Italy: Hundreds of Migrants Rescued

Abstract: The Italian Coast Guard rescued 970 migrants Wednesday after smugglers put their cargo ship on automatic pilot, heading straight for a crash into the Italian coast, and abandoned the command. The Coast Guard officials said the migrants, most of whom are Syrians and including many children and pregnant women, arrived safely in Gallipoli, in Italy’s southeastern Puglia region, before dawn Wednesday. More than 100 of them were treated for hypothermia. “There would have been death and destruction” if the vessel, the Moldovan-flagged Blue Sky M, had crashed into the coast, said Cmdr. Filippo Marini. The Coast Guard traced the ship’s location after a passenger made a satellite phone call seeking help.

Middle East and Africa Migrant Crisis,European Migrant Crisis


Abraham Is Happy After Trade to Falcons

Abstract: In a stare down that took days to resolve, John Abraham got his wish yesterday. And so did the Jets. The Jets, who designated Abraham as their franchise player in hopes of trading him, finally shipped the disgruntled defensive end to the Atlanta Falcons -- where Abraham hoped he would land -- in exchange for the 29th pick in the first round of April's draft. The Falcons acquired that pick, and two middle-round picks, from the Denver Broncos, in exchange for the Falcons' first-round pick, the 15th over all. Abraham wanted to go to the Falcons in part because they are close to his home in South Carolina. Abraham and the Jets were engaged in a four-day stalemate when Abraham reached a contract agreement with the Falcons on Friday, but the Jets were not interested in what the Falcons had to offer in a trade: their second-round pick. The Jets, at the same time, reached a trade agreement with the Seattle Seahawks, who were willing to give up their first-round pick -- the 31st over all -- but they could not reach contract terms with Abraham, who had no interest in playing for Seattle. Because the Jets owned the rights to Abraham, it was necessary for a team to meet both parties' interests: the long-term contract demands of Abraham, and the trade demands of the Jets. Finally, the Falcons realized yesterday that it would take a first-round pick to pry Abraham loose, and they made the three-way deal with the Broncos. Abraham is expected to sign a six-year, $45 million deal with Atlanta that includes nearly $16 million in bonus money this season and $18 million in guaranteed money over the life of the contract. Abraham will earn $26 million in the first three years of the contract. "Until he signs that contract, he's still keeping a stiff upper lip, he's had so many things happen to him," Abraham's agent, Tony Agnone, said in a telephone interview last night. "But he's happy as heck." With two first-round selections -- their original pick is the fourth over all -- the Jets are in position to move higher in the draft, if they choose. Speculation has centered on the Jets' moving into the No. 2 spot, occupied by the New Orleans Saints, perhaps to select quarterback Matt Leinart. The Saints recently signed quarterback Drew Brees, taking them out of the hunt for a college quarterback. Despite trading for Patrick Ramsey last week, the Jets are believed to be interested in one of the top quarterbacks in this year's draft as a future franchise quarterback. They are expected to visit with Leinart, who has expressed an interest in playing in New York, next month. Both sides made it clear that Abraham would not return to the Jets. Abraham is a three-time Pro Bowl selection -- he had 10 1/2 sacks last season -- but he was angered when the Jets put a franchise tag on him for the second year in a row. Abraham said the Jets had promised to negotiate a long-term deal with him after using the franchise tag on him last year.

NEW YORK JETS
ATLANTA FALCONS
ABRAHAM JOHN
DRAFT AND RECRUITMENT (SPORTS)
FOOTBALL


Bears Tie Game Late, Then Win in Overtime

Abstract: Robbie Gould kicked the tying field goal at the end of regulation and then made a 35-yarder in overtime to lift the Chicago Bears to a 27-24 victory Thursday night, handing New Orleans another devastating loss at Soldier Field. Drew Brees hit Marques Colston for an 11-yard touchdown pass with just over three minutes left to give New Orleans its first lead at 24-21, but Gould’s 28-yard field goal as time expired sent the game into overtime. The Bears won the coin toss and got another big break when the Saints ’ Roman Harper bumped Devin Hester on a deep pass down the middle to set Chicago up at the 15. The Bears (8-6) are a half-game behind Minnesota in the National Football Conference North, but the Vikings hold the tie breaker. Chicago also is a half-game out of a wild-card spot. It was another rough night in Chicago for New Orleans (7-7), which lost the N.F.C. championship game here two years ago and saw its slim postseason hopes vanish with a loss on the final day last season at Soldier Field. The Saints are in last place in the N.F.C. South but still have a shot at a wild card. Brees finished 24 of 43 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Harassed by the Bears’ defense, he was just 10 of 24 with 93 yards in the first half as Chicago grabbed a 21-7 lead. Danieal Manning returned the opening kickoff 83 yards for a touchdown and set up another one with a 52-yard return early in the second quarter. Kyle Orton’s 6-yard touchdown scramble in the closing minute of the half made it a 14-point game. ACCESS RESTRICTED IN CASE The lawyer representing the man accused of shooting Jacksonville Jaguars lineman Richard Collier will receive the addresses of the wounded player and two other witnesses, but the information will be withheld from her client and the public. Judge Hugh A. Carithers, of Duval County Circuit Court in Jacksonville, Fla., told the defense lawyer, Ann Finnell, that the addresses would be provided to her office but that she was not to share the information with her client, Tyrone Romaro Hartsfield, 32, who is charged with attempted murder in the Sept. 2 shooting. Collier, who was shot 14 times, is paralyzed below the waist and has had his left leg amputated. An assistant state attorney, Bernie de la Rionda, has opposed releasing the information without the restrictions, citing safety concerns. A bond hearing was set for Dec. 18. Since his arrest on Oct. 18, Hartsfield has been held without bond. CASSEL BACK AT PRACTICE Matt Cassel returned to practice with the New England Patriots on Thursday morning. He left the team Wednesday to join his family after the death of his father, Greg Cassel, on Monday night in the Los Angeles area. Cassel took part in drills during the part of practice open to reporters at San Jose State, where the Patriots (8-5) are training between games at Seattle and Oakland. The Patriots made no announcement, but Cassel seems likely to start Sunday against the Raiders. SCHOBEL ON INJURED LIST Defensive end Aaron Schobel, the Buffalo Bills’ top pass rusher, was placed on injured reserve because of a nagging injury to his left foot that has forced him to miss most of the season. Schobel, who had 35 tackles and a sack this season, has missed eight games since severely spraining a ligament that connects his big toe to his foot. He is the ninth player placed on injured reserve by the Bills (6-7). JAGUARS’ TAYLOR OUT Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor was placed on injured reserve because of a thumb injury, ending his season with three games left and prompting questions about his future with the franchise. Two weeks ago, Taylor, 32, said it was clear the Jaguars were headed in another direction because of his reduced role and increased salary. He is scheduled to make $6 million next season.

Chicago Bears
New Orleans Saints
Football


FIFA Official Jérôme Valcke Suspended

Abstract: Jérôme Valcke, the longtime right-hand man of the suspended FIFA president Sepp Blatter, was banned from all soccer-related activity for 12 years for misconduct during his term as FIFA secretary general.


France: Strauss-Kahn Investigation Dropped

Abstract: Prosecutors in Lille have dropped a sexual assault investigation into Dominique Strauss-Kahn , the former International Monetary Fund chief, after a Belgian escort recanted her original account about a brutal encounter. But Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 63, still faces a criminal charge of participating in an organized prostitution ring, the result of sex parties that he attended in northern France and at a deluxe hotel in Washington. The prostitution ring, according to prosecutors, organized sex parties with mostly Belgian prostitutes in Lille, Paris, Brussels and Washington. Eight other men were also charged last October with participating in the ring. Mr. Strauss-Kahn was also arrested in New York in May 2011, following accusations that he sexually assaulted a maid in a Manhattan hotel. Those charges were later dropped after prosecutors concluded that his accuser had lied during the course of the investigation.

