New Poll Reflects a Post-Convention Bounce for Hillary Clinton

Abstract: Hillary Clinton received a surge of support after the Democratic National Convention, according to a new national poll that showed her opening a lead against Donald J. Trump with fewer than 100 days to go before the presidential election. The CBS News survey released on Monday shows 46 percent of registered voters backing Mrs. Clinton and 39 percent supporting Mr. Trump, the Republican nominee. That represents a four-percentage-point bounce for Mrs. Clinton, who was deadlocked with Mr. Trump after the Republican convention, which gave Mr. Trump a two-point increase. When Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party’s nominee, is added to the mix he receives 10 percent of the vote and Mrs. Clinton holds a five-point lead. The CBS poll found that the Democratic convention improved Mrs. Clinton’s favorability rating and her standing with female voters, a group that was already strongly in her corner. She continues to trail Mr. Trump with men and white voters who do not have college degrees. Mrs. Clinton’s post-convention bounce was in line with the upticks that President Obama received in 2008 and 2012. It was smaller than the 13-point increase that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, saw in 1992 or the 10-point bounce that Al Gore got in 2000. Post-convention bounces have been decreasing in recent years as the electorate has become more polarized. Despite some protests from backers of Senator Bernie Sanders, the Democratic convention was widely praised for being well-choreographed , with splashy musical performances and high-profile speeches from Mr. Obama, Michelle Obama, Mr. Clinton and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. Mrs. Clinton made headway in uniting the party, according to the CBS poll, with improved support from liberals and those who were hoping that Mr. Sanders would be the Democratic Party’s nominee. Earlier in July, two-thirds of Mr. Sanders’s supporters said they would vote for Mrs. Clinton. After the convention, however, 73 percent said that they supported her. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points.

2016 Presidential Election
Hillary Clinton
Polls
Donald Trump
Democratic National Convention,DNC
Voting


Off the Bench, Souter Leaves Farmhouse Behind

Abstract: HOPKINTON, N.H. — When he retired from the Supreme Court in June, it was expected that Justice David H. Souter would return to his beloved family farmhouse in Weare, N.H., a rustic abode with peeling brown paint, rotting beams and plenty of the solitude he desired. But Justice Souter, an individualist on and off the bench, decided to move. On July 30, he bought a 3,448-square-foot Cape Cod-style home in neighboring Hopkinton listed at $549,000. The single-floor home, for which he paid a reported $510,000, sits on 2.36 well-manicured acres. While Justice Souter’s new home is only eight miles from the farmhouse, the two could be worlds apart. The farmhouse has no phone lines; the Hopkinton house has “multiple,” according to the real estate listing. The farmhouse’s lawn was spotted with brown; the Hopkinton house has a verdant lawn and neatly trimmed hedges. And for Justice Souter, 69, who is known to be a fitness buff, there is a home gym as well as a spa bath. Justice Souter told a Weare neighbor, Jimmy Gilman, that the two-story farmhouse was not structurally sound enough to support the thousands of books he owns, according to The Concord Monitor, and that he wished to live on one level. Justice Souter’s new neighborhood, a dead-end circle with a common green area where a tire swing hangs from a tree, is one of the most desirable in Hopkinton, which abuts the state capital, Concord, and was once home to Gov. John Lynch. A silver pineapple hangs on the front door, and chipmunks frolicked in the driveway on Monday afternoon. Neighbors did not want to talk about the street’s newest resident, other than to say they were sure he would like living there. In Weare, where Justice Souter had spoken of writing a history of the town, friends were startled to hear he would leave. “It was quite a shock to us to learn that he’s moving,” said Betty Straw, who taught Justice Souter in sixth grade. “While we’re sorry — we had hoped he would come back to Weare — we understand the circumstances. It seems more desirable to make a move, and we have to abide by his decision.” Justice Souter bought the new home from Michele Perkins, the president of New England College in Henniker. “My husband, James, and I have always admired and respected Justice Souter and are delighted that he has returned to New Hampshire,” President Perkins said in a statement. “We wish Justice Souter every happiness in his new home.”

Souter David H
New Hampshire
Supreme Court


More A’s and Fewer F’s for New York City Public Schools

Abstract: The number of schools receiving A’s under New York’s much-contested grading system increased significantly this year from last in what Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said was a clear sign of success and evidence that his signature accountability program was spurring improvement at schools across the city. Nine of the schools that got F’s for the 2006-7 school year got A’s in this year’s grading; just one of last year’s A’s plummeted to an F this time around. Critics immediately seized on the wild fluctuations as proof that the system was flawed because of its emphasis on year-to-year progress by individual students rather than multiyear gains. Over all, nearly 80 percent of the 1,040 elementary and middle schools judged got A’s or B’s, while the number labeled failures dropped to 18 from 43. The percentage of schools getting A’s jumped to 38 percent, from 23 percent last year. About 57 percent of last year’s A schools received A’s again, while no school was deemed an F twice. “Not a single school failed again,” Mr. Bloomberg said at a news conference at Public School 5 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, one of the F-to-A schools. “That’s exactly the reason to have grades, to show what you haven’t done yet and what you do to improve. The fact of the matter is it’s working.” Mr. Bloomberg, who has made changing the school system a cornerstone of his administration, has repeatedly presented the letter grades as a clear measurement that parents can rely on to judge the quality of the education their children are receiving and show the public how much the schools were improving. But, as with the inaugural round of grades last year, the report cards had many who know the school system well somewhat befuddled. Again there was a discrepancy between federal and city assessments — 30 percent of the schools deemed failures under the No Child Left Behind act earned A’s from the city on Tuesday, while 16 of the city’s 18 failures are in good standing under the federal guidelines. And again, schools that had enviable reputations received less than enviable grades, like Public School 8, a respected and popular Brooklyn Heights elementary school, whose F stunned parents. The fluctuations and jarring results led critics to reiterate concern that the grades were little more than a snapshot of test score improvements between two years. “I would say that what they are doing is clearly misguided,” said Walt Haney, an education professor at Boston College who focuses on testing issues. “These are showing dramatic changes that can have nothing to do with what is actually happening.” Most school accountability systems focus on proficiency and, when measuring growth, look at this year’s fourth graders compared with last year’s fourth graders. But the city’s grades are determined largely by how much progress this year’s fourth graders have made since their third-grade tests. So student performance at the schools that received A’s varied wildly. In more than 60 of the 394 A schools, for example, more than half the students failed to reach proficiency on the state’s reading test. And two of the schools that received A’s — Middle School 326 in Manhattan and Public School 224 in the Bronx — were added to the state’s most recent list of failing schools in the spring. Mr. Haney said that it was likely that relatively small schools — of which there are an increasing number, because of the Bloomberg administration’s breaking larger schools into smaller thematic programs — would show the most change, since any fluctuation in performance among even a few students would have a sizable impact. Indeed, according to Education Department statistics, the average enrollment of schools that changed by one letter grade is 683, while schools that moved at least two letter grades had an average of 577 students. The grades are being used for a variety of rewards and consequences. Principals and teachers in schools that receive A’s are eligible for bonus pay, and the schools could receive extra money, while schools that receive a D or an F two years in a row could lose their principal or be shut down entirely. Eight schools have gotten D’s two years running. Three-quarters of the failing schools last year received an A or a B this year. Given the report cards’ emphasis on progress — it counts for 60 percent — the overall increase in the number of A and B schools is no surprise, since major gains on state standardized tests in reading and math were posted last spring in every age group and in nearly every neighborhood. The grades on Tuesday were for elementary and middle schools. High school grades are expected next month, after graduation rates are calculated. The complex formula to determine the grades was slightly amended this year. For example, schools got credit for students who scored in the highest of four categories on state tests two years in a row, even if their score within that top category dropped slightly (last year, this cost a school points). Schools also receive additional credit for improving scores for special education students. This year, each report card’s three subsections were also assigned three letter grades — for progress, performance and environment — instead of just the overall grade. The weight given to progress increased in the 2007-8 school year, to 60 percent from 55 percent the previous year, while pure performance dropped in importance to 25 percent of the grade, from 30. As in last year, all three sub-categories were measured in comparison with a set of “peer” schools deemed to be similar in demographics — race, poverty, special education and students still learning English. For middle schools, the system also accounts for how well its students performed in elementary schools. Last year, the grades were based on a curve, limiting the number of schools that could get each grade. This year, there was no curve; the change, Education Department officials said, allows the public to see improvement. James S. Liebman, the chief accountability officer and architect of the grading system, said it was the only school-accountability system in the country where the results could not be predicted by poverty or race, since all results are adjusted based on demographic peer performance. He also said that, analyzing the data, school size and class size do not appear to be important factors affecting progress on test scores. “What we want with progress reports is to measure what schools add to kids, not what kids bring to the schools,” Mr. Liebman said. Chancellor Joel I. Klein, who has spoken about the system all over the country and consulted with officials in Australia about developing something similar, said that he was confident that the grades would force schools to consider whether or not they were teaching students at all levels. “This is not about reputation,” he said. Last year, Mr. Klein said that because the department would collect more data each year, it would consider using three years of test scores to measure improvement. Mr. Liebman said that officials did not do so this year because of the way they had changed the overall formula, but he said they would consider it in the future. Most of the schools that soared to A from F did so because of significant one-year jumps in test scores from 2007 to 2008, in some cases after drops in 2007 from tests in 2006. Only one school, Public School 92 in the East Tremont section of the Bronx, went from an A to an F; that school had seen significant gains on test scores from 2006 to 2007, only to fall back again in 2008. Ellen Foote, the principal of Intermediate School 289, a respected school in Lower Manhattan that got a D last year, said she was unmoved by its A this year. “A school doesn’t move from a D to an A in one year unless there is a flaw in the measurement or the standardized test itself” she said. “We have not done anything differently, certainly not in response to the progress report. ”I think it’s just so disrespectful of the profession, to think that I would respond to a single letter by beefing up my test prep,” she said.

