Things to Do on Long Island, Aug. 13 Through 21

Abstract: A guide to cultural and recreational events on Long Island. Items for the calendar should be sent at least three weeks in advance to lical@nytimes.com. Film EAST HAMPTON “A Perfect Candidate” (1996), documentary by R.J. Cutler and David Van Taylor, in the Hamptons International Film Festival SummerDocs Series. Aug. 27 at 7 p.m. $23 and $25. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. guildhall.org; 631-324-0806. HUNTINGTON “Mostly Martha” (2001), romantic comedy, discussion after film. Aug. 14 at 11 a.m. $10 and $15. Cinema Arts Center, 423 Park Avenue. 631-423-7611; cinemaartscentre.org. ROSLYN HARBOR “Monet’s Palate” (2014), documentary, Saturdays at 3 p.m. through Nov. 5. “Apples, Pears and Paint: How to Make a Still Life Painting” (2014), Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. July 30 through Nov. 6. Free with museum admission. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. 516-484-9337; nassaumuseum.org. SOUTHAMPTON Jewish Film Festival, archival films about the Jewish experience. Through Aug. 30. $7.50 and $15; some nights, free. Southampton Center, 25 Jobs Lane. 631-287-4377; scc-arts.org. For Children COLD SPRING HARBOR “Pirate Fest,” games, prizes, nautical crafts and more. Aug. 28, 12 to 3 p.m. $5 and $8. Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum, 301 Main Street. 631-367-3418; cshwhalingmuseum.org. GARDEN CITY “The Art of Andy Warhol.” Create an original piece of art, dress up like characters seen in paintings and view works from Warhol’s “Myths” series. Through Sept. 4. Free with museum admission, $12 and $13. Long Island Children’s Museum, 11 Davis Avenue. licm.org; 516-224-5800. OAKDALE “James and the Giant Peach,” sensory-friendly performance. Through Aug. 20. $12. CM Performing Arts Center, 931 Montauk Highway. 631-218-2810; cmpac.com. ROSLYN HARBOR “Neiman Marcus Family Sundays at the Museum,” family art tour and activities inspired by the current exhibition. Through Nov. 6. Free with museum admission, $4 to $10; children 4 and under and members, free. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. nassaumuseum.org; 516-484-9337. SAG HARBOR “Wild West Mystery,” puppet theater. Aug. 18 at 11 a.m. “Gustafer Yellowgold’s Dark Pie Concerns,” puppet theater. Aug. 20 at 11 a.m. “The Joshua Show,” puppet theater. Ages 3 and up. $15. Bay Street Theater, 1 Bay Street. 631-725-9500; baystreet.org. Music and Dance AMAGANSETT Amagansett Art Exhibition. Aug. 6 through Sept. 18. Reception: Aug. 6, from 5 to 7 p.m. Amangansett Historical Association, 129 Main Street. 631-267-3020; amagansetthistory.org. AMAGANSETT 10,000 Maniacs, alternative rock. Aug. 19 at 8 p.m. $100. Stephen Talkhouse, 161 Main Street. 631-267-3117; stephentalkhouse.com. BOHEMIA “Blue Bayou,” Linda Ronstadt cover band. Aug. 18, 7 to 8:30 p.m. Free. Connetquot Public Library, 760 Ocean Avenue. connetquotlibrary.org; 631-567-5079. EAST HAMPTON Laurie Anderson, concert for dogs and their owners. Aug. 13 at 5 p.m. $100 to $500. LongHouse Reserve Art Center, 133 Hands Creek Road. longhouse.org; 631-329-3568. GARDEN CITY ’80s Arcade and Karaoke Night, arcade games, costume contest, raffles and prizes. Aug. 20, 7 to 11 p.m. $10 and $15. Cradle of Aviation Museum, 1 Davis Avenue. cradleofaviation.org; 516-572-4111. GLEN COVE “Downtown Sounds,” concert series on Friday nights in August. Glen Cove Village Square, on the corners of Glen and School Streets. 516-759-6970; downtownsoundslive.org. GLEN COVE “Blondes Have More Fun,” Rod Stewart tribute. Aug. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Morgan Park Summer Music Festival. Aug. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Free. Morgan Park, Germaine Street and Landing Road. 516-671-0017; glencove-li.com. HUNTINGTON “A Decade of Soul: Classic Soul & Motown Revue,” featuring Prentiss McNeil of the Drifters. Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. $15 to $75. The Paramount, 370 New York Avenue. 631-673-7300; paramountny.com. PATCHOGUE “Dance to the Movies,” performance with dance and television celebrities. Through Aug. 14. $59 to $89. Patchogue Theater for the Performing Arts, 71 East Main Street. 631-207-1313; thegateway.org. PATCHOGUE “Werther,” Benoît Jacquot’s Royal Opera House production of Massenet’s tragic opera, starring soprano Joyce DiDonato as Charlotte and tenor Vittorio Grigolo. Aug. 13 at 10:30 a.m. $11 to $15. The Plaza Cinema and Media Arts Center, 20 Terry Street. 631-438-0083; plazamac.org. SAG HARBOR “The Nancy Atlas Project,” rock and blues. Aug. 19, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Free. Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, 200 Main Street. 631-725-0770; sagharborwhalingmuseum.org. SMITHTOWN 2016 WUSB Benefest, music festival and benefit. Aug. 13 and 14. $10 to $25. Katie’s of Smithtown, 145 West Main Street. 631-360-8556; wusb-benefest.com. WESTBURY Neil Sedaka, pop and rock. Aug. 13 at 8 p.m. $49.50 to $149.50. NYCB Theater at Westbury, 960 Brush Hollow Road. 800-745-3000; livenation.com. WESTHAMPTON BEACH Gladys Knight. Aug. 20 at 8 p.m. $155 to $200. Peter Cetera. Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. $170 to $225. Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center, 76 Main Street. 631-288-1500; whbpac.org. Outdoors ELMONT Custom and collectible car show and swap meet, with live performances. Aug. 14, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Rain date: Aug. 21. $9; children 12 and under, free. Belmont Racetrack, 2150 Hempstead Turnpike. longislandcars.com; 631-567-5898. GARDEN CITY SUMAQ Peruvian Food Festival, exhibitions and live cooking demonstrations. Aug. 13 and 14. $7 to $20. Cradle of Aviation Museum, 1 Davis Avenue. 516-572-4111; cradleofaviation.org. MATTITUCK Love Lane walking tour, presented by the Mattituck-Laurel Historical Society and led by its curator, Norman Wamback. Aug. 13 at 10 a.m. $5 suggested donation. Mattituck Presbyterian Church, 12605 Main Road. 646-248-0640; mattpres.com. OYSTER BAY Walking tour of Oyster Bay led by Philip Blocklyn, historical society director. Aug. 13 at 3 p.m. $5 and $15. Oyster Bay Historical Society, 20 Summit Street. 516-922-5032; oysterbayhistorical.org. PORT WASHINGTON “KidStock,” family music festival with activities for children. Aug. 21, 12 to 5 p.m. Free, parking $10. North Hempstead Beach Park, 175 West Shore Road. 516-869-6311; northhempsteadny.gov. RIVERHEAD “Brew Crew Cycles,” group bike tours to breweries in Riverhead. Through November. Weekends: $35 per person, $450 for full 14-person tour. Weekdays: $30 per person, $350 for full tour. Brew Crew Cycles, 285 Pulaski Street. brewcrewcycles.com; 631-722-1516. SOUTHAMPTON “Drive-In Movies at Coopers Beach,” series. Through Aug. 16. $40 per vehicle. Coopers Beach, 268 Meadow Lane. 631-283-0402; southamptonchamber.com. SOUTHAMPTON Shakespeare’s plays from the Hip to Hip Theater Company. “Julius Caesar,” Aug. 19 at 7:30 p.m. “As You Like It,” Aug. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Free. Agawam Park, 23 Main Street. 631-287-4377; hiptohip.org. Spoken Word LAWRENCE “Long Island Author Series,” reading and discussion with David Nemec, baseball historian and novelist. Aug. 17, 7:30 to 9 p.m. Free. Rock Hall Museum, 199 Broadway. 516-239-1157; friendsofrockhall.org. MONTAUK “On Montauk: A Literary Celebration,” various authors reading passages from their essays, stories, poems and more. Aug. 24, 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Free. Montauk Library, 871 Montauk Highway. 631-668-3377; montauklibrary.org. ROSLYN HARBOR “Brown Bag Lecture,” museum docent Riva Ettus presents a talk on the artists and art in the museum’s exhibition, “A Feast for the Eyes.” Aug. 25, 1 to 2 p.m. $4 to $10. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. 516-484-9337; nassaumuseum.org. Theater NORTHPORT “The Sisters Rosensweig,” comedy by Wendy Wasserstein. Aug. 11 through 28. $20 to $25. Bare Bones Theater Company, 57 Main Street. 800-838-3006; barebonestheater.com. LINDENHURST “Sleuth,” mystery by Anthony Shaffer. Aug. 19 through Sept. 4. $25. Studio Theater, 141 South Wellwood Avenue. 631-226-8400; studiotheatreli.com. OAKDALE “West Side Story,” musical. Through Aug. 28. $16 to $26. CM Performing Arts Center, 931 Montauk Highway. 631-218-2810; cmpac.com. PATCHOGUE “Hamlet,” tragedy. Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. $11 to $15. The Plaza Cinema and Media Arts Center, 20 Terry Street. 631-438-0083; plazamac.org. PORT JEFFERSON “The Misadventures of Robin Hood,” musical comedy by Jeffrey Sanzel, Steve McCoy and Douglas J. Quattrock. Through Aug. 13. $10. Theater Three, 412 Main Street. 631-928-9100; www.theaterthree.com. PORT WASHINGTON “My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy!” comedy by Steve Solomon. Aug. 10 through Sept. 4. $40 to $55. Jeanne Rimsky Theater, Landmark on Main Street, 232 Main Street. landmarkonmainstreet.org; 516-767-6444. SAG HARBOR “My Fair Lady,” musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Through Aug. 28. $25 to $125. Bay Street Theater, 1 Bay Street. 631-725-9500; baystreet.org. SAG HARBOR “The Prince of Egypt,” musical based on the 1998 animated film, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Aug. 13 at 7 p.m. Free. Mashashimuet Park, Main Street and Jermain Avenue. baystreet.org; 631-725-9500. Image JAMESPORT “Someday Is Today” (2016), by Anahi DeCanio, is in “Abstract Women,” paintings by Ms. DeCanio, Martha McAleer and Marilyn Weiss, on view Aug. 13 through Sept. 5 at the William Ris Gallery, 1291 Main Road. For further information: 609-408-5203; williamris.com. Credit Anahi DeCanio WANTAGH “Richard III,” Shakespeare. Aug. 19 through 28. $15 and $20. EastLine Productions, 2123 Wantagh Avenue. 516-749-5047; eastlineproductions.com. Museums and Galleries EAST HAMPTON “Living Well Is the Best Revenge: A Jazz Age Fable of Sara and Gerald Murphy,” exhibition about the Long Island couple who inspired Fitzgerald and Hemingway characters. Through Oct. 10. Clinton Academy Museum, 151 Main Street. 631-324-6850 BRIDGEHAMPTON “The Curiosities of Harry Squires,” exhibition of local wildlife, memorabilia of shipwrecks, Native American artifacts from the collection of a Bridgehampton figure. Through Oct. 1. Bridgehampton Museum Archives Building, 2539-A Montauk Highway. 631-537-1088; bhmuseum.org. BRIDGEHAMPTON “Recent Works,” a solo exhibition of paintings by Yolanda Sanchez. Through Aug. 21. Thursday to Monday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Kathryn Markel Fine Art, 2418 Montauk Highway. 