Sex Crimes
Strauss-Kahn Dominique
France


‘The Sixth Extinction’ Looks at Human Impact on the Environment

Abstract: When Elizabeth Kolbert joined The New Yorker in 1999, after more than a decade covering New York politics as a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, she began gravitating to environmental issues. “The magazine has a history in this area,” she told me in one of two recent conversations. “They’d published Rachel Carson. It was unoccupied territory at the time.” This week Ms. Kolbert, 52, published her second major book on the environment, “ The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History ” (Henry Holt), which asks science-based questions about whether humans might be causing mass extinction. (Her first, “ Field Notes From a Catastrophe ,” was about climate change.) What follows is an edited and condensed version of our conversations. Q. How does a journalist take on a topic this big — mass extinction? A. I wrote a book almost 10 years ago on climate change, and I was looking for the next project. And my thought was, “Climate change is a huge story — there can’t be a bigger one.” As I looked for a new book, what I kept bumping into was the reality that climate change was actually part of an even bigger phenomenon: the many ways humans are changing the planet. It’s not something we’re doing because our species is greedy or evil. It’s happening because humans are human. Many of the qualities that made us successful — we are smart, creative, mobile, cooperative — can be destructive to the natural world. When we use fossil fuels, we are reversing geological history by taking organisms that were buried millions of years ago and pumping their carbon back into the atmosphere at a very fast rate. If I go to Antarctica, an organism I bring on my shoe could be devastating to a life form that has evolved there without any defense against it. Humans have sped up the rate by which we change the world, while the rate at which evolution adapts is much slower. There’s a mismatch between what we can do and what nature can sustain. Why do you say this could lead to an extinction event? It’s not what I say. It’s what many respected scientists are writing. If you read the scientific literature, you see frequent allusions to a current mass extinction event. So in my book, I take the readers to places where signs of this are visible. We go to the Great Barrier Reef. Coral reefs may well be the first entire ecosystem that fails because of human impacts, mainly acidifying the oceans and changes in the water temperatures. We also go to the Amazon, which is being cut down and divided. There you see how fragmenting the landscape impacts what lives in the forest. We go to the Andes, which are warming up very quickly. I go with scientists tracking plants as they seed themselves and grow at higher elevations. We see species that were not at this elevation a decade ago, moving upslope to keep up with change. How much do we know about past extinctions, events that occurred hundreds of millions of years ago? Some of the events we know little about. In the last 500 million years, there have been five major extinction events. The third, about 250 million years ago, was the worst. Approximately 90 percent of species disappeared. The theory on the third and its lessons are very relevant to us now. It was caused by a massive volcanic eruption which went on quite a long time and released a lot of carbon dioxide. It caused tremendous global warming and the acidification of the oceans on a very dramatic scale. The fifth extinction, the one that did in the dinosaurs, was caused by an asteroid. Interestingly, today, you hear knowledgeable scientists say, “ We are the asteroid.” Did you find writing about extinction depressing? I’ve tried to transcend my own feelings. Yes, it’s depressing, but you have to look it in the face. That’s true of a lot of topics. People say, “Don’t look at the photographs from Syria; they are too depressing.” But it’s required that we overcome those barriers. The other side of it was that in writing a book about extinction, I went to some of the most amazing places on Earth. I walked across the Great Barrier Reef at night! I went snorkeling in the Bay of Naples, where Jason Hall-Spencer was looking at an unusual natural experiment: The water in one specific place is naturally acidified because of volcanic vents that spew out CO2. In a very concentrated area, you can see what the normal Mediterranean looks like: vivid and full of life. But by the vents, you see what the acidified ocean of the future might look like: an underwater moonscape. Very little could live there. Now, I had an absolutely great time going into the field. I always came home and said, “That was incredibly interesting.” It wasn’t like I came home and curled into a little ball. You profile Kinohi, a Hawaiian crow in the San Diego zoo. Why him? He’s one of about 100 of his kind left. Kinohi is being kept there so that his sperm can be collected by a very, very devoted specialist. She spends a lot of time stroking him and trying to get him to ejaculate. Spending time with them showed me the amazing lengths people are willing to go through to preserve species. That’s the other side of the extinction story. With Kinohi, one felt the shadow of his impending death — he’s very old in bird years — and that of his species. Extinction hangs over the whole enterprise. His tissue will be frozen when he dies, and they will take a cell line from him. And they will keep those cells alive. So there you have people being ingenious and devoted, and meanwhile all these things are going on that are having these tragic effects. His story brought together a lot of the strands of our relationships to other species. You posit that if there is a sixth extinction, it won’t be cockroaches who inherit the planet, as many New Yorkers predict, but rats. Why rats? My guess is that the roaches will do fine. This is the conjecture of one of the key characters in the book, Jan Zalasiewicz. He’s a British geologist, who has imagined the planet of the future and has wondered who will survive. He thinks rats have gone with people everywhere and done very well in the new places. They eat everything, and they reproduce like crazy. His provocative idea is that one of our human legacies is going to be rats everywhere, including on islands and places where they weren’t before, and that they’ll change in size, get bigger. He jokingly speculates that rats will eventually evolve to make tools, live in caves and sit around in the skin of other mammals — just like a certain primate we know about.

Elizabeth Kolbert
Endangered Species
Climate Change
Global Warming
Books


Redskins End Cowboys’ Six-Game Winning Streak

Abstract: Kai Forbath kicked a 40-yard field goal on the first drive of overtime, and Washington stopped host Dallas on four downs on the next possession for a 20-17 win on Monday night, ending the Cowboys’ six-game winning streak. Colt McCoy, who started at quarterback for Washington, scored on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter to give the Redskins a 17-10 lead. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, who had surgery for a herniated disk last December, was injured on a sack by Keenan Robinson midway through the third quarter and temporarily left the game. Brandon Weeden took over for Romo, and his first play was a handoff to DeMarco Murray for 51 yards that led to a field goal. Weeden then threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Jason Whitten to tie the score at 17-17 in the fourth before Romo returned. Dez Bryant helped Dallas (6-2) to a 7-3 halftime lead with a 5-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter. Alfred Morris had a 5-yard scoring run to put Washington (3-5) ahead, 10-7, in the third quarter. CHIEFS’ LEADER PLAYED HURT Alex Smith’s efficient performance for the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday became even more impressive the next day. Smith, the Chiefs’ starting quarterback, sprained his throwing shoulder late in the first half against the St. Louis Rams. But Smith never missed a snap, and he went on to complete 24 of 28 passes for 226 yards in what turned into a 34-7 rout at Arrowhead Stadium. Smith never mentioned the injury in his postgame remarks. It was not until Coach Andy Reid brought it up Monday that anybody outside the Kansas City locker room learned of it. “He was able to obviously go through the game, and everything worked out O.K.,” said Reid, who added that Smith was “a bit sore today.” Reid said examinations showed no substantial damage to the shoulder. The injury happened just before halftime. The Chiefs went on to score 24 straight points in the second half. SIDELINED BY CELEBRATION Chicago defensive end Lamarr Houston decided to celebrate a sack — his first of the season — of the New England backup quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo in the closing minutes of the Bears’ 51-23 loss to the Patriots on Sunday. But Houston ruptured the A.C.L. in his right knee while celebrating, and he will miss the rest of the season, Bears General Manager Phil Emery said. Emery also said guard Matt Slauson would miss the rest of the season with a torn right pectoral muscle. ROOKIE’S ‘BONEHEADED’ PLAY The Buffalo Bills rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins learned a valuable lesson about celebrating too early. “It was a boneheaded play,” Watkins said, a day after he slowed up and was tackled from behind, 5 yards short of the end zone, on an 84-yard reception in the second quarter of the Bills’ 43-23 win over the Jets. “Next time, I’ll run full speed through the goal and score.” Watkins eventually found the end zone for the Bills, on a 61-yard reception in the last quarter. AROUND THE LEAGUE St. Louis offensive lineman Jake Long and wide receiver Brian Quick will miss the rest of the season because of injuries. Long tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the Rams’ loss at Kansas City, and Quick hurt his shoulder. ... Jordan Cameron, a Pro Bowl tight end for Cleveland, sustained at least his third concussion in three seasons in the Browns’ 23-13 victory over Oakland on Sunday. ... The Baltimore Ravens will try to rebound from a close loss to the Cincinnati Bengals without cornerback Jimmy Smith, who will be sidelined for several weeks with a sprained left foot.

Football
Alex Smith
Andy Reid
Rams
Redskins
Dallas Cowboys
Kansas City Chiefs


A British Town Weighs Its Officials’ Merits, With Scales

Abstract: In today’s age of expense scandals and hidden bank accounts, a medieval custom of weighing elected officials in public may have new cachet. The annual weigh-in , seen as a metaphor for politicians’ misuse of public funds and a mechanism for accountability, persists in High Wycombe, a large town outside London otherwise known for making furniture. To residents hundreds of years ago, proof was literally in the pudding: A widening of the waistline was jeered as a sign that an official had grown fat at taxpayers’ expense. Shrinking girth was applauded as a sign of responsibility and abstemiousness, suggesting that a leader had been working hard on the people’s behalf. Each May, the mayor and other town officials are seated on brass scales in the middle of the town square. Alongside them is the macebearer, who carries a huge gilded club topped with a crown. The weigh-in is preceded by a “tolling out” ceremony involving bell ringing that originated in 1678 when residents, irate at their drunken mayor, stripped him of his authority. According to records, “in token thereof it was ordered that the great bell should be rung out in testimony of his misdemeanours.” At the weigh-in, for those who have gained from the previous year, the macebearer shouts “and some more!” which in the old days led to the crowd flinging rotten fruit at the profligate officials. Those who lost weight are rewarded by the macebearer’s “and no more!” — and by the crowd’s inevitable cheers. Last year, Mohammed Hanif, the current mayor, weighed “no more.” But Steve Baker, a member of Parliament for High Wycombe, was among the heavies. “I’ve been enjoying myself” since the fall, he told a local newspaper , “eating and drinking whatever I wanted.” “My plan now is to get to the gym, build up some more muscle, lose some more fat — and hopefully each year I will be lighter but fitter,” he said. Mr. Baker is to be among those climbing onto the scales on Friday.

