampoo and facial cream that used to be ever present. “No towels.” Thomas Pitta, a lawyer for the company’s owner, Angela Krivulka, said that after a prospective buyer pulled out of the deal, “the company was left in a terrible cash situation and had stopped generating sufficient cash to pay the bills as they came due.” But to the relief of many of the salon’s workers, a guardian angel stepped in, in the form of a local Klinger manager, who worked out a last-minute agreement with Saks Fifth Avenue to place former Klinger employees under its wing. Thirty-three former Klinger workers found their new professional home at the Salon and Spa at Saks, where, one day recently, a 39-year-old colorist from Ukraine named Vicki Levitskaya took a moment to reminisce with colleagues. “Our clients are very loyal; they followed us,” she said of the regulars who now visit their new salon home three blocks from the old one. “We really appreciate it; why not? Or we’d be running around in the street looking for jobs.” As Ms. Levitskaya spoke, she received a quick embrace from Angela Furman, a longtime Klinger skin care technician from Odessa. Ms. Furman, 61, thinks of her colleagues as family. As she summed it up, “We’re happy we are together.”

Beauty Salons
Manhattan (NYC)
Saks Fifth Avenue


To Create Order... First Get Organized

Abstract: AS I write this story, I’d rather be straightening my house. This will come as a surprise to anyone who has ever looked at or lived in my house. But organization, like yawning and measles , is contagious. It can infect anybody, even the kind of person who took some of the notes for this story on a piece of paper she found on the floor of her car — a veterinarian’s receipt for a dog that had been dead for three years. No matter how big a slob you are, if you watch somebody organize long enough, you want to organize, too. At the very least, you want to buy the stuff that organizers use. After observing the reorganization of a walk-in closet in a Harrison, N.Y., home, I had to restrain myself from driving straight to the closest Linens ’n Things and purchasing the fabulous notched faux-suede hangers that Debbie Harwin, an organizer in Larchmont, N.Y., had used for Debra Alpert’s clothes. “Once all the hangers match, it’s aesthetically pleasing,” Ms. Harwin said. Ms. Alpert said she bought the hangers after a “pre-purge” of her closet and then an initial consultation with Ms. Harwin, who suggested them. “I went and got a box of 50. I had no idea what I’d need. I went back and bought five more boxes.” As Ms. Alpert sorted through pants, Ms. Harwin, who has a quiet, Zen-like manner, listened closely. They talked categories: daytime, dressy, spring, fall, capris. They purged. The Krizia white jeans stayed, the blue Gap chinos went. “They’ve lived a good life,” said Ms. Alpert, 41. “Get rid of them.” “It’s almost like these are misfiled,” Ms. Harwin said, carrying a pair of brown summer pants from the fall to the spring rack. A few hours into this, it was possible to see that even a woman with more than 72 pairs of shoes — perhaps especially such a woman — could greatly benefit from the help of somebody like Ms. Harwin, who was lining up her dolls at the age of 2 and who, when she worked as a lawyer in Manhattan , had the neatest files in the office. “It’s about finding a place for everything, as cliché as that sounds,” Ms. Harwin said. Looking around Ms. Alpert’s closet, with its floor-to-ceiling shoe shelves (purse shelves and boot holders are coming) and its wire bins for tennis clothes and swimsuits, I realized that my own closet was small enough to be a closet in this closet. But I could at least have the same hangers. I knew that if I owned them, I would never again misplace a shirt or stupidly hold on to an outgrown pair of khakis. I also knew this was wrongheaded thinking. Plenty of professional organizers had told me so. “Before I even get there, people want to go out and buy containers,” said Deborah Gussoff, an organizer in Montclair, N.J. “I say don’t. That’s the sexy part of it.” The consummation, she might have added, of your relationship with your space. Something not to be entered into lightly, but with reverence and a good tape measure. So although I was seduced by the perfect hanger, I did not succumb. Which brings me to the first of my Organizing Tips, culled from interviews with professionals and their clients around the region: Tip No. 1: Purge first, binge later. People think freshly purchased containers will make them organized. But it’s not the containers that organize you, it’s the system. And if you are disorganized enough to need a system, you may need a professional to create it. “Professional organizer” is an even newer job title than, say, “Web designer.” Ms. Gussoff, who has an M.B.A., has been organizing for a living since her daughter, now 18, was born. “Fifteen years ago, if I told somebody I was a professional organizer, they’d get a look on their face and say, ‘Labor unions?’ ” TODAY, there seem to be as many professional organizers as there are closets. Actually, the National Association of Professional Organizers (founded in 1985) has almost 4,000 members. Nobody knows exactly why so many people are willing to pay upward of $100 an hour (rates vary) for help cleaning out junk. It is not merely a function of affluence. “I have plenty of clients who save up money to hire me,” said Jody Berman, a Long Island organizer. “We all have a finite amount of space, unless we buy another house.” Also, more women are working outside the home. They can barely get dinner on the table, much less sort through the junk drawer. There’s an explosion in communications: Keeping track of e-mail takes time away from keeping track of stuff. And mainly, there’s stuff. Even in a recession, we all have too much of everything. One of the first famous organizers was Julie Morgenstern, author of the seminal 1998 work “Organizing From the Inside Out,” now used as a textbook for the professional association’s credentialing exam. She appeared on “ Oprah ” in 1999, then went