631-613-6386; markelfinearts.com. BRIDGEHAMPTON “Sweet Imbalance,” group exhibition featuring Laura Benjamin, Lauren Loscialo and Robert Perez. Through Aug. 28. Reception: Aug. 13, 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Open daily, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays until 6 p.m. The White Room Gallery, 2415 Main Street. 631-237-1481. COLD SPRING HARBOR “#MyLongIslandLandmarks,” depictions of Long Island landmarks submitted via social media. Through Nov. 20. $5 suggested donation. Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities Gallery, 161 Main Street. 631-692-4664; splia.org. CUTCHOGUE “Photo-Technic II,” photographic works including solarplate etchings, gelatin silver chloride prints, and transfer prints on plaster. Aug. 13 through Sept. 25. Thursdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and by appointment. Alex Ferrone Gallery, 25425 Main Road. alexferronegallery.com; 631-734-8545. CUTCHOGUE “Summer of Split Pop,” solo exhibition by Robert Perez. Through Sept. 30. Castello di Borghese Vineyard, Route 48 and Alvah’s Lane. castellodiborghese.com; 631-734-5111. DIX HILLS “Project Lives,” photographic exhibition of the book “Project Lives: New York Public Housing Residents Photograph Their World.” Through Aug. 22. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Art League of Long Island, 107 East Deer Park Road. 631-462-5400; artleagueli.net. EAST HAMPTON “Aspects of Minimalism: Selections from Private East End Collections,” works by Dan Flavin, Donald Judd, Agnes Martin and more. Aug. 13 through Oct. 10. Reception: Aug. 13, 4 to 6 p.m. Open noon to 5 p.m. daily, after Labor Day, Fridays and Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.; Mondays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Guild Hall, 158 Main Street. 631-324-4050; guildhall.org. EAST HAMPTON “Ohio Eye,” Sharon Horvath, and “Sculpture,” Adrian Nivola. Through Aug. 29. Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Drawing Room, 66 Newtown Lane. 631-324-5016; drawingroom-gallery.com. EAST HAMPTON “A Look Inside the Studio: The Minds of the Mentors,” work from mentors and instructors from the Mannix Studio of Art. Through Sept. 2. The Studio, 38 Gingerbread Lane. 516-318-0000; karynmannixcontemporary.com. EAST HAMPTON “Celebration of Larry Rivers,” retrospective. Through Sept. 12. Mondays through Fridays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Vered Gallery, 68 Park Place. 631-324-3303; veredart.com. EAST ISLIP Class on growing dahlias, hosted by the Long Island Dahlia Society. Aug. 18 at 6:30 p.m. Free. East Islip Public Library, 381 East Main Street. 631-581-9200; eipl.suffolk.lib.ny.us. EAST ISLIP “Private Viewing: For Your Eyes Only,” works of art that are enclosed in a box and allow viewing by only one person at a time. Through Sept. 11. “Shapeshifter,” new works by Anu Annam. Through Sept. 11. Suggested donation, $5. Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Islip Art Museum, 50 Irish Lane. islipartmuseum.org; 631-224-5402. GARDEN CITY “New York Tattoo and Arts Festival,” 150 booths with 250 tattoo artists. Aug. 26 through 28. $12 to $60. Friday, 2 to 11 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 11 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. Cradle of Aviation Museum, 1 Davis Avenue. 516-572-4111; cradleofaviation.org. GLEN COVE “The North Shore Worships,” examining the area’s religious communities. Through Aug. 19. General admission, $5; members, free. Wednesdays, 2 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. North Shore Historical Museum, 140 Glen Street. northshorehistoricalmuseum.org; 516-801-1191. HEMPSTEAD “In Print,” group show. Works by Romare Bearden, Albrecht Dürer, Francisco Goya and others. Through Sept. 18. Tuesdays through Fridays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; weekends, noon to 4 p.m. David Filderman Gallery, Joan and Donald E. Axinn Library, South Campus, Hofstra University. 516-463-5672; hofstra.edu/museum. HUNTINGTON “Cornucopia: Still Lifes From the Collection.” Through Aug. 21. “Master of Illusion: The Magical Art of Gary Erbe.” Through Aug. 28. “Synapses: Threads for Thought.” Through April 9, 2017. $4 to $8; children under 10, free. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Heckscher Museum of Art, 2 Prime Avenue. 631-351-3250; heckscher.org. HUNTINGTON “Curiosity and Surprise,” invitational group show. Through Aug. 13. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Main Street Gallery, 213 Main Street. huntingtonarts.org; 631-271-8423. HUNTINGTON Gary Kroman, mixed media, solo exhibition. Through Aug. 26. Tuesdays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 2 to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; or by appointment. Ripe Art Gallery, 1028 Park Avenue. 631-239-1805; www.ripeartgal.com. JAMESPORT “Abstract Women,” paintings by Anahi DeCanio, Martha McAleer and Marilyn Weiss. Aug. 13 through Sept. 5. Reception: Aug. 13, 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. William Ris East Gallery, 1291 Main Road. 609-408-5203; williamris.com. LOCUST VALLEY “Aflow in Ink: Paintings by Terry Kimmel,” East Asian-influenced ink and color paintings on paper. Registration required. Through Aug. 30. Locust Valley Library, 170 Buckram Road. 516-671-1837; locustvalleylibrary.org. OYSTER BAY “Boat Builders and Boatyards of Long Island,” featuring the Ida May Project’s replica of a 1925 oyster-harvesting boat. Through Sept. 4. Free. Tuesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m. Oyster Bay Historical Society, 20 Summit Street. 516-922-5032; oysterbayhistorical.org. QUOGUE “Chris Murray: Images of Quogue,” solo exhibition. Through Aug. 30. Sundays and Mondays, noon to 5 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Quogue Library Art Gallery, 90 Quogue Street. 631-653-4224; quoguelibrary.org. REMSENBURG “Lingering in the Landscape,” paintings by Ellen Ludwig and photography by Andrea Klausner. Aug. 19 through Sept. 5. Reception: Aug. 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. “ArtRemsenburg,” weekend showcases of works by local artists, sculptors and students. Through Sept. 30. Remsenburg Academy, 130 South Country Road. remsenburgassociation.com; 631-325-1834. RIVERHEAD Anthony Graziano, photography exhibition. Through Aug. 31. Mondays through Fridays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Riverhead Town Hall Gallery, 200 Howell Avenue. 631-727-3200; eastendarts.org. RIVERHEAD “Fullerton’s Long Island: ‘The Lure of the Land,’” photographs. Through Dec. 23. Suffolk County Historical Society, 300 West Main Street. suffolkcountyhistoricalsociety.org; 631-727-2881. RONKONKOMA “The Brush/Lens Project,” paintings by Ward Hopper and photography by Holly Gordon. Through Aug. 31. MacArthur Airport Atrium Gallery, 100 Arrival Avenue. 631-467-3210; macarthurairport.com. ROSLYN HARBOR “A Feast for the Eyes,” how food has inspired artists. Through Nov. 6. $4 to $10; children under 4 and members free. Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Nassau County Museum of Art, 1 Museum Drive. 516-484-9337; nassaumuseum.org. SAG HARBOR “Archaeology of Time,” Bastienne Schmidt, solo exhibition. Through Aug. 24. “Fifty Small Things,” group exhibition of objects from 1700 to 1945 that are small , but full of history. Aug. 26 through Oct. 31. $2 and $6. Open daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sag Harbor Whaling Museum, 200 Main Street. 631-725-0770; sagharborwhalingmuseum.org. SAG HARBOR “The Princess and the Provocateur,” group show. Through Aug. 18. Daily, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Richard J. Demato Fine Arts Gallery, 90 Main Street. 631-725-1161; rjdgallery.com. SAG HARBOR “The Last Baymen of Amagansett,” photography by Michael Ruggiero Jr. Through Sept. 19. Estia’s Little Kitchen, 1615 Sag Harbor Turnpike. 631-725-1045; estiaslittlekitchen.com. SAG HARBOR Jeff Muhs, solo exhibition of paintings. Aug. 18 through Sept. 5. Reception: Aug. 27, 6 to 8 p.m. Monika Olko Gallery, 95 Main Street. 631-899-4740; monikaolkogallery.com. SAG HARBOR Group art show featuring Thomas Condon, Gayle Tudisco, and Muriel Hanson Falborn. Through Aug. 18. Mondays through Sundays 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Romany Kramoris Gallery, 41 Main Street. 631-725-2499; kramorisgallery.com. SETAUKET “In the Abstract,” Art Bernstein, Sue Contessa, Peter Galasso and Aida Izadpanah. Through Aug. 26. Gallery North, 90 North Country Road. 631-751-2676; gallerynorth.org. SOUTHAMPTON “Winning the White House: From Press Prints to Selfies,” group show. Through Sept. 11. Reception: Aug. 6, 5 to 8 p.m. Southampton Center, 25 Jobs Lane. 631-287-4377; scc-arts.org. SOUTHAMPTON “Beach Light,” paintings by Eileen Dawn Skretch. Through Oct. 23. $4; members and children under 17, free. Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Southampton Historical Museum, 17 Meeting House Lane. 631-283-2494; southamptonhistoricalmuseum.org. SOUTHOLD “School Girls and Their Samplers,” needlework. Through Oct. 9. Wednesdays and weekends, 1 to 4 p.m. Southold Historical Society, 54325 Main Road. southoldhistoricalsociety.org; 631-765-5500. ST. JAMES “Animals in Art, Our Partners on the Planet,” juried group exhibition. Through Aug. 28. Wednesdays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Mills Pond Gallery, 660 Route 25A. stacarts.org; 631-862-6575. STONY BROOK “Common Ground: The Music Festival Experience.” Through Sept. 5. $5 to $10; members and children under 6, free. Thursdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Long Island Museum of American Art, History and Carriages, 1200 Route 25A. 631-751-0066; longislandmuseum.org. UNIONDALE “Colorful Visions,” Deborah Katz, Linda Louis and Cindy Shechter. Through Sept. 10. Omni Gallery, 333 Earle Ovington Boulevard. 631-385-0222. WATER MILL “Platform: Jonah Bokaer,” installation of site-responsive works. Through Oct. 16. “Connections and Context,” group show. Through Oct. 30. “Inscape: The Inner Nature of Things,” group exhibition. Through Oct. 30. “Process of Discovery,” works by James Brooks. Through Oct. 30. Photographs by Jean-Luc Mylayne. Through Oct. 30. Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Parrish Art Museum, 279 Montauk Highway. 631-283-2118; parrishart.org. WATER MILL “Discover Watermill Day,” art installations, performances, workshops, tours and family activities. Aug. 14, 3 to 6 p.m. The Watermill Center, 39 Water Mill Towd Road. watermillcenter.org/events; 631-726-4628. WATER MILL “Decisive Moments,” works by the East End Photographers Group. Through Aug. 14. Thursdays through Mondays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Water Mill Museum, 41 Old Mill Road. watermillmuseum.org; 631-726-4625.