High Wycombe
Mayor
Weight
Embezzlement
Corruption


Fast Wi-Fi on Flights May Serve the Airlines, Too

Abstract: I WOULD last maybe one shift as a flight attendant. By the end of that initial flight, I would be so demonstrably miserable over the demands of the job that they’d fire me, assuming I didn’t beat them to the punch by pulling a Slater. You remember Steven Slater, the fed-up JetBlue Airways flight attendant who got on the cabin speaker after his flight landed at Kennedy Airport and declared, “That’s it. I’m done”? He then grabbed two Blue Moon beers from the galley, deployed the emergency chute and slid away into infamy. Ever since, many an unhappy flight attendant has told me she’s sometimes quietly considered pulling a Slater. Recently, on a crowded plane approaching Dallas, I watched a flight attendant collect trash in a bag with one hand while using her fingertips to hold five empty soda cans for recycling, while simultaneously checking that seat backs were in the forward position for landing. I wondered, could the airlines possibly manage to give more chores to crew members? Why certainly! You may have read recent news reports about proposals by regulators to devote more airwave capacity to providing faster Wi-Fi connections on commercial airplanes. You may have assumed that those initiatives, in the United States and abroad, are intended mainly to allow passengers to use the Web and e-mail more efficiently. But the fact is, despite the rapid expansion of Wi-Fi on airplanes, no one has found a profitable way to cover installation costs with the scant revenue generated by the limited number of passengers who have been willing to pay for Internet service at 35,000 feet. The great advances in airplane Internet connections are being driven far more by the opportunities that high-speed broadband service presents for airlines themselves to essentially sell more things to the customers, whether the product is in-flight entertainment, food and drink, customized services to elite-status passengers or products at the destination, including hotel packages, sports and concert tickets, restaurant and theater reservations. On an airplane, you have a captive market, and with sophisticated technology, you can sell to passengers in very personal ways. And, of course, flight attendants will be expected to become even more adept at using in-flight technology. The question is whether they will embrace the moment. Image Credit Brian Taylor “We found consistently in our research, whether the markets were the U.S., Europe or Asia, that flight attendants are typically the least automated group within the airline work force,” said Andrew Kemmetmueller, the chief executive of Allegiant Systems, a technology development company that focuses on airline operations. Allegiant Systems, based in Las Vegas, recently announced FlyDesk, a product that has an iPad-based application for processing food and beverage sales on flights. The company expects that FlyDesk’s iPad technology will evolve into many other uses in the hands of flight attendants, Mr. Kemmetmueller said. Besides direct product sales, opportunities for customer service expand when flight attendants have in their hands not just recycled soda cans, but tablets linked by high-speed Wi-Fi to real-time flight and customer data. “Buy on board is only one aspect. I live in Toulouse,” he said, referring to the city in France, “but have a base of operations in Las Vegas, which puts me on planes a lot.” As airlines market more flights in partnership with other airlines belonging to the same global alliance, a single long-haul flight to Las Vegas could entail a domestic European flight from Toulouse to Frankfurt, a trans-Atlantic flight on a Lufthansa A380 to San Francisco and then a domestic connection on United Airlines to Las Vegas. Mr. Kemmetmueller echoes a familiar complaint among international passengers that partner airlines in a global alliance like Star Alliance aren’t especially adept at sharing detailed information about individual passengers and their status. United Airlines, for example, might have detailed information about the status and service requirements of a given elite passenger, but tablet-enabled technology in the hands of flight crews would make that data available for each leg of an alliance trip. With major improvements in Wi-Fi, we’re only starting to see some of the ramifications for passengers and airlines, which depend mightily on the revenue raised by selling and marketing things other than the basic fare. But what about that overburdened flight attendant trudging down the aisle with a stuffed trash bag? In my experience, flight attendants complain about everything, even more so than those world-famous complainers, pilots. But Mr. Kemmetmueller insisted that putting sophisticated technology into the hands of the flight crew, and encouraging crew members to adapt it as they saw fit, overcame even dug-in resistance to performing more chores because the chores became easier. “I think an iPad trumps all,” he said. Next we need an app to address those empty soda cans.

Airlines,airplanes
Computers and the Internet
Tech Industry
Wireless
Business travel


After Haitian Quake, a New Start - Neediest Cases

Abstract: Minutes before the earthquake hit on Jan. 12, the twin sisters Marc-Lysa and Markisha Racine, 6, were having a hard time focusing on their homework. Crawling on her hands and knees, Markisha repeatedly nudged her head into her mother’s side, pleading, “Just let me sit underneath you.” Marc-Lysa became very quiet. Deciding to break for dinner, Judith Racine, the twins’ mother, went into the kitchen of their large apartment on the top floor of a three-story building in the Pacot neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She had prepared one of her favorite meals, rice and green-pea soup. As Mrs. Racine was about to place the plates onto the table, everything started to shake. “A myth in Haiti is that before something bad happens, twins sense it in their system,” recalled Mrs. Racine, 43, speaking through a Creole interpreter. As the ground trembled violently, Mrs. Racine remembered her daughter’s request to sit beneath her. She grabbed her children and laid her body on top of theirs to protect them. “At that moment I thought it was the last chapter of the Bible,” Mrs. Racine said. “That 35 seconds for me felt like eternity.” She said the noise reminded her of “a million trains passing.” “I was thinking I was going to die,” Markisha, now 7, said in fluent English. “I felt like the house was going to fall on me.” After the earthquake, half of the apartment had collapsed into a neighbor’s house, and the ceiling had fallen onto Mrs. Racine’s back. An hour and half passed before rescuers were able to break through the rubble and pull them to safety. “When I got outside, the apartments beneath mine looked like slices of bread,” Mrs. Racine, said, crying and covering her face with her hands. Mrs. Racine lost her home that day. The family lost all of its belongings. Her daughters’ school collapsed. The main office of the cosmetics company where she had worked for 11 years as a sales associate crumbled to the ground. Her husband, a banker, was working during the earthquake. Fortunately, his bank remained standing, and he still had a job. On Jan. 16, after four days of sleeping in the streets, Mrs. Racine and her two daughters came to the United States. Marc-Lysa and Markisha were born in the Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in 2003, when their parents were visiting family in Brooklyn. As American citizens, the girls were able to board an American military plane and come to New York. Mrs. Racine was approved for a visa and given temporary protective status, for a year, after which she will be able to renew. Almost 10 months later, the family rents a 10-by-15-foot room in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Mrs. Racine’s husband, who could not leave Haiti because he does not have immigration papers, sleeps in his car. He used to sleep in a tent, until a tornado destroyed his camp. Money was tight. In August, Mrs. Racine sought help from Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens , one of the seven agencies supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Both daughters are attending second grade at Public School 217, and Mrs. Racine is training to become a home health aide. The Neediest Cases Fund paid for the girls’ school uniforms, shoes and book bags ($375) and for Mrs. Racine’s training course ($425). “I’m the type of person who loves to work; I’m very independent,” Mrs. Racine said. Until she finds a job, though, they are surviving on $330 in food stamps and $264 from public assistance each month. The $500 rent for the room is coming out of their savings, which she says will not last long. But returning to Haiti, without a home or a school for her children, is not an option. Mrs. Racine refuses to dwell on the negative. Looking around their unfurnished room, she watched her daughters draw in their Barbie and My Little Pony coloring books. They wore matching pink T-shirts that said, “Cheer,” and pink Crocs. “It’s small, but I like it,” she said smiling. “I just want my children to have a comfortable place to live in. They’re my life.”

New York Times Neediest Cases Fund
Philanthropy
Catholic Charities


‘I Love N.Y.’ Signs Have a Lot to Say. The Government Says They’re Illegal.

Abstract: The big blue signs — hundreds of them — crop up like crab grass along the highways and byways of New York State, enticing travelers to stop and take in the sights. The bright placards were dreamed up and placed there by the state to promote tourism, each brandishing New York’s cheerful and familiar credo: “I Love N.Y.” But there is one problem: The federal government says the signs are illegal. So the campaign, intended to generate love and money for New York, has instead set off an escalating feud with the government threatening fines and the potential withholding of federal financing if the state does not get rid of the signs. The signs, federal officials say, are out of compliance with signage rules because they are so big and crammed with words and information that they are dangerous distractions to drivers. The federal Department of Transportation, in fact, told the state that signs were not allowed even before the first one went up, more than five years ago. But, like a recalcitrant teenager, the state went ahead anyway, and now 514 have sprouted along the shoulders of roads across New York. The situation may soon come to a head — leaders of the state and federal transportation departments plan to meet in December to discuss a solution, or perhaps hash out potential penalties if nothing is done. The state does not seem inclined to bow to Washington’s demand, believing it has done nothing wrong. “This issue has been discussed for years and involve issues like the interpretation of rules,” Gary Holmes, a spokesman for the state Transportation Department, said in an email, such as what direction signs can face and whether they can include certain pieces of information, like email addresses. “This isn’t high crime, but minor disagreements that we look forward to meeting with the feds in order to resolve. The ‘I Love N.Y.’ tourism program is highly successful and a big economic driver.” Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo himself has championed the signs, promoting them in his State of the State address in 2014, three years after federal officials first raised concerns. “The goal is to get people who are on the roads off the roads and into communities and fostering and promoting the economy of the State of New York,” he said in his speech. Federal officials warn that the state’s continued flouting of the rules could have dire consequences. “We have been clear with the New York State Department of Transportation that its tourism-related signs are out of compliance” and need to be removed, Neil Gaffney, a spokesman for the federal transportation department, said in an email. “If it becomes clear that is not going to happen, we will make a determination about the penalty. It could be a range of things, from withholding federal approval for projects to withholding highway funding.” “We hope it does not come to that,” Mr. Gaffney added. Of all the things for the state and federal governments to come to loggerheads over, road signs seem a strange battleground. But the issue of distracted driving has emerged as a major problem on the country’s roadways. Over 35,000 people died in car crashes in 2015, about 2,500 more than the year before, according to data compiled by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Data from the first half of 2016 shows that traffic-related fatalities are on pace to eclipse the total in 2015. The signs vary and some offer more details than others. Some advertise the “I Love N.Y.” app. They also feature the logos of various state tourism initiatives by Empire State Development, the state economic development agency, like Path Through History, which alerts people to historical sites, and Taste NY, which indicates purveyors of local foods. A few signs incorporate the Milton Glaser “I ♥ NY” logo. A giant circle featuring that logo on a mat sits on a grass berm near Exit 9 on the Adirondack Northway. Another rests along Interstate 390 in Rochester. Each of those signs cost $10,000, Matthew Driscoll, the state transportation commissioner, told a local television station in July. “Sometimes you have to spend money to make money,” Mr. Driscoll told the station. (In all, state officials said the state spent nearly $1.8 million on the signs.) State officials have argued that the signs have been important to their efforts to increase tourism, especially to areas in upstate New York that are in economic distress. Last year, tourism generated $102 billion for the state, officials said. Beyond the federal government’s objections, the signs have had a mixed reception. In North Hudson, N.Y., a buffalo farmer named Dorreen Ossenkop told a local news site that the large signs, some of which denote local attractions like her Adirondack Buffalo Company, have helped her business. Yet the sign that would mention her farm is not allowed on Interstate 87, according to federal officials, citing the bible for such rules, the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices. In Montauk, on the easternmost end of Long Island, where eight of the blue signs went up in July, many locals loathed the “I Love New York” signs. “They were really so out of character with the small communities and two-lane highways that they actually worked against the reason why people come to the East End to begin with,” said Fred W. Thiele Jr., a New York assemblyman who represents the area and who fought to have the signs removed. “We’ve spent literally a billion dollars protecting small villages and scenic vistas and all of that, and putting up eight giant billboards wasn’t really promoting those very scenic features.” So not long after the signs were erected, cherry pickers showed up and took down seven of them. Mr. Thiele, a member of the Independence Party, hopes the remaining blue sign, at the intersection of West Lake Drive and Flamingo Avenue, is next. “Quite frankly, we kind of felt that not only were they inappropriate,” he said, “but it was really kind of a boondoggle.”

