At Yale, Theo Epstein Made a Splash as Newspaper’s Sports Editor

Abstract: CHICAGO — As fans poured into the Yale Bowl for the 1993 football game with Harvard, a traditional season finale that embodies Ivy League rivalry, a provocative issue of The Yale Daily News circulated in the crowd. The lead article in the student newspaper raised what at the time was a most unsporting-for-the-Ivies question about Carmen Cozza, the longtime and revered Yale coach whose team had but two wins that season: “Is It Time for Carm to Go?” The article created a commotion and some permanent hard feelings toward the young sports editor who wrote it. His name was Theo Epstein. Long before Epstein became the curse-busting, boy-wonder executive who helped the Boston Red Sox end an 86-year-old championship drought and took the Chicago Cubs to their first World Series in 71 years, he did the kind of work that often vexes leaders in his current business. Epstein spent his first two years in college as a sports reporter before sharing the sports editor’s job as a junior. He spent most weeknights hunkered down — razor knife and pica pole at the ready — in the townhouse that served as the Yale paper’s offices. Asked on Thursday at Wrigley Field if there was anything from those experiences that he had carried with him to his job as the Cubs’ president for baseball operations, Epstein chuckled. “I met some friends, and we had fun,” he said. “You’re not going to draw epic similes between The Yale Daily News and the World Series.” Still, many of those who worked closely with Epstein on his college paper recognize characteristics that are more broadly on display now, from the shrewd way he has built up the Cubs to the puckish sense of humor he flashed last month when he wore sunglasses and a fake mustache to sit incognito (briefly) in the Wrigley bleachers. Although Epstein, now 42, was in the midst of movers and shakers at the paper — future lawyers, professors, White House advisers and even some journalists — he stood out as not just one of the sharpest minds in the room, but also as a magnetic personality who encouraged creativity. “In very different ways, that experience of The Daily News prepared a lot of us to do great things,” said Margarita Mooney, an assistant professor of practical theology at Princeton who was Epstein’s fellow sports editor. “Nothing I’ve done has been as hard as editing The Daily News, not even writing a dissertation. I think it prepared me for that, and I have no doubt it prepared him.” Epstein took the work seriously, but not himself. He tagged almost everyone with a nickname. The freshman reporter Elias Levenson quickly became Bureau (as in the Elias Sports Bureau), and the managing editor Mitch Raab was Rabbi. Epstein thought nothing of an impromptu wrestling match in the offices. The soundtrack for late-night editing was WFAN, the New York sports talk station. To some of his former Daily News colleagues, it is not surprising to learn that Epstein has organized morning pickup basketball games at Staples Center in Los Angeles and Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland during this postseason. “Everybody’s envious if you make a career in a kids’ game, but it really is a big business,” said Troy Flint, who is now the director of communications for the California School Board Association. “What might become dull with other people, he keeps it lively.” Storytelling runs in Epstein’s family. His grandfather and great-uncle won an Academy Award for the screenplay of “Casablanca.” His father is a novelist and the longtime director of Boston University’s creative writing program, and his sister is a screenwriter. Image Carmen Cozza in 1996. Epstein wrote an article for the Yale student newspaper in 1993 arguing that Cozza should no longer be the school’s football coach. Credit Bob Child/Associated Press So Epstein’s rise at the Yale newspaper seemed natural. He oversaw eight to 10 reporters, assigning them as often to squash and sailing as to basketball and baseball. And while other section editors turned page designing over to others, Epstein asserted that the sports department would handle everything — right down to each photo caption. “We had these gigantic screens that you lay the paper out on,” said Brian Mendonca, who was on the sports staff. “I can still picture Theo’s face pressed against the screen looking over what he was editing.” Epstein encouraged his reporters to unearth the unusual, to explore an interesting moment in a game rather than rote play-by-play, and to cover coaches as personalities with outsize influence on Yale sports. “What I most remember is his ability to take chances and do some offbeat things,” said Levenson, who is now a lawyer. After sitting in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium for the first time, Levenson submitted an article: “The Afternoon I Lost My Bleacher Virginity.” “I thought he was going to shoot it down,” Levenson said. Instead, Levenson said, “he loved it.” A special section published before the Harvard game is one of the signature responsibilities of the Daily News sports editor’s job. It takes weeks of planning. When Epstein took over in October 1993, he had seen Yale football on a downward trajectory over a few seasons, and some players had begun grumbling that the team’s offense was antiquated. So for the special section, he pitched an article suggesting that after 29 years, it was time for Yale to find a new coach. Mendonca wrote a companion article arguing that Cozza should stay, but few paid attention to that. “It was handed out at the Harvard-Yale game — the worst possible time to have that story — so it was obviously a big splash,” Mendonca said. “If the whole issue had been blank and there was just the headline ‘Is It Time for Cozza to Go?’ it still would have caused a stir. You were questioning a legend.” The story did not go down well with Cozza — or the football team. After Yale beat Harvard, 33-31, Cozza quipped that a game ball ought to be awarded to The Yale Daily News. “It hurt,” Cozza, 86, said in a recent interview. He retired after the 1996 season and still has an office in the athletic department. “We had a good program. In my 32 years, we won 10 league championships and finished second eight times. To have some punk kid do a number on you right before the biggest game of the year didn’t sit too well.” He added: “Obviously, he’s no friend of mine and I certainly don’t wish him well, but I understand how students are. They want notoriety. In all fairness, I think Theo wanted to make a name for himself. The only good thing about it is he fired up my team. I didn’t have to give them any pep talk.” Cozza put any ill will aside long enough to compliment Epstein on his work as a baseball executive, noting that Yale graduates are bright. He also wanted to relay his congratulations. Epstein, for his part, looks back with some misgivings. “He probably deserved a little more respect than we showed him; I regret that,” Epstein said. “I don’t think we knew enough about the ins and outs. We had an amateur opinion and partial information. He was probably more qualified to make a judgment of whether it was time for him to go than we were, but that didn’t stop us from printing it on the front page of the paper, which is something that in hindsight we should have realized.” Epstein sighed. “It doesn’t stop people in the media today from doing the exact same thing,” he added. “I wish it would.” Epstein asked to convey his best to Cozza. But the former coach has other reasons to root against the Cubs in the World Series. He grew up in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and signed a professional contract with the Indians after college. Noting that he threw a no-hitter and hit a home run in the same collegiate game, Cozza said: “Tell Theo I was a pretty good baseball player. Maybe he would have signed me.”

Newspaper
World Series
Yale
Yale Daily News
Chicago Cubs
Theo Epstein
Baseball


Naughty or Nice? Not Everyone Is Jolly About SantaCon Coming to Town

Abstract: New Yorkers have long endured other people’s celebrations. On St. Patrick’s Day, they know to stay out of the pubs in Midtown if they do not want to be overwhelmed in a sea of semiconscious green. They avoid driving into Manhattan at all costs during the Puerto Rican Day Parade because it turns the heart of the borough into a vast parking lot. Fashion’s Night Out is an occasion to stay in if you live in SoHo. And New Year’s Eve? Amateur hour — unless an out-of-town visitor drags a native kicking and screaming to Times Square. Now, a new contender has emerged for the event that many New Yorkers most love to hate: SantaCon . Every year since 1997, thousands of men and women have dressed up as Santas, elves, reindeer or some other holiday confection and descended on the city’s streets for a daylong bar crawl that begins with good cheer and, for many, inevitably ends in a blurry, booze-soaked haze. Some who come from Long Island and New Jersey get a head start on the festivities on the train ride into the city. On Saturday, the Santas are coming to town again and, judging by the outpouring of vitriol and dread, it would seem that the city was expecting a visit not from St. Nick but from Satan. Unlike other holiday gatherings, SantaCon remains shrouded in mystery. There is no official leader, no tickets or sign-in sheets, and the details of the route remain a closely guarded secret until the last possible moment. The rules — if they can be called that — are simple: Don’t make children cry, and dress up. This year, the organizers also took to Twitter to remind Santas that unsolicited sexual advances are wrong. “Dirty ol’ Santa or Ho Ho Ho, just remember No Means No,” they wrote. The post was a recognition by the Santas that they have something of a reputation problem. In the weeks before their arrival on Saturday, signs began popping up on the Lower East Side telling Santas to stay away. “Alcohol Soaked Father Christmas-themed flash mob not welcome here,” read one flier. “Take your body fluids and public intoxication elsewhere.” John Cocchi, a police lieutenant in Hell’s Kitchen, where Santas converged last year, sent an open letter to bar owners urging caution when it came to serving Santas. “Having thousands of intoxicated partygoers roam the streets urinating, littering, vomiting and vandalizing will not be tolerated in our neighborhood,” he wrote. An Anti-Con movement advocating for SantaCon-free zones has emerged, and the Santas have been pilloried on social media. Even the transit authorities are wary. The Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and New Jersey Transit announced that no alcohol consumption would be allowed on their trains for 24 hours, starting at noon Saturday. Image The event is Saturday. An estimated 30,000 people participated last year. Credit Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times One of the few voices to speak up in favor of the Santas has been, perhaps surprisingly, the police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly. “This is an event that we support,” he said. “It’s what makes New York New York.” In response to all the humbuggery, the anonymous organizers who help coordinate the event broke from their usual policy of not taking questions from the news media. “We are all very aware of the backlash,” said the man chosen to speak for the group, who agreed to be identified only as Mr. Santa. For the first time, organizers shared the route of the bar crawl with the authorities. There will also be “helper elves” to guide Santas who stumble off the path. He noted that for every bar that does not want Santa to stop by, there are dozens that do. Every establishment on the tour, he said, has pledged to donate a percentage of the day’s profits to Toys for Tots. Last year, the event raised $45,000. “We feel that the city has been turned into a mall,” Mr. Santa explained. “There is a lot of controlled excitement, but not a lot of loose excitement.” Saturday is a chance for people to get loose. “It is an absurd holiday when you really think about it,” Mr. Santa said. He also defended the drinking. “Holiday parties involve drinking spirits,” he said. It is only because this party takes place during the day and people are dressed in costumes that it has attracted so much attention. The public anger probably should not come as a surprise. From the outset, the point was to cause a ruckus. The inspiration for the event is said to have come from a Danish theater group called Solvognen, whose exploits were detailed in Mother Jones magazine. In 1974, the group gathered dozens of Santas to storm a department store and hand out items from the shelves to customers as “presents.” After reading the article, a group in San Francisco took up the idea and in 1994 organized the first documented SantaCon. It was a relatively small gathering of several dozen and included the fake-lynching of Santa Claus, according to the group’s website, santarchy.com . Since then, SantaCon has evolved, taken on a life of its own and spread from Belfast to Moscow . In New York City, the event has grown from several hundred people in the first year to an estimated 30,000 last year. This year, the Santas will converge at 10 a.m. near Tompkins Square Park in the East Village and eventually make their way to Brooklyn, ending near Bedford-Stuyvesant. Mr. Santa acknowledged that the sight of a Santa vomiting on himself or a Santa passed out on the street does have a memorable — or infamous — quality to it. But every Santa must take responsibility for his or her own actions. “No one controls SantaCon,” he said.