Illinois Inquiry Goes Beyond Criminal Complaint

Abstract: SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Lawmakers here made it clear on Thursday that the inquiry into the possible impeachment of Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich would extend beyond the federal criminal complaint against him, questioning witnesses on whether Mr. Blagojevich had abused his powers in the ordinary work of governing. “These are not as sensational as the criminal charges,” State Representative Lou Lang said of instances in which Mr. Blagojevich had been accused of failing to heed legislative decisions or ignoring federal law. “But in terms of abuse of power, in terms of the running of the governor’s office and in terms of his ability to continue to serve, these are very critical issues.” Mr. Lang, a Democrat, is among 21 legislators holding hearings here to determine whether the House should go ahead with impeachment proceedings against the governor. Some lawmakers had considered the possibility of an impeachment inquiry for months, but feared political fallout and that it would be stymied in the Senate, where the governor had a powerful ally. Mr. Blagojevich’s arrest last week on federal charges of conspiracy and soliciting bribes changed all that. Mr. Blagojevich is accused, among other things, of trying to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s Senate seat to the highest bidder. Through his lawyers, he has denied any wrongdoing. Mr. Blagojevich was not in Springfield, and once again made no public statements Thursday. But his criminal lawyer, Edward Genson, attended the hearing for a second day, even as uncertainty grew about how the governor would pay his legal bills. Lisa Madigan, the Illinois attorney general, denied a request on Thursday by Mr. Genson that his fees be financed with public money, and federal authorities advised officials with Mr. Blagojevich’s campaign fund not to spend any of that money, which amounted to $3.6 million as of June 30, public filings show. On Wednesday, Mr. Genson had argued that Ms. Madigan should appoint publicly financed lawyers, including himself, to represent Mr. Blagojevich, because under normal circumstances that job would fall to her office. Mr. Genson suggested Ms. Madigan could not represent the governor without conflict because she had sought to have Mr. Blagojevich removed by the State Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the court declined to consider her request. In a sharply worded letter, Ann Spillane, Ms. Madigan’s chief of staff, called his request “meritless.” “It is absurd to suggest that taxpayers must finance the defense of a criminal action against Governor Blagojevich who is accused of corruptly betraying the public trust for personal and financial gain,” Ms. Spillane wrote. After the hearing on Thursday was adjourned, Mr. Genson brushed off Ms. Madigan’s response, saying he had known she would never agree to his request. He seemed unworried about how Mr. Blagojevich, who federal prosecutors say complained of financial difficulties, would pay him. “At this point, this is a historic sort of thing,” he told reporters, adding, “I want to have some input.” Much of the testimony before the special committee centered Thursday on the machinations behind two high-profile and controversial moves by the Blagojevich administration: to expand health care to middle-income parents unilaterally in 2007 after the proposal was defeated in the State Legislature, and to buy flu vaccine from a European supplier before receiving necessary federal approval during the shortage scare in 2004-5. The health care expansion is now tangled in court, and the flu vaccines were blocked from entering the United States. The vaccines, worth $2.6 million, were donated to Pakistan, but The Chicago Tribune reported that Pakistani heath officials destroyed all 500,000 doses because they had expired. In Chicago, Mr. Blagojevich reported to his downtown office on Thursday morning. He took action on about 60 clemency cases and signed a bill into law having to do with medical licensing provisions, said his spokesman, Lucio Guerrero. “Our hard-working physicians are one of the most important resources to the people in Illinois,” Mr. Blagojevich said in a statement. “Ensuring that we have the adequate framework in place to properly license them is of utmost concern.” The impeachment inquiry reconvenes Monday, by which time lawmakers hope that the United States attorney’s office will have provided them with a list of witnesses whose testimony here will not interfere with the criminal case.


Paying Respects, in Palace and Ghetto

Abstract: WARSAW — For every foreign leader, a visit to Poland involves paying respects at the memorials to the country’s tragic past. It was no different for President Obama , who landed here on Friday and made his way immediately to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. But Mr. Obama’s next stop carried an echo of a current struggle, one that the president confronted again last week before leaving on his weeklong tour of Europe. After placing a wreath at a monument to the heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Mr. Obama met with Polish Jews, at least one of whom pleaded with him to protect Israel. “It is the only Jewish state we have, and we trust you,” a woman told him while shaking his hand. “I will always be there for Israel,” he replied. And in what seemed like another reference to American support for Israel, he said to a man: “We will always be there. I promise.” Last week, Mr. Obama was criticized by some Jews in Israel and the United States for his proposal to break the deadlock in the peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. Critics said the plan — which would use the pre-1967 borders of Israel, with land swaps, as the starting point for negotiations over the contours of a Palestinian state — would grievously endanger Israel’s security. The Warsaw Ghetto monument, made of bronze and granite, honors the leaders of the largest Jewish insurgency of World War II, in which thousands rose against Nazi troops who were trying to liquidate the ghetto and send its residents to death camps. Nearly 7,000 people were killed in the fighting, which began on April 19, 1943, and lasted nearly a month. White House aides said they had made plans for Mr. Obama’s visit to the monument months before the speech last week in which he laid out his Middle East peace proposal. He seemed clearly moved by the memorial, lingering to talk to a line of people and posing for a group photo. The last time Mr. Obama planned to come to Poland — to attend the funeral of President Lech Kaczynski — he was foiled by a cloud of volcanic ash from Iceland, which grounded planes for weeks. It almost happened again, as plumes from another Icelandic volcano drifted across Northern Europe last week. But he was determined not to cancel, even leaving Ireland a day early to avoid being trapped there. Stage Management 2.0 White House aides have a keen sense for their boss’s image, and they scrambled to head off a moment of visual dissonance in one session at the Group of 8 gathering in Deauville, France. The session had been convened to discuss the role of the Internet in society, and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France invited luminaries like Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Eric Schmidt of Google to advise the leaders about whether, and how, to regulate the Web (both, not surprisingly, urged them not to impose new controls). Before Mr. Obama took his seat, an aide asked that two fax machines behind him be removed. The machines, which would have appeared in photographs just above his head, “had the quaint feel of museum pieces,” according to a pool report filed by a Washington Post reporter in the room — not the sort of image one would want in a meeting about the digital age. The offending machines were stashed on the floor, out of sight. Time’s Up, Mr. President During the president’s first visit to Britain in 2009, the protocol police faulted his wife for putting her arm around the waist of Queen Elizabeth II, and British commentators sniffed at the gifts the Obamas brought — an iPod for the queen and a box of DVDs for Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The faux-pas watchers were again on alert for this trip. All went off impeccably at the arrival ceremony at Buckingham Palace, during a tour of the palace portrait gallery and at lunch. Mr. Obama’s toasts were eloquent and warm, even if some Irish felt betrayed when, fresh off a visit to his forebears in the village of Moneygall, Ireland, he told the queen: “I bring warm greetings from tens of millions of Americans who claim British ancestry, including me, through my mother’s family.” The only cringe-worthy moment came during Mr. Obama’s toast at the state banquet, when the president was winding up his testimonial. As he raised his glass, the string orchestra began playing “God Save the Queen.” Mr. Obama, like an Oscar winner going over his allotted 30 seconds at the dais, plowed on over the music, toasting, in the words of Shakespeare, “This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England.” Queen Elizabeth stared ahead fixedly, refusing to acknowledge her guest until the band had finished. Wind at Their Backs Volcanic ash was not the only challenge nature threw up; howling wind also buffeted Air Force One as it landed in Dublin. The winds, which blew at gale force the night before the president’s arrival, raised fears among the Irish that he would have to scrub his visit to Moneygall; there were worries that a helicopter trip would be unsafe, and it would take too long to drive. But the military pilots decided to go anyway, and four helicopters took off with Mr. Obama and his retinue for a stomach-churning, 40-minute flight across the windswept countryside. When the president’s aides climbed out back in Dublin, a fierce gust, combined with the wash from the helicopter’s rotors, caught Mr. Obama’s senior European adviser, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, and threw her to the ground. Ms. Sherwood-Randall got to her feet, but the wind ripped two bags out of her hands, scattering their contents — a sheaf of commemorative posters of Mr. Obama’s visit — across a field. A dozen Irish police officers chased after the fluttering pieces of paper in vain. White House doctors on the scene examined Ms. Sherwood-Randall, who was shaken up, and she stayed on the trip. Later, she quipped about her mishap: “There is an old Irish saying, ‘May the wind be at your back.’ Well, it was.”

