Chris Christie Coasts to 2nd Term as Governor of New Jersey

Abstract: Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey won re-election by a crushing margin on Tuesday, a victory that vaulted him to the front ranks of Republican presidential contenders and made him his party’s foremost proponent of pragmatism over ideology. Mr. Christie declared that his decisive win should be a lesson for the nation’s broken political system and his feuding party: In a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by over 700,000, Mr. Christie won a majority of the votes of women and Hispanics and made impressive inroads among younger voters and blacks — groups that Republicans nationally have struggled to attract. The governor prevailed despite holding positions contrary to those of many New Jersey voters on several key issues, including same-sex marriage, abortion rights and the minimum wage, and despite an economic recovery that has trailed the rest of the country. He attracted a broad coalition by campaigning as a straight-talking, even swaggering, leader who could reach across the aisle to solve problems. “I know that if we can do this in Trenton, N.J., then maybe the folks in Washington, D.C., should tune in their TVs right now and see how it’s done,” Mr. Christie told a packed crowd at Convention Hall in Asbury Park, where his musical idol, Bruce Springsteen, holds holiday concerts, and where red and blue lighting gave the gathering a presidential campaign-like glow. The governor all but lectured Republicans about how to appeal to groups beyond their base. “We don’t just show up in the places where we’re comfortable, we show up in the places we’re uncomfortable,” he said, adding, “You don’t just show up 6 months before an election.” Around the country, Republicans alarmed by the surging grass roots support for the Tea Party wing were cheered by Mr. Christie’s success, saying they hope their party will learn not only from the size of Mr. Christie’s margin over Barbara Buono , a Democratic state senator, but also from the makeup of his support. “We’ll be led back by our governors, and Chris Christie is now at the forefront of that resurgence,” said Ed Gillespie, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee. “He’s proved that a conservative Republican can get votes from Hispanics and African-Americans, that a pro-life governor can get votes from women. This means that those voters are available to us, that we’re not shut out demographically or geographically — that it’s worth the effort.” Image Mr. Christie spoke to reporters early on Tuesday morning in Mendham, N.J. Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times Mr. Christie’s strategy of bipartisanship and outreach deliberately echoed that of another Republican governor who seized the White House after eight years of Democratic control: George W. Bush. “We work together and they don’t,” Mr. Christie said in an interview on Tuesday morning, contrasting Trenton and Washington. “It’s not like we like each other any more than they do. I got plenty of Democrats I don’t like here and that don’t like me. But we’ve made the decision that we’re going to work together.” In the interview, Mr. Christie said intelligent voices were being drowned out in Washington, and described the effort led by Senator Ted Cruz of Texas to cut off funding for President Obama’s health care program as “a monumental failure.” The swell of national attention around Mr. Christie had grown in the run-up to Election Day, as network cameras filmed his every move — he had a CNN microphone clipped to his tie as he campaigned on Tuesday morning at the Peterpank Diner in Central New Jersey. His campaign bus had been swarmed by people seeking autographs on photos of the governor at the White House, on the cover of Time magazine, and even with his wife, Mary Pat, on their wedding day. Some clearly hoped to offer the souvenirs later for sale. Mr. Christie’s national profile will only increase later this month as he assumes leadership of the Republican Governors Association, which gives him sway over which state candidates the party will support, allowing him to rack up favors with other Republicans and create relationships with local leaders in key presidential states. In the interview, Mr. Christie said he would be appearing frequently in “places like Ohio and Michigan and Florida,” all states with incumbent Republican governors up for re-election next year. He has also told South Carolina Republicans that he wants to help Senator Lindsey Graham, who is facing a conservative primary challenge next year. And in New Hampshire, which has the country’s