As Beltrán Speaks, Mets Watch Alex Rodriguez

Abstract: PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Each of the six new flat-screen televisions in the Mets ’ clubhouse had been tuned to ESPN early Tuesday morning, but hardly anyone noticed until about 1:30 p.m. When Alex Rodriguez ’s news conference was about to begin, several players grabbed their plates of food and pulled up a stool to watch. In all, about 15 Mets, including J. J. Putz, Brian Schneider and Francisco Rodríguez, sat and listened without saying a word. But exactly what they all thought of Alex Rodriguez’s conference, in which he discussed his use of performance-enhancing drugs, was unclear because reporters were soon summoned to speak with Carlos Beltrán, who arrived in camp Tuesday. By the time that interview session had finished, so had Rodriguez’s news conference, and the clubhouse had emptied. Beltrán spoke briefly about Alex Rodriguez, saying that “he’s paying the consequence of making bad choices,” but saved his more pithy comments for Philadelphia ace Cole Hamels, who in December agreed with a radio host’s assertion that the Mets were “choke artists” the last two seasons. “The only thing that I know is that he will be watched every time he faces us and hopefully we kill him,” Beltrán said. “And then he’ll have to deal with the situation.” Speaking about the World Series champion Phillies was, in a sense, a challenging task for Beltrán, who signed a seven-year, $119 million deal before the 2005 season expecting to contend for a title every year. As he enters his fifth season, Beltrán said he was “very shocked” that he had yet to play in a World Series with the Mets. And he said it was for that reason that understood why Manager Jerry Manuel had promised to tinker with the lineup this spring and possibly during the season. Beltrán has hit mostly third and cleanup for the Mets, although Manuel may bump him to second if he decides to bat José Reyes third and Luis Castillo leadoff. “My opinion is if one thing isn’t working, you have to move the lineup,” Beltrán said. “I don’t think about two-hole, three-hole, four-hole. I mean, when I take the field — I do believe you’re hitting in that particular part of the lineup only once for a team. After that, you’re going to be in different situations. I don’t care. When you’re good, you can be in any hole.” NOT FASHION, JUST FUNCTION When Francisco Rodríguez selected contact lenses that cast his eyes in an eerie crimson glow, he was not trying to make a fashion statement. In fact, he said he did not even notice how they looked at first. All he wanted was to see better, which he said he did now that he had switched from his trademark goggles. Once a ranking member of the goggle-wearing closer fraternity, Rodríguez said he switched to contact lenses full time toward the beginning of the 2007 season because the goggles irritated his nose and ears. On humid days, he said, the lenses fogged, and he spent too much time wiping them clean. “It was ridiculous,” Rodríguez said. “Someone mentioned that I should try contact lenses, and they just felt comfortable.” He said the amber-tinted lenses help diminish glare, working just as well as regular sunglasses. Rodriguez said he wore the amber lenses only during spring training workouts and day games. At night, he said he preferred nontinted contact lenses. “As soon as I leave here and I’m on the street outside, I’m back to wearing regular sunglasses,” Rodríguez said. PAGáN HOPING TO PROVE HIS WORTH With a superb spring last year, Ángel Pagán emerged from a crowded (and injured) field to win a spot on the Mets’ opening-day roster. Before he tries to repeat that feat this spring, Pagán may have to win a spot in the Mets’ consciousness. He did not play the final four and a half months last season after tearing the labrum in his left shoulder on May 7 while diving into the stands at Dodger Stadium to make a catch. The Mets have stockpiled reserve outfielders for this spring — namely Jeremy Reed and Cory Sullivan — and Pagán knows he must remind Jerry Manuel of his value. “Whatever happened last year, that money’s been paid,” said Pagán, who added that he had no limitations after his July 29 surgery on his shoulder. “This year is different. I’m here to let them know that Ángel Pagán is still the same, in better shape than last year and with a better attitude.” The Mets are committed to platooning Daniel Murphy and Fernando Tatis, both converted infielders, in left field. Manuel said he could not imagine Murphy or Tatis playing a full game, or the two splitting time in the same game, which increases the possibility that he keeps a strong defender on the bench — an Endy Chávez type, he said. Sullivan, in particular, is regarded for his defensive skills, although Manuel said he must also consider Pagán’s switch-hitting skills. “It just depends on how well those two guys in left field play defense,” Manuel said. “We feel good about them being able to hit, but I also like defense late, especially when we have a lead.”

Baseball
New York Mets
Rodriguez Alex
Beltran Carlos


Accused of Looting Millions, Son of African Leader Stalls Trial

Abstract: PARIS — Since 2011, when investigators first impounded luxury cars held by the family of Equatorial Guinea’s president, anticorruption groups hoped that France would deal a mortal blow to the injustice they believe has enriched the country’s elites while many of its citizens languish in poverty. On Wednesday, a judge decided they would have to wait a bit longer. Three days into the closely watched trial of the president’s son, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, on embezzlement and money-laundering charges, the presiding judge, Bénédicte de Perthuis, agreed to give the defense more time to prepare. The judge rescheduled the trial for June 19. Mr. Obiang, known by the nickname Teodorin, is the son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who took power in a 1979 coup and is the longest-serving head of a government in Africa. A former Spanish colony, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has experienced a boom that started around 2004, but the gains have been far from evenly distributed; half the country lives in poverty. The French authorities used trucks to haul away Mr. Obiang’s luxury car collection in Paris, which included two Bugattis, two Ferraris, an Aston Martin, a Maybach, a Maserati and a Rolls-Royce in 2011, suspecting that he had looted public funds. Image Eleven cars, including two Ferraris, owned by Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue were seized in November by the Swiss authorities. Credit Laurent Gillieron/European Pressphoto Agency The next year, they raided a house on the Avenue Foch, near the Arc de Triomphe. A 101-room property, the house is worth $180 million and includes two gyms, a cinema, a nightclub, a hair salon, a Turkish bath and bathrooms with gold- and jewel-encrusted fixtures, along with $50 million in furniture. Prosecutors say Mr. Obiang amassed a personal fortune of around $115 million from 2004 to 2011, which he then used to indulge his expensive tastes. When he served as agricultural minister of Equatorial Guinea, prosecutors say, he used his influence over the timber industry — the country’s main export after oil — to line his pockets. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison, but he is not in France and it is highly unlikely he will serve his sentence. When the judge asked Mr. Obiang’s lawyer, Emmanuel Marsigny , if his client would appear in court in June, Mr. Marsigny said he did not know, comparing Mr. Obiang’s calendar to that of France’s president. “Even François Hollande’s schedule,” he said, “is subject to change.” While Mr. Obiang may never go to prison, “this trial must be exemplary,” said William Bourdon , a lawyer for the anticorruption group Transparency International. Image Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea, in Malabo, a city in Equatorial Guinea, in 2013. Credit Jerome Leroy/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images “More and more states are recognizing that if we do not combat the flow of dirty money, tax evasion and corruption, we threaten the balance of public finances and the real economy,” he said. “It’s the taxpayer that pays the price in the end. There is a historical movement underpinning this trial, which gives it a powerful symbolism.” Efforts to charge Mr. Obiang with corruption and money laundering began in 2007, when three nongovernmental organizations — Sherpa , which combats economic crimes; Survie , which supports the people of former French colonies of Africa; and the Fédération des Congolais de la Diaspora , which is combating corruption in Central Africa — filed a complaint accusing three African politicians of using public money to buy property in France illegally. The politicians were Mr. Obiang, as well as Omar Bongo of Gabon and Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo. The organizations approached Transparency International for help. Mr. Bongo died in 2009. The government of Equatorial Guinea has fought back. It tried to halt the proceedings in France by claiming immunity for Mr. Obiang — who holds the position of first vice president of his country — but last month, the International Court of Justice rejected that appeal . The court did, however, rule that the 101-room mansion had the legal status of a diplomatic mission. Judge de Perthuis cited lingering doubt over the legal status of the property as another reason to delay the trial. Image A family of cocoa field workers just outside Malabo, Equatorial Guinea. The current American ambassador there defends the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo against statistics that show a huge gap between the country’s oil wealth and the poverty of the population. 1 / 13 According to Mr. Bourdon, the charges have not been supported by some in the French establishment, some of whom have significant economic and political interests in West and Central Africa. Paris remains a favored destination for African leaders, some of whom have made contributions to French political parties. “We succeeded in braving many obstacles, notably those made by the Paris prosecutor’s office under the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy,” Mr. Bourdon said, referring to Mr. Hollande’s predecessor as president. He said Mr. Sarkozy’s office had gone along with “the idea that these heads of state could continue to invest in Paris with total impunity, which they have done since the end of colonialism,” adding: “This trial is a new paradigm.” Mr. Obiang’s lawyer, Mr. Marsigny, disagreed. He said the case represented an undue intervention by French courts in the affairs of a sovereign nation. He also argued that while his client might have acquired a personal fortune, his financial dealings were never illegal in Equatorial Guinea. “His activities were not illicit — they were perfectly legal with regards to the laws of his country,” he said in an interview. The Embassy of Equatorial Guinea in Paris did not respond to a request for comment. The United States also investigated the Obiang family’s finances. In 2014, Mr. Obiang settled a case brought by federal prosecutors . He agreed to sell a $30 million mansion in Malibu, Calif., a Ferrari and various Michael Jackson memorabilia. Mr. Obiang “received an official government salary of less than $100,000 but used his position and influence as a government minister to amass more than $300 million worth of assets through corruption and money laundering,” in violation of the laws of both his country and the United States, prosecutors said. In November, prosecutors in Switzerland seized luxury cars belonging to Mr. Obiang. And last month, at the request of the Swiss, the Dutch authorities seized Mr. Obiang’s 250-foot, $100 million yacht, named the “Ebony Shine,” as it was about to sail to Equatorial Guinea, according to the Swiss publication L’Hebdo. Mr. Obiang said the yacht belonged to his country’s government.