back to her office to find more than a thousand messages from potential clients. Ms. Morgenstern is a no-nonsense writer whose “analyze, strategize and attack” formula acknowledges psychological impediments to organization but does not make them central. Oprah currently seems to favor the organizer Peter Walsh, author of a 2008 book positing that cleaning your house will help you lose weight. In a decade, organization mingled with philosophy, psychology and self-help to become something rich and strange — and TV-worthy. Shows like “Clean Sweep,” which features Mr. Walsh and is still in reruns, are great publicity, but a mixed blessing. “Organizers do not feel these shows accurately portray what we do,” Debbie Harwin said. “It’s not about going in, waving a magic wand and cleaning up a room.” Still, cleaning up a room is the first step, which is why Betsy Krobot, an organizer based in Bridgeport, Conn., took two assistants with her to Rowayton, Conn., at 10 a.m. on a summer weekday. Her client, Pam Agonis, 59, lives with her husband in a quirky 19th-century rented cottage near the water. There is one bedroom with a tiny anteroom. By the time Ms. Krobot and her assistants finished this two-day job, the anteroom was a charming office from which Ms. Agonis can start a second career. “The hope is that if I clear, things will become clear,” Ms. Agonis said. First, things needed to be cleared out. Ms. Krobot made a plan during her initial assessment, and now she started putting books, files, an unused foot massager and all manner of junk into bankers’ boxes. Tip No. 2: Bankers’ boxes, from the office-supply store, hold legal or file-size folders, and are stamped “Destroy Date” on one end, making them a perfect purgatory for paperwork. Ms. Agonis’s house was so neat, by my standards, that I accused her of cleaning up for Ms. Krobot. She denied this. “There are different levels of disorganization,” Ms. Krobot said, rather pointedly. MS. KROBOT wore a white tank top with a pink-and-green logo advertising her business. She wiped her forehead with a green washcloth that she carried in the back pocket of her khakis. She buzzed with energy. Every time she opened her mouth, an organizing aphorism emerged: “When you’re not organized, you feel like you’re standing on Bambi legs.” “The most successful people in the world are right-brained people who’ve learned left-brain skills.” Ms. Agonis had one: “My definition of feng shui ,” she said, is taking all your husband’s junk out of the house and putting it in the garage. Everybody laughed, but Ms. Krobot and her helpers are serious about feng shui. They moved a mirror from the bedroom — unlucky — into the anteroom. “I totally believe it,” said Ms. Krobot. “I’ve seen it change lives.” On a more modest scale, a Ziploc bag can change the way you store electronics, which brings us to: Tip No. 3: Use one Ziploc bag for every appliance or electronics item you own. Store extra cords, batteries, warranties and the other stuff you don’t know what to do with. Then put the bags together in a bin. While Ms. Krobot and Emily Vetrosky worked upstairs, Caroline Winterson and Ms. Agonis sat in the living room, purging books: “14,000 Things to Be Happy About” went; the high school yearbook stayed. Five partially full journals went. “People give me journals all the time,” Ms. Agonis said, picking up a sixth. “My first marriage,” she said, rolling her eyes and ripping out pages for the shredder. By noon on the second day, Ms. Agonis had an office. Her furniture was rearranged, her bookshelf and papers edited, her desk emptied and sensibly refilled. Wicker hampers held magazines and research material; a new lamp gave her a reading nook, where, if she wanted, she could immerse herself in the literature of organization, from the gospels according to Ms. Morgenstern and Mr. Walsh to “File...Don’t Pile” by Pat Dorff, and “How to Be Organized in Spite of Yourself” by Sunny Schlenger. Or any of dozens of other titles: Amazon lists hundreds of them under the heading “personal organization.” But, as Ms. Krobot, who created Ms. Agonis’s new study, points out, just reading the book does not get the job done. “Everybody knows how to file,” she said, “but we need to be there.” Besides, buying all those books would just add needless clutter. More Tips From the Experts ¶ Do not store your shoes beside each other as if there were feet in them. Store them heel to toe. They will take up less space. ¶ Attractive wastebaskets are the perfect place to store out-of-season wrapping paper. ¶ In September, designate a box for each child’s artwork and school papers. Then go through them the next summer, when you are not so attached to them. ¶ Do not keep something just because it was a gift. Adopt the theory that once somebody gives a gift, they lose control of it. ¶ To get rid of clothes, put them in a non-see-through garbage bag, date the bag and put a date a few months into the future on the calendar. If you have not gone into the bag by that date, donate it.


Who Needs Retirement, Anyway?

Abstract: “I will not retire while I’ve still got my legs and my makeup box,” said Bette Davis. “Retirement at 65 is ridiculous,” said George Burns. “When I was 65 I still had pimples.” “Retirement is the ugliest word in the language,” said Ernest Hemingway. These words are meant as consolation for those who may think of retirement in more favorable terms — as a time for relaxation, learning, service, travel and fun — but who see it receding unattainably into the future as their retirement accounts and personal wealth dwindle. According to a survey from the Employee Benefit Research Institute, more workers are losing confidence in their ability to retire comfortably, and they name the economy, inflation and the cost of living as among the reasons. “Sooner or later I’m going to die,” said Margaret Mead, “but I’m not going to retire.” Presumably that was her choice. But some of today’s workers are afraid that they will have no choice but to keep working.

Retirement
Pensions and Retirement Plans
United States Economy