first presidential primary, the national committeeman, Stephen Duprey, said he was inviting Mr. Christie to the state to discuss policy and to raise money for the party. Still, Mr. Christie has to be governor of New Jersey, and that may complicate his plans to run for the presidency. He has benefited in his first term from having one of the most powerful governorships in the country. But in a campaign for the presidency, that power also puts him in conflict with rules forbidding him to raise money from Wall Street. His advisers think he could get around that rule by allowing independent political groups to raise the money. But he will also face challenges in running the state. His signature accomplishment of his first term was working with Democrats, who have majorities in both houses of the State Legislature, to commit to a schedule to pay down pension costs. In his second term, he will have to actually make the payments, which balloon over the next three years. Numerous commissions, reports and ratings agencies have warned that he may be unable to do this without raising taxes or making deep cuts. His in-your-face style has won over New Jersey so far, but not everyone is at ease with it. Over the weekend, Mr. Christie was caught on camera wagging his finger at a teacher who challenged his cuts to classrooms, a moment reminiscent of the presidential campaign of 2012, when Mitt Romney’s advisers were alarmed by a video of Mr. Christie shaking an ice cream cone at a critic he encountered on the Jersey Shore. Image After voting on Tuesday at a fire station in Mendham Township, N.J., Gov. Chris Christie visited a Jazzercise class next door. Credit Richard Perry/The New York Times “I am who I am, and that’s why people react to me differently,” Mr. Christie said in the interview. ”I’m not going to be giving these sound-bite-type of answers.” Mr. Christie’s gains among black and Hispanic voters at the polls are the result of an aggressive, years-long effort: He has held more than 100 town hall-style meetings, including several in predominantly black areas that he lost in 2009. For example, he won over Michael Blunt, a black Democrat and mayor of Chesilhurst, a largely black borough in South Jersey, with relentless wooing. Mr. Blunt, who recalled how Mr. Christie held a town hall in his community, steered more municipal aid to it and invited him to a Juneteenth celebration , marking the end of slavery, at the State House, impressing him with his knowledge of the holiday. And the governor invited black elected officials to Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion near Princeton, and told them how a black friend in college took him to a historically black campus to demonstrate how it felt to be in the minority. “If a person has no problem going in enemy territory to explain his policies, that person we really need to look at,” said Mr. Blunt, who was a delegate for Mr. Obama last year. Mr. Christie nominated a Hispanic justice to the State Supreme Court, and in recent weeks, he told Hispanic students that he might reverse himself to support allowing students who were brought to the United States as children to pay in-state tuition at the state’s colleges and universities. He ended his final campaign swing with a rally in Union City, which has the highest Hispanic population in the state. He also spent his last day campaigning with Susana Martinez of New Mexico, the first Hispanic woman to be elected a governor. Exit polls showed that those strategies paid off. Exit polling conducted by Edison Research showed that Mr. Christie won the Hispanic vote and won over a significantly higher proportion of black voters than in 2009. Mr. Christie increased his margin to win among women, despite running against two women, Ms. Buono and her candidate for lieutenant governor, Milly Silva. (His running mate also is a woman, Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno.) Unlike some ambitious politicians, Mr. Christie, who is 51, has not been coy about his interest in higher office, and New Jersey residents seem comfortable with it. One man proclaimed to the governor on Tuesday morning that the next time they shook hands, “it will be Mr. President.” A woman was even blunter as the governor passed her at the diner. “We need a Jersey attitude in the White House,” said Irene Fulton, a retiree from Old Bridge, who added, “We don’t put up with any crap.” During the governor’s victory speech at Convention Hall, an audience member screamed out, “Chris Christie for president!” setting off cheers. The governor deadpanned: “I guess there is an open bar tonight — welcome to New Jersey.”