Obama Barack
Poland
United States International Relations


Gaza Is Tense as It Tallies Casualties

Abstract: GAZA — Gaza remained tense on Tuesday after a night of clashes between Hamas and Fatah gunmen. Seven Palestinians were killed and 40 wounded in the clashes late Monday and early Tuesday, said Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, director of the emergency medical service in Gaza. He said 25 had been wounded by gunfire, and the rest had been beaten. A spokesman for the Hamas-run Interior Ministry, Ehab al-Ghsein, blamed Fatah for the violence, saying it started when Fatah supporters shot at worshipers leaving a mosque in Khan Yunis, killing a local Hamas leader, Mahmoud Abu Taha, and a 10-year-old boy. The clashes spread to Beit Lahiya, in the north, Gaza City and other areas, as Fatah marked its 43rd anniversary. Hamas had prohibited Fatah from holding large anniversary rallies, following a Fatah ban on Hamas celebrations in the West Bank of its 20th anniversary last month. Mr. Ghsein said that the Hamas rulers of Gaza had agreed with Fatah to allow limited activities “on condition that they wouldn’t harm security.” But in the days before the anniversary, Hamas policemen confiscated Fatah items and arrested Fatah advocates. Among the dead late Monday and early Tuesday were a Hamas policeman and two civilians, Mr. Ghsein said. In Gaza City, Fatah officials would not comment. Wael Abu Najja, the son of Ibrahim Abu Najja, a Fatah leader in Gaza, accused Hamas of abducting his father on Monday night, and of shaving his head and mustache to humiliate him before dropping him at his house. Hamas officials said the kidnappers had been Fatah men who blamed him for taking them off the Palestinian Authority payroll. In a speech Monday evening for the Fatah anniversary, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, called on those who initiated Hamas’s military takeover of Gaza last June “to open a new page” and to reach a new agreement on Palestinian unity through dialogue. He asked Hamas to consider early elections. A Hamas leader, Mahmoud Zahar, rejected that idea here on Tuesday. He said that Hamas “welcomes new ideas regarding a dialogue without preconditions,” and that it should occur under “Arab auspices.” Egypt and Saudi Arabia have previously mediated between the sides. No breakthrough appeared imminent. At least one Palestinian militant was killed Tuesday by Israeli Army fire near the border fence along Gaza. An army spokeswoman said that ground forces had fired at armed men approaching the fence. Hamas said the dead man was on its security force. Members of the Hamas military wing approach the fence to monitor Israeli activity or to fire mortar shells. A new report by Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency indicated a decline in attacks on Israelis in 2007, saying the number of casualties from them was the lowest since the outbreak of the intifada in 2000. According to the Shin Bet figures published Tuesday in the Israeli news media, 13 Israelis were killed in attacks in 2007 — seven civilians and six soldiers. In 2006, 24 Israelis were killed, and in 2002, at the height of the intifada, 426. A total of 1,263 Qassam rockets and 1,511 mortar shells were fired at Israel from Gaza in 2007, the report said. A report by Btselem, an Israeli human rights group, said Israeli security forces killed 373 Palestinians in 2007, 290 of them in Gaza and 83 in the West Bank, 53 among them minors. In 2006, 657 Palestinians were killed, including 140 minors, Btselem said. The percentage of Palestinian civilians killed who were not involved in hostilities also declined in 2007, to 35 percent, from 54 percent in 2006, Btselem said. Israel on Monday released details about two Palestinians in the custody of the Palestinian Authority who are said to have confessed to the Dec. 29 killing of two Israeli settlers in the West Bank. The Israeli prime minister’s office said the two were Fatah advocates in their 20s from Hebron. One is said to have been “in contact” with the Palestinian General Intelligence service, and the other to have been a member of Mr. Abbas’s national security force.


As Mickelson’s Ball Kept Slipping, So Did His Chances

Abstract: SAN DIEGO — With the 108th United States Open here in his hometown, Phil Mickelson was a tournament favorite and unofficial host. And although he had played inconsistently during the first two rounds, he was not out of contention. After 12 holes of Saturday’s third round at Torrey Pines Golf Course, he was five over par and facing a birdie opportunity at the short par-5 13th hole. Mickelson had estimated before play began Saturday that the winning score after the final round would be one or two over par. “So I thought if I make birdie on 13, I’m definitely still in the hunt,” Mickelson said. Instead, he made a quadruple-bogey 9. In a matter of minutes and several swings of a wedge, the championship that Mickelson had waited for years to arrive in San Diego was being contested by others. He finished the round with a five-over 76. It took Mickelson four wedge attempts to get his ball to stay on the plateau of the 13th green, which has a steep slope at its front edge that feeds golf balls back onto the fairway. It was from a spot about 30 yards in front of the green that Mickelson hit wedge after wedge, the ball spinning back and rolling virtually back to his feet. By the time Mickelson, the world’s second-ranked player, got his ball to remain on the green, it was his sixth stroke. Then things became uglier. Mickelson knocked his first putt 5 feet past the hole and missed the one coming back. He tapped in for 9. Mickelson was asked if that was the first 9 he had ever made on the 13th hole at Torrey Pines. “No,” he said. “I’ve had a 9 on the 13th before. I was 8 years old.” Mickelson was surprisingly in good spirits after his round. It might have been a defense mechanism, but he was already talking about how well he played in 2002 when the Open was at Bethpage Black on Long Island. It is the site of next year’s Open. “And I’m really excited about breaking through with my first Open win at Bethpage next year,” he said. “I just had a great experience there.” Of his quadruple bogey, Mickelson said: “I obviously tried to get too cute. It wasn’t a good feeling. I cost myself five shots there. I could still be in the tournament without that. So it’s disappointing that I’m not in the mix now.” Otherwise, he did not question his tactics, like his decision not to carry a driver in his bag the first two days of the tournament even though this year’s layout is the longest in Open history. His longest club instead was a 3-wood, which might have seemed like a safer choice, but Mickelson rarely found the fairway with it. “My 3-wood goes about 275 or farther, so I felt it was the right play,” said Mickelson, who would not second-guess himself when asked if he stood by that decision. “My problem is I didn’t hit the 3-wood well.” He carried a driver Saturday, saying that because he trailed by several strokes he needed to take more risks. “I needed to get a few shorter irons in my hands,” he said. But Mickelson remained upbeat. “I’m proud to be from San Diego and to see the golf course host this event so well,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking right now. If I look at it, I had one really bad hole. What are you going to do? It happens.” TEE BOX MOVED UP The U.S.G.A. moved up the tee box on the 18th hole by 43 yards Saturday, reducing the hole to 530 yards. That made the 18th easy to reach in two shots for even medium-long hitters, although they had to be in the fairway off the tee and there was a slight wind in their face. Interestingly, very few of the golfers playing early in the day went for the green in two shots. The vast majority laid up short of the pond in front of the 18th green and pitched on. But once the leaders approached the hole, and perhaps because the wind seemed to have died down, everyone in the fairway was taking a shot at the green in two. There were few making eagles, but Aaron Baddeley knocked his ball in from the left bunker for one eagle and Tiger Woods made a notable one later. It is not known if the U.S.G.A. plans to use the same tee box Sunday.


Dodgers (Again) Victims of a No-Hitter

Abstract: LOS ANGELES — Jake Arrieta pitched the sixth no-hitter in the majors this season and the second against the Los Angeles Dodgers in 10 days, leading the Chicago Cubs to a 2-0 victory Sunday night. Arrieta (17-6) struck out a season-high 12 and became the first 17-game winner in the big leagues by throwing baseball’s third no-hitter in less than three weeks. The Astros right-hander Mike Fiers blanked the N.L. West-leading Dodgers, 3-0, on Aug. 21. Los Angeles had never been no-hit twice in a season. Arrieta benefited from a close call by the official scorer in the third inning, when Kike Hernandez reached on an error by second baseman Starlin Castro. Hernandez hit a one-hopper at Castro, who tried to play it on the short hop as the ball bounced off him. It was ruled an error but probably could have gone either way. “I thought it was a hit,” Arrieta said. “Tough play. Hernandez hit it well. Tough short hop for Castro. They scored it an error, thankfully so, and I was able to finish it off.” Hernandez reached second on a sacrifice before Arrieta struck out Jimmy Rollins to end the inning. Carl Crawford nearly broke up the no-hit bid with two outs in the seventh, but Castro caught his line drive up the middle with a running grab. “Lights-out defense,” Arrieta said. With the Dodger Stadium crowd roaring, Arrieta struck out all three batters in the ninth — including Chase Utley on his 116th pitch to end it. Arrieta was mobbed by teammates near the mound, and they jumped their way in a huddle over to near the Cubs’ dugout, where they gave him high-fives. “It went by so quick, really,” Arrieta said. “Feels like that could have been five innings, the way that played out.” He was the first Cubs pitcher to throw a no-hitter since Carlos Zambrano on Sept. 14, 2008, against Houston in a game that was moved to Miller Park in Milwaukee because of Hurricane Ike. Arrieta, a 29-year-old right-hander, walked one and helped the Cubs end a four-game skid on the last night of their six-game West Coast trip. He finished August with a 6-0 record, tying Boston’s Joe Kelly as the only pitchers with that many wins in the month. Arrieta lowered his E.R.A. to 0.43 in August while becoming the first Cubs pitcher with that many wins in the month since Rick Sutcliffe in 1984. Sutcliffe won the N.L. Cy Young Award that season. Kris Bryant hit a two-run homer in the first inning off Alex Wood. The Cubs had 13 hits and ended the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak. Wood (9-9) allowed eight hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking one. Hisashi Iwakuma of the Seattle Mariners pitched a no-hitter on Aug. 12 in a 3-0 win against Baltimore. Cole Hamels of Philadelphia, San Francisco’s Chris Heston and Washington’s Max Scherzer also have thrown no-hitters this season. Arrieta threw a one-hit shutout against Cincinnati last Sept. 16 at Wrigley Field, allowing his first hit to Brandon Phillips with one out in the eighth. Last year, Arrieta became the first Cubs pitcher since 1950 to take a no-hitter into the seventh inning three times in one season. Two of those came in consecutive starts, making him the first to do so since Toronto’s Dave Stieb in June 1988.

Baseball
Jake Arrieta
Chicago Cubs
Dodgers


Will Muschamp’s Move Complicates a Recruiting Rivalry in the SEC

Abstract: GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Will Muschamp used to spend his days on the recruiting trail trying to persuade Lacroria Wilson that the University of Florida would be the best place for her son, Byron Cowart, to play college football. After Muschamp lost his job with the Gators and started a new one as the defensive coordinator at Auburn, it was no surprise that his opinion changed. Muschamp’s firing left Cowart, one of the nation’s top recruits, with a difficult decision: Should he follow a man he says he loves to Auburn or stay in Florida and help the Gators’ new coach, Jim McElwain , turn around a struggling program? On Wednesday morning, in the Armwood High School auditorium in Seffner, Fla., Cowart slipped on an Auburn Tigers cap, revealing his decision to stick by Muschamp. But in a televised interview, Cowart, a defensive end, said his family’s relationship with Muschamp was not the main reason. “Auburn was in my top five way before Will even went to Auburn,” Cowart said. “So, I mean, he played a role a little bit, but I told people, regardless, if I was to get hurt, if I could never play football again or if Will was to leave, I still could see myself at Auburn University .” In the end, though, Cowart chose a man he has known for two years over one he has known for two months. Martez Ivey, a native of Apopka, Fla., also considered Florida and Auburn. He, too, was considered one of the nation’s top prospects, and his primary recruiter, Mike Summers, remains on Florida’s staff. Ivey, a 6-foot-7, 271-pound offensive tackle, signed with Florida. Image Cowart signed a letter of intent Wednesday at his high school in Florida. Credit James Borchuck/Tampa Bay Times, via Associated Press “It’s where I want to be at,” Ivey said. “I don’t want to go to the state of Alabama. I want to stay here in Florida.” The dismantling of Florida’s coaching staff after Muschamp’s departure was not unusual. Most new coaches bring in their own personnel. Muschamp, however, made his recruits’ decisions harder by staying in the Southeastern Conference, and he complicated matters further when he took his top recruiter, Travaris Robinson, a defensive backs coach, with him to Auburn. Trying not to miss a beat, Muschamp began contacting prospects as soon as he walked out of his introductory news conference at Auburn, he said. “As soon as we get done and walk out that door, we are going,” Muschamp said. McElwain said he knew he was in for endless days of travel at Florida. “Get to as many places as humanly possible from the recruiting standpoint because it’s one of those things: Recruit daily, or die now,” McElwain said. The Gators signed the highly regarded running back Jordan Scarlett, but as of Wednesday, they had only 21 of the 25 scholarship players who will make up their 2015 recruiting class. McElwain, most recently the head coach at Colorado State, was named Florida’s coach in December. Within days of his hiring, two recruits who had committed to Florida switched their allegiances, to Tennessee and to Louisiana State. Since then, he has battled Muschamp for recruits. Cowart, defensive end CeCe Jefferson and linebacker Jeffery Holland were among them. Jefferson said the three players, who live within a three-hour radius of one another, wanted to attend the same program. Like Cowart, Holland chose Auburn on Wednesday, but Jefferson chose Florida. By successfully recruiting two of the three, Muschamp got some karmic revenge against his former university and left McElwain to recover from a rough start at Florida.