Education and Schools
New York City
Ratings and Rating Systems


Shares Soar as Fed Minutes Hint at End to Rising Rates

Abstract: Stocks staged their biggest rally in a year after the latest Federal Reserve minutes encouraged speculation that the 21-month-old policy of higher interest rates might be coming to an end. Commodity producers including Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold and Exxon Mobil set the pace as oil and metal prices reached records. Minutes from a Fed policy meeting showed that the central bank might soon stop raising rates after doing so 15 times since June 2004. The release of the minutes extended a rally that started after a government report showed prices paid to producers, excluding food and energy, rose less than forecast in March. "Moderate growth and moderate inflation is what the Fed is telling the market it is seeing," said Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America Capital Management in New York. "That's a bullish scenario for stocks." The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index rose 22.32 points, or 1.74 percent, to 1,307.65 and the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 194.99 points, or 1.76 percent, to 11,268.77. The Nasdaq composite index increased 44.98 points, or 1.95 percent, to 2,356.14. All three indexes had their biggest increase since April 21 of last year. The Russell 2000 index, a benchmark for smaller companies, rose 2.7 percent, to 769.81, its best gain since December 2003. Energy stocks rallied as crude oil touched a record of $71.60 a barrel in New York. Metal producers surged as copper had the largest one-day advance since 1996 and Freeport-McMoRan reported that first-quarter profit soared. More than seven stocks rose for every one that fell on the New York Stock Exchange, the broadest rally since May 2004. "Most members thought that the end of the tightening process was likely to be near, and some expressed concerns about the dangers of tightening too much given the lags in the effects of policy," according to the minutes of the meeting, which was Ben S. Bernanke's first as Fed chairman. "Members also recognized that in current circumstances checking the upside risks to inflation was important." Janet Yellen, head of the Fed's San Francisco bank, added to the enthusiasm after saying in a speech in San Jose, Calif., that she is "highly alert" to the chance the central bank will raise interest rates by too much. The Goldman Sachs commodity index rose to a record as concern over Iran's nuclear program sent the price of oil surging and speculation about higher demand in China stoked buying of metals. Gold for June delivery reached $623.30 an ounce in New York, the highest since December 1980. Copper for delivery in three months rose as much as 5.9 percent, to a record $6,500.30. Freeport-McMoRan shares jumped $4.38, or 6.7 percent, to $69.57. Profit after payment of preferred dividends climbed to $1.23 a share, while sales rose 35 percent to $1.09 billion. Analysts, on average, expected 88 cents and $927.4 million, respectively, according to Thomson. Concern that a dispute over Iran's nuclear program may lead to a military conflict and disrupt supplies lifted oil and natural gas shares. An index of energy shares rallied 2.5 percent. Exxon Mobil rose $1.49, to $63.54. Interest rates were lower, with the 10-year Treasury bill slipping to 4.98 percent from 5 percent late Monday and the price, which moves in the opposite direction from the yield, rising 5/32, to 96 9/32. Following are the results of yesterday's auction of four-week Treasury bills: (000 omitted in dollar figures) Price 99.653 High Rate 4.460 Coupon Yield 4.538 Low Rate 4.430 Median Rate 4.445 Total applied for $31,226,689 Accepted $12,957,376 Noncompetitive $323,569

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
STANDARD & POOR'S STOCK INDEX
FINANCES
INTEREST RATES
NASDAQ COMPOSITE INDEX
STOCKS AND BONDS
DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE
GOVERNMENT BONDS


British Leader’s Plan Targets Jihadists’ Passports

Abstract: LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron, trying to show toughness in the face of young British Muslims’ going off to fight in Syria and Iraq, proposed legislation on Monday that would give the police the power to seize the passports of Britons suspected of having traveled abroad to fight with militant groups. Mr. Cameron told Parliament that the government would draft laws to bar people suspected of having fought with radical Islamist groups from returning to Britain, and that the police would be given temporary powers to take passports from Britons suspected of wanting to travel abroad to fight. Police and security officials would be given enhanced powers to monitor suspects who have returned to Britain, Mr. Cameron said. With a sharply contested general election scheduled for May, the government, a coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats, has already faced criticism that it is eroding the civil liberties of suspects for essentially political purposes. But the rise of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has caused real security worries here, made worse by a recent video that appeared to show the beheading of a kidnapped American journalist by a masked Islamist fighter with a British accent. Officials say that at least 500 Britons have gone to Syria or Iraq to fight, and that perhaps half have returned here. On Friday, Britain raised its terrorism threat level to “severe,” one level below the highest, indicating that an attack at home is considered “highly likely.” Mr. Cameron said on Monday that “adhering to British values is not an option or a choice,” but “a duty for all those who live in these islands.” He added that “we will in the end defeat this extremism, and we will secure our way of life for generations to come.” The British police have said that in the first half of the year they arrested 69 people linked to fighting in Syria. A former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, warned on Sunday that civil liberties could be at risk. “It is always easy to persuade frightened people to part with their liberties,” he wrote in The Observer. “It is always right for politicians who value liberty to resist attempts to increase arbitrary executive powers,” unless justified, he said, “by actual facts.” Mr. Cameron said, “We have all been shocked and sickened by the barbarism we have witnessed in Iraq this summer,” adding that he was acting “to fill specific gaps in our armory.” He defined those gaps as “preventing suspects from traveling, and dealing decisively with those already here who pose a risk.” How many pose a risk is unclear. Many of those who go to fight are doing so, they say, to defend Islam in Syria and Iraq, to build an Islamic caliphate with ISIS or to fight the Syrian government, and many say they have no interest in bringing violence home to Britain. At the same time, officials caution, it would take only a few people who bring the war home to do a great deal of damage.

David Cameron
Terrorism
Islam
ISIS,ISIL,Islamic State
Great Britain


Maryland: Judge Asked to Rein In Officers’ Lawyers

Abstract: Baltimore prosecutors have asked a judge to impose an order preventing lawyers in the Freddie Gray case from talking about it, saying lawyers for six police officers are trying to influence people who might be on a grand jury or serve on a trial jury. Mr. Gray died on April 19, a week after he was fatally injured during his arrest by the police. Prosecutors cited concerns about statements that defense lawyers made at a news conference last week on behalf of one of the officers, Sgt. Alicia White, as possibly having a “prejudicial effect” on the case.

Police Brutality,Police Misconduct,Police Shootings


At Upfronts, E! Network Again Promises Its First Scripted Series

Abstract: If the E! cable channel were to be graded on keeping its promises to introduce original scripted programming, the verdict would have to be F. Or, to be charitable, I for incomplete, as discussions of adding such series to the channel’s lineup of reality and talk shows date to its 2012-13 upfront presentation. But on Wednesday, at a presentation to reporters of the channel’s plans for the 2014-15 season, executives outlined their intention to introduce a scripted show, “The Royals,” in the first quarter of next year. The one-hour drama series, scheduled to make its debut in January or March next year, is a nighttime soap opera set in modern-day Britain that fictionalizes the royal family; the cast includes Elizabeth Hurley as Queen Helena. A pilot has been completed for a second scripted series, “Songbyrd,” about a female songwriter, and there are also plans for a scripted miniseries about the Gucci fashion family. “The Royals” had originally been promoted during the upfront presentation for the 2013-14 season, with a premiere during this year. “We are one year behind,” said Suzanne Kolb, president of E! Entertainment, part of the NBCUniversal division of Comcast. “We hope when you see ‘The Royals,’ people will be glad we waited to get it right,” she added. Mark Schwahn of “One Tree Hill,” the long-running, youth-focused prime-time drama, is an executive producer of the program, which he is also writing and directing. E! is one of many cable channels scrambling to add original scripted programming to their lineups because of its appeal to viewers and advertisers. Other include A&E, ABC Family, AMC, BBC America, Bravo, FX, Hallmark Channel , History, Lifetime, OWN, Oxygen, TBS, TNT, USA and WGN America . “The demand from advertisers is great” for scripted series, Ms. Kolb said, and among consumers “appointment viewing is even more of a crown jewel than ever before.” Still, it is paramount that “you get it right,” she added, because flops are painful for all concerned, so “patience wins the day.” The other series that are being scheduled, in development or in various stages of consideration are all unscripted fare. For fans of the channel’s mainstays like the Kardashian family and Ryan Seacrest, there are even more shows with them on tap, including “Dash Dolls,” about three Kardashians and their boutiques, and a special, “Ryan Seacrest: Biggest Moments on the Radio” (a working title). Among the new unscripted series that viewers will see in the summer and fall are a reality competition show, “Escape Club,” starting on June 8, and “Botched,” planned for September, which will offer corrective plastic surgery to victims of, well, botched surgeries. Ms. Kolb also put in a good word for other E! staples like its “Live From the Red Carpet” franchise, which will be expanded to include coverage from the iHeart Radio Music Awards, on May 1; “The Soup,” which will again offer viewers a live episode; and “E! News,” which reports on news events through an E! filter. For instance, “we couldn’t possibly miss the Bieber trial,” Ms. Kolb said, referring to Justin Bieber. The reality development slate includes a potential competition series in which eight young women will vie to become a “brand ambassador” for Diane von Furstenberg; a special that will chronicle the coming marriage of the singer Lance Bass and his fiancé, Michael Turchin, which Jeff Olde, head of programming for E!, said would be the first celebrity gay wedding on the network; and “#RichKids of New York,” a spinoff of “#RichKids of Beverly Hills,” which has been renewed for a second season.