Gubernatorial races
New Jersey
Chris Christie
Barbara Buono


Britain Curbing Airport Growth to Aid Climate

Abstract: In a bold if lonely environmental stand, Britain ’s coalition government has set out to curb the growth of what has been called “binge flying” by refusing to build new runways around London to accommodate more planes. Citing the high levels of greenhouse gas emissions from aviation, Prime Minister David Cameron , a Conservative, abruptly canceled longstanding plans to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport in May , just days after his election; he said he would also refuse to approve new runways at Gatwick and Stansted, London’s second-string airports. The government decided that enabling more flying was incompatible with Britain’s oft-stated goal of curbing emissions. Britons have become accustomed to easy, frequent flying — jetting off to weekend homes in Spain and bachelor parties in Prague — as England has become a hub for low-cost airlines. The country’s 2008 Climate Change Act requires it to reduce emissions by at least 34 percent by 2020 from levels reached in 1990. “The emissions were a significant factor” in the decision to cancel the runway-building plans, Teresa Villiers, Britain’s minister of state for transport, said in an interview. “The 220,000 or so flights that might well come with a third runway would make it difficult to meet the targets we’d set for ourselves.” She said that local environmental concerns like noise and pollution around Heathrow also weighed into the decision. Britain is bucking a global trend. Across North America , Asia and Europe , cities are building new runways or expanding terminals to handle projected growth in air travel and air freight in the hope of remaining competitive. That growth in traffic has been damped but not halted by hard economic times, and in the current global recession , business concerns have generally prevailed over worries about climate change . In the United States , Chicago -O’Hare, Seattle - Tacoma and Washington -Dulles all opened new runways in 2008. On Tuesday, Kennedy International Airport in New York reopened its Bay Runway — one of four, and the airport’s longest — after a four-month, $376 million renovation that included the creation of two new taxiways to speed plane movements between runways and terminals. Airport expansion plans have sometimes been modified or canceled because of concerns about noise or ground-level pollution. But Peder Jensen, a transportation specialist at the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen , said that as far as he knew, Britain “is the only country that had made a conscious decision based on climate considerations.” Heathrow, one of the world’s busiest airports and a major connection point for destinations in Europe, South Asia and the Middle East , is already notorious for its flight delays and endless lines. It is the only airport of its size with just two runways; Paris - Charles de Gaulle has four and O’Hare has seven. So even though the Conservative Party had been expressing growing reservations about the planned expansion since 2008, many businessmen were shocked when Mr. Cameron canceled the plan after coming to power in a coalition with Liberal Democrats. “This is a new government that claimed to be business friendly, but their first move was to eliminate one of the best growth opportunities for London and the U.K. and British companies,” said Steve Lott, a spokesman for the International Air Transport Association. “We’ve run into a shortsighted political decision that will have terrible economic consequences.” The British government counters that the economic effects of scrapping the third runway are “unclear” while the environmental costs of adding one are unacceptably high. Ms. Villiers said that a high-speed rail network intended to replace short-haul flights would be a better way to address the airport’s congestion than adding a runway. “We recognized that just putting more flights and more passengers into the skies over southeast England wasn’t worth the environmental costs we’re paying,” she said. “We decided to make Heathrow better rather than bigger.” Although it is often said that emissions from air travel account for 2 to 3 percent of global emissions, the proportion is higher in many developed countries: emissions from aviation are growing faster there than those from nearly any other sector. The British government has calculated that aviation emissions accounted for just 6 percent of the country’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2006. But it concluded in a report that aviation could contribute up to a quarter of those emissions by 2030. In the United States, the number of general aviation hours is forecast to grow an average of 1.8 percent a year, and to be 60 percent greater by 2025 than it is now, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. While airlines have worked hard to improve airplane efficiency, those efforts are dwarfed by the upward trend in flying. Citizens’ groups in communities near Heathrow fought hard for nearly a decade against the airport’s runway expansion, complaining about noise and nitrous oxide pollution. As climate change became a more potent political issue in Britain several years ago, environmental groups with broader concerns jumped into the fray , camping out at Heathrow and occupying runways at smaller airports, shutting them down for hours. “If you were a politician, how you felt about the third runway became a test of your commitment to dealing with climate change,” said Ben Stewart, communications director for Greenpeace U.K. The temptation to expand airports is great for cities in search of new business and tourism. Airports in Europe are now mostly run by private companies, and for them, the more traffic, the more profit. Some critics say the British government’s principled stand is pointless because airlines and travelers will respond not by forgoing air travel but by flying through a different airport. Instead of emissions being reduced, the critics say, they will simply be transferred to places like Barajas Airport in Madrid or Frankfurt International Airport, which have recently been expanded. “My personal opinion is that the decision concerning Heathrow’s third runway was highly politicized and outpaced the science of what that runway might or might not do in terms of emissions,” said Christopher Oswald, a vice president of Airports Council International , an industry group. He suggested that a third runway might actually reduce emissions above Heathrow, because with less congestion, planes would spend less time idling on runways or circling in holding patterns. But Dr. Jensen of the European Environment Agency said that building roads or runways generated more traffic in the long term because greater convenience draws people to a route. Leo Murray, a spokesman for Plane Stupid , an environmental group that has fought new runways, called the British government’s decision “a turning point for aviation” although he added, “It is uncomfortable to have the coup de grace delivered by the Conservative government.”