Equatorial Guinea
France
Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue
Corruption
Transparency International


North Carolina: Bias Law Scaled Back

Abstract: The Legislature on Monday overrode Gov. Bev Perdue’s veto of legislation that rolls back a state law giving death row prisoners a way to seek a reduced sentence because of racial bias. The original law directed judges to reduce a death sentence to life in prison if they found that race was a significant factor in a death sentence or in the composition of a jury. Many district attorneys and Republicans said the original law went too far. With the veto override, the scaled-back version now prevails.

North Carolina
Sentences (Criminal)
Law and Legislation
Perdue Beverly E
Race and Ethnicity
Capital Punishment
Discrimination


Taking Up a Shovel to Expose Genocide in Bosnia

Abstract: PARIS THERE are crime fighters who enjoy the limelight, and there are those who do the work. Jean-René Ruez is the second kind. He went in with his own shovel to search for evidence — “multiple human remains” — while he was chief investigator in Srebrenica, where thousands of Bosnian Muslims were slaughtered in July 1995 in the worst massacre in Europe since World War II. Mr. Ruez, a senior French police official, was the central figure in establishing the facts about those murders. He knows as well as anyone the ways in which as many as 8,000 men and boys fleeing Srebrenica were rounded up by Bosnian Serb forces, shot, buried and then reburied in mass graves to hide the evidence of what has been officially classified as genocide. Since leaving the Bosnia investigation in 2001, Mr. Ruez has taken cases of videotapes, files and other evidence around the world with him to have proof on hand when called to testify against war crimes suspects. Today, although he has moved into a less harrowing line of police work, he continues to pursue what he sees as an unfinished quest for justice. While the arrest last month of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb civilian leader, may represent progress, Mr. Ruez said that the case could not be concluded because Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military leader, was still at large. Mr. Karadzic and Mr. Mladic are “linked in crime and should face a common trial,” he said in an e-mail message on Friday. Mr. Ruez, 47, said he was prepared to testify at any time against the two men, who face charges of war crimes at Srebrenica. He praised the efforts of the new Serbian government to cooperate with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, adding, “I am extremely satisfied that the European Union does not lose sight of the necessity of the arrest of the other fugitives before welcoming Serbia in the E.U. family.” In an earlier interview, before Mr. Karadzic’s arrest, Mr. Ruez said, “It’s totally unacceptable, once the evidence is out and the courts have ruled that the crime must be labeled genocide, that only the henchmen of Mladic and Karadzic” have gone on trial. “I’ve been cross-examined I think five times,” Mr. Ruez said. “I have no pleasure going to testify. I’m not eager. I’m just eager for justice to be done.” MR. RUEZ was so marked by his Bosnian experience that his jaunty smile cannot erase the shadow in his eyes. He asked that his whereabouts not be disclosed out of concern that certain Srebrenica perpetrators might hold a grudge. He will soon come into public view, however, with the release in Europe this autumn of a French film about his work, “Resolution 819,” starring Benoît Magimel. Before being named to lead what became the biggest criminal investigation in Europe since World War II, Mr. Ruez must have seemed an unlikely crusader for international justice. He led the crime squad in the palm-studded city of Nice, having learned during his police training what he called “the incredible fun of chasing criminals.” Yet in many ways, he said, his early years prepared him for a broader mission. Although his father was French, his mother was German. While raising him in Saint-Cloud, a Paris suburb, she conveyed the guilt she felt about Nazi atrocities. Later, during military service in Germany, he said he had a taste of geopolitics when pacifists — “very aggressive pacifists” — beat up the young French soldiers to protest the deployment of nuclear missiles on or near German soil. After the army, Mr. Ruez studied law and entered the elite French police commissioners’ school. He went to work for the criminal police in Paris, Marseille and then Nice. In 1994 he got word that the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia wanted to hire police investigators. “I signed up immediately,” Mr. Ruez said, “because I had the strong feeling that this war would be investigated and that the war criminals would be punished.” He joined the tribunal in The Hague in April 1995 and was sent straight into the field. In the chaos of the Yugoslav wars, Srebrenica had been designated a United Nations safe area, but the West stood by as the town, populated mostly by Muslims, was besieged by Bosnian Serbs. When the town fell on July 11 and 12, 1995, panicked refugees sought shelter at a United Nations compound, but the Dutch forces in charge were overwhelmed by the advancing Serbs. Muslim men were separated from the women, tortured and shot. Separately, a column of men and boys headed north, but many were captured and killed by Serbs. News reports of the outrages being committed were at first minimal, with reporters unable to get to the rugged area and few survivors able to reach the outside world. By the time Mr. Ruez reached the Bosnian Muslim city of Tuzla on July 20, just one witness had come forward. That was his starting point. “The first phase was to reconstruct the events,” Mr. Ruez said. He relied on witnesses. Photographs taken by American U-2 reconnaissance planes were available, but virtually useless without help from survivors. “You need to know what to be looking for.” Mr. Ruez and his multinational team of investigators — from the United States, Britain, Sweden, Norway, Pakistan, Australia and New Zealand — had to find proof of the reported slaughter: in other words, human remains. With more than 8,000 people missing, the task was enormous. The investigators located some burial sites, largely based on accounts of witnesses. But just before the Bosnian peace process got under way in Dayton, Ohio, in November 1995, “the Serbs removed the bodies from the mass graves” and reburied them in secret locations, Mr. Ruez said. “We were under the surveillance of Serbian intelligence in 1996,” he recalled. “They knew we had found the initial burial places. But they were laughing and drinking slivovitz in the evening because they knew that the evidence of the crime had been erased.” Gradually Mr. Ruez’s team grasped what had happened. “We would find only 110 bodies clustered at a site where our information indicated that 1,200 people had been murdered. And some of these 110 bodies had been sliced into with bulldozers. So it was obvious they had been moved.” Once the investigators were sure about the deception — “a crime within a crime,” Mr. Ruez called it — they used aerial images to try to locate the secondary graves. Experts went in with “pick and sniff” probes. When they scented evidence of human remains, Mr. Ruez got out his shovel. The secondary graves “were disseminated in remote places littered with land mines,” he recalled. “Every time I went in, I was astounded to come out with two legs.” WHEN Mr. Ruez finally left the tribunal in 2001, he was so exhausted that he took a two-year leave of absence, moving to the Caribbean and taking his files with him. When he returned to police work, he brought them back. “I carry my files with me wherever I go,” said Mr. Ruez, who works in a sunny, air-conditioned office and has a desk covered with papers — old articles about Srebrenica, but also a list of local restaurants and bars. He is posted at a French Embassy annex, where he helps the local police fight problems like clandestine immigration and forest fires. In his new incarnation, far from the killing fields, Mr. Ruez has not given up his quest to remind the public that Mr. Mladic is still at large. He likes to cite the slogan he used with his team: “No peace without justice.”