Relief at Last for U.S. Owners of Diesel Volkswagens

Abstract: For the owners of nearly a half-million diesel cars in the United States who have been caught up in Volkswagen’s emissions-cheating scandal , relief may finally be in sight. On Tuesday, Judge Charles Breyer of the United States District Court in San Francisco gave final approval to an agreement calling for Volkswagen to spend $10 billion to buy back or fix those cars, whose diesel engines were equipped with software enabling the vehicles to pass emissions tests while spewing out far more pollutants than allowed during real-world driving. The cheating was disclosed in September 2015 by the Environmental Protection Agency. Dealers are expected to begin buying back the cars early next month. Owners who would rather have their cars fixed may have to wait at least several weeks beyond that, until the E.P.A. approves a software solution that will work for most of the vehicles. Some owners, though, whose cars will require more than a software upgrade could have to wait a year or more. All of which is why many analysts expect most affected owners to sell their cars back to Volkswagen. “This is a relief,” said Kevin Helmich, owner of a 2010 Audi A3, who plans to sell his car back to the company. A sales executive at a wind-energy company in Ann Arbor, Mich., Mr. Helmich said he bought the car because he believed Volkswagen’s claims that its fuel-efficient diesels help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He said it has not felt good driving the car for the last year, or knowing he was deceived by the company. “While I really like the car, I don’t like being lied to,” he said. Owners who wish to sell their cars back to Volkswagen can register on a website, VWCourtSettlement.com. Under the agreement approved by Judge Breyer, Volkswagen will pay the full market value for the vehicles from before the company admitted its cheating in September 2015, and up to $10,000 in compensation money on top of that. The actual price depends on the model and how many miles the owners have driven their cars. Mr. Helmich said his car, with 108,000 miles on the odometer, will be purchased for just over $21,000. He originally paid $37,650 for it. “It’s a reasonable deal,” he said. “I’m just waiting to hear when the car will be bought back.” He’s already got a new environmentally friendly ride in mind: an all-electric, battery-powered Chevrolet Bolt, which General Motors has said can go 238 miles before needing to recharge. Affected models for the buyback include diesel versions of the VW Beetle, Golf, Jetta and Passat, and the Audi A3, with 2.0-liter engines, from the model years 2009 to 2015. How Volkswagen’s ‘Defeat Devices’ Worked Volkswagen admitted that 11 million of its vehicles were equipped with software that was used to cheat on emissions tests. This is how the technology works and what it now means for vehicle owners. Some of those cars have different versions of Volkswagen’s 2.0-liter diesel engines that require a more complicated software fix and possibly additional hardware to reduce their emissions to acceptable levels. Owners who opt for a fix will also be paid $5,100 to $10,000 in compensation, depending on the model they own. Matt DeLorenzo, an analyst at Kelley Blue Book, is among those who predict most owners will sell their cars back to Volkswagen. “I think a lot of the customers have been in limbo for a long time and they’ll feel a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,” he said. In approving the settlement, Judge Breyer described it as “fair, reasonable and adequate,” and dismissed objections by nearly two dozen owners who criticized the pact in an Oct. 18 hearing. Most complained that the compensation Volkswagen is paying is inadequate or the company wasn’t being punished enough. But Judge Breyer said “the priority is to get the polluting cars off the road as soon as possible.” Volkswagen said some 340,000 diesel car owners have registered at the website so far. Some 3,200 have chosen to opt out of the settlement agreement, the company said, and may join class-action suits seeking more compensation. The scandal has taken a heavy toll on the automaker. In addition to the $10 billion it will use to buy back affected cars and compensate American owners, it also agreed to spend $4.7 billion on environmental projects in the United States. In a statement on Tuesday, Hinrich J. Woebcken, chief executive and president of Volkswagen Group of America, said the settlement marked “an important milestone in our journey to making things right in the United States.” Many Volkswagen dealers have set up special services to help diesel customers. At Williams AutoWorld in Lansing, Mich., the owner, Jeff Williams, has added a concierge to greet diesel owners and walk them through the process of selling their cars back to Volkswagen. “We’ve done training, webinars, so I think we are ready for it,” Mr. Williams said. “We want to make them feel comfortable.” Alan Brown, owner of a Volkswagen franchise in Lewisville, Tex., has taken similar measures. He has assigned two managers to assist customers and instructed them to leave it to customers to decide if they want to consider replacing their diesel model with a new Volkswagen. “We definitely want it to be a no-pressure situation,” Mr. Brown said. “We want that to be about the customer who’s been affected being made whole.”

Volkswagen
EPA
Vehicle Emissions
Fraud
Greenhouse gas
Air pollution
Automobile safety
Diesel engine


With a New Child, Laying Claim to the Comforts of Home

Abstract: Kayla Medina’s apartment in Harlem, where she lives with her infant son, Kayden, is simple and small. He crawls around their living room floor, his interest shifting among his toys. He will turn 1 in April; Ms. Medina turned 21 this month. The young mother is entering the new year with some complications. She is unemployed. Her son’s father is present, she said, but they recently broke up. She wants to apply to college and find a job. But Ms. Medina is not dwelling on these concerns. She feels more confident about her future than she has in years. Until the New York City Housing Authority secured a subsidized apartment for her last year, Ms. Medina was struggling through New York’s foster care system. Before that were troubles with her biological family. She sees the apartment as a blank slate. “All I ever wanted was to be in my own place,” she said as Kayden sat in her lap, gnawing on her cellphone. “Now no one tells me what to do.” Ms. Medina lived in Allegheny, Pa., until she was 5, when her mother was arrested in connection with what she described as an “altercation at a club.” She moved to the Bronx to live with her grandmother, who had three sons and was eager to raise a daughter, and stayed there comfortably for years. But as she entered her teens, she said, she grew curious about her mother, and to her surprise, her grandmother discouraged reconciliation and became possessive. “It was emotional,” Ms. Medina recalled. “Everyone told me different things. Some told me that my mother abandoned me, others that my grandmother wanted me to herself.” “They kept me away from her,” she added. “That’s why I don’t trust anybody. Because if your family can lie to you, anybody can.” The Neediest Cases The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund provides direct assistance to struggling New Yorkers. Tap for information about how to donate. Ms. Medina eventually connected with her mother, traveling to Pennsylvania when possible, but discovered the relationship was discordant. “We don’t get along,” she said. “It can only work long distance. When we come together, we crash.” Relations with her grandmother were strained enough by the time Ms. Medina was 17 that she looked into foster care. She lived with nine foster families over the next five years, struggling to feel at home with them and all the while trying to reconcile with her mother, only to find that they kept sliding into the same disagreements. A measure of stability came in 2012, when Ms. Medina started living with a foster family in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. She stayed with them for two years. She became pregnant in 2014. “I had a lot of emotions when I found out,” she said. “I wanted to give someone the love I never got. But I also thought, ‘Look at what you’re going through.’” She weighed her circumstances and “decided I wanted to make it work.” Kayden was born this past April. Ms. Medina’s social worker at the Children’s Aid Society , one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund , used $250 from the fund to buy her maternity clothes, baby wipes and diapers. After staying in her eighth foster home, where, she said, the parents withheld money meant for her son, she decided that getting her own apartment was necessary. She filed the paperwork to be discharged from foster care last year, and the Housing Authority called in August with news that she had been assigned a one-bedroom apartment. “When I got that call,” she recalled, “all my stress just went away.” Afternoon approached in Ms. Medina’s apartment. She had errands to run. Kayden had left his mother on the couch to play with his toys. She watched him. “He’s a good baby,” she said. “I can’t walk away from him without him following me.”

New York Times Neediest Cases Fund
Philanthropy
Children's Aid Society


As Home Team in Canada, U.S. Wins Game Out of Joint

Abstract: Toronto The Canadian fans tried. They booed Derek Jeter during introductions, which is downright un-American. A few fans heckled Chipper Jones by chanting his nickname, missing the point that Mets fans harass their ancient tormentor by his given name, Larry (which he loves). The trouble began for Team Canada right after the anthems, when the Americans in their home white uniforms trotted out to their positions, right here in the True North Strong and Free. “That was a little strange,” said Jimmy Rollins, who was on the bench at the start. “What did they do, flip a coin? Not exactly. Under the rules of the World Baseball Classic — we will have this down pat midway through the century — the higher-seeded team is the home team in the first game. In this case, that was the Americans. Even the official scorecard, distributed in the press box at Rogers Centre, had the Canadians listed as the home team, on the bottom half of the sheet. The whole game was off-balance as a result — a sense of not knowing up from down. “I didn’t know until today,” said Russell Martin of Canada. “A couple of guys were asking what was going on.” The day started strange in San Juan, where the Netherlands stunned the Dominican Republic, and it continued strange with Cap’n Derek of the Yankees loping out to shortstop to start a game in Canada, but that’s the way it works. The fans who drove or walked or took the commuter train, just like Canada’s designated hitter, Joey Votto, brought life and energy to the dome. But this is not 2006. It only got worse. By the rules of the tournament, the bottom of the seventh was celebrated with the traditional stretch, with fans singing along to the Neil Diamond song “Sweet Caroline” — a ritual borrowed from the Boston Red Sox. Canadian fans, with their faces painted red, raised index fingers in jolly cadence. Then out of the dugout popped Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox, this touchy-feely moment having served to bring up the Americans for another turn at bat. By that time, the whole day was disjointed for the Canadians. The Americans avoided the embarrassment of the first Classic, when they were upset by Canada. This time, the Yanks barely held on for a 6-5 victory to advance to a game Sunday night against powerful Venezuela, which defeated Italy, 7-0. This was clearly the game of the tournament for Canadian fans, with 42,314 in the dome, hoping for a Miracle on Ersatz. The Canadians tried. Because a rash of aches and pains seems to have struck the pitching arms of most Canadian major league pitchers, the home nation (not the home team) started Mike Johnson, who had a won-lost record of 20-2 last season, albeit in South Korea. On the plane ride north from Florida, Johnson had studied videos of the American hitters in a session with his catcher, Russell Martin of the Dodgers. “He had a great changeup; he had a great curveball when I had him in Baltimore,” Davey Johnson, the American skipper and no relation, said, referring to 1997. This being 2009, Mike Johnson gave up a checked-swing double down the right-field line to Jeter in the first inning. The next time he faced him, Johnson tossed a slow, looping curve inside, moving Jeter back from the plate. The pitch was not nearly as ferocious as some of the hummers Jason Varitek dials up during Yankees-Red Sox games, which are decibels beyond anything this Classic is likely to produce. The game did have its moments of country hardball. In the second inning, Adam Dunn dumped the Canadian second baseman, Pete Orr, on a force play at second base. And in the seventh, the United States pitcher Scott Shields threw rather high and tight to Jason Bay, earning a midseason stare. Ultimately, the Yanks had more pitching than the Canadians, getting three innings out of Jake Peavy and a string of single innings from six others. By the end, the folks had nothing better to do than perform the wave, with the Americans batting in the bottom of the eighth. It suggested boredom in the face of inevitability. Nobody can be sure how the Americans will do in this tournament, which does not seem to have struck a chord in American fans, who are caught up in the saga of A-Rod’s hip and are waiting for their college basketball brackets next week. The Classic has not exactly made it yet. However, if the Canadians had pulled off another little miracle, their fans might have levitated the roof of the dome. They came close in the ninth, when Votto sent the tying run to second with his fourth hit. “In a perfect world, we would have beaten them with a walk-off home run,” Martin said, with a Gallic shrug suggesting that he knows this is not a perfect world. The day had begun off kilter when Jeter trotted out to shortstop, and Canada never quite recovered.