College football
Byron Cowart
Will Muschamp
Jim McElwain
University of Florida
Scholarships
Auburn


Spain: King’s Son-in-Law Summoned to Court Over Fraud Allegations

Abstract: A high court in Spain issued a summons Thursday to the son-in-law of King Juan Carlos as a suspect in a spreading fraud scandal that involves millions of dollars in public money given to his private foundation. A judge in Palma, Majorca, called on the son-in-law, Iñaki Urdangarin, 43, to face questioning on Feb. 6 about allegations that he used his royal credentials to secure multimillion-dollar contracts for his foundation, the Noós Institute, to organize sports and tourism events. After he was named as a formal suspect on Thursday, the Spanish palace and a number of government institutions issued careful comments offering “respect” for the decision of judges. The king has taken a number of steps to keep a distance from his son-in-law, whose family did not spend Christmas Eve with the royal family for the first time in years.

Urdangarin Inaki
Frauds and Swindling
Spain
Juan Carlos I
Politics and Government


A Dating Service Gives a Nod to Jewish Gays

Abstract: One symbol for being gay is a triangle, and when two triangles like each other a lot, they make a Star of David. That, at least, is the idea behind a feature that has been added to JDate.com, the eight-year-old Jewish dating service, as part of its first redesign since 2002. Under the new feature, which was incorporated into the site in November, it is possible to specify the sex of the person being sought; until then, people simply identified themselves as men or women -- the assumption being that everyone was heterosexual. Dan Levin, a 24-year-old resident of the East Village, complained about the matter to JDate's corporate offices. "I had felt left out of the whole JDate phenomenon," he said. Mr. Levin, who works for the nonprofit Jewish Coalition for Service, added that the JDate representative he spoke with had assured him that gay searches would start "in a few weeks." Other JDaters looked for subtle ways to telegraph their preferences. "I had a silent protest," said Lane Rosner, a gay JDater, whose profile name, since changed, was AlsoLookingForAJewishBoy. "I said I was looking for a Jewish girl who has a gay Jewish friend. I wanted it out there." Mr. Rosner, a 23-year-old graphic designer who lives on the Upper West Side, is typical of some of the gay New Yorkers who turn to the site. He is a strict observer of Shabbat, the Jewish Sabbath, which allows no cooking, no spending money and no skipping out on praying at temple. Such rules make Friday-night dating difficult. He says he would like to find a man who is gay but not flamboyant and who is Jewish without being, as the joke goes, merely Jew-ish. As Mr. Rosner puts it in JDate profile, "I love surprising someone I'm with and being romantic from time to time, but I'm not into constant mushy gross stuff like making out while waiting to cross the street at a light." One day, Mr. Rosner might find himself on a JDate with Lon Steinberg, a second-year student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, in the Bronx. Athletic and lighthearted, Mr. Steinberg composes classical music in his free time, and even at 23, he talks about his desire for children, making him something of a Jewish mother's gay dream come true. Mr. Steinberg is not observant, but he seeks a boyfriend from his own culture, and for him, JDate is digital manna. "In the gay scene, especially in New York, there's a lot of people who need to be filtered," he said. "It's just so much better than going to a gay club, getting wasted and having a bunch of random sex." JDate is one of a number of specialty dating sites owned by Sparks Networks, which is based in Beverly Hills, Calif. Gail Laguna, a spokeswoman for the company, said the new feature was part of a general upgrade that included instant messaging and video chat. "On JDate, there are now a total of 600,000 singles," she said. "The greater our diversity, the greater our need to serve a wider mix of interests." Although JDate has no official count, a recent search of the site pulled up profiles of 259 gay men and 57 lesbians in the five boroughs. Many of the city's Jewish singles said they welcomed the expansion of the site. "The whole point of having a Jewish community is to be open to anyone who wants to walk in," said Rabbi Joy Levitt, an assistant executive director at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan. A gay outreach program was among the first created at the center when it was founded on the Upper West Side 15 years ago. Mr. Rosner, the graphic designer, has so far had two dates through the service. With the first date, there was no chemistry, he said, and the second one went worse. "I was more a therapist to him than a date to him," Mr. Rosner admitted with a groan. "He has some family issues. But gay or straight, everyone has issues." RICHARD MORGAN


California: Audit of University Finds In-State Students Are Shortchanged

Abstract: California’s auditor said Tuesday that the University of California had undermined residents by admitting a growing number of nonresident students, some of whom were less qualified than in-state students. Out-of-state students pay significantly more, providing much-needed money to the university. But Elaine Howle, the state auditor, said in a report that “over the past several years, the university has failed to put the needs of residents first.” Janet Napolitano, the University of California president, criticized the audit as deficient, unhelpful and unfair, saying nonresident admissions have helped keep doors open for residents as state assistance has dropped considerably.

College
School Admissions
California
Janet Napolitano
University of California


Germany Shuts Reactors as Europe Plans Safety Tests

Abstract: BRUSSELS — Germany on Tuesday became the first European country to shut nuclear plants in the wake of the crisis in Japan as the European Union made plans to test all 143 nuclear power plants in its 27 countries. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said seven plants that went online before 1980 would be temporarily closed and the time would be used to study speedier adoption of renewable energy. All of the plants were built by German contractors. While Mrs. Merkel asserted that safety was her main concern, opposition politicians accused her of pandering to fear about nuclear power ahead of a regional election this month. She has, in effect, suspended a decision last autumn to keep older plants operating beyond their previously designated life span. The tests across the European Union are intended to ensure preparedness for emergencies like floods and tsunamis, as well as terrorist attacks, the European energy commissioner, Günther Oettinger, said after meeting with representatives of the nuclear industry, electricity companies and governments. “This is a reassessment, if you like, of all potential risks in the wake of what has happened in Japan,” Mr. Oettinger said. The Japanese disaster has led officials in Europe and the United States to think twice about nuclear expansion. But for now, developing countries, while acknowledging the need for safety, say their energy needs give them little choice but to continue investing in nuclear power. A crucial element, Mr. Oettinger said, would be to determine whether the plants had enough backup power to cool the reactors if electricity was lost. The loss of backup power after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan led to overheating and explosions at the Fukushima plant. Mr. Oettinger, who became energy commissioner with Mrs. Merkel’s support, appeared Tuesday to shift his attitude toward nuclear energy . “We must also raise the question if we in Europe, in the foreseeable future, can secure our energy needs without nuclear energy,” he told the German TV station ARD. In his native state of Baden-Württemberg, where Mrs. Merkel’s party risks losing power in March 27 elections, Mr. Oettinger was known as a proponent of nuclear power. The state has two plants, one of which is among the seven to be shut down. On Saturday, about 50,000 protesters formed a human chain from the state capital, Stuttgart, to that reactor. On Monday, an estimated 110,000 people demonstrated in 450 towns across Germany against extending nuclear power. Both Mrs. Merkel and Mr. Oettinger said President Nicolas Sarkozy of France would raise nuclear safety at the next Group of 20 nations summit meeting. Mr. Oettinger said the tests should include as many plants in the European Union as possible. Nuclear power produces around a third of the electricity and 15 percent of the energy consumed in the European Union. The chief executive of the German power giant E.On, Johannes Teyssen, said he would welcome more common standards for European nuclear safety. He declined, however, to rule out power cutoffs as a result of Mrs. Merkel’s decision, noting that “obviously depends on several factors of demand and supply, on availability of transmission grids, on a lot of issues.” “With this new unbalance in the system, minor accidents can have major implications,” Mr. Teyssen said in Brussels. “We will try our best to live up to the situation, but the risk of the system has definitely increased.” The industry made a similar threat almost a year ago when Mrs. Merkel agreed to extend the life of the power plants if the utilities paid a special tax. The utilities said the tax would hinder investment. Germany has 17 nuclear plants. They provide 26 percent of the country’s electricity; the seven older reactors produce about a third of that percentage. European operators already face narrowing choices over where to locate reactors. In France, which relies on nuclear energy for more than 75 percent of its electricity, hot water discharged by power stations can combine with rising air temperatures to warm rivers enough in the summer to threaten fish and plant life. But building plants on seafronts, where cold water is abundant, may be less attractive because of storms and rising sea levels linked to climate change . A total of 17 reactors in the European Union use technology similar to those affected in Japan, which are known as boiling water reactors, according to the European Commission. Of those 17, nine in Finland and Sweden are on coastlines, according to the Nuclear Energy Agency, part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. About 40 percent of the reactors in the union’s member states are on coastlines, according to the commission. The Continent has comparatively weak earthquakes. Even so, nature can pose a threat. During a storm in 1999, rising water levels in the Gironde River led to severe flooding at the French plant Blayais, shutting down some safety systems. Since then, Électricité de France, which runs the plant, has improved protections at Blayais. Stress tests would have common standards, Mr. Oettinger said, but “if you have a plant which is on the coast, well then obviously flooding and tsunamis will be tested for perhaps more thoroughly than plants situated at much greater altitude.” The nuclear crisis in Japan is also complicating the debate over whether to pursue nuclear energy in Chile, which only last year suffered an 8.8-magnitude earthquake that caused devastation, officials said this week. Next week, Chile and the United States are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding on nuclear cooperation when President Obama visits Santiago. But given the disaster in Japan, Chile’s energy and mining minister, Laurence Golborne, told reporters the government needed to study the situation. “We may decide we don’t want this type of energy and we will have to analyze other sources,” he said. “The country needs energy, and to say no to something means saying yes to other things.”