War Crimes Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity


Crisis in Egypt Tests U.S. Ties With Israel

Abstract: WASHINGTON — The demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak ’s government in Egypt are rocking the relationship between the United States and its most important Arab ally. But they are also rocking an even more fundamental relationship for the United States — its 60-year alliance with Israel . Obama administration officials have been on the telephone almost daily with their Israeli counterparts urging them to “please chill out,” in the words of one senior administration official, as President Obama has raced to respond to the rapidly unfolding events. But the crisis raises many questions about how the United States will navigate its relationship with Israel — in particular the balance between encouraging the development of a democratic government in Egypt and the desire in Washington not to risk a new government’s abandoning Mr. Mubarak’s benign posture toward Israel. The unsettled outlook in Egypt has also scrambled American calculations about nurturing peace talks back to life between Israel and the Palestinians . And it has left both American and Israeli diplomats wondering about a broader regional realignment in which Israel would be left feeling more isolated and its enemies, including Iran and Syria, emboldened. Israeli government officials started out urging the Obama administration to back Mr. Mubarak, administration officials said, and were initially angry at Mr. Obama for publicly calling on the Egyptian leader to agree to a transition. “The Israelis are saying, après Mubarak, le deluge,” said Daniel Levy, a former Israeli peace negotiator. And that, in turn, Mr. Levy said, “gets to the core of what is the American interest in this. It’s Israel. It’s not worry about whether the Egyptians are going to close down the Suez Canal, or even the narrower terror issue. It really can be distilled down to one thing, and that’s Israel.” A White House spokesman, Tommy Vietor, said on Friday that administration officials were reassuring the Israelis that “we fully understand Israel’s security concerns, and we’re making clear that our commitment to Israel’s security is unshakeable.” Daniel Shapiro, a White House Middle East adviser, met on Tuesday with American Jewish leaders, and Mr. Obama talked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday. But administration officials must also balance support for Israel against the real desire among many Egyptians — and others on the Arab street — for an end to the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. “The situation tends to highlight Israel’s strategic value to the United States as a stable and unequivocal ally in a very unstable region,” said Michael B. Oren, Israel’s ambassador to Washington. He added: “The situation does reinforce the need for security guarantees, regarding a future Palestinian state, because we see how the current situation in the Middle East can change very rapidly.” Supporters of Israel in the United States have been focusing on playing up the dangers they see as inherent in a democratic Egyptian government that contains, or is led by, elements of the now-banned Muslim Brotherhood, which opposes Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. In an e-mail on Friday to reporters and editors, Josh Block, a former spokesman for AIPAC , the influential Jewish-American lobbying organization, suggested “questions to ask the Muslim Brotherhood & Their Allies.” The first question on Mr. Block’s list: “Can the Muslim Brotherhood participate in a government where Egypt continues to fulfill Egypt’s obligations to Israel under the Camp David Accords?” Obama officials say that the United States cannot rule out the possibility of engagement with the Muslim Brotherhood — the largest opposition group in Egypt — at the same time that it is espousing support for a democratic Egypt. If Egyptians are allowed free and fair elections, a goal of the Obama administration, then, administration officials say, they will have to deal with the real possibility that an Egyptian government might include members of the Muslim Brotherhood. American Jewish leaders have also been voicing uneasiness about Mohamed ElBaradei, the former head of the atomic energy agency who is also part of the opposition to Mr. Mubarak. Malcolm I. Hoenlein , the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella group, said that in his work as a nuclear watchdog, Mr. ElBaradei covered up Iran’s nuclear weapons capability in the reports issued by his agency. “He is a stooge of Iran, and I don’t use the term lightly,” Mr. Hoenlein said in an online interview on Sunday with Yeshiva World News. “He fronted for them, he distorted the reports.” But many American Jews are also debating the irony of Israel, which long promoted itself as the only democracy in its neighborhood, now voicing concerns about the birth of a democracy next door. And that that democratic movement is happening in Egypt — with all of its historic ties to the enslavement of the Jewish people — is being picked apart in conversations within American Jewish communities. “I’ve been saying to my Israeli friends, ‘Come on guys, you’re supposed to be the national manifestation of a group of people whose story is the story of liberation from Egypt,’ ” said Jeffrey Goldberg , a writer for The Atlantic who is the author of well-read blogs in the American Jewish community. But on the other hand, Mr. Goldberg said, “if you’re sitting in the Israeli Defense Ministry thinking, ‘Oh my God, I have to worry about my southern border now.’ ” Administration officials say they are keenly aware that how they manage all of the conflicting fears, hopes and aspirations of Israelis and Egyptians could mean the difference between war and peace. Mr. Levy, the former Israeli peace negotiator, said: “The problem for America is, you can balance being the carrier for the Israeli agenda with Arab autocrats, but with Arab democracies, you can’t do that.”

Israel
Egypt
International Relations
United States International Relations
Demonstrations Protests and Riots
Mubarak Hosni


The Oath of Office: 35 Words That Are Harder Than They Look

Abstract: Donald J. Trump will become president of the United States after he says just 35 words: the oath of office. What is the oath, you may ask? Presidents-elect have taken the oath since the beginning of the republic. George Washington first said it in 1789, and the oath has been the centerpiece of presidential inaugurations ever since, symbolizing the continuity of democratic rule and the peaceful transition of power. The oath of office comes directly from Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution. This is the full text, according to the National Museum of American History : I do solemnly swear ( or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. The oath is traditionally administered by the chief justice of the United States, but sometimes that can be harder than it looks. In 2009, Justice John G. Roberts Jr. garbled the oath while swearing in Barack Obama. Chief Justice Roberts misspoke — he said, “I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully.” Then, he left out the word “execute” altogether. Mr. Obama, for his part, seemed to realize the chief justice’s mistake. Mr. Obama’s aides said that they believed the oath was valid, even if it had not gone according to plan. But he was sworn in a second time before a small, private audience the next day — just to make sure. Before they began, Mr. Obama joked with the chief justice, “We’re going to do it very slowly.”

Inauguration
Barack Obama
Justice Roberts


Monday at the Women’s World Cup

Abstract: MONDAY’S RESULTS A second-half comeback lifted ENGLAND to its first knockout-stage victory at the Women’s World Cup, a 2-1 win over NORWAY in Ottawa. Solveig Gulbrandsen put the 11th-ranked Norwegians ahead in the 54th minute with a shot off the back of her head, but Steph Houghton began England’s rally with a goal in the 61st. Sixth-ranked England advanced to a quarterfinal against Canada on Friday. The UNITED STATES defeated COLOMBIA, 2-0, in Edmonton, Alberta, and advanced to play China. STAR OF THE DAY Image England's Lucy Bronze, right, after scoring against Norway. Credit Nicholas Kamm/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Lucy Bronze gave England the lead in the 76th minute, taking a pass at the top of the penalty area and firing a shot past the diving goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth. Information from The Associated Press LOOKING AHEAD JAPAN plays the NETHERLANDS on Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the final place in the quarterfinals, but it would be hard to blame either team for thinking ahead. The winner will face Australia, not Brazil, on a wide-open side of the bracket. With most of the top title contenders on the other side, the Japanese or the Dutch will face a much easier path to the final. Japan, the defending champion, should be the favorite. But if the Dutch get the 18-year-old scoring sensation Vivianne Miedema on track — she has no goals in the tournament — they have a much better chance. QUOTATION OF THE DAY “We showed an amazing amount of character today.” KAREN BARDSLEY, England goalkeeper, who made four saves to help the team advance to the quarterfinals.

Soccer
England
Norway
Solveig Gulbrandsen
Steph Houghton
FIFA Women's World Cup


In That Mass of Muscle, Kidney Can Be Weak Link for Bodybuilders

Abstract: Many competitive bodybuilders take anabolic steroids to achieve their freakishly exaggerated physiques. That is no secret. But steroids can be only one part of an extreme regimen that can wreak havoc on the body. Human growth hormone , supplements, painkillers and diuretics can also be used to create the “shrink-wrapped” muscles so prized in the aesthetic. And the high concentration of muscle mass puts stress on the body, as if the lifter were obese. Lifting weights in the gym is “extremely healthy for you,” said Kenneth Wheeler, a former elite bodybuilder known as Flex. “But if you want to be a bodybuilder and compete at the highest level, it has nothing to do with health.” A relatively rare form of kidney disease forced Wheeler to retire in 2003 at age 37, and he needed a kidney transplant later that year. Determining the extent of the damage that bodybuilders inflict on themselves is difficult, in part because there is little interest in financing studies on such an extreme group, and because bodybuilders are not always honest about what they take. That is why a case study published last month by a top kidney journal is generating interest in the nephrology and bodybuilding communities. It is among the first to assert a direct link between long-term steroid use and kidney disease. The study began 10 years ago when a kidney pathologist at Columbia University Medical Center in New York noticed that a bodybuilder had an advanced form of kidney disease. Curious, she started looking for similar cases and eventually studied 10 men with serious kidney damage who acknowledged using steroids. Nine were bodybuilders and one was a competitive powerlifter with a similar training routine. All 10 men in the case series , published in November by the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, showed damage to the filters of the kidney. Nine had an irreversible disease known as focal segmental glomerulosclerosis — the same disease contracted by Wheeler — even though the men in the study did not have other apparent risk factors. Their disease was worse than in obese patients with a higher body-mass index, suggesting that steroids — combined with the other practices — might be harming the kidneys. Among the study’s most persuasive details is the story of a man, 30 years old at the time, who damaged his kidneys after more than a decade of bodybuilding. The patient’s condition improved after he stopped using the drugs, discontinued his regimen and lost 80 pounds. But it worsened after the man, who became depressed, returned to bodybuilding and steroids. “These patients are likely the tip of the iceberg,” said Vivette D. D’Agati, the lead researcher. “It’s a risk. A significant risk.” Several experts not affiliated with the study said that while the claims were intriguing, the study’s value was limited because it focused only on intensive steroid users and because the bodybuilders’ layered training practices had to be taken into account. “I think it’s hard to be certain what’s causing their kidney disease,” said William Bremner, chairman of the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington and an endocrinologist who studies steroids. D’Agati said, “It’s probably multiple factors that are converging in these patients, but the common entity in all of them is anabolic steroids.” One participant in the study, Patrick Antonecchia, 46, competed in powerlifting and strong man events for more than 25 years and said he used steroids, supplements and a high-protein diet to attain feats such as pulling a 40,000-pound truck . He ended his career and stopped using steroids about a year ago, and in February received a diagnosis of serious kidney damage. His doctors warned him not to use the drugs again. “They said: ‘Pat. Don’t. Because it comes back,’ ” he said. Antonecchia has lost about 50 pounds and said he misses the attention his 290-pound frame attracted: “The toughest thing now is it was my identity for 25 years. Now, when people see me, they say, ‘What happened to you?’ ” Jerry Brainum writes a column for Iron Man Magazine called Bodybuilding Pharmacology and said he welcomes more research on the subject. “I found it very alarming, quite frankly,” Brainum said. Since the 1990s, at least eight accomplished bodybuilders have died at a young age, and in addition to Wheeler, another six were forced to stop competing because of serious illness, often involving kidney disease. The main source of information for bodybuilders is word of mouth and experimentation, Brainum said. “These guys have no guidance, they talk among themselves, and they don’t even tell the truth to each other,” he said. The risk-taking has been made worse by a trend toward ever larger physiques among the sport’s top competitors, some said. Jay Cutler , who won the 2009 Mr. Olympia contest, weighs almost 40 pounds more than Arnold Schwarzenegger did when he won the title in 1974 , even though Cutler is five inches shorter. “Each decade you have a guy that comes along that sets new standards and you say O.K., now I’m going to have to take it to the next level,” said Shahriar Kamali, a professional bodybuilder known as King. The International Federation of Body Building and Fitness reserves the right to test for steroids and human growth hormone at the professional level, and testing is done on a random basis, said Bob Cicherillo, athlete representative for the federation, which is the main governing body for bodybuilding. But several bodybuilders said the testing was nearly nonexistent, and Cicherillo said he could not provide specific figures on competitors who tested positive. In addition, the chairman of the organization’s medical commission, Robert M. Goldman, is a leading champion of the anti-aging effects of human growth hormone , a drug that is banned by most sports governing bodies. James Manion, who runs the professional division of the federation, did not return several calls seeking comment. Some bodybuilders expressed doubt that their practices were dangerous, pointing to former competitors who are still healthy in their 70s. They attributed the deaths of elite bodybuilders to the abuse of over-the-counter painkillers and diuretics, not steroids. The bodybuilding federation tests for diuretics at professional events, although competitors said they are still used. Bodybuilders said that they were unfairly singled out as drug abusers when athletes in most other sports were also using performance-enhancing drugs. “Like anything else, it’s use and abuse,” Cicherillo said. “We’re the ones who are visual. We’re the ones who walk around, and you see us with the big muscles.” Wheeler said he was convinced steroid use did not cause his kidney disease, although it might have made it worse. The patient whose case was the centerpiece of the kidney study said he was most likely predisposed to develop the condition. “The drugs weren’t the reason I got sick,” said the man, who declined to be identified because his steroid use was illegal. After taking a year off from steroids and bodybuilding because of the kidney disease, the man, age 34, is returning to competition. His symptoms have worsened, a sacrifice he said he is willing to accept. “It’s just really hard to walk away from it,” he said. “I know I can only do this until my early 40s, so I really want to give it my all now.”