Baseball
World Baseball Classic
Jeter Derek
Toronto (Ontario)
Canada
United States


Review: Saltaire Oyster Bar in Port Chester Offers the Unexpected

Abstract: Port Chester’s beautiful old granary warehouse, last occupied by the Willett House restaurant, has been repurposed once again, this time into Saltaire Oyster Bar and Fish House , a stylish, bustling restaurant and bar. The décor is uncluttered and smart, with nautical maps on one wall and heavy loading ropes with serious hooks filling in a corner or two, all leaving room for the luxury of well-spaced tables. With its many mix-and-match possibilities — a raw bar, small plates, seasonal specials, entrees and sides — the menu is designed to satisfy all appetites and wallets. Image The seasonal hake special entree is poached in butter and comes with with a zucchini and barley salad. Credit Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times Bobby Will, the restaurant’s creative executive chef, has pulled together unexpected yet harmonious flavors, and his culinary ideas are nowhere better presented than in the witty desserts: bitter, silken dark chocolate crémeux is soothed and enhanced by salted mascarpone, sweet golden raisins and (surprise!) a heady basil gel; chunky caramel-apple compote and brown butter crumbs that adorn a dome of pumpkin-spiced, evanescent cheesecake; and a cup of heavenly cappuccino whipped cream alongside miniature sandwiches (the ice cream kind). You get the idea. That creativity made a perfect match for the vision and expertise of Les Barnes, Saltaire’s affable creator and owner, who as a child accompanied his restaurateur father to the old Fulton Fish Market in New York City. In Saltaire, Mr. Barnes wanted quality and freshness in both product and approach; his restaurant has all that and more. From the raw bar, eight to 12 oysters are offered. Currently , they are mostly from the cold waters of the East Coast — Glidden Points, Fishers Islands, Beau Soleils, Moonstones, the infamous Maine Belons — and full of the salt-sweet personality developed from their terroir. Take your time, note the shell, chew to release more flavors, wait for the aftertaste. A number of interesting sauces are available, but they could overwhelm the oyster’s clarity. We take ours neat, the exception being Maine Belons, said to need lemon to counter their intense funkiness. Clams are also on board, and diners interested in sharing should check out the seafood “towers,” which also include lobster, shrimp, oysters, mussels and crab claws. Image The restaurant offers seafood towers that come in three sizes: hook, line and sinker. Pictured here, the two-tiered, line, with oysters, clams, mussels, lobster and crab claws. Credit Gregg Vigliotti for The New York Times Saltaire has even more to offer in small plates. Just when you thought there were no new flavors under the sun, charred octopus arrives wafting the cardamom and nutmeg of ras el hanout . Mussels are scented with fennel and tarragon, and, even better, Maine steamers (plenty for sharing) are bathed in a delicious, drinkable broth of celery and leek. Roasted pork belly mingled with cider-braised cabbage, pickled cauliflower and tangy mustard could have made a light supper; and a dollop of fig chutney awakened a soup of celery root and apple. Entrees, listed under both seasonal specials and Top of the Catch, seemed to overlap. The seared or grilled fish on the latter allow diners to choose a sauce and two sides. But this chef has such a knack for making old flavors new and exciting that we wished that all entrees came with garnishes already in place, like the bargains from the specials menu. Those included thick butter-poached hake with a zucchini and barley salad, tomato pesto and an unlikely but brilliant lick of creamy truffle ricotta, as well as the gently seared yellowfin tuna with a zingy olive tapenade, sunchokes and roasted carrots on the side. Five big, juicy shrimp came from Top of the Catch, and nothing was amiss with our pick of a roasted squash medley and a brown rice pilaf, or with wild king salmon, but we couldn’t help wondering what garnishes Mr. Wills would have chosen. Lobster potpie hinted of sweet sherry. The menu could be better organized; waiters, having no other place to stand, congregated at the back of the main dining room. These are mere quibbles about an impressive new restaurant offering food that is first-rate in quality and creativity.

Restaurant
Port Chester NY
Seafood
Oyster
Saltaire Oyster Bar and Fish House


Hague Court Declines Inquiry Into Church Abuse Cover-Up

Abstract: The International Criminal Court in The Hague has decided not to investigate or prosecute the former pope and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church on allegations of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests. Victims of sexual abuse filed a complaint in 2011 asking the court to prosecute Benedict XVI, then the pope, and three other Vatican officials for what they called an international and systemic cover-up of sexual abuse that amounted to “crimes against humanity.” The court responded in a letter dated May 31 that after analyzing the complaint, it had determined that the matters “do not appear to fall within the jurisdiction of the court.” The letter said that “some of the allegations” fell outside the court’s jurisdiction, which is to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In addition, the case did not appear to meet the court’s time limits. For the most part, the court may prosecute only crimes committed after it was constituted in July 2002, and even though the cases submitted by the victims involved more recent allegations, some of the supporting material predated 2002. The court said that “the decision not to proceed may be reconsidered in the light of new facts or information,” and suggested that the cases could be brought to “appropriate national or international authorities.” The outcome was exactly what many international and human rights lawyers had anticipated. Barbara Blaine of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests , or SNAP, the victims advocacy group that initiated the case, said, “We’re neither deterred nor discouraged by this news.” Pamela Spees, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights who handled the case for the victims group, said that she knew it faced “many hurdles,” but that it was worthwhile because abuse victims from many countries had stepped forward after hearing about the case being taken to the International Criminal Court. “We’re talking about people from more than 70 countries, survivors in Africa and Latin America who were isolated before, and who now have a whole different understanding of what happened to them and how it relates to the church,” she said. Ms. Spees said she had delayed making the letter public to give her enough time to notify the victims in various countries who had presented their cases to the court. The complaint named Benedict, who stepped down in February and is now pope emeritus; Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of state; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the previous secretary of state; and Cardinal William J. Levada, an American who formerly led the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office designated to receive cases of clergy sexual abuse forwarded by bishops.

Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests,SNAP


Bombing at Mosque in Southern Iran Kills 9 and Injures 105

Abstract: TEHRAN — A powerful bomb exploded at a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz Saturday evening, killing at least nine people and injuring 105, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. The bomb exploded at 9 p.m. at the Shohada mosque, where the secretary to the city’s Friday Prayer leader preached every week about the Wahhabi faith, an austere version of Sunni Islam, and Bahaism, a religion the Iranian government condemns, the news agency reported. The bomb went off in the men’s section and many of the wounded were in critical condition, the news agency added. “The mosque is in a residential neighborhood and people heard the sound of the explosion five kilometers from the mosque,” the news agency reported. “Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene to help the injured and put out the fire,” it added. Bombings are rare in Iran and the government has punished those involved in such attacks severely. Iranian Sunni militants have been involved in several blasts in the past few years. Iran is predominantly a Shiite country. A Shiite cleric known for his stance against Wahhabism was killed in the southern city of Ahwaz last June. A series of deadly bombs went off in Ahwaz in 2005 and 2006; 10 Sunnis involved in the explosions were arrested and executed. The government accused Britain of provoking the attacks and claimed it had proof of British involvement. Shiraz is the capital of Fars Province and home to the ruins of Persepolis, the remnants of Iran’s pre-Islamic civilization. Several Persian poets are also buried in the city. The city’s state university, Shiraz University, witnessed one of its worse student demonstrations this year in February. Students staged protests against the head of the university, demanding his resignation. Parliamentary runoff elections are scheduled for April 25.