New York
Signage
Car Crash
Transportation Department
Roads and Traffic
Traffic and Parking Signals and Signs
Distracted Driving
Empire State Development


Chinese Manufacturing Activity Slows Further, Survey Shows

Abstract: HONG KONG — A closely watched survey showed that manufacturing activity in mainland China had sagged in May, confirming that the Chinese economy was struggling to regain momentum and cementing expectations that Beijing would increase efforts to prop up growth. A preliminary reading of the survey, which is published by HSBC and the financial information provider Markit and offers one of the earliest glimpses of the Chinese economy’s performance each month, fell to 48.7 in May from 49.3 in April, HSBC said Thursday. Readings below 50 indicate contraction, and the HSBC manufacturing index has now been below that level for seven months. Moreover, a subindex that tracks new export orders fell to 47.8 in May, from 50.2 in April. That highlighted the way the economic turmoil in the euro zone — where a purchasing managers index, also released Thursday, likewise fell — has taken its toll on demand for goods from China and elsewhere. In China, small and medium-size companies of the sort that are surveyed in the HSBC poll have also found it harder than state-owned behemoths to obtain credit and have benefited less from Beijing’s efforts in recent months to inject more lending into the economy, analysts say. “Given this environment, the investment appetite of Chinese manufacturers is unlikely to come back just now,” Yao Wei, an economist at Société Générale in Hong Kong, wrote in a research note, adding that she expected a further deceleration in economic activity in the short term, despite more policy easing from the government. The Chinese economy, the second-largest in the world, after that of the United States, had appeared to tick up in March, raising hopes that it would help buoy growth in Asia and beyond. Data for April, however, were unexpectedly weak. Only days after the April statistics were released, the authorities tapped on the economic accelerator, announcing a cut in the ratio of capital that banks are required to hold in reserve. The action, the third such reduction since late last year, helped free up more lending. “Beijing policy makers have been and will step up easing efforts to stabilize growth, as indicated by a slew of measures to boost liquidity, public housing and infrastructure investment and consumption,” Qu Hongbin, chief economist for China at HSBC in Hong Kong, wrote in a note accompanying the purchasing managers index Thursday. “As long as the easing measures filter through, China will secure a soft landing in the coming quarters.” The authorities have also accelerated project approvals, in particular for infrastructure work; have bought forward spending plans for investment projects backed by the central government; and have announced plans to subsidize energy-saving home appliances and cars in a bid to support consumption. The latest sign of Beijing’s determination to bolster growth came Wednesday, when policy makers pledged more “preemptive policy adjustments,” according to a report from Xinhua, the state-run news agency, summarizing a meeting of the State Council, or cabinet. “China seems concerned enough about its own growth slowdown and downside risks coming from the European crisis that it will do more to stimulate its economy, even preemptively,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, a strategist at Crédit Agricole in Hong Kong, commented in a note. Action is likely to include stepped-up infrastructure spending, as well as instructions to lenders to extend more loans and a possible cut in the lending rate later this year, Mr. Kowalczyk said.

China
Factories and Manufacturing
Renminbi (Currency)
Beijing (China)


Knicks’ Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith Top Offensive Concerns

Abstract: GREENBURGH, N.Y. — The search for answers began anew on Monday, the first day in two months that the Knicks were forced to confront their imperfections, rather than accent their strengths. They are facing their first deficit of the playoffs, 1-0, having been outmuscled in a 102-95 loss to the Indiana Pacers to open the Eastern Conference semifinals. They have lost three of their last four games, and their last two at Madison Square Garden, where they will try again on Tuesday night in Game 2 against Indiana. Carmelo Anthony is mired in a horrendous shooting slump. J. R. Smith has reverted to old, bad habits. And a once-fearsome offense has been neutered under the pressure of the postseason. The Knicks had other problems in Sunday’s loss, which were readily conceded. They were outworked in the lane and on the boards, and their defense wilted against Indiana’s beefy front line. Those are mostly effort issues, which are easily addressed. The offense is a more troublesome matter. Over the last four games — including three first-round games against Boston — Anthony has converted 35 of 110 shots from the field, for a .318 shooting percentage, a low rate even for him. He has not made half his shots in any game since the playoffs began. Smith, the Knicks’ second best scorer, is 12 for 42 (.286) in the three games since he returned from a one-game suspension in the Celtics series. The Knicks will ultimately go only as far as Anthony and Smith can carry them; right now, they are having trouble generating any momentum. Their shooting woes were muted in the first round because Boston could not score, either. But this could become a fatal handicap against the Pacers, who score and defend better than the Celtics. Image For the first time since mid-March, Coach Mike Woodson had to talk about shot selection. “They’ve got to try to take better shots sometimes,” Woodson said of Anthony and Smith. “Sometimes, some of the difficult shots that you’ve been accustomed to making, that you’re not making, you’ve got to figure out a way to get better shots. I think they’re capable of doing that. Only time will tell.” Although the Pacers’ size presents difficulties for the Knicks — and perhaps contributed to Anthony’s foul trouble in Game 1 — Woodson said he would stick with his small-ball lineup, with Anthony at power forward. Despite his shooting struggles and an injury to his left shoulder, Anthony is averaging 26.9 shots a game in the postseason, which would be the highest rate in his career. Woodson said Smith and Anthony should attack the basket more, and Anthony agreed. The Pacers and the Celtics are two of the league’s best defensive teams, but Anthony said his woes had nothing to do with the opponents. “I’ve been seeing the same defense all year long,” he said. “As far as shots go, I’m not going to overanalyze that and start putting that under a microscope, because the shots that I’m taking I know I can make. They’re just not going in at this point, for whatever reason.” Defense carried the Knicks through the first round, albeit against a punchless Celtics team. But the Knicks’ identity this season was built on their scoring prowess. They averaged 108.6 points per 100 possessions, according to N.B.A.com, the third best mark in the league. That has plummeted to 97.3 in the playoffs, a number that would have ranked last in the league. The Knicks’ shooting percentage has also declined, to 41.5 percent in the playoffs from 44.8 percent in the regular season. They never broke the 90-point barrier in six games against the Celtics. They got to 95 on Sunday, but only after a 30-point fourth-quarter rally. Aside from Raymond Felton, the Knicks’ supporting cast has disappeared. Jason Kidd is 0 for 10 from the field over the last five games. Tyson Chandler, whose pick-and-roll scoring was vital this season, is averaging 5 points in the playoffs. “Everybody’s got to play better,” Woodson said. “It’s not just Melo. I’m not putting it on Melo’s head. This is a team.” REBOUNDS Amar’e Stoudemire played a series of full-court, three-on-three games after practice Monday — his first time scrimmaging since having knee surgery two months ago. Barring any setbacks, he should be available for Game 3 on Saturday, Mike Woodson said. The plan is for Stoudemire to scrimmage at least once more later this week. “I have no pain,” Stoudemire said. “Playing, running, jumping, cutting, slashing, I felt explosive. The only thing now is getting my wind back up and see how it recovers for tomorrow.” Stoudemire looked spry enough as he battled Chris Copeland and Earl Barron. But his jump shot and post moves were predictably rusty. He missed from just about everywhere. He looked exhausted after 20 minutes and conceded, “I had a tough day today.” He added: “I want to get in better shape, and I will. Once my cardio gets to where I want it and my health feels great and 100 percent, then I’m back out there.” Stoudemire appeared in just 29 games this season, sandwiched between two operations — on his left knee in October and on his right on March 11. Asked about the challenge of jumping into the postseason fray, after two months off, Stoudemire said: “There’s no fear. Fear is false evidence appearing real. I have no fear at all.” ...Steve Novak went through individual drills on the court, but his status for Game 2 remains unclear. Novak has missed two games because of back spasms.

Basketball
Knicks
Carmelo Anthony
J R Smith
Pacers
Mike Woodson
Raymond Felton
Playoffs


Gallinari May Start Season on the Knicks’ Bench

Abstract: GREENBURGH, N.Y. — Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni said Monday that he had not settled on a rotation, much less a starting lineup, heading into next week’s season opener, but he indicated that forward Danilo Gallinari was likely to start the season on the bench. D’Antoni acknowledged that the development of Gallinari, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2008, was probably woven into any team success. Gallinari played in only 28 games last season, when he was limited by a back injury. He has struggled with his shot and his aggressiveness in the preseason. “I probably would like to start him, but this is kind of his rookie year and we’ll go through some stuff and we’ll see,” D’Antoni said. “But I think eventually, he will be a starter because he’s that good.” D’Antoni said that he planned to use a rotation of eight or nine players, and that the starting lineup might be fluid early in the season, based on matchups. That would be a change from D’Antoni’s preference for using a consistent lineup to create continuity. Monday’s practice came on the heels of some bizarre events during the Knicks’ exhibition game against Maccabi Electra Tel Aviv on Sunday. In that game, Maccabi Coach Pini Gershon initially refused to leave the court after he was ejected for receiving two technical fouls, and a rabbi, Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, came onto the court in an attempt to mediate . “I’ve been there where I’ve probably wanted to do it,” D’Antoni said of Gershon’s refusal to leave. “But you usually play within your league, where you better not be doing that.” Maccabi flew to Los Angeles for another exhibition game, against the Clippers on Tuesday.