Greenhouse gas
Airlines
Great Britain
David Cameron
Airport


Jurgen Klinsmann Fired as U.S. Soccer Coach

Abstract: On Thursday, Jurgen Klinsmann, the coach of the United States national men’s soccer team, dined with President Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, a number of Nobel laureates and a couple of astronauts at a gala in Berlin. The sausages were “excellent,” he said. On Friday, Klinsmann returned to his home in California and was bemused by the criticism he was receiving in the news media for two recent losses by his team, which had damaged — but not erased — its chances of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup. On Sunday, Klinsmann aggressively defended his record as coach in an interview , saying that he was “very comfortable” in his position and was not especially concerned about being removed. On Monday, Klinsmann was fired. The announcement, which was made by U.S. Soccer, the federation that oversees the sport in this country, came shortly after Sunil Gulati and Dan Flynn, two of the federation’s top executives, met with Klinsmann at a hotel in the Los Angeles area. U.S. Soccer did not immediately name Klinsmann’s replacement, though it is expected that Bruce Arena — a Major League Soccer veteran who led the national team from 1998 to 2006 — will take the job through the end of the current World Cup cycle. “While we remain confident that we have quality players to help us advance to Russia 2018, the form and growth of the team up to this point left us convinced that we need to go in a different direction,” Gulati, the U.S. Soccer president, said in a statement. He is expected to elaborate on the thinking behind Klinsmann’s dismissal during a conference call with the news media on Tuesday afternoon. Klinsmann did not return a telephone call seeking comment. Despite Klinsmann’s confidence in his role, his firing was not a surprise. The United States sustained two painful losses in its opening games of the final round of regional World Cup qualifying this month, starting with a 2-1 loss to Mexico, which was the Americans’ first defeat in a home World Cup qualifier in 15 years. Then came a 4-0 thrashing at Costa Rica last Tuesday in which Klinsmann’s team looked alternately disorganized, dispirited and — perhaps most damningly — uninterested. Klinsmann disputed the notion that the players had given anything less than a full effort in that game, but the outcome ultimately served as a tipping point. After an embarrassing performance in the 2015 Gold Cup, a regional championship tournament, and a painful defeat against archrival Mexico several months later in a high-profile showdown, the most recent losses — the first time that the United States has dropped its opening two games of the final qualifying round — were too much for U.S. Soccer. From the start, Klinsmann, 52, was a polarizing figure as the United States coach, attracting both praise and disdain from hard-core fans throughout his five-year tenure. He arrived to much fanfare in 2011, finally agreeing to a contract after Gulati had pursued him on and off for years. Vowing to elevate the national team program in a way that “suits the American game,” he led the team through a successful qualifying campaign for the 2014 World Cup, but he was criticized for saying in an article published in The New York Times Magazine that he did not believe the Americans had any chance to win the tournament, as well as for his decision to leave the popular veteran Landon Donovan off the final squad he took to Brazil. Klinsmann also drew the ire of fans and American soccer officials alike for a string of comments denigrating the American professional league, Major League Soccer, even as it produced nearly half his roster. Drawn into one of the most difficult first-round groups in Brazil, the United States beat Ghana, tied Portugal and lost to the eventual champion, Germany, but advanced to the knockout round on goal difference. The Americans were eliminated by Belgium in extra time in the round of 16, nearly winning a match in which they were significantly outplayed. Some thought Klinsmann’s tenure should have ended then. In many countries, the national team coach generally keeps the job for no more than one four-year cycle; Klinsmann himself stepped down as coach of the German national team after just two years despite leading his home country to a third-place finish in the 2006 World Cup. Yet Gulati, with approval from U.S. Soccer’s board, actually gave Klinsmann a contract extension for another four years even before a single game was played in Brazil. It was a surprising show of confidence, and in the new deal Klinsmann also was made technical director of the federation, further strengthening both his power and his connection to U.S. Soccer. Image Jurgen Klinsmann coached the United States during its first match of the Copa América in June. Colombia beat the United States, 2-0. Credit Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press It did not take long, however, for criticism of Klinsmann to escalate during his second cycle. His tactical knowledge, his penchant for using players out of position and his habit of blaming his team for defeats — instead of blaming his lineup selections or his own game plans — became perpetual talking points among those agitating for a change. Klinsmann rarely seemed concerned about his job status, however, not even after last week’s Costa Rica defeat. “I’m not afraid,” Klinsmann said in an interview with The New York Times on Sunday night. “What you need to do is stick to the facts. Soccer is emotional, and a lot of people make conclusions without knowing anything about the inside of the team or the sport. I still believe we will get the points we need to qualify, and I am even confident we could win the group.” He added: “The fact is, we lost two games. There is a lot of talk from people who don’t understand soccer or the team.” That sort of perspective was seen by many in the American soccer community as arrogant — or at least dismissive — and it, combined with a new round of erratic or disappointing performances, only fueled Klinsmann’s critics. Gulati, the federation president, and Flynn, who is U.S. Soccer’s chief executive, came to their decision Sunday night after consulting with members of U.S. Soccer’s board of directors. They traveled to California early Monday to deliver the news to Klinsmann in person. The firing represents the first time since 1989 that U.S. Soccer has changed coaches in the middle of a World Cup qualifying cycle. If Arena returns as expected, it will be from a successful nine-year tenure as coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, the second team (after D.C. United) that he has led to multiple M.L.S. championships. Arena would have some time to meet his new team and orchestrate the initial steps of his attempted revival. The Americans’ next scheduled games are two more World Cup qualifiers, home to Honduras and away to Panama, in March.