Iran
Bombs and Explosives
Sunni Muslims
Mosques


Top Agent Arn Tellem Urges Ouster of Union Chief Billy Hunter

Abstract: Arn Tellem, one of the N.B.A.’s most powerful player agents, is calling for the ouster of the union chief Billy Hunter, a step he is urging his clients to take next month during the annual players’ meeting at the league’s All-Star weekend in Houston. Using stark, unambiguous terms, Tellem outlined his position in a 1,500-word letter sent to his players Monday night. In the letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, Tellem blasts Hunter’s record as executive director of the National Basketball Players Association and accuses him of using the union for personal gain. The letter comes two weeks after the release of an outside audit that heavily criticized Hunter’s hiring practices and expenditures and questioned his judgment on a wide array of issues. “N.B.A. players deserve better representation from the union they fund,” Tellem wrote in the letter. “I implore you and your fellow players to take control of your union and your future. It’s time for Mr. Hunter to go.” Tellem suggests that players should make that decision when the players association holds its annual All-Star meeting from Feb. 15-17. That is also when the players will discuss the recent audit, by the law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. Representatives of the firm are expected to present the findings and answer questions. In his letter, Tellem suggests that Hunter should not be allowed to attend that meeting to prevent him from any attempt “to intimidate and manipulate.” Tellem writes: “Hunter is betting that the players — historically passive — will let him slide. I hope you don’t. Clearly, Hunter has violated your trust.” The union declined to comment. Hunter indirectly defended himself in a statement sent to Bloomberg News, asserting that he has looked out for the players’ interests more than some player agents. “The reality is that the agents have never been satisfied that they cannot control the union for their own agendas,” Hunter’s statement said, according to Bloomberg . Bloomberg also reported — and The Times confirmed — that Hunter fired three family members last week in response to the nepotism concerns raised in the audit. Two of the family members worked in the union offices: Robyn Hunter, his daughter, was director of player benefits; and Megan Inaba, his daughter-in-law, is the director of special events and sponsorships. Inaba will continue to work through All-Star weekend before stepping down. Hunter also terminated the union’s contract with Prim Capital, a financial services firm that employs his son, Todd, who is married to Inaba. Tellem, the vice chairman of the Wasserman Media Group, is the first major agent to call for Hunter’s dismissal. His influence is considerable. Tellem’s firm represents about 50 current players, about 12 percent of the union’s membership, more than any other agency. His clients include Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls, Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers and Joe Johnson of the Nets. A number of Tellem clients — including Kris Humphries of the Nets, Kendrick Perkins of the Thunder and Brandon Knight of the Detroit Pistons — are player representatives, the group that helps set the union’s agenda. If Tellem can rally a majority of his players, it could create the momentum for a massive upheaval in the union’s leadership. Hunter, 70, has held his position since 1996, guiding the union through three collective bargaining agreements and two costly lockouts. No other agents have publicly called for Hunter’s dismissal. But Tellem seems likely to find significant support for the stand he is taking, given the intense disdain for Hunter that several other major agents share with Tellem. During the 2011 lockout Tellem joined five other powerful agents in calling for the union to decertify, which would have removed Hunter from his post while providing the players with a new legal avenue. Hunter resisted the effort, further alienating those agents. That group included Jeff Schwartz, Dan Fegan, Bill Duffy, Mark Bartelstein and Leon Rose, all of whom have deep stables of clients, including many of the league’s top stars. Deron Williams, the Nets’ star point guard and a Schwartz client, was the first prominent player to call for Hunter’s dismissal after the audit was released this month. Tellem devotes a major portion of his letter to criticizing Hunter’s handling of the lockout, saying that the union chief was “tactically, strategically and logistically unprepared” and that Commissioner David Stern “outmaneuvered Mr. Hunter from the get-go.” The decision to reject decertification, Tellem writes, showed that Hunter was “more concerned with saving his job and salary than in making the best deal for the players.” The procedure for firing Hunter is not entirely clear, although it would presumably begin with the 60 or so player representatives (two from each team). The union also has a nine-player executive board, but that board has seven vacancies because of the union’s failure to hold an election within the last year. An election is scheduled for All-Star weekend. Hunter defended his record after the audit was released on Jan. 17, noting that it cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing or misappropriation of union money. But the audit faulted Hunter in several areas, among them: hiring family members and friends without disclosing potential conflicts of interest; cashing out $1.3 million in vacation time without proper review; and signing a new five-year contract, worth up to $18 million, without approval by the player representatives. The law firm conducting the audit concluded that Hunter’s contract was not valid or enforceable, and it suggested that the players should consider replacing him. It also found instances in which Hunter tried to silence his critics, including a player who raised nepotism concerns. The union is also the subject of a continuing joint investigation by the United States attorney’s office and the Department of Labor. In addition, CBSSports .com reported last week that the New York Attorney General’s office is considering opening its own probe into Hunter’s oversight of the union’s charitable foundation. In his letter, Tellem says the law firm’s findings “leave no doubt” that Hunter “put his personal gain above those of the players.” “The audit was quite thorough,” Tellem writes, “and the firm’s conclusions about Mr. Hunter’s financial indiscretions and fiduciary breaches are alarming, if not downright shocking.”

NBA
Arn Tellem
Billy Hunter
National Basketball Players Assn
Basketball


Suffolk Charges 24 in Web Child Sex Sting

Abstract: YAPHANK, N.Y., Feb. 14 - A lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, a firefighter and a college student are among 24 Manhattan and Long Island men accused of soliciting sex from detectives posing as children in computer chat rooms during a monthlong sting operation, the Suffolk County police said on Tuesday. All were charged with attempting to disseminate indecent material to a minor, a felony with a maximum penalty of four years in prison. The 24 cases together constitute the largest child sex crackdown ever in Suffolk, the police said. "Let this be a wake-up call to parents to monitor our children's chat rooms," said County Executive Steve Levy at a news conference at police headquarters in Yaphank. The Suffolk police commissioner, Richard Dormer, who was also at the news conference, said, "I consider this the sleaziest kind of investigation, but I consider it necessary." In a separate case, a traffic and weather reporter for a Long Island radio station was indicted on federal charges of possessing child pornography. The reporter, James Buckley, 50, of Brookhaven, who has worked for more than 20 years at WALK-FM (97.5), was arraigned on Tuesday morning in United States District Court in Central Islip. Magistrate Judge Arlene R. Lindsay ordered him held under house arrest on $350,000 bond. The New York office of Clear Channel Radio, which owns the station, said the company would have no comment. Allen Bode, an assistant United States attorney, said in a telephone interview that Mr. Buckley was caught trading pornography, including some hard-core material involving toddlers, with undercover agents in Germany and the United States. A search of his home computer in December turned up thousands of images, Mr. Bode said. Mr. Buckley faces up to 19 years in federal prison if convicted. His court-appointed defender, Randi Chavis, said in a telephone interview that he pleaded not guilty but declined to comment further. In the Suffolk County case, the police said the arrests were made over the past month but were kept secret to avoid tipping off suspects who had not yet been arrested. Detectives in the Police Department's computer crimes unit who were at the news conference said they created online profiles and screen names for fictitious boys and girls, ages 12 to 14, and visited chat rooms operated by AOL, Yahoo and other Internet service providers. Often, detectives entering a chat room quickly received instant messages inviting them to talk about or meet for sex, the police said. The suspects who sought a meeting were invited to a house that the police had rented in Suffolk, and told that the child's parents were away. Mr. Dormer said 13 men showed up. The youngest defendant, Jason Frank, 19, a college student from Dix Hills, was arrested there Jan. 27 and later released on $1,000 bail. The police said 11 others were arrested after sending sexually explicit messages or photographs online; their identities were provided by the Internet service providers under subpoena. One of the 11 was Lt. Col. Douglas Winckelmann, a Gulf war veteran and now a full-time reservist stationed at Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens. Colonel Winckelmann, 48, of East 93rd Street in Manhattan, was most recently the chief of Fort Totten's telecommunications unit. He was arrested Jan. 24 and later released on $25,000 bail. The Army has begun its own investigation, said Lt. Col. Virginia Zoler, the base spokeswoman. She said military computers were protected by an intricate security network that would have prevented him from visiting chat rooms while at work. Detective Sgt. John Cowie, the head of the computer crimes unit, said Colonel Winckelmann sent sexually graphic messages to a detective posing as a 13-year-old boy. He also sent a photo of a man engaged in a sexual act, claiming that it was of himself, Sergeant Cowie said. Thomas J. Johnson, 24, a volunteer with the West Islip Fire Department and other suspects were tracked using computers at home and elsewhere. Mr. Johnson, arrested Feb. 8, also used one at the firehouse, police said. Commissioner Dormer said the detectives stayed in character, as naïve children. "The predators seduced the youngsters; the youngsters did not seduce the predators," he said.

SUFFOLK COUNTY (NY)
JOHNSON THOMAS J
BUCKLEY JAMES
FRANK JASON
WINCKELMANN DOUGLAS
SEX CRIMES
CHILDREN AND YOUTH
PORNOGRAPHY AND OBSCENITY
PORNOGRAPHY
COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET


Marathon Debut Set for Farah

Abstract: The Olympic 5,000- and 10,000-meter winner Mo Farah will make his marathon debut in the London Marathon in April. The strong field includes the world-record holder, Wilson Kipsang; the Olympic champion, Stephen Kiprotich; and the defending champion, Tsegaye Kebede.


Court Rules Against Jersey City Law Restricting Gun Sales

Abstract: JERSEY CITY FRANK CASO has sold handguns and rifles from his Caso’s Gun-A-Rama store for 40 years. But for about six months in 2006, Mr. Caso was barred by a city ordinance from selling each customer more than one handgun a month. Two weeks ago, he won a legal victory when a State Appellate Court panel affirmed a lower court ruling that tossed out the Jersey City ordinance. Mr. Caso’s legal victory, however, may be short lived. A bill that would limit gun buyers to one handgun a month passed the State Assembly in June and is now awaiting a hearing in the State Senate. “We really have to try to remedy this situation with guns on the streets in our urban areas,” said the bill’s sponsor, Senator Sandra Bolden Cunningham, whose district includes parts of Jersey City. “We know that the bill is not going to remedy the situation completely. A lot of people get guns from out of state, but we have to do something to show these people that we are serious about protecting our citizens.” In Mr. Caso’s shop, ammunition boxes line a rear shelf, handguns lie in locked glass cases and hunting trophies like deer and pheasant hang on the walls. He said his customers are often hunters and target shooters and many come from other parts of the state, drawn by his reputation. Handguns are legal, he said, and properly screened buyers should be able to buy as many as they want. “It’s like buying a new car,” he said. “If you kill someone with a car in an accident do we blame the car or the dealer? No.” Jersey City passed its ordinance in June 2006. That December, Judge Maurice J. Gallipoli of State Superior Court struck it down, saying it “arbitrarily and capriciously burdens the rights of individuals who have absolutely nothing to do with crime and violence.” The State Appellate Court ruled that the city could not pass the law because state laws already regulated handgun sales. Bill Matsikoudis, the city attorney, said the city would appeal. He has argued that the state’s home rule laws allow municipalities to issue laws addressing public safety. At issue are so-called “straw buyers” — properly licensed and permitted buyers who buy multiple handguns and may sell them illegally to street buyers, said Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. “This law would take a bite out of that, because it’s not going to be profitable anymore,” he said. “I don’t know of any legitimate gun owner who needs to go and buy more than one gun per month.” Scott Bach, president of the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, said that if a gun were recovered after a crime, it would be traced back. He said New Jersey already has some of the most stringent gun-licensing and permitting processes in the nation, giving law enforcement ample time and latitude to turn down suspicious buyers. He said there are many reasons someone might want more than one gun a month — for protection if a primary gun needs repair, or for variety. “Can you imagine a golfer having only one club?” he said. Bryan Miller, executive director of Ceasefire NJ, said 2007 data from the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives show that most guns used in the state’s crimes — 72 percent — originate from other states. “But that remaining 28 percent are coming from New Jersey and that’s a significant number,” he said. “We can’t affect the laws in Pennsylvania or anywhere else but we can affect the laws here.” Three other states have one-handgun-a-month laws. South Carolina, the first to pass such a law in 1975, repealed it in 2005 after lawmakers argued it was ineffective and unfair. California has such a law, as does Maryland. A study by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research looked at Maryland’s one-handgun-a-month law and another law banning cheap guns and found that gun homicides dropped about 10 percent after the two laws were put into effect. “While I think these laws will have a beneficial effect, it’s probably going to take many months or years before you see a full effect,” said Daniel Webster, a researcher with Johns Hopkins.