Basketball
New York Knicks
D'Antoni Mike
Gallinari Danilo
Greenburgh (NY)


Grey Poupon Mustard Ups the Ante on Its Highbrow Image

Abstract: In the 1980s, a sign of sophistication was to use Grey Poupon mustard, just like the rich guys in their Rolls-Royces in the brand’s memorable commercial of that era . The premium condiment brand — returning after a long quiet period — is again focusing its marketing on good taste, but this time consumers have to qualify for it. Starting Wednesday, in a new advertising campaign on Facebook, would-be fans can have their profiles checked to see whether their proper use of grammar, taste in art, restaurant check-ins, books read and movies selected combine for a score high enough to merit membership in the Grey Poupon “Society of Good Taste.” “We want to differentiate the brand and reinforce that when it comes to Dijon mustard that Grey Poupon is the leader in ‘taste,’ ” said Sara Braun, marketing director at Kraft Foods , which owns the brand. Most brands are eager to accumulate fan “likes” on Facebook, but Ms. Braun said the product was willing to turn away potential customers whose tastes, specified in their online preferences, did not meet its standards. Grey Poupon may have grounds to be picky. Sales of all condiments are growing, especially mustard sales, which rose 11 percent from 2007 to 2012, to $508 million, according to the “U.S. Condiments” study released by Mintel Group last month. But the market is also saturated, according to the study, with 86 percent of the public already using mustard. Ninety-one percent of consumers use ketchup and 84 percent use mayonnaise. Most condiments are used to enhance the flavor of sandwiches, but they are ingredients in recipes as well. The growth potential, according to the Mintel study, lies in adding more flavors. In the last decade, Kraft’s marketing has been focused on promoting new varieties of Grey Poupon, a mustard that originated in France and is made with white wine. In addition to Dijon, Grey Poupon also offers Country Dijon, Harvest Coarse Ground, Hearty Spicy Brown, Savory Honey, Deli and Mild & Creamy. French’s mustard, owned by Reckitt Benckiser, had more than one-third of mustard sales this year, according to figures from Mintel. This year, French’s introduced a Dijon mustard made with chardonnay wine, as well as a honey mustard dipping sauce. At 12.6 percent, Grey Poupon claims the second-largest mustard sales nationwide. But, like all mustards, it faces a lower percentage of users among 18- to 34-year-olds, a category of customers attuned to digital marketing. Not many of them are likely to recall the 1981 Grey Poupon commercial that linked the brand to discerning palates. The spot shows a wealthy man being chauffeured as he eats his dinner, on a tray, in the back seat of the Rolls-Royce. Opening the glove compartment, a livery driver passes a jar of Grey Poupon back to him. As he is spreading it on his food, another Rolls-Royce stops, and its passenger rolls down his window and asks, “Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?” “But, of course,” says the original passenger, in a French accent, as he hands the jar over. Like its predecessor, which has been copied and parodied in movies , Grey Poupon’s current effort stresses its premium image. The typical Grey Poupon customer is between the ages of 25 and 54, and has an average household income of $80,000, Ms. Braun said. In a nod to the mustard’s 18th-century origins, the signage and the visuals are reminiscent of that era, in the advertising created by Crispin Porter and Bogusky, of Boulder, Colo. After going to the Grey Poupon Facebook page , users can agree to have their Facebook profile scoured to see if their selections measure up to the brand’s parameters. For example, if a Facebook user’s profile lists suitable choices for “newsworthy happenings,” “their place of residence,” “social standing” (i.e., how many Facebook friends they have) and “curiosities and tastes,” he or she can score in the top 20th percentile, which allows membership in the Society of Good Taste. Grey Poupon’s Facebook page has about 20,000 fans, and Ms. Braun said Kraft expected to expand that number with its campaign. Those who are accepted in the society will have a chance to win a cookbook like Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” or a Grey Poupon shopping bag because, she said, “people who uphold high standards should be rewarded.” Grey Poupon is also overhauling its Web site by rebuilding it on Pinterest, which would enable customers to see its visuals and make it easier to pin and share visuals and other content. The brand does not disclose its spending on marketing, but Kantar Media, a unit of WPP, said that brand spent only $36,000 last year compared with $342,000 in 2010. Kraft did not address why the figure was much higher two years ago. Grey Poupon’s decision to rekindle its brand presence by fielding a challenge is an effort to inject a “bit of fun,” said Tom Markham, Crispin Porter and Bogusky’s creative director. “We’ve loaded up with grammar rules and combined databases and lists so we can measure people’s choices.” But mind those dropped apostrophes, he warned. And beware the lowbrow choices. “Our tag line, after all,” Ms. Braun said, “is ‘Spread Good Taste.’ ”

Mustard
Advertising and Marketing
Online Advertising
Kraft Foods Inc
Grey Poupon


Drivers Descend on New Jersey Pumps for Final Hours of Cheap Gas

Abstract: MAHWAH, N.J. — Stephanie Long roared into a service station in her red Mustang late on Monday, yanked a red lollipop from her mouth and told the attendant to top off the tank, fast. She was worried about the red ink in her budget. Ms. Long, a graduate student who has been holding down three jobs trying to cover her expenses, was out to beat a deadline that haunted drivers in and around New Jersey on Halloween: At midnight, the state’s gasoline tax would jump by 23 cents per gallon, to 37.5 cents. “I’m going to need a new car because of this, maybe a Prius,” said Ms. Long, 24, who lives in Suffern, N.Y., as she handed the attendant three $1 bills — the cost of 1.485 gallons of regular. “I’d like to keep the ’Stang, but I can’t be cool forever.” Half a tank here, a tiny top-off there. Drivers descended on service stations on Monday night for one last fill-up before the increase descended on them. Many were New York residents accustomed to sneaking into New Jersey for a better deal. Less-expensive gasoline has long lured drivers from other states, and many New Jersey drivers considered the gasoline tax a bargain that offset their high property taxes. “I said to myself, ‘Fill the car up while you can,’” said Barry Simpson, who lives in the mid-Hudson Valley of New York, 45 minutes away. In New York, he said, gasoline cost $2.21 to $2.45 a gallon, while in New Jersey the price, at least before Tuesday, was $1.90. Image Stephanie Long had her car’s tank topped off on Monday. Credit Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times The increase was agreed to last month by Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican who had relished refusing to raise any taxes, even as the state’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by the gas tax, ran low. Hundreds of highway and transit projects across New Jersey were stalled for months as Mr. Christie fought Democratic leaders in the Legislature. Mr. Christie acquiesced on the gasoline tax, which will cover a $32 billion reauthorization of the transportation fund over eight years, after a fatal train crash in Hoboken that put a spotlight on the problems plaguing the state-run commuter rail line. In return, the Democrats agreed to a slight reduction in the state sales tax — less than one percentage point — and the elimination of the estate tax within two years. The Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research organization based in Washington, said the gas-tax increase had pushed New Jersey from having the second-lowest tax in the nation, behind only Alaska, to having one of the 10 highest. As drivers in the habit of crossing the state line from New York to New Jersey are well aware, New York’s gas tax is fourth highest in the nation, according to the organization. “We are not happy that the tax had to go up, but we understand why it did,” said Sal Risalvato, the executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store, Automotive Association, which represents gas stations. “It’s a bitter pill, but it could have been a much more bitter pill.” In some ways, New Jersey is defined by cars. It had the first drive-in. It not only has a turnpike that runs from end to end, it has a parkway. It has Bruce Springsteen songs like “Thunder Road.” And when it comes to gasoline, it is still the only state in the nation in which pumping your own fuel is against the law. (Oregon relaxed its restrictions earlier this year, allowing limited self-service.) Mr. Risalvato said there had been talk of allowing self-service gas when the trust fund issue surfaced more than a year ago. “We thought giving people the convenience of doing that and saving 10 cents a gallon would be a way to offset the gas tax increase,” he said. But legislative leaders said it would not happen. The State Senate president, Stephen M. Sweeney, a Democrat, told The Asbury Park Press in August that permitting self-service would only fatten retailers’ profits. “You won’t see the savings because it just disappears,” he said. Image The tax increase was agreed to last month by Gov. Chris Christie, who had relished refusing to raise any taxes, even as New Jersey’s Transportation Trust Fund, which is financed by the gas tax, ran low. Credit Fred R. Conrad for The New York Times Mr. Christie has said he stopped talking about it because “I get my head handed to me.” As midnight approached on Monday, drivers fretted. “My bank account is unhappy,” said Hudis Kenner, who paid $27 for a little more than 13 gallons. “When I made my financial plan for the year, I didn’t plan for this.” Ms. Kenner said the higher gas prices would mean buying fewer shoes and driving less. “My car is going to stay in the driveway,” she said. At 11:59 p.m., the station attendant, Abdul Rehman, turned off the lights on everything, except for the large sign advertising gas prices. Mr. Rehman, 61, said that when he began working at the station in 1999, gas cost 89 cents a gallon. Over the years he had watched customers dig deeper as the price climbed above $4 a gallon. He, and they, breathed easier when the prices dropped. He said the tax increase was troubling because it would be permanent. He said he figured that Monday had been his last busy day for a while. He said he expected business to be “slow, slow” starting on Tuesday. He replaced the numbers on the sign, marking the price jump to $2.24 a gallon, cash or credit, from $2.01. “That looks good, eh?” he said, but he was talking about the numbers, straight in their slots, not the complaints he knew he would hear when the station reopened before dawn.