Soccer
US Men's Soccer Team
Jurgen Klinsmann
Coaches
Bruce Arena


Denver’s Appeal to Millennials? Jobs, Mountains and, Yes, Weed

Abstract: DENVER — On Pecos Street in the Lower Highlands section, known as LoHi, Avanti Food & Beverage has transformed an old 11,000-square-foot factory and auto repair shop into a sort of food court for the Uber generation. Seated cafeteria-style in the main dining area one recent night, a young crowd, many in hoodies and yoga pants, were sampling dishes from seven local start-up restaurants. Udon noodles, tortas (Mexican sandwiches) and Venezuelan-style flatbreads were among the choices offered by entrepreneurial restaurateurs, most of them food-truck vendors hoping to make the leap to brick and mortar. Nothing cost more than $15. “It’s good, solid cuisine at affordable prices,” said Avanti’s co-owner, Patrick O’Neill. “That goes a long way with millennials.” The youthful party continues on many nights around the renovated Union Station in the trendy Lower Downtown district, known locally as LoDo, and along Larimer Street in River North, or RiNo. It was unclear on a recent evening whether there were more bars than signs supporting Bernie Sanders, but both were plentiful. Scruffy Murphy’s Irish Pub, Los Chingones’ rooftop bar and the Wynkoop Brewing Company (one of 65 microbreweries here, according to the Colorado Brewers Guild) were all doing a brisk business. As for the Vermont senator, so popular with millennials, he was depicted on a two-story painted wall mural — like something you’d see in Los Angeles or Belfast celebrating heroes — with a fist raised and the slogan “Rise Together!” This is also an apt slogan for this city , which has risen from economic stagnation and urban irrelevance to become a millennial magnet. According to a Brookings Institution analysis of population movement from 2009-14, the city had a net annual migration gain of 12,682 people ages 25 to 34, the highest of any metropolitan area in the United States. That means an average of 12,682 more millennials per year moved here than left, for each of the five years measured. Similarly, an analysis of census data by Zillow, the real estate website, found that 18- to 34-year-olds accounted for 35 percent of the city’s population growth from 2010 to 2014, up from 26 percent in the first 10 years of the century. While definitions of a millennial vary (a widely used one is someone born from 1981 to 1997), it’s clear that many of this generation are attracted to this city. One obvious reason is the economy: the city’s is healthy — and hiring. Development Research Partners, a local research firm, found that of the 1.6 million jobs in metropolitan Denver, about 33.2 percent were held by 19- to 34-year-olds. Image Adam Frank; his wife, Kathleen; and their son, Quincy, at their Denver home. Mr. Frank, a lawyer and Brooklyn native, arrived in 2011 in Denver, where he met Kathleen, from California. “Best decision I ever made,” he said of his move. Credit Jamie Schwaberow for The New York Times The city scores highly in qualitative surveys as well. U.S. News and World Report’s 2016 Best Places to Live study ranked the city No. 1. Its proximity to outdoor recreation, a progressive mind-set and its walkability were all cited as factors . Those were some of the attractions for Adam Frank, 35, a Brooklyn native and lawyer who moved here in 2011. “Best decision I ever made,” Mr. Frank said. “It has a lot of old homes with character and doesn’t look like a prefab community.” He also cited the brewpubs and restaurants, as well as access to skiing and hiking, which he loves and could do only rarely while living in New York. Mr. Frank and his wife, Kathleen, a California native, met here and live in the Baker section in an 1886 two-story, mansard-style house. A partner in a civil rights law firm, he said he appreciated the entrepreneurism here that helped give him and his law partner the impetus to put up their shingle in 2015. “It is definitely a friendly place for people looking to start a business or throw new ideas out there,” he said. One new idea, of course, was Colorado’s legalization of marijuana sales in 2014. How much impact does that have on the city’s coolness factor among millennials? “Some have speculated that it helped put Denver on the map,” said Carrie Makarewicz, an assistant professor in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver. “It got national news coverage and made people think of Denver as this more progressive place.” But other, more significant developments have also made the city attractive to a young generation. “Denver