Firearms
Law and Legislation
Jersey City (NJ)


As Egypt Protest Swells, U.S. Sends Specific Demands

Abstract: CAIRO — Pressure intensified on President Hosni Mubarak ’s government as the largest crowd of protesters in two weeks flooded Cairo ’s streets on Tuesday and the United States delivered its most specific demands yet, urging swift steps toward democracy. Protesters, some inspired by an emotional interview with an online political organizer on Egypt ’s most popular talk show, occupied Tahrir Square, surrounded the Egyptian Parliament and staged sporadic demonstrations and strikes in several Egyptian cities. At the same time, in a war of attrition with protesters for public opinion, Egyptian officials sought once more to declare the revolt a thing of the past. Vice President Omar Suleiman , who is leading an American-endorsed “orderly transition” toward elections in September, said Mr. Mubarak had appointed a committee of judges and legal scholars to propose constitutional amendments. The committee put Egypt “on the path of peaceful and orderly transition of power,” Mr. Suleiman said on state television. All the members, however, are considered Mubarak loyalists: many senior judges who owe their prominent positions to Mr. Mubarak, two legal scholars who were members of his cabinet and two others who have already expressed support for gradual change that would leave Mr. Mubarak in office. Although broadly committed to a transition, the Obama administration was trying to influence many of the details. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called Mr. Suleiman to ask him to lift the 30-year emergency law that the government has used to suppress and imprison opposition leaders, to stop imprisoning protesters and journalists, and to invite demonstrators to help develop a specific timetable for opening up the political process. He also asked Mr. Suleiman to open talks on Egypt’s political future to a wider range of opposition members. Mr. Suleiman has said only that Egypt will remove the emergency law when the situation justifies its repeal, and the harassment and arrest of journalists and human rights activists has continued even in the last few days. Mr. Suleiman warned the protesters, most of whom are opposed to any negotiations while Mr. Mubarak is in power, that the only alternative to talks is a “a coup.” “And we want to avoid that — meaning uncalculated and hasty steps that produce more irrationality,” he said, according to the official news agency. “There will be no ending of the regime, nor a coup, because that means chaos,” Mr. Suleiman said. And he warned the protesters not to attempt more civil disobedience, calling it “extremely dangerous.” He added, “We absolutely do not tolerate it.” On the 15th day of the protests, young organizers guiding the movement from a tent city inside Tahrir Square, or Liberation Square, showed the discipline and stamina that they say will help them outlast Mr. Mubarak and Mr. Suleiman, even if their revolt devolves into a war of attrition. Many in the crowd, for example, said they had turned out because organizers had spread the word over loudspeakers and online media for demonstrators to concentrate their efforts on just Tuesdays and Fridays, enabling their supporters to rest in between. And while Mr. Mubarak remains in office, they say, there is no turning back. The independent group Human Rights Watch said that it had confirmed more than 300 fatalities during the protests by visiting hospitals in a few Egyptian cities. “The government wanted to say that life was returning to normal,” said Mahmoud Mustafa, a 25-year-old protester standing in front of Parliament. “We’re saying it’s not.” Many in the crowd said that they were newly inspired by the interview on Monday night with Wael Ghonim, a Google executive, who had been the anonymous administrator of a Facebook group that enlisted tens of thousands to oppose the Mubarak government by publicizing a young Egyptian’s beating death at the hands of its reviled police force. In a tearful conversation, Mr. Ghonim told the story of his “kidnapping,” secret imprisonment in blindfolded isolation for 12 days and determination to overturn Egypt’s authoritarian government. And on Tuesday, both Mr. Ghonim and the host, Mona el-Shazly, came to Tahrir Square to cheer on the revolt. Ahmed Mayer el-Shamy, an executive at the drug company Pfizer , said many of his colleagues had come out for the first time “because of what they saw on TV last night.” Some protesters said they saw it as a potential turning point in a propaganda war that has so far gone badly against them, with the state-run television network and newspapers portraying the crowds in Tahrir Square as a dwindling band of obstructionists doing the bidding of foreign interests. “They have killed us with police bullets, they have sent thugs against us, and now they have launched a propaganda campaign against us,” said Sarah Abdel Ghany, 24. “And still millions come.” Even early in the day, before their numbers had swelled past tens of thousands or their brigades marched to Parliament, the core organizers were already brimming with confidence at what they could accomplish. “We are actually the government of the country right now,” said Walid Rachid, 27, one of the young online activists who helped kick off the revolt. Organizers had hinted in recent days that they intended to expand out of the square to keep the pressure on the government. Then, around 3 p.m., a bearded man with a bullhorn led a procession around the tanks guarding the square and down several blocks to the Parliament. Many of the protesters still wore bandages on their heads from a 12-hour war of rocks and stones against Mubarak loyalists a few days before. Neither the soldiers guarding the perimeter of the square, nor the dozens guarding the Parliament building did anything to stop them. Outside Parliament, one soldier bent down to feed a candy bar to a small boy who was protesting along with his father. Later, when the protesters believed they had discovered a secret-police infiltrator in their midst, the soldiers stepped in to grab him by the arms and lead him away. “Hosni Mubarak is illegitimate,” they chanted, “The Parliament is illegitimate, Omar Suleiman is illegitimate.” As night fell, and the crowd had dwindled from a few thousand to hundreds, only a few lights remained on in the upper floors of Parliament, and about a dozen men pulled out blankets and said they intended to sleep in the road. “Parliament is a great pressure point,” said Ahmed el-Droubi, a biologist. “What we need to do is unite this protest and Tahrir, and that is just the first step. Then we will expand further until Mr. Mubarak gets the point.” Back in Tahrir Square, more members of the Egyptian elite continued to turn up in support of the protestors, including the pop star Shireen Abdel Wahab and the soccer goalkeeper Nader al-Sayed. Brigades of university employees and telephone company employees joined the protests, as did a column of legal scholars in formal black robes. Zyad el-Alawi, one of the central organizers, said the protesters were counting on rallying other cities and workers around the country to join their movement. There were reports Tuesday of other large demonstrations in Alexandria, Suez and other cities, as well as labor strikes, including one by 6,000 workers at the Suez Canal. Many at the protests buttonholed Americans to express deep disappointment with President Obama , shaking their heads at his ambiguous messages about an orderly transition. They warned that the country risked incurring a resentment from the Egyptian people that could last long after Mr. Mubarak is gone.

Egypt
Politics
Hosni Mubarak
Tahrir Square
Wael Ghonim
Omar Suleiman


Wall St. Stumbles on Economic Data

Abstract: Greece’s financial and political crisis, compounded by new fears about the pace of the United States economic recovery, sent financial markets reeling on Wednesday. Thousands took to the streets in Athens to protest austerity measures, and Prime Minister George Papandreou said he would reshuffle his cabinet and request a vote of confidence in Parliament. At stake is the prospect of a new bailout plan for the debt-ridden country. Anxious investors feared the situation could spin out of control, igniting a series of crises in other heavily indebted euro zone countries, like Portugal, Ireland and Spain. That, in turn, could threaten Europe’s banks and even reach into the United States financial system. “We are pretty much giving back everything we got yesterday and more,” said Lawrence R. Creatura, a portfolio manager at Federated Investors, noting the rise in the main American indexes of more than 1 percent Tuesday. “Today the market just can’t escape the undertow of deteriorating economic data and political events.” After having lost more than 200 points earlier Wednesday, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 178.84 points, or 1.5 percent, to 11,897.27. The markets rallied earlier this year on confidence about the economic recovery, and at one point the Dow was poised to break through the 13,000 mark. But stocks have been falling week after week on a drumbeat of dismal economic news from soft job creation to falling housing prices. The market has surrendered almost all of its gains for this year, falling 7 percent since its peak at the end of April. It may be nearing what is known as a market correction, a sort of miniature bear market characterized by a 10 percent decline in a short period of time. Greece needs to pass a new round of austerity measures by the end of the month in return for new loans from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union. In Athens, thousands joined a nationwide strike as Parliament prepared to debate a second round of sharp cuts in government spending. The measures are unpopular with Greeks, who have already suffered deep salary and pension cuts. Although many analysts expect that a default by Greece on its debts will eventually be averted, the political uncertainty in Greece is providing an unsettling backdrop for investors. In addition, they are fretting because the United States this summer faces its own fractious negotiations over raising the federal debt ceiling . The European Central Bank said on Wednesday in a report on financial risk that it would be a big mistake for Greece to be allowed to miss its debt payments, either by delaying payments to a later date, or by paying back less than the full amount. Germany, the biggest economy in the 17-member euro zone, is proposing that private sector bondholders accept some form of a loss on their Greek bonds. This could prove damaging to Greek banks, requiring them to mark down the value of their holdings of government debt at a time when they are struggling with bad loans in their home market. And it could have similar dire repercussions for other European banks that hold Greek debt. “The concern is that a default by Greece would not only hurt European banks but could also spread to U.S. banks,” said Bernard Baumohl, an economist at the Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, N.J. “Should there be a default, it can only have a delaying effect on the recovery, hurting American exports and the banks’ ability to lend.” Pointing to a slowing United States economy, a Federal Reserve regional report for New York State showed a decline in both manufacturing activity and optimism for June. Also Wednesday, a government report showed consumer prices crept up again, though they were held in check by a decline in energy prices. The recent economic data has prompted economists to steadily downgrade their forecasts for economic growth in the second quarter of this year. Macroeconomic Advisors, a prominent forecasting firm, on Wednesday lowered its annualized second-quarter gross domestic product forecast to 1.9 percent, compared with the 3.5 percent growth it was expecting when the quarter began. “There is enough negative data that came out of the U.S. and the situation in Europe to warrant a conservative tone in the markets,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist for Prudential Financial. “The data underscores a soft patch, and the Greek issue has deteriorated.” The fear that a default by Greece could lead to broader European problems were fanned by Moody’s Investors Service, which on Wednesday put the credit ratings of three of France’s largest banks on review for a possible downgrade because of their exposure to Greek debt. Moody’s cited concerns about the exposure of the three banks, BNP Paribas, Société Générale and Crédit Agricole to the Greek economy, either through holdings of government bonds or loans to the private sector there, directly or through subsidiaries operating in Greece. According to data from the Bank for International Settlements, French banks could potentially lose more from a collapse of Greek banks and a sovereign default than other countries, including Germany, the United States and Britain. Moody’s stressed that there were “potential mitigants” to the concerns about Greece, including the French banks’ strong overall financial profiles, substantial scale and earnings diversification. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell sharply on Wednesday. It lost 22.45 points, or 1.74 percent, to close at 1,265.42. The Nasdaq composite index average fell 47.26 points, or 1.76 percent, to 2,631.46. The euro, oil prices and Treasury yields also fell on Wednesday. The stock market sell-off is a sign to some analysts that investors are entering a phase when they will flee riskier assets like stocks, commodities and richer-yielding bonds. According to the Investment Company Institute, United States equity funds experienced outflows for at least six successive weeks. Investors redeemed about $15 billion from American stock funds since the beginning of May, even as they shifted billions into less risky bond funds. On Wednesday, the yield on the Treasury’s benchmark 10-year note fell to 2.98 percent from 3.10 percent, suggesting to analysts a continuing strong flow of investment funds from risky assets into safer investments like Treasuries Marc Harris, an economist at RBC Capital Markets, said interest rates in short-term money markets — where banks and companies borrow funds to keep their businesses going — were “spiking in a troubling way” mainly in Europe. All of the sectors of the market were down by 1.24 percent or more, with financials and materials recording the heaviest declines at more than 2.3 percent. Crude oil took a tumble, falling $4.56, to $94.81 a barrel for July delivery, on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Stocks and Bonds
European Sovereign Debt Crisis (2010- )
Greece