Sales Tax
Excise Tax
Oil and Gasoline
Price
Cars
Chris Christie
New Jersey
Gas Tax
Infrastructure,public works


With Oil Deals, Merger Advisers Rejoice

Abstract: Wall Street has always loved the fees generated by deal-crazy oil companies. But the recent flurry of activity in the energy industry — $130 billion so far this year and counting — is once again making them the most valuable clients for the world’s merger advisers. Oil and gas producers often jostle with financial services firms for the top sector spot in merger activity. High oil prices, above $80 a barrel on Wednesday, may be helping to give the energy sector the edge by increasing company valuations. So far this year, the industry has spawned 46 transactions worth $500 million or above, racing past the financial sector, which had just 31 deals, according to Thomson Reuters. But resurgent energy prices are only part of the story. After all, natural gas — which has been at the epicenter of much deal-making — still languishes at less than a third of its 2005 peak. Instead, the recent flurry of activity is mainly a result of a race to lock up resources. With 87 percent of the world’s oil reserves controlled by foreign governments or national champions, big private energy companies are finding it harder to replace lost production. From 2002 to 2008, Exxon Mobil, for instance, managed to replenish just 39 percent of production through new exploration. This has put the burden squarely on deal-making. Merger advisers also owe a debt of gratitude to China, which is trying to feed surging domestic demand for energy. Acquisitions by Chinese national oil companies made up nearly 40 percent of the value of deals outside the United States in the first quarter of the year, according to IHS Herold. Bidding pressure from deep-pocketed Chinese companies — including Sinopec’s purchase of a piece of Conoco’s business in Canada’s oil sands this week — pushes up the value of deals. In addition, as old-style cheap oil gets harder to find, resources that were once fringe, like gas shale, oil sands and subsalt oil, are receiving more attention. The greater technical challenge of extracting these hoards helps explain the recent wave of deals in the oil services sector, including Schlumberger’s pending $11 billion takeover of Smith International. The widening so-called contango in oil — with near-term contracts trading at a discount to longer-dated ones — may point to an ominous glut. But with so many broad trends driving energy deals, even a retreat in the price of oil is unlikely to end the party for M.& A. bankers. Asian Revaluation Singapore may just be a dot on the map, but it has long been viewed as a leader in economic policy by other Asian countries, including China. That’s why investors took so much notice when the city-state revalued its currency by about 1.3 percent on Wednesday. The Monetary Authority of Singapore shifted its currency band to contain imported inflation. This approach is not open to China, where inflationary pressures are homegrown and the currency looks more significantly undervalued. Nevertheless, Beijing can learn from Singapore’s model, which offers a better balance between stability and flexibility. China needs to make its exchange rate less rigid to counter accusations that it has been manipulating its currency, the renminbi . However, Beijing doesn’t want too much currency fluctuation. That’s why Singapore’s “basket, band and crawl” model might be appealing to leaders in Beijing. The Singapore dollar is pegged to a trade-weighted basket of currencies, and allowed to fluctuate within a 4 percent band. However, the contents of the basket are secret, as are the upper and lower limits of the band. Singapore can also move the midpoint of the band, as it did on Wednesday. Of course, there are huge differences between a city-state and the world’s third-largest economy. Singapore, whose foreign trade is three times its gross domestic product, has to allow enough freedom in its exchange rate to achieve domestic price stability. In China, where foreign trade accounts for 50 percent of G.D.P., that incentive is much smaller. Moreover, China could not adopt Singapore’s approach without a significant one-time appreciation in its currency. Otherwise, it would be hard to create a two-way trade: China currently restricts the renminbi’s movement against the dollar to just 0.5 percent every day. Nevertheless, as China considers making its exchange rate more flexible, the Singapore model is worth studying.

China
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Economic Conditions and Trends
Currency
Yuan (Currency)
Singapore


Froome Is One Stage Away From Tour Victory

Abstract: ANNECY-SEMNOZ, France — On the next-to-last stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, Chris Froome of Sky Procycling maintained a commanding lead over his challengers, all but assuring that he will win the 100th Tour when it finishes in Paris on Sunday. He would become the second British rider, and the second one in succession, to win cycling’s premier race. Froome was third on the mountaintop finish in this ski resort, and he has a lead of 5 minutes 3 seconds over Nairo Quintana of Movistar, who won the 78-mile stage and moved into second past Alberto Contador of Saxo-Tinkoff, who dropped to fourth. The stage confirmed the dominance Froome has maintained in professional cycling all year; he has won all but one of the stage races he has entered and three stages at this Tour. This would be his first Grand Tour victory. In a news conference, Froome, 28, described the way he felt as Quintana was pulling away in the final miles of the stage and his own legs were going rubbery. He was overtaken by a sense of elation, and relief, that victory would at last be his. “I’ve actually done this, I’m in yellow, this is the last day of G.C. and nobody is going to take it away from me,” he recalled thinking, referring to the general classification, the group of contenders for the overall victory. “It was a very emotional feeling.” In winning his first stage of the Tour, Quintana impressively pedaled away from Froome and Joaquim Rodríguez of Katusha, two of the best climbers in the sport. In doing so, he assured himself of winning not only the white jersey for best young rider but also the polka dot jersey for best climber. Rodríguez should finish in third place over all. Quintana, a 23-year-old Colombian who turned professional last year, was one of the revelations of this Tour, and his one-on-one battles against Froome in the mountains will be among its enduring images. After the race, Quintana dabbed tears from his eyes as he spoke to reporters. “I never imagined for a second that I could be in the situation I am in today,” he said. Froome was born and raised in Kenya, learning to ride in the hills around Nairobi, then racing while attending school in South Africa. After performing well in African races, he quit college to accept an offer to ride with a small team in Europe. The next year, 2008, he turned professional, and he rode in his first Tour de France in 2009. His ascent was slowed in part by a battle with bilharzia , a parasitic infection he contracted during a trip to Africa. The parasite remains in his system, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea when it flares and requiring him to take medication periodically. Froome said that he was not taking the medicine during this Tour. A second-place finish in the 2011 Vuelta a España confirmed — to the cycling world and to himself — that he was a contender. “That gave me a lot of confidence and belief in myself that actually I do belong in this group of riders at the front,” Froome said. He also finished second in last year’s Tour , behind his teammate Bradley Wiggins. A British citizen, Froome spoke warmly of Africa on Saturday, saying he hoped his performance would inspire young African riders and describing the happiness he felt when customs agents in Kenya recognized him. Image The Tour’s youth leader, Nairo Quintana of Colombia, left, won Stage 20 in front of Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver, center, and the race leader, Chris Froome. Credit Jeff Pachoud/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Froome first put his stamp on this Tour in Stage 8 , when he accelerated away from Contador and then Quintana on the finish of Ax 3 Domaines in the Pyrenees. He did the same in Stage 15 on Mont Ventoux , a bruising 13-mile climb. Froome was equally impressive in the individual time trials, finishing second by 12 seconds to the world champion time trialer, Tony Martin of Omega Pharma-Quick Step, then winning a shorter mountain trial on Stage 17 . Tall and gangly, Froome is not a thing of beauty on the bike. His long arms flap and his face frequently contorts with effort. Yet he has proved to be more durable, and usually more powerful, than his more stony-faced rivals. “He isn’t a stylish and smooth rider like other Tour winners,” said Jonathan Vaughters, chief executive of Slipstream Sports, which owns the Garmin-Sharp team. “But that’s sort of the same with the Kenyan marathoners. They don’t always look efficient, but they are.” If Froome has a vulnerability, other riders say, it is his bike handling in crowds and on descents. He nearly crashed into Contador during a tricky descent into Gap on Stage 16 . But during a possibly worse downhill between dual ascents of Alpe d’Huez on Stage 18 , his team kept him safe near the front of the peloton. Because the Tour is so arduous and long — 2,115 miles over 21 stages — holding the leader’s yellow jersey into Paris requires not just winning stages but doing well enough everywhere else. Froome showed that ability on Stage 9. He showed it again on L’Alpe d’Huez on Stage 18, where he struggled with low blood sugar a few miles from the finish. Each time, he stayed close to the front. Froome called L’Alpe d’Huez his toughest moment of the race. “It’s a horrible feeling,” he said. “If you’ve ridden a bike or done any kind of endurance sport, you know the feeling I’m talking about, when you have no energy left, no more fuel in your body.” His dominance of this race caused some antidoping watchdogs to raise the possibility that he might be using performance-enhancing substances. Froome has repeatedly denied the suggestion, but the questions persisted throughout the Tour. In an attempt to quiet those questions, Sky released drug test results and power output measurements from several of Froome’s races in recent years to a French sports newspaper and a sports scientist. They concluded that Froome’s performances were possible for an athlete who was not doping. Froome has handled those questions with the same demeanor he has shown on the road. Soft-spoken and thoughtful in news conferences, he is not one to show the bravado of a Lance Armstrong or the bluntness of a Wiggins. In Saturday’s news conference, Froome said he considered it “completely understandable” that people question whoever is wearing the yellow jersey. “I’m also one of those guys who’s been let down by the sport,” he said. “I just hope that by winning this year’s Tour, I’ll be able to change that. I know it will take a lot more time.” Barring injury or illness, Froome will probably return next year as the favorite, and he made clear that he believed he had many good years to go. “Each year I’ve taken so much away and learned so much,” he said. “I just refuse to accept that I don’t have improvements to make.” But Quintana, for one, will have something to say about that. “If we look at what happened today, it’s true I am full of hope,” he said. “I think maybe in 2015, we will try to win the Tour de France.”