Steroids
Body Building
Kidneys
Drug Abuse and Traffic


About to Return, Wright Wants to Play Every Day

Abstract: CHICAGO (AP) — David Wright is ready to get back on the field with the Mets , two weeks after he was hit in the helmet by a fastball from San Francisco pitcher Matt Cain. Wright, on the 15-day disabled list with a concussion, is expected to be activated Tuesday before the first of three games in Colorado. Mets Manager Jerry Manuel said he would be careful with Wright, gauging his condition after each game. But Wright, who worked out Saturday with his teammates at Wrigley Field, seemed to have other plans. “If I feel good after the first day, then I’m going to play the second day,” Wright said. “And if I feel good after the second day, I want to play the third. “I think he understands that I want to play. I appreciate him trying to look out for me, but we have obviously all of September left and I want to try and go out there and finish as strong as possible, individually and as a team.” The Mets, who have 13 players on the disabled list, are 58-72. Losing to the Cubs, 11-4, on Saturday, they fell 14 games under .500, their lowest point of the season. Manuel said he would talk to Wright to determine if he was ready. Wright added: “He knows I want to play, and I know he wants to look out for me. We’ll discuss it and hopefully I’ll win.” Last season, the Mets were criticized by medical experts after they allowed Ryan Church to play even though he was still experiencing postconcussion symptoms. Wright is confident that he is fit to be back on the field, having undergone tests with trainers and neurologists. “I think if there was any gray area, they wouldn’t have let me come back,” he said. “Because they want to make sure there’s no lasting effects. “It’s been a slow, gradual process, meeting with a lot of doctors, doing a lot of tests,” he said. “And in the end, I’m thankful they did it this way because it kind of took it out of my hands and allowed me to recuperate the way I should.” Wright was batting .324 with a .414 on-base percentage when he was injured Aug. 15. His 55 runs batted in, 74 runs scored and 199 total bases are all team highs. The Mets have lost 10 of 14 games in Wright’s absence. On Saturday, Jake Fox hit his first career grand slam, chasing Mets starter Bobby Parnell, as the Cubs rallied from a 4-3 deficit with six runs in the fifth inning. Parnell (3-7) gave up nine hits and eight runs in four and two-thirds innings. Manuel said Wright looked as fresh as ever but reiterated how carefully he would be monitoring his condition. “I’m going to really watch him after the first game and check with him the next day and see exactly how he feels,” Manuel said. “If he feels a little stiff, a little banged up, then I’m going to give him that day off.” Manuel said he was not concerned with how Wright would adjust to being back in the batter’s box. But Wright acknowledges he is not sure what to expect. “You never know until it happens,” he said. “It’s what I’ve done for as long as I can remember, so hopefully nothing changes.”


In Old Lyme, a Show of a Sculptor’s Naturalistic Works

Abstract: There weren’t many female sculptors in late-19th-century America, or the early years of the 20th century for that matter. Among their ranks, however, was Bessie Potter Vonnoh (1872-1955), the subject of a national touring retrospective now at the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme. To say it is eye opening is an understatement. Organized by the Cincinnati Art Museum, the show throws a Klieg light on the artist’s small sculpture and garden statuary, most of which portray women and children, or sometimes both of them together. Ms. Vonnoh and her husband, the painter Robert William Vonnoh, lived and worked in Lyme for years, which gives the show added resonance. Opening the exhibition are portraits of the artist by her husband, one of which belongs to the Florence Griswold Museum. From 1907, it shows the artist at work in her studio surrounded by clay models for her bronze sculptures, some of which are included in the show. Ms. Vonnoh is young here, barely 35, but already a prodigious talent. Her gifts were apparent at a young age. She was born in St. Louis, but her family moved to Chicago, where, in 1886, at 14, she enrolled in classes at the Art Institute. Upon graduation she assisted the French-trained sculptor Lorado Taft, later traveling to France and Italy to gain exposure to classical sculpture and the latest currents in art. She returned to Chicago (and later moved to New York), got married and embarked on a solo career as a sculptor. The show brings together about 35 works created by Ms. Vonnoh from 1895 to 1930, some on loan from major museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington. Together they offer visitors an unusual opportunity to study the work of this talented yet largely forgotten artist. They also hint at why she has been overlooked. Naturalism is the hallmark of Ms. Vonnoh’s sculptures, insofar as she produces naturalistic-looking representations of her subjects. But there are times, especially in the early years, when she allows herself the freedom of greater artistic interpretation. These are her best works, in my opinion, for they possess individual character. They also align the artist more closely with progressive, early modernist experiments in sculpture. In contrast to the stylized academic naturalism of the figures that characterize her later work, early pieces like “Bust of Baby,” modeled in 1901, is looser and freer, the rugged and irregular surface of the sculpture revealing finger and tool marks. Note also the way the baby’s head seems to emerge turtlelike from within a blanket. I love this vigorously expressive work, which out of all the pieces here is especially engaging. Something of this expressiveness is also apparent in another small portrait bust of a child, titled “Hester” and modeled the same year. It is an evocative, individualized portrait of a young girl, down to little details like the unbalanced arrangement of her frock and messy hair, pulled back asymmetrically off her face with the aid of a bow. She has also expertly captured the sitter’s blank, seemingly bored stare. There are other highlights in Ms. Vonnoh’s early years, some of which are here. But as the show progresses you see a retreat from the raw experimentation of her youth. Several of the later works, especially her figures for garden fountains, look like copies of Grecian sculptures, or at the very least are inspired by Art Nouveau, an influential turn of the 20th century art and design style predicated on a revival of classical imagery and ideals. The influence of Art Nouveau can be seen in the tabletop sculpture “In Arcadia,” made in 1925 or 1926, depicting Pan playing a flute for a nymph with tendrils of hair framing her face. It is also clearly apparent in “Garden Figure (or Bird Bath Fountain)” (1928), in which the more contemporary hairstyle of the girl in a sculpture like “Hester” has been replaced by curls with a bandeau, a look typical of Grecian sculpture. By the 1930s, Modernism was beginning to influence American art and sculpture, pushing out the late-19th-century embrace of neo-Classical and colonial styles. Artists who looked forward found a place in art history, while those who clung to old ways and ideals, like Ms. Vonnoh, found themselves increasingly out of favor.