Ex-I.M.F. Director Is Named Lazard Investment Executive

Abstract: Lazard, the investment bank run by Bruce Wasserstein , said yesterday that it had hired the former managing director of the International Monetary Fund as a top executive for its investment banking unit. Rodrigo de Rato, who served as the economic minister of Spain under President José María Aznar, resigned from the I.M.F. in October, two years before his term was to expire. He is scheduled to start as a senior managing director at Lazard on Feb. 1 and will be based in London and Madrid. Mr. de Rato said in an interview that the investment bank approached him last month, after he had resigned from the fund. He has known several Lazard bankers since his days in Spain’s Parliament in the 1980s. “I saw it as a suitable place for me, and I had a high opinion about its quality of work,” Mr. de Rato said. “My experience as a policy maker in Europe and as a servant of the fund brings a mix of technical knowledge and policy issues to Lazard.” Mr. de Rato, a veteran of Spanish politics, was appointed to the I.M.F. in 2004, after he had been passed over for the leadership of the Popular Party in the Spanish elections that year. During his three-year tenure at the fund, the shortest of any I.M.F. leader’s, he pushed for the fund to be more active in monitoring countries before economic crises arose. Mr. de Rato will work closely with Lazard’s Spanish office, led by Pedro Pasquin, according to Steven J. Golub, Lazard’s vice chairman. Mr. de Rato said that although Spain’s economy had grown faster than that of the European Union as a whole in recent years, corporate deal-making in the country is only now picking up. He is also expected to provide a more global view for Lazard. Mr. de Rato — who pushed for bigger roles for countries like China in the I.M.F. — said that globalization and the credit crisis now roiling financial markets would be pivotal issues in the coming year. “Globalization is a source of not only opportunities but of challenges, and financial markets will go through certain turmoil right now,” he said. “We’re in the middle of a credit crisis that will produce important shifts in the financial environment worldwide.” In hiring Mr. de Rato, Lazard is continuing its efforts to expand outside the United States. The firm acquired an Australian advisory firm this year, announced plans to open an office in Switzerland and became partners with an Austrian bank. Lazard has made some high-profile hires this year. The firm lured two longtime investment bankers, Ken Costa of UBS and Kazuki Kusaka of Lehman Brothers, to take leading roles in its London and Tokyo offices.

Executives and Management
de Rato Rodrigo
Wasserstein Bruce
Lazard Llc
International Monetary Fund
European Union
Banks and Banking
Third World and Developing Countries


St. John’s Slips Past Marist in Holiday Festival Opener

Abstract: The junior center Tomas Jasiulionis doubled his career high with 12 points, including his first 3-pointer as a collegian, and St. John’s held on for a 62-59 victory against Marist on Friday night in the opening round of the Holiday Festival at Madison Square Garden. Anthony Mason Jr. also scored 12 points for the Red Storm (6-4), which led by 57-46 with four and a half minutes to play only to see Marist tie the score with 1 minute 37 seconds left. St. John’s then scored 5 of the final 7 points. Jay Gavin had 15 points, including 8 in the late 11-0 run for the Red Foxes (6-6). The Red Storm will play Virginia Tech, which beat Hofstra, 84-59, for the championship Saturday. St. John’s has won a record 14 Holiday Festival titles. VIRGINIA TECH 84, HOFSTRA 59 The freshman Jeff Allen had 17 points and 9 rebounds and Virginia Tech beat Hofstra in the opening round of the Holiday Festival. Deron Washington and A. D. Vassallo each added 17 points for the Hokies (7-5), who had lost two out of three, including their Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Wake Forest. The freshman Charles Jenkins had 13 points for the defending champion Pride (2-7), which played without the senior guard Antoine Agudio, the second-leading scorer in the nation with a 26.8-point average. Agudio sprained his left ankle in practice Wednesday. Despite receiving treatment all day Thursday and up until warm-ups Friday, Agudio missed his first game after starting the first 103 of his career. UCONN 85, U.C.F. 82 Jerome Dyson scored 23 points to lead five Connecticut players in double figures as the visiting Huskies defeated Central Florida. UConn (9-2) led by 3 points early in the second half but used an 8-2 run to take a 56-46 lead it did not relinquish. A. J. Price scored 5 points during that stretch, making a 3-pointer and a driving layup. He scored 13 points. U.C.F. stayed close with good perimeter shooting; the Knights tied a season high with 10 3-pointers. FORDHAM 72, BINGHAMTON 60 Bryant Dunston had 24 points and 14 rebounds to lead host Fordham. Binghamton (3-8) opened the second half on a 25-7 run to take its only lead, 47-46. A layup by Reggie Fuller ended the surge at 10:29. Dunston then made a jumper and a 3-pointer to put the Rams (6-5) ahead, 51-47, with 9:43 to play. RHODE ISLAND 92, E. MICHIGAN 75 Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron each scored 18 points to lead No. 25 Rhode Island past Eastern Michigan in the Islander Invitational in Corpus Christi, Tex. The Rams improved to 12-1 in their first game as a Top 25 team since the 1998-99 season. MISSISSIPPI 78, SOUTHERN MISS 58 Chris Warren scored 17 points and Dwayne Curtis added 15 as No. 22 Mississippi won its 12th straight game, setting a school record for consecutive wins to start the season. BUTLER 57, S.I.U. 55 A. J. Graves made a half-court shot at the buzzer to lift No. 16 Butler past host Southern Illinois. B.C. 80, SACRED HEART 75 Tyrese Rice and Shamari Spears each scored 16 points to lead host Boston College. Rice, the team’s leading scorer at 19.7 points a game, shot 3 for 6 from the floor but went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line. AROUND THE NATION Marquis Hall had 12 points and Rob Keefer added 11 as Lehigh defeated visiting Monmouth, 56-39. ... Jonathan Han scored 24 points — including the tying shot late in regulation — as visiting Fairfield rallied in overtime to beat St. Peter’s, 89-78. ... Ahmed Nivins had 20 points and 7 rebounds and St. Joseph’s made 10 3-pointers to beat host Siena, 74-68. ... Jerret Smith has been dismissed from Michigan’s basketball team by Coach John Beilein for not meeting the expectations for a student-athlete. women MIDDLE TENN. 67, L.S.U. 56 Amber Holt scored a career-high 41 points and added 9 rebounds to help Middle Tennessee upset No. 8 Louisiana State. Holt, a senior guard, finished a point short of the school record for most points in a game, set by Kim Webb in 1987.

Basketball
College Athletics
Athletics and Sports


Mike Birbiglia’s Sundays - From Sleeping Bag to Starbucks

Abstract: The comedian Mike Birbiglia , 32, who transformed his self-destructive sleep disorder into “Sleepwalk With Me,” a one-man Off Broadway show, in 2008, is returning to the stage next month in “My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend” at the Barrow Street Theater . Mr. Birbiglia lives on the Upper West Side with his wife, Jen Stein, a writer, and their elderly cat, Ivan. He is a late riser on Sundays. —ROBIN FINN ORIENTATION I’m generally so disoriented during the week about what I’m doing and where I am — I travel a lot — that when I’m home on a Sunday, I typically try to sleep in as much as I can. I definitely build up a sleep-deprivation situation during the week. Our bedroom is dark, and the only window is shuttered: I have REM behavior disorder. I sleepwalk. I jumped out a second-floor hotel window, a closed window, in Walla Walla, Wash., about five years ago. So now I sleep in a sleeping bag. TAKE-OUT COFFEE Whichever one of us gets up first goes out to Starbucks and brings back coffee so we can start strategizing about brunch. Brunch on the Upper West Side is kind of like Disney World: there are one- to two-hour lines. We usually order something conservative and healthy like oatmeal so that we don’t begin the week with a bingeing streak: we’ll get there eventually. BRUNCH FAUX PAS A few weeks ago, we went to Good Enough to Eat on Amsterdam Avenue, and we were half-asleep and walked up to the door, and the guy says, “Table for two?” and we say, “Yes,” and suddenly we hear this kind of angry foot-stomping and throat-clearing behind us. We didn’t realize there was a line wrapped around the building. So we were like, “Oh, this is the line?” and this big guy at the front who was like a union organizer yelled, “It sure is!” So we went home. Now we try to hold off on eating until about 2. E-MAIL JAIL It sounds so nerdy and pathetic, but what I always do on Sunday afternoon is bring my in-box down to zero, which is so sad. But e-mail has become like homework for adults. I’ll have 141 messages from people who will be offended if I don’t write back. Then I walk around the apartment thinking about fixing stuff and wondering how people do it: the living room clock has been stuck at 11:45 for three weeks. SHOP AND EXERCISE Sometimes I’ll go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of groceries as though I knew how to cook, which I don’t, and as though I was going to be home for the next six days, which I won’t. Sometimes I take this women’s exercise class called Core Fusion at a place called Exhale . I shouldn’t say it’s a women’s class. There’s maybe two men. WALKING My favorite thing about Manhattan is walking everywhere; too bad we’re moving to Brooklyn because the lease is up and all the nice Manhattan apartments are taken up by the bankers who bankrupted America. SHOWTIME Sunday is my most significant day for revising new material. If I do a ton of writing, I can put it onstage that same night. Every other week I’m at Union Hall in Park Slope, and I do improvisational stuff at the UCB Theater on 26th Street. Like someone in the audience shouts, “Tiger lilies!” and I do a routine around it. NO DINNER Brunch is the only real meal Jen and I have together; when I’m out performing, I just grab a sandwich or something somewhere for dinner. And the food in my fridge starts to rot. BACK IN THE BAG Sunday is the day I try to eat better, exercise better and sleep better; it’ll all be shot by Tuesday. Around 11, my wife says, “Get into your pod,” so I get into my sleeping bag.