Tour de France
Christopher Froome
France
Biking
Nairo Quintana


The Unintended Twist of Tax Inversions

Abstract: Teva’s unsolicited $40 billion bid for the drug maker Mylan and Mylan’s own unsolicited offer for the rival Perrigo are sweet revenge for the United States taxpayer. The reason is their flight from the United States in tax inversions has made both more exposed to hostile takeovers. Their executives may now rue the day they left the United States simply to save a few dollars in taxes. Before Perrigo moved to Ireland, it was incorporated in Michigan, which has rather favorable anti-takeover laws, including a business combination law that limits parties that have acquired 10 percent or more of the shares in a company from acquiring the rest for five years . Under Michigan law, directors are also allowed to consider other interests, like employees, when deciding whether to accept a takeover. And if those laws are not helpful enough in fending off a hostile bid, the Michigan Legislature has been willing to protect its own by amending its takeover laws, something it did in the battle over Taubman Centers, the owner of shopping malls. Perhaps more important for Perrigo, as a United States company it had a couple of defensive advantages. It had a staggered board, meaning only one-third of its directors were up for election in any given year. In addition, Perrigo had the ability to adopt a poison pill at any time, which would effectively halt any hostile takeover unless the board decided to redeem the pill. The net effect would be that it would take a hostile bidder like Mylan two years to replace the board with a majority of directors who could redeem the pill and allow the offer to proceed. But Perrigo is now incorporated in Ireland, where it lacks almost any protection. Under the Irish takeover code, “frustrating actions,” like the ones mentioned above, are prohibited. And while Perrigo might try to be creative and invent new defenses, Irish regulators are pretty strict in enforcing this rule as illustrated in the battle over Elan, which Perrigo ultimately won. This means that Perrigo can do little else but try to persuade its shareholders to reject the Mylan bid. It made its latest effort to do so on Friday, when it urged shareholders to take no action on a revised Mylan offer that it characterized as inadequate. Mylan has its own predicament after moving to the Netherlands. Before acquiring part of Abbott Laboratories’ generic drug business and undertaking an inversion, Mylan was incorporated in Pennsylvania, the graveyard of hostile takeovers, at least according to deal makers. Pennsylvania has adopted at least six different anti-takeover laws , depending upon how you count. While Mylan elected not to be subject to all of them, it did embrace three. One was the control share cashout statute, which requires that shareholders be permitted to “put” their shares at “fair value” to any acquirer that accumulates at least 20 percent of the company’s stock. This provision held up CSX’s 1998 bid for Conrail, allowing Northfork Southern time to make its own competing bid. And while Mylan did not have a staggered board, it could still adopt a poison pill at any time, pushing out any hostile bid until its next annual meeting. Still, Mylan’s position is not as bad as Perrigo’s. The Netherlands, unlike Ireland, allows for a poison pill equivalent . A Netherlands company can issue preferred shares to a foundation known as a stichting. The foundation can then exercise these shares to take voting control over the company if the foundation determines it is in the best interests of that company and necessary to maintain the status quo or to explore alternatives. However, the foundation’s voting control is only temporary . Mylan has already set up such a defense, appointing as its head Pieter Bouw, formerly of KLM, who led the foundation that the telecommunications company KPN used to defeat a hostile bid by Carlos Slim Helú. But the maneuver has some drawbacks. First, it is very heavy-handed. Instead of the array of defenses and tactics Mylan would have in the United States, it instead has been left with only a “nuclear” option. It also has been used only a few times, and even in KPN’s situation, the foundation took the position that its actions were temporary to try to buy “peace” until a price could be negotiated. Moreover, if the foundation does act, Mylan’s mostly American shareholders will be unhappy because of the loss of voting control over Mylan. And such a highhanded move might scare off the same shareholders Mylan needs to approve a Perrigo acquisition, something Mylan cannot avoid under Netherlands law. Even worse, a stichting is notoriously independent and because of this was used as a legal structure to protect assets from the Nazis, among other things. Accordingly, Mylan has no legal control over this foundation, meaning it can act even if Mylan does not want it to. In other words, Mylan has no control over its big defense. Its fate is in the hands of an independent third party. New government restrictions largely closed the inversion spigot, but Mylan and Perrigo demonstrate that perhaps executives have not fully considered the implications of moving abroad. No doubt the chief executives of Mylan and Perrigo are “enjoying” learning about Irish and Dutch law, but that may not be the best use of anyone’s time, and it may lead to some bizarre results and unintended consequences. The shareholders of the two companies may come out winners. They have reaped the tax savings of a move abroad and now face the possible premium of a takeover. And while the companies’ executives may receive a windfall, they may have also outsmarted themselves, something they can contemplate on the unemployment line. For the United States taxpayer, another foreign notion may apply: schadenfreude.

Mergers and Acquisitions
Tax
Federal Taxes
Legislation
Pharmaceuticals
Mylan
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries
Perrigo


Calendar of Events

Abstract: Comedy ELMSFORD Westchester Broadway Theater “The Godfathers of Comedy,” with Joseph Anthony, Vince Dantona, Joe DeVito, Rob Falcone, Joe Minnitte and Joe Moffa. Aug. 26 at 8 p.m. $73. Westchester Broadway Theater, 75 Clearbrook Road. (914) 592-2222; www.broadwaytheatre.com . Film PLEASANTVILLE Jacob Burns Film Center “Singin’ in the Rain,” with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds. Through Aug. 17. “Man on Wire,” documentary on Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk between the Twin Towers. Through Aug. 28. “The Sound of Music,” with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer. Aug. 23 through 31. $6 to $10. Jacob Burns Film Center, 364 Manville Road. (914) 747-5555; www.burnsfilm - center.org . VALHALLA Kensico Dam Plaza Screenings Under the Stars: “Shrek the Third.” Thursday at sundown. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” Thursday at midnight. Free. Kensico Dam Plaza, north end of the Bronx River Parkway. (914) 864-7275; www.westchestergov.com . YONKERS Tibbetts Brook Park Summer Movie Madness: “Transformers,” Friday at sundown. $10; children under 3, free. Tibbetts Brook Park, Midland Avenue. (914) 231-2865; www.westchestergov.com/parks . For Children WHITE PLAINS White Plains Public Library Trove Summer Flicks: “August Rush.” Monday and Friday. “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” Aug. 25 and 29. Free. White Plains Public Library, 100 Martine Avenue. (914) 422-1480; www.whiteplainslibrary.org . Music and Dance ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON The Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts Bard Music Festival: Sergey Prokofiev and His World. Through Aug. 17. $20 to $55. Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, 30 Campus Road. (845) 758-7900; www.fishercenter.bard.edu . CROTON-ON-HUDSON Croton Point Park Upstate Reggae on the River Music Festival. Aug. 23, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. $25 to $100. Croton Point Park. (845) 494-4654; www.upstatereggaeontheriver.org . LARCHMONT Watercolor Cafe Rob Silverman Duo, jazz. Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. Alan Eicher Trio, jazz. Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Les Kurtz Trio, jazz. Friday at 8:30 p.m. Doug Proper Quartet, jazz. Aug. 23 at 8:30 p.m. Free. Watercolor Cafe, 2094 Boston Post Road. (914) 834-2213; www.watercolorcafe.net . POUGHKEEPSIE Locust Grove Love Cats, blues-fusion. Aug. 17 at 1 p.m. Free. Locust Grove, 2683 South Road (Route 9). (845) 454-4500; www.lgny.org . PURCHASE Performing Arts Center “Arjuna’s Dilemma,” opera adapted from the Bhagavad Gita, composed by Douglas J. Cuomo. Friday through Aug. 24. $15 and $20. Performing Arts Center, 735 Anderson Hill Road. (914) 251-6200; www.artscenter.org . VALHALLA Kensico Dam Plaza Yiddishfest 2008: With Eleanor Reissa, Rebecca Garfein, the Klez Dispensers and Dan Rosengard, musical director. Folk dancing begins at 5 p.m. Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. Free Kensico Dam Plaza, north end of the Bronx River Parkway. (212) 889-6800; www.circle.org . WHITE PLAINS Music Conservatory of Westchester “Ein Deutsches Requiem,” by Brahms, presented by the Westchester Chorale. Aug. 26 at 7:30 p.m. $5 and $10. Music Conservatory of Westchester, 216 Central Avenue. (914) 725-7507; www.westchesterchorale.org . Outdoors CROTON-ON-HUDSON Croton Point Nature Center “Summer Seining in the Park,” catching fish and crabs and releasing them. Aug. 23 at 1 p.m. (Clothes and shoes that can get wet are recommended.) “Things That Crawl and Things That Are Small,” exploring forest logs and grassy meadows to identify small organisms. Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. Free. Croton Point Nature Center, Croton Point Park. (914) 862-5297; www.westchestergov.com/parks. HAWTHORNE Marshlands Conservancy “All About Crabs,” Aug. 24 at 10 a.m. (Socks, shoes, long pants and mosquito repellent are recommended.) “Fall Migration Bird Walk.” Bring binoculars. Aug. 31 at 8 a.m. “Butterflies in our Gardens,” a walk through the Beverley E. Smith Butterfly Garden. Aug. 31 at 11 a.m. Free. Marshlands Conservancy, 19 Bradhurst Avenue. (914) 968-5851; www.westchestergov.com/parks. Seasonal YORKTOWN HEIGHTS Hilltop Hanover Farm “Canning 101.” Learn about canning vegetables. Reservations required. Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. $10. Hilltop Hanover Farm, 1271 Hanover Street. (914) 245-2520; www.hilltophanoverfarm.org . Spoken Word PLEASANTVILLE Mount Pleasant Public Library Frank Strauss discusses his book, “Dawn of a Dynasty: The Incredible and Improbable Story of the 1947 New York Yankees.” Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. Free. Mount Pleasant Public Library, 350 Bedford Road. (914) 769-0548; www.mountpleasantlibrary.org . Theater ELMSFORD Westchester Broadway Theater “The Producers,” musical by Mel Brooks. Through Nov. 15. $78. Westchester Broadway Theater, 75 Clearbrook Road. (914) 592-2222; www.broadwaytheatre.com. GARRISON Boscobel House and Garden “Cymbeline.” Through Aug. 30. “Twelfth Night.” Through Aug. 31. “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” comedy. Through Sept. 7. All presented by the Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. $25.50 to $38. Boscobel House and Garden, 1601 Route 9D. (845) 265-9575; www.hvshakespeare.org . STONY POINT Penguin Repertory Company “Ten Percent of Molly Snyder,” comedy by Richard Strand. Through Sept. 7. $16 to $32. Penguin Repertory Company, 7 Crickettown Road. (845) 786-2873; www.penguinrep.org . Museums and Galleries BEACON Van Brunt Gallery “Women of New Orleans,” all-female group show. Through Sept. 8. Thursdays through Mondays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Van Brunt Gallery, 460 Main Street. (845) 838-2995; www.vanbruntgallery.com . GARRISON Boscobel House and Garden “The Glorious Scenery Must Ever Excite,” 19th-century American paintings of the Hudson Highlands. Through Oct. 1. Wednesdays through Mondays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Boscobel House and Garden, 1601 Route 9D. (845) 265-3638; www.boscobel.org . GARRISON Garrison Art Center “2008 Summer Art Institute Exhibition,” group show featuring various media. Through Aug. 24. Daily, noon to 5 p.m. Garrison Art Center, 23 Garrison’s Landing. (845) 424-3960; garrisonartcenter.org . HARRISON Harrison Public Library “Mostly Maine,” watercolor paintings by John R. Gordon. Through Sept. 5. Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Harrison Public Library, Bruce Avenue. (914) 835-0324; www.harrisonpl.org . KATONAH Katonah Museum of Art “All Things Bright and Beautiful: California Impressionists,” featuring works from 1890 to 1930. “Under the Radar: Leslie Lerner,” paintings. Watercolors by Julie Downing. “Susanna and Eileen,” sculptures by Philip Grausman. Featured Artist: Tim Grajek, illustrations. All through Oct. 5. $3 and $5. Hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street. (914) 232-9555; www.katonahmuseum.org . KINGSTON Donskoj and Company “Hats and Parade Paraphernalia,” works by Jim Fawcett. Through Aug. 30. By appointment only. Donskoj and Company, 93 Broadway. (845) 338-8473; www.donskoj.com . NEW PALTZ Unframed Artists Gallery “Dream Time,” works by Lia Marrero, Susan Zimet and Michelle Riddell. Through Aug. 17. “Waking Planet: Visions of the World We Can Create,” group show. Aug. 23 through Oct. 19. Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m., or by appointment. Unframed Artists Gallery, 173 Huguenot Street. (845) 255-5482; www.unframedartistsgallery.com . NORTH SALEM Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden “Erasing Borders,” mixed-media group show featuring artists who have origins in India. “Veiled Ornaments,” works by Mari Ogihara. “United Hearts,” works by Chika Hiraoka. All through Sept. 6. $5, adults; $4, seniors; members and children under 12, free. Wednesdays through Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden, 28 Deveau Road. (914) 669-5033; www.hammondmuseum.org . OSSINING Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center Photographs by Sandra Lopez-Isnardi. Through Aug. 26. Hours: Mondays through Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sundays, 2 to 5 p.m. Mariandale Retreat and Conference Center, 299 North Highland Avenue. (914) 941-4455; www.mariandale.org . PEEKSKILL Flat Iron Gallery “New Visions II,” watercolor and oil paintings by Wendie Garber. Through Aug. 24. Thursdays through Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., or by appointment. Flat Iron Gallery, 105 South Division Street. (914) 734-1894; www.flatiron.qpg.com . PEEKSKILL Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art Chris Jones, sculptural installation. Through Aug. 17. Free. Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 6 p.m., and by appointment. Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art, 1701 Main Street. (914) 788-0100; www.hvcca.com . PEEKSKILL Maxwell Fine Arts “INside/OUTside,” an indoor and outdoor installation featuring the works of six artists. Through Sept. 21. Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. Maxwell Fine Arts, 1204 Main Street. (914) 737-8622; www.maxwellfinearts.com . PHOENICIA Arts Upstairs Gallery “Dog Days,” group exhibition. Through Sept. 14. Hours: Fridays, 3 to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Arts Upstairs Gallery, 60 Main Street. (845) 688-2142; www.artsup - stairs.com . POUGHKEEPSIE Locust Grove Exhibition and self-guided tour featuring original carriages and farm equipment. Through Dec. 31. Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “Inspired by Nature,” paintings by Betsy Jacaruso. Through Aug. 24. $5 and $9; children 18 and under, free. Daily, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Locust Grove, 2683 South Road (Route 9). (845) 454-4500; www.lgny.org. POUGHKEEPSIE Vassar College “Impassioned Images: German Expressionist Prints,” woodcuts, lithographs and etchings. Friday through Oct. 26. Hours: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m. Vassar College, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center. (845) 437-5632; fllac.vassar.edu . POUND RIDGE Hiram Halle Memorial Library “Exploring the Elements,” works by Stan Eisenman. Aug. 30 through Oct. 4. Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hiram Halle Memorial Library, 271 Westchester Avenue. (914) 764-5085; www.poundridgelibrary.org . RYE Rye Free Reading Room “Parking Lots: Works on Paper by Kirsten Nash.” Through Aug. 30. Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Rye Free Reading Room, 1061 Boston Post Road. (914) 967-0480; www.ryelibrary.org . SHRUB OAK John C. Hart Memorial Library “The Photographic Eye,” collaborative exhibition featuring works by the resident photography group of the Putnam Arts Council. Through Aug. 30. Hours: Mondays through Thursdays, 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. John C. Hart Memorial Library, 1130 Main Street. (914) 245-5262; www.yorktownlibrary.org . TARRYTOWN Gallery du Soleil New works by Gemma Guich. Through Sept. 30. Tuesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or by appointment. Gallery du Soleil, 39 Main Street. (914) 332-4554; www.gallerydusoleil.com . WOODSTOCK Galerie B. M. G. “Yumiko Izu: Secret Garden.” Through Sept. 8. Wednesdays through Sundays, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and by appointment. Galerie B. M. G., 12 Tannery Brook Road. (845) 679-0027; www.galeriebmg.com . YONKERS Hudson River Museum “Space is the Place,” the potential of space exploration. “Anna Richards Brewster, American Impressionist,” works in oil, watercolor, gouache and pen. Both through Sept. 7. $3 and $5. Hours: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m.; Fridays, noon to 8 p.m. Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Avenue. (914) 963-4550; www.hrm.org .