Vonnoh Bessie Potter
Art
Sculpture
Florence Griswold Museum


Bayern Clinches Bundesliga Title

Abstract: Bayern Munich defeated host Hertha Berlin, 3-1, on Tuesday to become the earliest Bundesliga champion in the 51 years of the league. The team wrapped up the title with seven games to spare, beating the mark they set last year by one game. It was also Bayern’s 19th straight win over all and 10th straight road win, both Bundesliga records. ■ Edin Dzeko scored inside 43 seconds and again in the second half as Manchester City inflicted more misery on Manchester United with a 3-0 win. (AP)

Soccer
Bayern Munich Soccer Team
German Bundesliga
Hertha Soccer Team


Christie Brings His Remorse to an Inconvenienced Borough

Abstract: FORT LEE, N.J. — Nobody had ever claimed that Mark Sokolich was one of the most powerful mayors in America. But on Thursday afternoon, Chris Christie, one of the most powerful governors in the country, flew to Mr. Sokolich’s borough to deliver a personal apology. Gumming up the roads in the process of apologizing for four days of traffic jams last fall, Mr. Christie rushed up from Trenton to say he was sorry to the people of Fort Lee, N.J. The governor hopped out of a black Chevrolet Suburban about 4 p.m., pulled on a suit jacket and, exhaling steam, headed into the borough hall to meet with Mr. Sokolich. A few people cheered the governor as he strode by. But Mr. Sokolich, a Democrat, had not welcomed the visit. Indeed, he said he thought Mr. Christie should have waited for the conclusion of the various investigations into the unannounced closing of lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge. But the governor “respectfully insisted,” Mr. Sokolich said after Mr. Christie departed. During his 40 minutes inside the borough hall, the governor apologized and promised that traffic in the town would not be tied up intentionally again, Mr. Sokolich said. “I accepted his apology, yes I did,” an upbeat Mr. Sokolich said on the front steps of the building. “I’m glad he came.” Image Mayor Sokolich, at a subsequent news conference, said, “I accepted his apology, yes I did.” Credit Eric Thayer/Reuters Mr. Sokolich said what he had wanted more than an apology from the governor was a promise that there would be no repeat occurrence. “We were unconditionally, unequivocally provided with that assurance,” he said, as members of the borough’s council looked on. If Mr. Sokolich received any other promises from the governor, he did not say. But he said that when he asked if he was now on the governor’s “radar,” Mr. Christie responded that the mayor had his own screen. As he departed, Mr. Christie said that he “looks forward to working with the mayor in the future.” The governor’s pilgrimage caused a stir in the borough — and, inevitably, caused another tie-up of traffic on its downtown streets. Two women trying to catch a bus home in front of the borough hall took turns cursing the governor for leaving them standing in the near-freezing cold while traffic on Main Street was diverted. “I find it ironic that the governor chose the height of rush hour to do this,” said Sam Gronner, a Fort Lee resident, who said it had taken an extra 15 minutes to go to the nearby A.&P. supermarket to buy plums for a brisket he planned to cook. But Dominick Lamanna, 91, applauded Mr. Christie’s performance on Thursday. “I think he’s handling it well,” he said. “If he ran as an independent, I’d vote for him over Clinton,” Mr. Lamanna said, alluding to the possibility that Mr. Christie and Hillary Rodham Clinton would be the major party candidates for president in 2016.

Chris Christie
Mark J Sokolich
George Washington Bridge
Fort Lee NJ
Delays
Roads and Traffic
New Jersey


Indian Agency Insists 2 Kashmiri Women Drowned

Abstract: SRINAGAR, Kashmir — Two young Kashmiri women whose deaths ignited violent protests in this disputed province over the summer were not raped or murdered, but drowned in a mountain stream, India’s top investigative agency said Monday, in the latest and perhaps most stunning turn in a deeply contentious case. The bodies of the two — 17-year-old Aasiya Jan and her sister-in-law Nilofar Shakeel, 22 — were found in a shallow stream on May 30. The women had told relatives they were going to the family’s orchard, but were not seen again alive. Initially government officials said that the two women had drowned. But many Kashmiris discounted that explanation, given that the stream in which their bodies were found is seldom more than ankle deep, and a doctor involved with a second autopsy said that there was no doubt the women had been raped. The deaths fueled suspicions that Indian soldiers prey upon Kashmiri women, even though Kashmiri police officers are suspected in this case . A 66-page report on the case by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation was presented in court here on Monday. It said that forensic evidence collected from the women’s bodies indicated that they had died accidentally and that there was no evidence that either had been raped. The new report accuses doctors, lawyers and witnesses of falsifying information given to the police in the initial investigation, raising the troubling possibility that the rape and murder allegations were concocted as part of an elaborate hoax intended to embarrass India’s security forces, whose presence here is often likened to an occupation. But to many Kashmiris the report points to a still more troubling accusation: a cover-up that reaches to the highest levels of Indian law enforcement. Relatives of the two women denounced the findings, and protesters burned copies of the report in front of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, where the case was being heard. Activists and clerics called for a general strike across the Kashmir Valley on Tuesday. Shakeel Ahmed Ahangar, the brother and widower of the two dead women, said the report was “tantamount to another rape and murder of my sister and wife.” The Jammu and Kashmir High Court was quick to say that the report “cannot be taken as the gospel truth.” The Delhi-based Independent Women’s Initiative for Justice, which had sent a team to the Kashmir Valley on a fact-finding mission, said in its recent report that “no one in recent or living memory has ever drowned” in the stream, and that “we would need to be more than merely credulous to believe that.” The case is deeply divisive in the volatile Kashmir Valley, which lies at the heart of the rivalry between India and Pakistan. The two have been to war twice over the province , which was divided between them when British India was partitioned in 1947. Many Kashmiris reject the territorial claims of both countries and want independence. The delicacy of the case was on display in the courtroom here. When officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation began to give a presentation for the judges, the women’s relatives shouted accusations of a cover-up. They shouted their suspicion that the women had been abducted while returning home from the family orchard on the outskirts of the town of Shopian and then raped and killed. The agency filed charges against 13 people, including 6 doctors, 5 local lawyers, an activist and the brother of one of the dead women. The charges included fabricating evidence and intimidating witnesses after the recovery of the two bodies. Speaking to reporters after his presentation of the evidence in court, Anil Bhan, a lawyer for the Central Bureau of Investigation, said that the bodies of the women were exhumed in the presence of their family members, that a medical inspection showed that Ms. Jan had not been raped, and that the evidence indicated that she was a virgin when she died. He added that experts from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India’s elite medical school, had completed the examination. An autopsy report prepared by local doctors said that the women had been raped before they were killed. But the Central Bureau of Investigation report says the doctors gave false post-mortem reports and sent slides for DNA examination that had been tampered with. “It now seems that whole charade of investigation by multiple agencies, one after the other, was aimed at shielding the culprits rather than bringing them to book,” said Mehbooba Mufti, the president of the opposition People’s Democratic Party. She described as “cruel irony” the move to file charges against “the family, the witnesses, lawyers and those who have wanted justice to be done.”

Kashmir and Jammu (India)
Demonstrations and Riots


Clear Rules Eyed on Church Sex Abuse

Abstract: VATICAN CITY — The Vatican commission advising Pope Francis on sexual abuse policy will develop “clear and effective protocols” to protect children from pedophile priests, including procedures to hold church authorities accountable if they neglect to act on cases of abuse, Vatican officials said Saturday. The commission will advise the pope on adopting policies developed from the existing “best practices” for the protection of minors, which can be used worldwide. Recommendations to the pope will also include ways of better educating the clergy about the issue of child abuse and its devastating consequences. “The protocols will address everyone,” regardless of their status in the church, “and will provide clear ways of dealing with those who perpetrate the abuse, and those who were negligent in protecting children,” Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and one of the eight members of the commission, told reporters at a news briefing on Saturday. Existing canon laws had not adequately or sufficiently addressed this issue, he acknowledged. “Our concern is to make sure that there are clear and effective protocols to deal with situations where people of the church did not fulfill their obligation to protect children,” he said. Advocacy groups have long harshly castigated the Vatican for refusing to systematically discipline clerics who covered up pedophilia crimes. Over the years, the church has adopted a series of measures to address the abuse of children by priests, but critics say that the Vatican has protected its reputation over the interests of the victims by refusing to sanction church officials. Pope Francis announced the creation of the commission last December. Its members include lay people, among them psychiatrists, a canon lawyer for the Vatican congregation that handles sex abuse cases, a moral theologian and a woman who was a victim of sex abuse by a priest as a child, who has become an advocate for accountability in the church. Four of the eight members are women. The pope “was anxious that the group be independent,” Cardinal O’Malley said. He said that the commission would not deal with specific cases of child abuse, nor would the protocols necessarily relate to existing child abuse laws in specific countries. “Accountability should not be dependent on the legal obligations of a country, but upon moral considerations,” he said. The commission will make proposals to the pope, but Cardinal O’Malley said that a specific time frame had not been decided upon. “The one thing that this meeting showed is how many issues there are to deal with and how complex they are,” he said. Though the commission was established to advise the pope, it could also be “of service” to national bishops conferences. “Everyone is anxious to have positive results,” he said. The commission met for the first time last week at the Vatican to discuss its purpose, functions and goals, and to propose additional members, to be chosen on the basis of their expertise as well as their geographical provenance. “The commission wants to make sure that in the future, the issue of child abuse will be addressed worldwide, not patchily, and adhering to the highest standards,” said Marie Collins, the commission member from Ireland who was abused by a priest when she was 13. Cardinal O’Malley said vigilance would be required. “The church needs to always be reviewing what we have done, trying to improve what we have done, monitoring what we have done because it’s possible to have beautiful policies but if they are not implemented it’s only window dressing,” he said. “I know many survivors are hoping, that they have high expectations for what the commission will do,” Ms. Collins said. “I can’t make any concrete promises, but I am hopeful.”