Nuclear Energy
Shutdowns (Institutional)
European Union
Merkel Angela
Accidents and Safety
Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (2011)


Little Is Off Limits as Donald Trump Plans Attacks on Hillary Clinton’s Character

Abstract: Donald J. Trump plans to throw Bill Clinton’s infidelities in Hillary Clinton’s face on live television during the presidential debates this fall, questioning whether she enabled his behavior and sought to discredit the women involved. Mr. Trump will try to hold her accountable for security lapses at the American consulate in Benghazi, Libya, and for the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens there. And he intends to portray Mrs. Clinton as fundamentally corrupt, invoking everything from her cattle futures trades in the late 1970s to the federal investigation into her email practices as secretary of state. Drawing on psychological warfare tactics that Mr. Trump used to defeat “Lyin’ Ted” Cruz, “Little Marco” Rubio and “Low-Energy” Jeb Bush in the Republican primaries, the Trump campaign is mapping out character attacks on the Clintons to try to increase their negative poll ratings and bait them into making political mistakes, according to interviews with Mr. Trump and his advisers. Another goal is to win over skeptical Republicans, since nothing unites the party quite like castigating the Clintons. Attacking them could also deflect attention from Mr. Trump’s vulnerabilities, such as his treatment of women , some Trump allies say. For Mrs. Clinton, the coming battle is something of a paradox. She has decades of experience and qualifications, but it may not be merit that wins her the presidency — it may be how she handles the humiliations inflicted by Mr. Trump. She would make history as the first woman to be a major-party nominee, yet she would also be viewed, in part, through the prism of her husband’s flaws. Some political allies and friends, while disgusted with Mr. Trump, see a certain cosmic symmetry at work: After decades of fighting what she once called “the politics of personal destruction,” Mrs. Clinton will reach the White House only if she survives one more crucible of sordid and scandalous accusations. “She is so prepared to be president, but holding her head high and staying dignified during the campaign is probably what will help her the most,” said Melanne Verveer, a longtime friend and former chief of staff to Mrs. Clinton. “Trump is yet another way she will be tested personally — one of her greatest tests yet.” Mrs. Clinton has often flourished in the wake of boorish behavior: her husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky, Kenneth W. Starr’s investigation of her husband, the congressional impeachment proceedings. Women rallied to her side during her 2000 Senate race after her Republican opponent, Representative Rick A. Lazio, invaded her personal space during one debate, and they helped her win the 2008 New Hampshire primary shortly after Barack Obama dismissively said she was “likable enough.” Yet Mr. Trump said he was determined not to fall into those traps. In a telephone interview, he noted that women did not like seeing Mrs. Clinton insulted or bullied by men. He said he wanted to be more strategic, by calling into question Mrs. Clinton’s judgment in her reaction to Mr. Clinton’s affairs — people close to the couple have said she was involved in efforts to discredit the women — and in her response to crises like Benghazi. “Just getting nasty with Hillary won’t work,” Mr. Trump said. “You really have to get people to look hard at her character, and to get women to ask themselves if Hillary is truly sincere and authentic. Because she has been really ugly in trying to destroy Bill’s mistresses, and she is pandering to women so obviously when she is only interested in getting power.” He acknowledged that Republicans tried to discredit her judgment in the marathon Benghazi hearing in the fall, to little avail. But he said that he would be more pointed and memorable in linking her to the failings and deaths in Libya, and that the debate would have a vastly larger television audience than the hearing. Still, advisers of Mrs. Clinton pointed to her face-off with the Republican-led Benghazi committee as a sign of her unflappability. Image Supporters of Hillary Clinton during a rally last month in Philadelphia. Credit Eric Thayer for The New York Times “From Rick Lazio to the House Benghazi committee, there’s a long line of Republicans who set out to personally attack Hillary Clinton but ended up inflicting the damage on themselves,” a Clinton campaign spokesman, Brian Fallon, said in a statement. “We know Donald Trump is the most unconventional of them all, but no matter what he throws at her, she will keep running her own campaign and won’t hesitate to call him out.” Several Clinton advisers said they were not underestimating Mr. Trump’s ability to do some damage, acknowledging that Mrs. Clinton’s unfavorability ratings were high — though not as high as Mr. Trump’s — and that many Americans had concerns about her honesty and trustworthiness, according to polls. But these Clinton advisers expressed confidence that Mr. Trump would overreach and engender sympathy for Mrs. Clinton. Two advisers said that the campaign had done polling to test the possible effectiveness of Mr. Trump’s lines of attacks and, while not disclosing details about the data, that they were convinced that he would not seriously hurt her. Mrs. Clinton, in turn, has begun attacking Mr. Trump over his refusal to release his tax returns, suggesting he has something to hide, and over his temperament and leadership abilities by describing him as a “loose cannon.” And political allies say that, in time, voters will see through Mr. Trump’s criticisms. “He can’t run on his forward-looking agenda because he doesn’t have one, and he can’t go after her on substantive policy because she knows so much more than he does,” said Thomas R. Nides, Mrs. Clinton’s former deputy secretary of state for management and resources. Yet Mr. Trump has been steadily underestimated during the presidential campaign. His Republican rivals were certain that voters would tire of his slashing style and his harsh language, and some political strategists were sure his lack of policy details would make him unprepared in the eyes of too many. The Electoral Map Looks Challenging for Trump Current polls show an uphill battle for Donald Trump should he and Hillary Clinton face off in the general election. Even one of Mrs. Clinton’s biggest assets to many Democrats — becoming the first female president and returning Mr. Clinton to a White House role — can be exploited as vulnerabilities. “We’ve never had a woman at the top of the ticket, and there will be plenty of people who’ll have a problem with her gender,” said Christina Greer, a political scientist at Fordham University. And Mr. Trump “can say that Bill Clinton was accused of rape and destroyed a girl’s life,” she added, referring to allegations by Juanita Broaddrick of a sexual assault in the 1970s and to the Lewinsky affair. With polls showing that Mr. Trump has unprecedented high negative ratings with voters and is in particular trouble with women, some Republican strategists say he has no choice but to try to drive up Mrs. Clinton’s unfavorability ratings. A recent CNN/ORC poll found that 57 percent of likely Trump supporters said that their votes were more to express opposition to Mrs. Clinton than to support Mr. Trump. “His best way to rally hostile Republican delegates before the convention is to show he’s a great Clinton attack dog,” said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist who oversaw a “super PAC” supporting Mr. Bush in this year’s Republican race. Mark Penn, the chief strategist for Mrs. Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, and the Harvard University Center for American Political Studies have conducted polling that indicates that attacks against Mrs. Clinton over her private email server, the deaths in Benghazi and other issues would weaken her in a matchup against Mr. Trump. “The poll shows he could bring her vote down with sharp attacks, but that does not bring his vote up,” Mr. Penn wrote in an email. At a campaign rally for Mrs. Clinton on Wednesday in New Jersey, some supporters said they were concerned about the damage Mr. Trump could do. They described him as a street fighter and worried that Mrs. Clinton would not be gutsy and nimble enough to deliver a knockout punch. “Trump is a real lowbrow brawler,” said Michael Magazzu, an entrepreneur in the energy sector from Vineland, N.J. “That’s not her style. She has to counteract him, and the best way may be to keep her cool.”

2016 Presidential Election
Donald Trump
Hillary Clinton
Political Debates
Polls
Democrats
Republicans
Bill Clinton
Benghazi Attack 2012


Pakistan Presses Taliban to Enter Afghan Talks

Abstract: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan called for the first time on the Afghan Taliban to start talks with the Kabul government on Friday, lending diplomatic momentum to an American-sponsored peace process that is anchored in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, but which experts say is still advancing at a perilously slow pace. After a phone discussion with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai , on Tuesday, the Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani , issued a statement calling on the Taliban and “all other Afghan groups, including Hizb-e-Islami,” a pro-Taliban militant group with historical ties to Pakistan, to participate in what is referred to as a reconciliation process. The statement, which came less than 24 hours after the Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Pakistan’s foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, in London, is potentially significant because the Taliban leadership — and many of its fighters — are believed to be sheltering on Pakistani soil. In January, Pakistan facilitated the fledgling process in Qatar, where the United States wants the Taliban to set up a liaison office for the purpose of conducting negotiations, by allowing Taliban representatives to travel to the Persian Gulf state. Mr. Gilani’s diplomatic overture appeared to be a further admission of his country’s influence over the insurgents — although the nature of that influence is hotly debated. While Afghan officials assert that Pakistan can deliver the militant leadership to the negotiating table, Pakistanis say otherwise. “The Taliban are not going to wait for a statement from the Pakistani leadership to begin talks,” said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a retired Pakistani diplomat. Less clear, still, is the Taliban stance. Mr. Mohmand, a former ambassador to Kabul, said that a “sizable segment” of the Taliban viewed the talks as “an American gimmick intended to cause a split in their ranks.” Pakistan’s stance on the Taliban is also a function of its volatile relationship with Washington, which has been effectively on hold since November, when American warplanes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a confused cross-border strike. American plans to move past that case, and reboot diplomatic relations, were stymied this week by riots in Afghanistan after Korans were burned at the country’s large NATO base on Monday night. Under a carefully coordinated plan, the military had planned for Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to make a formal apology for the American strike via telephone to Pakistan’s army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Thursday, according to a Defense Department official. Mrs. Clinton was to have amplified on that apology in her meeting with Ms. Khar, the official added. But the plan was upset by the violent rioting in Afghanistan. Obama administration officials quickly calculated that too many regrets at once would hand ammunition to Republican presidential candidates, the official added. A senior Pakistani official said his government also wanted the American apology to be delayed until at least mid-March, when the Pakistani Parliament is scheduled to debate the country’s policy toward America. Michael Semple, a Afghanistan expert and former adviser to the European Union Mission in Kabul, said Mr. Gilani’s statement on Friday was more about politics than talks. “This is about Pakistan, Afghanistan and America — not the Taliban,” he said. But, he added, rhetoric alone was not sufficient to jump-start the talks, and in the meantime all players were running out of time to make peace. “There’s all sorts of things the Pakistanis can do to move towards reconciliation, but a statement won’t convince anyone it is actually happening,” he said. “Reconciliation is doable, but the time to do it is in 2012. And I don’t think the current trajectory will get us there.”