Westchester County (NY)
Art
Theater
Jazz
Museums


A Rare Deep Freeze Warms the Dutch Soul

Abstract: NIEUWERKERK AAN DEN IJSSEL, the Netherlands — For the first time in 12 years, the Netherlands’ canals froze this month, bringing the Dutch, who like their tulips in neat rows, a heady mix of pandemonium and euphoria. Hundreds of thousands of skaters, their cheeks as red as apples in the subzero temperatures, took to the ice, and hospital wards were filled with dozens of people with fractured arms, sprained ankles and broken legs. Train engineers were ordered to go slowly to avoid hitting skaters who clambered over railway tracks to get from one frozen canal to another. Even the minister of defense, an avid skater, fell and broke his wrist. His ministry announced that the national defense remained in safe hands, even if one of them was in a cast. In the 19th century, when Hans Brinker, the hero of the novel in which he tries to win a pair of silver skates, coasted along Holland’s ice, the canals froze almost every year. But water pollution and climate change have made this so rare that today a boy of 15, Brinker’s age, may never have seen a frozen canal, or at least remember one. Until, that is, this year. “For us, it’s in our genes,” said Gus Gustafsson, 68, a retired insurance executive, explaining why he and his wife rushed out to buy new skates and take to the ice under a cloudless blue sky. “It was like a frenzy that came over people, including lots of kids, like my granddaughter, who is 5.” With thousands of others, they skated northeast toward Utrecht, then toward the cheese capital, Gouda. With an influx of immigrants, the country has been struggling to maintain what it considers its Dutch soul, and Mr. Gustafsson was one of many here who thought the skating experience enabled the Dutch to reconnect with their identity. “There were only Dutch people on the ice,” he went on. “I saw no people of Arab descent.” But André Bonthuis, who has been mayor in this town of 23,000 people for the past 20 years, said he saw Indonesians and Moroccans, among other newcomers to the Netherlands, on the ice. “It’s rather new for people from Morocco,” he said. But he agreed there was something very Dutch about canal skating, which is depicted in paintings by Dutch masters as early as the 17th century. “Water is our friend, and 10 percent of our area is water,” he said. “From the oldest days, in very little villages, people could skate to each other.” Mr. Bonthuis, 59, said he skated with friends recently but also spent a lot of time just skating meditatively alone, leaning slightly forward, arms crossed behind the back. “It’s nice to skate when there is a beautiful view of the fields,” he said. “You see a lot of people skating alone.” Asked whether the skating frenzy had an economic impact, or perhaps had helped the Dutch forget the downturn, he replied: “Everybody took days off.” He added: “A lot of Dutch canceled ski holidays, so that hurt the economy, at least in the ski resorts.” But over at Haitsma, a big hardware and skating supply store, Henk Haitsma, 62, the owner, was not complaining. His shelves were swept clean. “I sold 3,000 to 4,000 pairs of skates in the last 10 days,” he said. In that time frame he would have sold several hundred in other years. The Dutch, famed for their champion speed skaters, like to go first class on the ice. The most expensive pair Mr. Haitsma sells, fancy skates with hinged blades, retails for $1,190. Other expensive models have removable linings that are put in a microwave oven, then pulled over the skater’s foot, where they shrink to the perfect size. Many of the store’s skates have removable blades, enabling skaters to walk off the ice without damaging their blades. Monique Matze says she just hopes skaters stay off the railroad tracks. She is the spokeswoman for ProRail, which operates the Dutch railway tracks, and she was troubled by the numbers of skaters crossing the rails, many wearing bulky skates. “When our tracks run over water and people want to get from one side to the other, they just climb over,” she said. There had been no accidents, she said, but she added: “This weekend there were a lot, lot of skaters, and we had no means to facilitate crossings, so the only thing we could do was to caution them.” There may have been no railway accidents, but there were plenty of other mishaps. The defense minister, Eimert Van Middelkoop , “fell on a rough spot on the ice,” according to a statement by the ministry. This week he was back at his desk, with his arm in a cast. “He’s over 60; he shouldn’t have been skating,” said Henk Van Engelenburg, a retired architect, with a laugh. Mr. Van Engelenburg, 74, who makes his home in a restored 17th century windmill, said his wife, who loved to skate, had a problem hip. “She cried because she couldn’t skate,” he said. But his 6-year-old grandson was on the ice, pushing a chair to avoid falling, the traditional Dutch way of teaching children to skate. By this week, the rain and clouds of the usual Dutch winter were back. Weather experts said that the cold snap that brought the ice earlier in the month was caused by cold air that came rolling in from the east, across Germany and into the Netherlands. It was “favorable weather for skating,” said Harry Geurts, a spokesman for the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute, in nearby De Bilt. “Lots of sun, little wind, really incredible.” Mr. Geurts said he did not skate. “I just like to walk in the woods,” he said. “When you have freezing fog, it’s fantastic.” Oddly, though, the cold swept across only the southern Netherlands and not the north. That mattered because this year is the 100th anniversary of the first race across frozen canals through 11 cities in the north, and it has been repeated every year in the past century when there has been ice. Will there be another cold snap to freeze the canals of the 11 cities tour? “Not in the coming weeks,” Mr. Geurts said. “At the earliest, in February.”