A.I.G. Investors Unhappy With Insurer’s Strategy, Advisory Firm Says

Abstract: If the American International Group’s chief executive, Peter D. Hancock, was planning to essentially maintain the status quo at the insurer, he should probably expect resistance from investors. An online questionnaire from the investment advisory firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, answered by about 100 A.I.G. investors, found that 86 percent of them want the insurer to act radically by selling businesses or spinning off divisions — or both — in an effort to better focus its operation, or in the words of the survey, “de-conglomerate.” Josh Stirling, a Bernstein analyst, posed the questions to institutional investors who are clients of Bernstein from Thursday to Monday. About 18 percent said they were among A.I.G.’s 30 largest stockholders. Thirty-nine percent said they were managers of mutual funds; 30 percent identified themselves as representing hedge funds. The results are not necessarily representative of all A.I.G. shareholders, and Bernstein itself has been critical of A.I.G.’s management. But the opinions could give more ammunition to Carl C. Icahn, the activist shareholder who has been pushing for big changes at A.I.G. The company is scheduled to update shareholders on its corporate strategy in two weeks. In response to the report, the company said only: “As previously announced, A.I.G. will provide an update on its strategy and its proactive plan to drive shareholder value on Jan. 26.” In his research note, which was released on Tuesday, Mr. Stirling wrote, “Management’s strategy has practically no support.” Some of the harshest criticism was directed at management. Mr. Stirling’s note included numerous anonymous comments. “Management is a serial disappointment,” read one. “We do not intend on remaining shareholders unless there are significant changes to the current structure/leadership,” read another. Just 4 percent of those who responded said they supported management’s current strategy. Thirteen percent said they supported management but wanted it to move more quickly. Eighty percent of investors said they were unhappy with the pace of progress in fixing A.I.G.’s property and casualty business, and 73 percent said they were unhappy with the decision to combine property and casualty insurance and life insurance businesses under “OneAIG.” In addition, 82 percent said they were unhappy with what they saw as a lack of urgency and intensity among senior management and the board. But if management is able to make enough changes and largely embrace the proposals of activists, it might be able to beat an activist slate of candidates for A.I.G.’s board that campaigned on a plan to break the business into three parts, Mr. Stirling wrote in the note.

Shareholder Rights
American International Group


Voters Split on Spending Initiatives on States’ Ballots

Abstract: In Texas, voters were in a spending mood on Tuesday. In New Jersey and Oregon, they were not. Five statewide bond initiatives were approved by Texas residents this week, including $3 billion for cancer research and prevention that was championed by Lance Armstrong and up to $5 billion for highway improvement projects. But in New Jersey voters rejected $450 million in new spending for stem cell research, and in Oregon they blocked a plan for increased taxes for health care. Backing an effort for increased fiscal restraint, Washington residents approved statewide measures to require a two-thirds vote by the Legislature for fee increases and a constitutional amendment requiring that 1 percent of general state revenue for each fiscal year be placed in a budget stabilization account. Heading the other direction, voters in Maine approved a total of $134 million in bonds for research and development, campus improvements and land conservation. Isolated voting problems were reported in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland and Pennsylvania because of a combination of poll worker error and machine failures. Contests in three states offered clues to how certain hot-button issues might play in the 2008 presidential race. In Virginia, concerns about illegal immigration did not produce the voter turnout and fervor that Republicans sought. The state has become a national testing ground for some of the strictest anti-immigration policies, and Republican lawmakers promised to crack down with plans in some counties to deny services to illegal immigrants. But Democrats picked up four seats in the State Senate, to take the majority for the first time in more than a decade. They also gained three seats in the House, cutting into the Republican majority. In Utah, voters resoundingly rejected a school voucher program that was supported by the Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature. The measure was controversial because, rather than focusing on low-income students in poor-performing schools, the program would have been available to families regardless of income or school performance. Supporters said the measure would widen options for parents, but critics, including national teachers unions, faulted it as undercutting money for public education. Had the measure been approved, political strategists say, it would probably have been pushed in other Republican-leaning states next year. Oregon voters approved a measure that curbs the land-use rights of developers of subdivisions and industrial and commercial sites. Supporters of the measure, especially environmental groups, raised twice as much money as opponents, who received most of their money from timber companies and related interests. Property rights measures that empowered large landowners were blocked in 2006 in California, Idaho and Washington but passed in Arizona, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a liberal advocacy group that tracks ballot trends. Plenty of new spending was approved on local initiatives. For example, voters in Mecklenburg County, N.C., home of Charlotte, approved $582 million in municipal bonds for public school construction, community colleges and open-space projects. County and city voters in Denver approved $430 million in bonds for transportation, parks, cultural centers, public safety and libraries. For poll workers in some counties, low turnouts prevented voting problems from escalating. The most serious failures occurred in Rockville, Md., where thousands of voters were mistakenly identified as having already voted by absentee ballot when they arrived at the polls. Poll workers kept handwritten lists of the names of everyone who voted. To ensure that no one voted twice, they said they planned to compare the list to the names of those who cast absentee ballots. More than 60 touch-screen machines failed in Marion County, Ind., for several hours, possibly because of battery problems or the memory cards’ being inserted upside-down, election officials said. Voting officials in southwest Fulton County, Ga., received court approval on Tuesday afternoon to extend the voting day by an hour after machines did not work because of poll workers’ error, election officials said. Eighteen to 30 voters left without voting before the machines were repaired. Voters in Weld County, Colo., were given paper ballots for about an hour in the morning until officials repaired a handful of voting machines. When poll workers in Denver starting falling behind deadline in counting ballots, the county called in several dozen SWAT and other police officers to help. Election officials said the police had assisted in past elections because they had undergone the background checks required to count votes. Technicians in Bedford County, Pa., had to visit all 40 precincts to repair every optical scanning machine used to read ballots.

Elections
Finances
Politics and Government


Off the Court, Justin Gimelstob’s Life Is Still at 100 M.P.H.

Abstract: MELBOURNE, Australia — As the sun rose Thursday morning, Justin Gimelstob was relaxing the only way he knows how, by sifting through more than 300 combined unread email and text messages on his smartphone while burning 857 calories riding a stationary bicycle for an hour. If there was a multitasking hall of fame, Gimelstob would be a first-ballot inductee. His responsibilities at the Australian Open include coaching John Isner, managing the corporate appearance schedule of the retired three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport, conducting business related to the ATP Tour in his capacity as a member of the board of directors , commentating for Tennis Channel and serving as the executive producer of the tour’s magazine show. “He’s busy,” said Marcel Granollers, who lost to Isner, 6-3, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (2), in the second round Thursday. Gimelstob, 38, is a lightning rod for anybody railing against the conflicts of interest that are rife in tennis. How can he straddle the players’ box and the broadcast booth or fight for all players as a board member when he is a paid member of one player’s entourage? “Some players might have a problem,” Steve Johnson, an American seeded 31st here, said, adding: “I think it’s a little different that he’s also coaching a player that we’re playing against. In my mind, he’s doing more good on the council for us than he is doing harm — not harm, but trying his best to beat me as a competitor.” Gimelstob’s juggling act guarantees his daily calendar has appointments stacked like planes on final approach into La Guardia Airport. “He’s got a lot going on, but that’s Justin,” Isner, the No. 10 seed, said. “He has to have a lot going on to keep himself sane.” Wearing pressed suit pants, a dress shirt and oxford shoes, Gimelstob stood on the court Thursday morning and alternately returned ATP-related email correspondence and delivered instructions to Isner. Between the end of the practice session and the start of Isner’s second-round match at 11 a.m., there was a two-hour lull, which Gimelstob had no trouble filling. He conducted interviews on an outside court with the legendary Australian players Fred Stolle and Ken Rosewall and consumed a quick breakfast that consisted of a raspberry muffin and two small containers of yogurt, which he washed down with a large extra-strong latte. “I never drank coffee till I retired,” said Gimelstob, who played as an ATP pro from 1996 to 2007 and won 13 ATP doubles titles. “Now it’s one of my food groups.” Image Gimelstob with Brett Haber on the Tennis Channel where he is a commentator. Credit Ben Solomon for The New York Times After Isner finished off Granollers in straight sets, Gimelstob’s broadcasting duties began. He made his way from Hisense Arena, where Isner had played, to Tennis Channel’s booth at Rod Laver Arena for Andy Murray’s second-round match against Sam Groth of Australia. For the rest of the afternoon, Gimelstob’s attention was divided between Murray’s rout of Groth and Madison Keys’s three-set victory over Yaroslava Shvedova, playing on a feed in front of him. Several times he bounced up and down in his chair, discharging his pent-up energy like his 2-year-old son on a rocking horse in a video he has stored on his smartphone. On the table next to the television monitor, Gimelstob’s two phones were charging. He had booted up his laptop, and whenever he got a chance, he worked on a long email intended for his wife, Cary. Married for nearly four years, the couple is in the process of divorcing. “It is heartbreaking,” said Gimelstob, who bypassed the Auckland Open, where he previously has begun his year, because he would have been apart from his son for almost a month. “As much as I love my work,” he said, “I don’t love it more than my family.” After the broadcast, Gimelstob had a short break before a scheduled ATP meeting. He lingered in the booth to watch the feed of the match between Feliciano López and Guido Pella, the winner of which would play Isner in the third round. Deep into the fifth set, the monitor went dark. A production engineer was putting the electronic equipment to bed for the night. “I need this on!” Gimelstob cried, jumping out of his seat. Seconds later, the picture reappeared. Lopez dispatched Pella to set up a meeting against Isner on Saturday. Gimelstob, who cannot sit still, and Isner, who can sit happily all day on his couch watching televised sports, come across as the odd couple of tennis. In truth, they are more alike than it appears. “We’re both O.C.D.,” Gimelstob said, referring to obsessive-compulsive disorder. “I’m more O.C.D. about his footwork on his backhand and his volleying technique. And he’s more obsessed with his coffee cups and his countertops.” With a shudder, Isner, 30, described the Los Angeles-based Gimelstob’s training visits to Isner’s home in Tampa, Fla. Gimelstob leaves cartons of ice cream on the counter, Isner said, and swigs of coffee in mugs that he neglects to rinse out. “I’m extremely, extremely domestic,” Isner said, adding, “He’s a hurricane. It just drives me crazy.” Gimelstob had never coached an ATP player, and his learning curve was steep. “I started out giving John way too much information because that’s how I liked it when I played,” said Gimelstob, whose father and uncle were basketball coaches. “That’s all I knew.” He should have gleaned from Isner’s only mobile device, a Blackberry, that he does not need to have reams of data at his fingertips. “I had to learn how to best help him,” Gimelstob said, “which is to give him the most important parts of what he needs to know and then give him more space.” In the 15 months they have been working together, Isner has become more comfortable moving forward. His comfort zone is expanding, and not just on the court. Gimelstob has prodded Isner, a homebody at heart, to play more events outside the United States. “I do like being home sitting on the couch watching football,” said Isner, an avid Carolina Panthers fan. “When I’m watching football at three in the morning in Europe, that’s probably not the most productive thing that I can do, but I can’t help it.” He added, “I do need to expand my comfort zone a bit, and last year I proved that. I played better overseas.” Under Gimelstob’s tutelage, Isner has climbed to 11th from 19th in the rankings. He takes immense pride in having finished each of the past six seasons in the top 20. “If I didn’t pick up a racket again for the rest of my life, I’d be proud of what I’ve done,” Isner said. That is another way they are different, said Gimelstob, whose long days are a testament to his tireless quest for growth and self-improvement. Sure, he could work one job, but his current schedule affords him five times the fun. “I love what I do, all of it,” he said, adding, “I’m up at 4 a.m. on my computer itching to get the day started.” Roughly 12 hours after climbing off the stationary bike, Gimelstob checked his messages. Despite making a concerted effort throughout the day to keep up with his correspondence, his unread emails and text messages had grown to nearly 400. Gimelstob laughed. On technology’s superhighway, he is not pedaling in place; he is losing ground. No worries, he said. After a few hours’ sleep — a long nap, really — he would resume his striving.