Birbiglia Mike
Sleepwalking
Comedy and Humor
Manhattan (NYC)


Banks Brace for Credit Card Write-Offs

Abstract: It used to be easy to guess how many Americans would have problems paying their credit card bills. Banks just looked at unemployment: Fewer jobs meant more trouble ahead. The unemployment rate has long mirrored banks ’ loss rates on card balances. But Eddie Ward, 32 and jobless, may be one reason that rule of thumb no longer holds. For many lenders, losses are now starting to outpace layoffs. Mr. Ward, of Arkansas, lost his job at a retail warehouse in April and so far has managed to make minimum payments on his credit card debt, which he estimates at $15,000 to $20,000. Asked whether he thinks he will be able to pay off his balance, he said, “Not unless I win the lottery.” In the meantime, he said, “I’m just doing what I can.” Experts predict that millions of Americans will not be able to pay off their debts, leaving a gaping hole at ailing banks still trying to recover from the housing bust. The bank stress test results, released Thursday, suggested that the nation’s 19 biggest banks could expect nearly $82.4 billion in credit card losses by the end of 2010 under what federal regulators called an adverse economic situation. But if unemployment breaches 10 percent, as many economists predict, the rate of uncollectible balances at some banks could far exceed that level. At American Express and Capital One Financial, around 20 percent of the credit card balances are expected to go bad over this year and next, according to stress test results. At Bank of America, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, about 23 percent of card loans are expected to sour. Even the government’s grim projections may vastly understate the size of the banks’ credit card troubles. According to estimates by Oliver Wyman, a management consulting firm, card losses at the nation’s biggest banks could reach $141.5 billion by 2010 if the regulators’ loss rate was applied to their entire credit card business. It could top $186 billion for the entire credit card industry. In the official stress test results, regulators published losses only on credit cards held on bank balance sheets. The $82.4 billion figure did not reflect another element in their analysis: tens of billions of dollars in losses tied to credit card loans that the banks packaged into bonds and held off their balance sheets. A portion of those losses, however, will be absorbed by outside investors. What is more, the peak unemployment level that regulators used to drive their loss estimates is roughly what current rates are on track to reach. That suggests that if the unemployment rate gets much worse, credit card losses could be worse than what regulators projected. And many economists expect the number of job losses to climb even higher. On Friday, the unemployment rate reached 8.9 percent as the economy shed 539,000 jobs. The unemployment rate and the rate of credit card charge-offs, or uncollectible balances, have been aligned because consumers who lose their jobs are more likely to miss payments. Banks wrote off an average of 5.5 percent of their credit card balances in 2008, while the average unemployment rate was 5.8 percent. By the end of the year, the rate of credit-card write-offs was 6.3 percent; more recent data was not available. Experts predict that the rate of credit-card losses could eventually surpass the jobless rate because of the compounding effects of the housing crisis and lackluster consumer confidence. Shortly after the technology bubble burst in 2001, credit card loss rates peaked at 7.9 percent. “We will blow right through it,” said Inderpreet Batra, a consultant at Oliver Wyman, which specializes in financial services. Unlike in prior recessions, cardholders who recently lost their jobs are unlikely to be able to extract equity from their homes or draw down retirement accounts to help pay off their debts. That means borrowers who fall behind on their bills are more likely to default, leading to higher losses. After writing off about $45 billion in bad debts during 2008, credit card lenders are bracing for the worst year in the industry’s history. Not only are losses spiraling, but also lawmakers are on the verge of passing a set of tough new consumer protections that could have a devastating effect on profits. This week, the Senate is expected to take up the Credit Cardholders Bill of Rights after the measure passed in the House with a strong bipartisan vote of 357 to 70. Over the weekend, President Obama pressed lawmakers to approve the new rules, which would curb the ability of card issuers to raise interest rates retroactively on consumers and would require them to reduce hidden fees and penalties. He hopes to sign the legislation by Memorial Day . For the banks, the economics of the credit card business are increasingly troubling. As the recession has dragged on, cardholders have sharply reduced spending. New customers with strong credit histories are increasingly hard to find. And the most troubled borrowers are so deeply mired in debt that card companies are willing to strike deals to remove late fees and reduce card loan balances. The average American household is saddled with nearly $8,400 of credit card and other revolving debt, according to Moody’s Economy.com . Every major credit card issuer has been approving fewer new applicants, reining in credit lines and canceling unused accounts. And Meredith A. Whitney, a prominent banking analyst, expects credit card lenders to cut the lines of credit they extend to borrowers by a total of $2.7 trillion through 2010. That is equivalent to a 57 percent reduction in the credit they made available two years ago at the height of the boom. Within the card industry, all eyes are now focused on the sharp increase in unemployment. At Citigroup, executives noted that the company’s 10.2 percent credit card charge-off rate for the first quarter had broken its “historic correlation with unemployment” and showed no sign of letting up. American Express, Bank of America and Capital One Financial showed first-quarter loss rates that hovered around 8.5 percent, roughly tracking the unemployment rate. All three said they expected higher losses in the coming months. Even Chase Card Services, which charged off just 7.7 percent of its card loans in the first quarter, expects its loss levels to surpass unemployment by the end of the year. Card executives say there will little improvement until the economy stabilizes and consumers are more optimistic. Cindy Schneider of Connecticut, 53, is a long way from being confident about her finances. She is not making any money from her job as a real estate agent and cannot find work elsewhere. Her husband’s pay was just cut 10 percent. And she worries about how they will pay off a $5,000 balance on their credit card. When her credit card company recently raised her interest rates, saying she was three days late with a payment, Ms. Schneider transferred the balance to another card with a lower rate. “We are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul,” she said.

Credit and Money Cards
Subprime Mortgage Crisis
Banks and Banking
Unemployment
United States Economy
Credit
Personal Finances


Knicks Change Look, but the Losing Goes On

Abstract: TORONTO, Feb. 3 - Sitting courtside next to the injured point guard Stephon Marbury, the newest Knick did not have to wait long to get a taste of what his immediate basketball future might hold. Consider the action the Knicks packed into the first quarter of Friday night's game against the Toronto Raptors: The Knicks treated their newest player, Jalen Rose, to double dribbles and several other unforced turnovers, needless fouls and even surrendered a buzzer-beating shot from halfcourt to further underscore their recent woes. Even so, Rose, who woke up Friday as a member of the Toronto Raptors before his trade to the Knicks, left the court at Air Canada Center smiling and waving to fans after the Raptors put the finishing touches on a 104-90 victory. With the loss to the Raptors, the Knicks (14-31) have lost four straight games and 10 of their past 11. This time, turnovers and free-throw shooting proved to be their undoing. While the Raptors (17-30) shot an impressive 24 for 27 from the free-throw line, the Knicks were only 24 for 35. And while the Knicks committed 21 turnovers that led to 31 Toronto points, the Raptors gave the ball away only 13 times, leading to 14 points. "That was just us being in a rush," Knicks forward Channing Frye said. "That's the least of our worries. At least the turnovers are something we can work on and correct ourselves." Toronto forward Chris Bosh was one of four Raptors players in double figures and was the game's top scorer with 29 points. Morris Peterson had 21 points and the rookie forward Charlie Villanueva had 18. Eddy Curry led the Knicks with 17 points, and Quentin Richardson had 13. Richardson sprained his right ankle midway through the second quarter, but remained in the game until halftime, when the Knicks' trainers sent him to the locker room to ice his foot. "I just felt it was getting more stiff as time went on," Richardson said. With Marbury on the bench and Jamal Crawford directing the Knicks' offense in his absence, the Knicks struggled to find a rhythm throughout much of Friday's game. "With all the injuries we've had, I'm not down tonight," Coach Larry Brown said, suggesting a rash of injuries was at least partly responsible for his team's showing against Toronto. The Raptors, paced by Peterson's 13 first-quarter points, opened a 30-17 lead after the opening period, the final 3 Toronto points coming on Peterson's halfcourt 3-pointer to close out the quarter. The Raptors held a 64-47 advantage at halftime. After three quarters, Toronto led by 84-71. Recent days have been turbulent for the Knicks, and their acquisition of Rose served as a brief distraction from the team's front-office tumult and protracted slump. But Friday's loss was a sharp reminder that Rose would probably not be a cure-all for the last-place Knicks. Several Knicks players said perhaps the most disappointing element of the loss was the fact that they had, in four minutes, cut Toronto's lead in the fourth quarter to 11 from 21 points with eight minutes remaining. But with the Raptors leading, 88-77, Peterson stole Crawford's pass to Curry, which lead to a 3-pointer by Villanueva. Then the next time up the court, the Knicks' Qyntel Woods was called for a charge on Peterson, and Bosh scored to widen Toronto's lead. "That was really deflating," Frye said. "We're right there and then boom, boom. At least it's us making mistakes that we can correct."

TORONTO RAPTORS
NEW YORK KNICKS
NEW YORK KNICKERBOCKERS
ROSE JALEN
BASKETBALL