Taliban
Pakistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan War (2001- )
Karzai Hamid
Khar Hina Rabbani
Gilani Yousaf Raza


Delgado, Pelfrey Power Mets to Victory

Abstract: From an unreliable bullpen to an injury to a key starting pitcher, the Mets have had their share of worries of late, but Mike Pelfrey has not been one of them. The Mets have learned that they can count on Pelfrey, right now among the most reliable weapons they have. And Pelfrey, a big right-hander, gave the Mets more of the same Monday night at Shea Stadium. Pelfrey was outstanding in pitching his second consecutive complete game, and Carlos Delgado provided most of the offense with two three-run homers, as the Mets defeated Houston, 9-1. With the win, the Mets clung to a half-game lead over Philadelphia in the National League East. The Phillies beat the Dodgers, 5-0, on Monday night. “He has tremendous confidence right now,” Mets Manager Jerry Manuel said of Pelfrey. “When he takes the mound, he’s relaxed, in control and throwing some filthy stuff.” It was the Mets’ fourth complete game this season — the other two are by Johan Santana — and it came on a night when the Mets were in need of a lift. Before the game, the Mets announced that they had put John Maine on the 15-day disabled list with a bone spur in his right shoulder and said he might not pitch again this season. The Mets were not sure who would take Maine’s place. The news about Maine came on the heels of consecutive home losses to the Houston Astros and before what could be a pivotal eight-game trip, including a two-game series at Philadelphia that begins Tuesday night. A third straight loss to the Astros would have made a tough couple of days tougher. But Pelfrey (13-8) was in control throughout, giving up six hits and no walks while striking out six. He threw 108 pitches. The Mets are 14-3 in his last 17 starts, and he is 11-2 since June 16. Pelfrey threw a complete game Aug. 20, giving up three hits and three runs in a 6-3 victory against the Braves. “My sinker was very good tonight, and any time that thing’s working, I’m definitely going to use it as much as I can,” Pelfrey said. “My whole thought process is to throw that thing down over the plate and let them beat that thing into the ground. The guys behind me are playmakers.” Pelfrey’s recent ability to go deep in a game has been a blessing for the Mets, who are struggling to find someone they can count on in the late innings since Billy Wagner went down with an elbow injury. “A complete game is huge for us,” Manuel said. “We know where we’re struggling right now.” Pelfrey also contributed at the plate. Coming to bat in the eighth, he received a rousing ovation from the fans at Shea before drawing a walk. One batter later, he scored on José Reyes’s two-out, two-run triple. The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning on the first three-run homer by Delgado, who sliced a line drive down the left-field line that sneaked inside the foul pole. It drove in Reyes, who had led off the game with a single, and Wright, who had walked. The Mets scored another run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Murphy and picked up another three runs on Delgado’s second home run of the night, a blast to center in the seventh that soared over the fence in the deepest part of the ballpark. “I got some good pitches to hit and tried to stay behind the ball,” Delgado said. “In those situations, with guys in scoring position, you just try to come up with some big hits. I wasn’t trying to do too much and got a nice result.” The Astros scored their lone run in the ninth, when a grounder by Ty Wigginton drove in David Newhan. Manuel said that at no point in the game was he tempted to take out Pelfrey. Pedro Martínez will start Tuesday against Jamie Moyer in Philadelphia, kicking off a series that could decide who heads into September in first place. The Mets then open a three-game series in Florida, followed by three games in Milwaukee. They do not play at home until Sept. 5. “This was a good win, and it gives us some momentum heading into Philadelphia,” David Wright said. “It’s going to be fun to go play our divisional rival, especially in late August. I’m looking forward to it.”

Baseball
New York Mets
Pelfrey Mike
Delgado Carlos


Wife and Running Mate: A Real-Life ‘House of Cards’ in Nicaragua

Abstract: MANAGUA, Nicaragua — She started out as a teenage mother working as a newspaper secretary, then spent decades of revolution, conflict, power and public scandal at the side of one of the region’s most influential men. Now the first lady of Nicaragua, Rosario Murillo, has succeeded in doing something that seems more like a plotline out of the Netflix series “House of Cards”: She will be on the Nov. 6 ballot to become vice president. Her running mate? Her husband, President Daniel Ortega . The election, in which the couple’s victory and Mr. Ortega’s third consecutive term are all but certain, is a critical step in what people around Ms. Murillo describe as her decades-long climb to power. She paved the way by helping the poor and winning over the public, but also by holding political grudges and pushing aside nearly all the members of her husband’s inner circle. “Denying something to my mother is a declaration of war,” her daughter Zoilamérica Ortega said. But in many ways, the first lady’s spot on the presidential ticket is an acknowledgment of the role she already plays in the country. “She’s not the vice president; she’s the co-president,” said Agustín Jarquín, who ran for vice president on Mr. Ortega’s ticket in 2001 but was kicked out of the National Assembly without notice once he fell from favor. Ms. Murillo, 65, is already a de facto cabinet member, deeply involved in every aspect of the government. She is the one who gives daily news briefings about the latest earthquake or damage from an industrial fire. If a child has Zika, Ms. Murillo knows the boy’s name and might just call the parents herself. She meets regularly with municipal leaders and makes it clear that decisions cannot be made without her approval. “It’s not that she has as many followers as her husband — she has more,” said Florencia del Carmen López, 48, a street vendor. “The men are annoyed by it. The majority of her followers are women.” As Ms. Murillo gained more control in the country, the government was widely criticized for taking bolder steps to secure Mr. Ortega’s power , raising troubling questions about the state of Nicaragua’s young democracy . Nicaragua is a country where a revolution deposed one family dynasty, only to see it at risk of being replaced by another. Mr. Ortega, the president, is a 70-year-old former guerrilla who played a leading role in the Sandinista revolution that toppled Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the dictator whose family ruled here from the 1930s to 1979. Now the Ortegas and their allies control fuel companies, television stations and public construction projects. At the helm is Ms. Murillo, who has a penchant for hard work that amazes even her opponents. She has made it her business to overhaul everything from the nation’s parks to her husband’s image. “There were signals: Little by little, her face started showing up as the face on the political propaganda, at first with Daniel and then alone,” said Sergio Ramírez, who was Mr. Ortega’s vice president in the 1980s. “Now it seems she is looking for political legitimacy. This is an extreme search for legitimacy.” The World’s Political Power Couples Female heads of state or government are often members of political dynasties. Sometimes they follow their husbands into office, and occasionally their husbands follow them. Her relationship with Mr. Ortega began in the caldron of war. He spent part of the Sandinista revolution underground in Costa Rica, where he became romantically involved with Ms. Murillo. By then, she already had two children, and she was raising them in a clandestine safe house filled with copy machines, short wave radios and people who assumed false names. Mr. Ortega went by “Enrique.” Zoilamérica Ortega, Ms. Murillo’s oldest child, was adopted by Mr. Ortega in her late teens. She recalled those early years as chaotic, describing a busy office with people traipsing in and out. “Nobody took care of us, literally nobody,” she said in an interview. Ms. Ortega, now 48, publicly accused Mr. Ortega of sexually abusing her for years. She said he had taken advantage of the supervision vacuum of that period and had begun molesting her around the time that the Sandinista revolutionaries claimed victory. She was 11. She went public with rape accusations in 1998. But her mother, who has had seven children with Mr. Ortega as well, stood by him. Joined by Mr. Ortega and their adult children, Ms. Murillo held a news conference calling her eldest daughter a liar who suffered from psychological problems. Although at least one witness backed up the abuse allegations, a legal case against Mr. Ortega collapsed in the courts, which are controlled by the Sandinista party. Ms. Ortega, the daughter, said she had suffered retribution for going public, contending that the nonprofit organization she ran was routinely cut off from funding sources that feared losing favor with the government. Three years ago, the government deported Ms. Ortega’s Bolivian husband, so she was forced to leave Nicaragua. They now live in neighboring Costa Rica. “I speak to her only to receive threats,” Ms. Ortega said of her mother. “She opted for an alliance of power.” Some critics of Ms. Murillo in politics and the news media also contend that her loyalty to Mr. Ortega and her public defense of him were rewarded in the influence she has gained across the country. Mr. Ortega himself used a Sandinista revolution anniversary speech in July to recount what he told his ally Fidel Castro about Ms. Murillo. Many Nicaraguans took it as a nod to her decision to side with Mr. Ortega over her daughter. “I was telling Fidel how Rosario’s loyalty dates back to our time in clandestinity,” Mr. Ortega said. The president said her interest and involvement in politics had been evident early on, when she was arrested for attending a protest and refused to cooperate with the police. After the revolution ended in 1979, the family moved back to Nicaragua, where Mr. Ortega and a committee of eight other men ran the nation. Image Campaign posters for Ms. Murillo, a vice presidential candidate, and her husband, President Daniel Ortega, in Masaya, Nicaragua. Credit Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters “The other commanders looked at Rosario as some bothersome person who wanted to get involved,” said Sofía Montenegro, a leading feminist intellectual at the Center for Communication Research, a research group in Managua. “There were nine men, and she did not fit. They had wives who were not interested, and it would not have occurred to them to do so. The men tolerated her.” But Ms. Murillo, a poet who had attended a British convent school and a Swiss finishing school and was fluent in English and French, wanted a bigger role. Former government officials say she jockeyed to control the Ministry of Culture, where she clashed with high-level administrators and got people fired when they shut her out of decision-making. Meanwhile, a war raged in Nicaragua as the victorious Sandinista revolutionaries fought insurgents known as the contras, who were backed by the administration of President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Ortega officially became president in 1984 and left office in 1990, when Nicaragua took steps toward peace. Despite having many children together, the couple did not marry until 2005, just as they prepared to take another shot at the presidency. Mr. Ortega had lost three consecutive elections. Then, with Ms. Murillo’s help, he won in 2006, and her influence was notable right away. She is credited for the government’s bold efforts to help the poor by doling out new houses, pigs and tin roofs. But she also clashed with members of her husband’s longtime inner circle, sidelining them one by one and kicking them out of their offices in the presidential palace. The National Assembly and the courts were stacked with allies. The law was changed so that Mr. Ortega could run indefinitely. In June, the Supreme Court banished a leading opposition figure from his own party, the Liberal Independent Party, preventing him from becoming an opponent in the November election. In August, more than two dozen opposition members were expelled from the National Assembly after they refused to recognize the person the government had selected to lead their party. Now some Nicaraguans are worried that even more power will be consolidated in the Ortega family. “She wants to continue having power — that’s a sickness,” said Sergio González Gutiérrez, 42, a taxi driver, who gathered with his family at a corner store in San José Oriental, Ms. Murillo’s old neighborhood. “If a private company does not allow a married couple to work together, how is that allowed for a nation?” The government contends that the Nicaraguan Constitution prohibits only blood relatives — like two siblings, or a parent and a child — from being on the same ticket. But many political analysts say the couple is violating the part that also excludes people who are related “by affinity.” Dozens of people interviewed for this article, from former government officials to people on the street, said they believed that the plan to put Ms. Murillo in office was intended to guarantee the family succession. “I met her when she was 17 years old and the secretary for the publisher of the newspaper, and I was always impressed with her ability to work, which people still notice,” said Ángela Saballos, the spokeswoman for the Nicaraguan Embassy in Washington during Mr. Ortega’s first term in office. “She must sleep three hours.” Her pursuit of the vice presidency, Ms. Saballos said, appears to be an attempt to “legalize all the work she has been doing.” Ms. Murillo is already the official government spokeswoman, so no other bureaucrat is authorized to speak to the news media except her. In an email, she declined to be interviewed. (She speaks mostly to news organizations that are controlled by the government, several of them by her children.) “This is a movie we already saw, and we know how it ends,” said Mr. Ramírez, the former vice president. “It ends badly.”