Tennis
Justin Gimelstob
John Isner
Assn of Tennis Professionals
The Tennis Channel
Australian Open


Anti-Europe Party Makes Gains in British By-Elections

Abstract: LONDON — Once regarded as a refuge for political mavericks, the party that wants Britain to quit the European Union made strong gains in three by-elections held this week, adding still more pressure on the Conservative prime minister, David Cameron , to take a tough line on Europe. The U.K. Independence Party came in second in Middlesbrough and Rotherham, and finished third in Croydon North, in the elections on Thursday when voters chose replacements for two lawmakers from the opposition center-left Labour Party who died, and one who quit Parliament. Labour held on to all three seats and increased its share of the vote. But by beating the Conservatives in two of the three seats, the Independence Party, which campaigns against the E.U. and for tougher immigration controls, highlighted a potential threat to Mr. Cameron from the right. By-elections are often used by voters to express anger at unpopular governments and, in the past, the small, centrist, Liberal Democrats have usually prospered in them. But the Liberal Democrats are part of the coalition government and languish in the opinion polls, so analysts believe that the Independence Party is now scooping up protest votes. “If you are a disgruntled Conservative, and you are not willing to go as far as voting for Labour, what are you going to do?” said John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University, “UKIP are the obvious place to go if you are someone who wants to send a message to the Conservatives.” Although it has 12 lawmakers in the European Parliament , elected on a proportional system that helps smaller parties, the Independence Party has no members of the British Parliament , which uses a first-past-the-post system. In 2006, Mr. Cameron dismissed the party as mostly a bunch of “fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists,” but the Independence Party’s ability to win over his disgruntled supporters is proving an increasing headache. Under Britain’s electoral system, the loss of several thousand votes in some districts to the Independence Party could be enough to deprive the Conservatives of key seats, and possibly of victory, at the next election. So alarmed are some Conservatives that one recently proposed an electoral pact with the Independence Party under which the two parties would not contest the same seats. That met with a cool response from the Conservative leadership; Mr. Cameron’s answer to the Independence Party challenge has been to toughen his line on the E.U. He wants to negotiate to loosen British ties to the 27-nation bloc, focusing them more around its single economic market, and to seek approval from the public for the outcome of those talks, possibly in a referendum. Professor Curtice said that those who had switched from the Conservatives to the Independence Party were not motivated only by the party’s tough stance on Europe and immigration — but by general disenchantment with the government. Economic growth is stagnant in Britain which is undergoing its largest public spending cuts in recent memory. “The Tories are making a mistake if they assume that offering a referendum on Europe will be enough to win those votes back,” he said. He added that the Liberal Democrats’ performance in Rotherham, where they came eighth, was “the worst postwar Liberal performance in a by-election.” The by-elections in Middlesbrough and Croydon North were caused by the deaths of Labour’s Stuart Bell and Malcolm Wicks, respectively, while Denis MacShane of Labour resigned his Rotherham seat after a highly critical report about his parliamentary expenses. Based on these results, the Independence Party could realistically hope to finish first among the British parties contesting the next elections to the European Parliament in 2014, though, because their vote is spread thinly across Britain, they will still struggle to win seats in the next British Parliamentary elections, due in 2015. Nevertheless its leader, Nigel Farage, claimed that the Independence Party had now supplanted the Liberal Democrats as Britain’s third-largest political force. “You can call it a protest vote,” he said Friday, “but I have to say there’s a lot of protest about.”

Great Britain
Elections
European Union
Cameron David
European Parliament


Something From Nothing: My Bernie Madoff Fantasy

Abstract: THE shelf of new books about Bernard L. Madoff , the disgraced financier and Ponzi schemer, is growing by the week. But there’s always room for one more — maybe, even, a salacious little volume from me. The recent works cover Mr. Madoff’s early lies — there are stories about a fraudulent book report in high school — and give plenty of details of the multibillion-dollar scam. Some offer a glimpse of the good life that such financial shenanigans can buy — a sort of crimestyles of the rich and famous. One book, distressingly enough, even purports to provide a detailed description of the dimensions of Mr. Madoff’s endowment. And by that, I do not mean the amount of money he gave to the Sy Sims School of Business at Yeshiva University. That book, “Madoff’s Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie and Me,” is the only one that ought to come in a brown paper wrapper. The author, Sheryl Weinstein, tells of a love affair with Mr. Madoff — it mentions his “musky European cologne” — and says his kisses left her sensitive face with “beard burn.” As for the excruciating discussion of Mr. Madoff’s anatomy, she labors to make a profound point about the possibility that his financial scheming might be overcompensation for locker-room embarrassment. Ick. Still, Ms. Weinstein’s book, as well as the less steamy ones, made me think that everybody was getting some Bernie action. So why not me? I have written books before, and found it no harder than performing surgery on myself without an anesthetic. I could use the money, too, with two sets of college loans to pay. I could try writing it as a how-not-to book for investors, but that would be the shortest self-help guide in history: Don’t give your money to a crook like Bernard L. Madoff. Or I could follow an increasingly well-trodden path, and actually write about Mr. Madoff’s life story and the scheme that earned him his 150-year prison sentence. That’s a tough one, though, because of an inconvenient fact: I don’t actually know a lot about business. This will come as no surprise to people who have been reading this column for a while, but it still stands as a major bump in my road to Madoff money. That leaves me with one option, and I’ve got to say it could be a blockbuster: to write the story of my own mad love affair with Bernie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. I could write about long walks on the beach and endearing nicknames for each other. (He flinched when I called him Fonzie, but in retrospect I think he might have misheard me. After all, Fonzie rhymes with Ponzi.) And there were those discussions in which he tried, again and again, to get me to understand that naked short-selling isn’t what it sounds like. It would be a tale of truth and lies, but also of passion. My publisher, of course, would demand that I divulge the steamy details of our most intimate moments together, but I’m all about dignity. As in the movies of the 1930s, I would close the bedroom door on the incredibly hot details of our assignations, unless it meant a whole lot more money in the advance. There is, however, a second inconvenient fact that stands in the way of writing the book that could make my fortune: I’ve never actually met Mr. Madoff. The story of our doomed love would doubtless come as a shock to him, his wife and children, and possibly to my wife and children as well. The issue of falsity, of course, is not an insurmountable barrier in the publishing world: the shelf of heavily fictionalized memoirs is even bigger than the shelf of Madoff books. We live in a world where an author like James Frey can exaggerate about just how harrowing and sordid his past was, sell millions of copies of the resulting “A Million Little Pieces,” be found out and still keep the money . What’s more, the irrepressible Mr. Frey went on to write another book, acknowledged to be fiction this time around. It even got pretty good reviews. Compared with Mr. Madoff, who stole billions with many lies, I’m talking about getting just a few hundred thousand dollars for a single lie, exquisitely told. What’s the worst that could happen? In the end, I can always go on Oprah’s show and apologize. Speaking of inconvenient facts, however, a third one stops me cold. So far, none of the Madoff books has sold worth a dang. According to Nielsen BookScan, “Too Good to Be True: The Rise and Fall of Bernie Madoff,” by Erin Arvedlund sold just 7,000 copies through Sept. 13. “Betrayal: The Life and Lies of Bernie Madoff,” by Andrew Kirtzman, and “Madoff With the Money,” by Jerry Oppenheimer, have sold 5,000 copies between them. And for all of her self-exposure — she even lets us know that her breasts are natural — Ms. Weinstein, the author whose angle I had hoped to copy, has sold just 3,000 copies. That doesn’t suggest that my own book proposal could even command a very promising advance, much less sell more than a handful of books. Besides, if I did this, I’d no doubt lose my job and throw away a reputation for journalistic integrity that I’ve spent a lifetime building. You don’t do something like that unless you get enough money to buy your own island. It’s back to the drawing board, I guess. In the meantime, Bernie, why don’t you ever call?

Books and Literature
Madoff Bernard L
Writing and Writers
Ponzi Schemes