Nicaragua
Rosario Murillo
Daniel Ortega
Politics
Election


The Big Wahine

Abstract: The Association of Surfing Professionals scores competitors on the World Tour based on their ability to perform “radical controlled maneuvers” with speed, power and “flow.” In other words, by their ability to rip. Two years ago, at age 17, Stephanie Gilmore became the youngest woman ever to win a major professional surfing event when she showed up and dominated the Roxy Pro Gold Coast in her home country of Australia. Now 19, the surfer held the No. 1 spot on the A.S.P. Women’s World Tour for much of this summer. (She’s currently No. 4.) Still a relative infant among her professional peers, Gilmore continues to kill it on the contest circuit. Is it just raw talent, or is there something more to her precociousness? 1. GOING CRITICAL: Like gymnasts, surfers are scored on a scale of 0 to 10. A judge looks not only at what moves a surfer is doing and how well those moves are executed, but at how close they are done to the wave’s lip — where the wall of water tilts over and lurches forward. It takes great strength and balance to shoot up a wave face just as it’s pitching over, bank off the lip, and then do a sharp U-turn. This is called snapping off the lip, but few can consistently pull off the maneuver with the precision that Gilmore does: she attacks the lip at a dead-vertical angle, rockets up the most powerful part of the wave, and then turns sharply and plummets straight into the critical, turbulent area near where the wave is breaking. 2. WAVE SELECTION: Though she’s the youngest woman on the tour, Gilmore is already known for her ability to read subtle signs in the water that help her predict what will be a potentially excellent wave from a merely good one. The best waves will have a long, unbroken wall with a steep arc from the face to the lip. As Gilmore waits to catch a ride, she scrutinizes several aspects of the ocean: the contours and lines of the oncoming swells, the ripples created by offshore winds on the face of breaking waves and the qualities of other currents and rips. Her father, Jeff Gilmore, a surfer himself, admits that watching his daughter in the water “can be really frustrating” because she lets so many waves roll by. “I’m often sitting there saying, ‘Gosh, why didn’t you take that, Steph?’ ” 3. BODY IS DESTINY: At 5-foot-10, 147 pounds, Gilmore has a build remarkably similar to Kelly Slater’s (5-foot-9, 160 pounds), and very different from that of other top females like current No. 1 Samantha Cornish (5-foot-2, 110 pounds) or No. 2 Silvana Lima (4-foot-9, 130 pounds). Gilmore’s height and flexible stance allow her to use her whole body instead of relying on her legs. “Almost everything comes back to core strength,” Gilmore says. To build it, she follows a program known as corrective holistic exercise kinesiology, or CHEK, which adapts rehabilitative exercises for strength and fitness purposes. Gilmore “spends a lot of time at home standing or kneeling on her exercise ball,” her father says. “And that ball travels, deflated, with her boards.” 4. RIDING IN STYLE: Great surfers make the impossible look easy. Gilmore’s style has been described as “confident,” “polished” and “powerful.” Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew, the president of the A.S.P., says she reminds him of the Australian star Joel Parkinson: aggressive, precise, yet seemingly casual. Both surfers grew up on the waves at Snapper Rocks, one of the longest point breaks in the world. Its epic waves allow for a dozen or more lip tricks in a single ride, and helped Gilmore perfect the long, smooth arcs necessary to ride a wave over a long distance. Of the comparison to Parkinson, Bartholomew says, “Notice I’m not saying Lisa Andersen or Layne Beachley” — top female competitors. “I’m referring to one of the top 5 male surfers. Steph rips like the best males.”

Surfing
In Style
Weil Elizabeth
Slater Kelly


Pistons Surprised by Brown's Troubles

Abstract: What timing. The Detroit Pistons, the best team in basketball, the team that became even better after Larry Brown left as coach, visits the worst team in basketball tonight, the team embroiled in a high-stakes feud between Brown and point guard Stephon Marbury. Like salt in Brown's self-inflicted and Stephon Marbury-inflicted wounds, the Pistons present him with a prickly reminder of the spoils he once had with Detroit and the spoiled season he has endured with the Knicks. "I am very surprised that it's gotten to this point -- team-wise and with Stephon," Pistons point guard Chauncey Billups said yesterday after practice in Manhattan. "I'm really saddened by it. I know I couldn't play with that. I know it's just taken a toll on everybody." As the Knicks (18-45) sink into chaos, the end of the season cannot come too soon. The Pistons (51-12) are also eager for it to end, so they can start the playoffs and try to recapture the title they won in 2004 under Brown. "He drove this Rolls-Royce," Billups said, referring to Brown and the Pistons. "He chose to change up. It is what it is. I just never thought it would ever get this bad." Brown and the Pistons will forever differ over the semantics, Brown saying he was fired, the Pistons saying he wanted out. He started secret negotiations for a job in the Cleveland Cavaliers' front office during the 2004-5 season, which infuriated the Pistons' ownership when the news became public. Brown and the Pistons negotiated a $7 million buyout that freed him to take the Knicks' job at $10 million a year for five years. The simmering tension between Brown and Marbury blew up this week as they lobbed cannonballs at each other through the news media. Billups recalled his own struggles with Brown, who he said made him a better player. "There was a time where of course I was frustrated and wanted to sound off, but I wouldn't do it," Billups said. "There's a right way to do it. Me and Larry, we had our conversations. I voiced my opinions and he voiced his, and after we walked out of there, it was just it." Billups said that had he clashed publicly with Brown, his teammates and the team president, Joe Dumars, would have quelled it. Then again, Billups said: "That's just not our culture. I just couldn't see that happening here." Billups said he had advised Marbury to be patient and to let Brown's criticisms "go in one ear and out the other." "I don't have no advice for this," he added. "I don't know. I've never been through that, and I hope I never do." The coach-point guard relationship is the axis of every team. Billups learned to work with Brown and endorsed the Pistons' hiring of Flip Saunders, his former coach with Minnesota. Marbury, who also played in Minnesota, considers Saunders his favorite coach. "Having coached Steph for three years, his main thing is that he's unbelievably competitive," Saunders said. "And he can be very stubborn." Marbury is different from Billups. "Chauncey's a guy you can sit down and talk," Saunders said. "With Steph, your sit-downs, you're going to have to have a few of them to convince him. Once he believes in it, he goes overboard." Marbury has never fully believed in Brown's system. When Saunders became Detroit's coach, guards Billups and Richard Hamilton praised him for giving them more freedom. Marbury took his campaign for more freedom to the news media, saying Brown's criticism was personal. Saunders said the New York stage and the Knicks' losing record had heightened the feud. "I think what happens sometime is frustration creeps in a little bit and it's sort of a he-said, she-said situation," Saunders said. "There's no question that Larry can help Steph, and if Steph does things right, he can help their team." Speaking of Marbury, Saunders said: "He wants to win. I know the losing right now is killing him."

DETROIT PISTONS
NEW YORK KNICKS
NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS
MARBURY STEPHON
BROWN LARRY
COACHES AND MANAGERS
BASKETBALL


Brian Williams Loses Lofty Spot on a Trustworthiness Scale

Abstract: If Brian Williams’s future as the anchor of “NBC Nightly News” rests on his trustworthiness and ratings, new research delivered some sobering news on Monday. Before Mr. Williams apologized for exaggerating an account of a forced helicopter landing during the Iraq war, he ranked as the 23rd-most-trusted person in the country — on par with Denzel Washington, Warren E. Buffett and Robin Roberts. On Monday, he ranked as No. 835. That puts him on the same level as the actor Gene Hackman, the basketball player Russell Westbrook and Willie Robertson, who stars in A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” reality series, according to the Marketing Arm , a research firm whose celebrity index is closely watched by advertisers and media and marketing executives. The new research came as NBC tried to decide whether Mr. Williams can continue as anchor and managing editor of its evening news broadcast. The network’s internal investigation into Mr. Williams was underway Monday, with NBC News reporters contacting other staff members who have worked with Mr. Williams as well as soldiers involved in the Iraq helicopter incident, according to people who have been contacted. The crisis has reached to the highest level of NBCUniversal. Stephen B. Burke, its chief executive, held a meeting at his house this weekend to discuss the next steps. Among the options the network is likely to consider is whether Mr. Williams should apologize again and return to the air, whether he should be suspended or whether he should be pressured to resign, television industry executives said. Mr. Williams, who on Saturday said that he would step aside for several days as “Nightly News” anchor, is distraught, according to people close to him, telling friends that if he could go door to door and apologize to each of his viewers he would do so. NBC declined to make its executives or Mr. Williams available for an interview. For NBC, the decision is about more than journalistic ethics. It is also about business. The news group is in fierce competition with rival networks for ratings that ultimately affect advertising spending. NBC generated $200 million in advertising sales for its evening news broadcast in 2013, compared with $170.6 million for ABC and $149.9 million for CBS, according to WPP’s Kantar Media. (That is the first full year for which the data is available.) Current and former NBC News staff members find themselves in the same position as many viewers — unsure whether the allegations against Mr. Williams represent a storm that will sink him, or one he can weather. Many were surprised to find a well-liked and very successful anchor in such a crisis this quickly. Dan Rather, the former CBS anchor, has come out in support of Mr. Williams, but other public statements of support have been sparse. One former NBC staff member said that Mr. Williams has contacted some who have worked closely with him in the past to ask them to cooperate with NBC’s investigation. Like the others who spoke, the person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation was still in progress. That investigation has been moving quickly, according to two people contacted by NBC journalists who identified themselves as being from the network’s investigative unit. The journalists, seeking information on the 2003 Iraq incident that Mr. Williams said he described inaccurately, were at pains to point out that they did not work for Mr. Williams, one of the people said in an interview on Monday. The journalists seemed to want to move quickly, the person said, and sent several messages imploring a response. Video A compilation of Brian Williams’s television appearances shows how his accounts of a 2003 episode on military helicopters in Iraq gradually became more perilous. A person close to Mr. Williams said he knew that his initial apology did not go far enough in addressing the scandal. Crisis management executives agree. The story involves the military, said Andrew D. Gilman, chief executive of the crisis communications group CommCore Consulting , and a war in which “a lot of people died, a lot of people came back permanently injured — and you’re making stuff up to make yourself look better?” People hold anchors to a higher standard of honesty than politicians, Mr. Gilman said. “We trust them to moderate debates when we’re electing presidents,” he said. At this point, he said, it is an issue of trust in the broader brand — NBC News — and even a star like Mr. Williams is not bigger than the show, or the network. The “NBC Nightly News” Facebook page has become something of a forum for viewers debating Mr. Williams’s future. Some were disparaging the anchor. Underneath a story about the astronaut Neil Armstrong, some had joked that Mr. Williams had also been on the moon — a version of the social media joke #BrianWilliamsMisremembers, which inserts him into various historical news events. But another wrote, underneath a story about snowstorms in Boston, that she would “change networks if Brian Williams doesn’t come back! Why is this called a scandal?” Matt Delzell, managing director of the Marketing Arm, owned by the advertising giant Omnicom, said that it would be particularly difficult for Mr. Williams to regain that trust compared with athletes like Tiger Woods or Lance Armstrong, who faced similar reputation crises, because of the position Mr. Williams’s holds as a truth-teller. “People at some point will forgive, people at some point will forget, but it may be harder to forgive and forget Brian Williams,” Mr. Delzell said.

Brian Williams
TV
NBC News
News media,journalism
Ethics Misconduct Malfeasance