was in a major recession in the ’80s,” said Professor Makarewicz, an urban planner. “The main industry was gas and oil, so when the energy sector bombed, the business community and government got together and decided they needed to diversify and make some major investments.” Among the changes over the next two decades were a growth boundary to limit urban sprawl, better air-quality controls, a new airport and a downtown baseball stadium (Coors Field, where the Colorado Rockies play). The efforts of local preservationists kept many historic buildings from destruction, while new zoning laws changed neighborhoods to accommodate mixed-use buildings and what urban planners call a form-based code. That means, Professor Makarewicz said, that “buildings are approved more by how they look than what’s in them.” Image A mural in Denver depicting Senator Bernie Sanders. Credit Jamie Schwaberow for The New York Times One result was the distinctive neighborhoods that are part of the city’s appeal to young people. They were made accessible by new mass transit lines after voters approved, in 2004, a sales tax increase to fund the so-called FasTracks program. Its latest addition is a 22.8-mile light-rail train from Denver International Airport to Union Station that opened with much fanfare in April. (Yet another new line, this one connecting the northern suburb of Westminster with Denver, is scheduled to open on July 25.) Matt Prosser, a vice president of Economic and Planning Systems, a California-based consulting firm, said the transit system was a “central component” in the area’s ability to draw millennials. “It makes living here a lot easier for younger folks,” he said. “You don’t necessarily have to own a car.” Gov. John Hickenlooper, a former mayor of this city, is often cited as an important political force in the city’s evolution. “People are flocking here,” he said in an email, citing the U.S. News ranking and a study showing that 16 percent of the population were young adults. “We have worked hard to ensure that Denver creates the things that millennials are looking for.” As mayor, Mr. Hickenlooper led the effort behind the FasTracks referendum. He is also a founder and former owner of the Wynkoop Brewing Company. Underlying it all — the beer, the trains, the mountains and, yes, the legal weed — is a sense of identity for this city that millennials find appealing. Mr. Prosser’s firm, Economic and Planning Systems, is working with the city on the latest version of its 30-year comprehensive plan, Blueprint Denver. “As we started talking about what made Denver successful over the last 10 years, particularly with millennials, one theme kept coming up: the openness,” Mr. Prosser said. “It’s a community that you can move into and feel like you’re accepted and find your way.” For young people, that is a powerful reason to live here and to stay, despite rising housing costs that raise questions about how long the millennial boom can continue and recent reports suggesting that the legalization of marijuana may have added to the homeless population . Still, the allure of the city remains powerful. “There’s definitely a culture of, ‘Hey, that’s cool, let’s support each other,’ whether it’s in business, or the arts or in politics,” said Mr. Frank, the transplanted New Yorker. Notwithstanding what he says is a lack of good pizza — the city’s one detriment, in his view — he is firm on his views of his adopted, youthful city. “We’re never leaving,” he said.

Denver
Youth
Urban Planning
Millennials
Population


Super Bowl Is Over. Now for Next Season.

Abstract: DETROIT, Feb. 6 - In the moments after he had clutched the Lombardi Trophy to his chest Sunday night, Dan Rooney, the Pittsburgh Steelers' chairman, announced that it would not be squeezed in next to the four trophies that stand as sentries to the team's offices, totems to the dominance of the Steelers of the 1970's. Rooney said that the trophy Pittsburgh won Sunday night would stand alone, a reminder that no Super Bowl championship team should stand in the shadow of even a dynasty. The question now -- already -- is whether the Steelers may have to make as much room in that new trophy case as they needed in the old one. Coach Bill Cowher said Monday that he would reflect on Super Bowl XL, a 21-10 victory against the Seattle Seahawks, for the rest of the week. But after that, the party is over. As a result of their Super Bowl runs, the Steelers and the Seahawks are behind in planning for the free-agency period, which begins March 3. And the decisions they make in the coming weeks will say a lot about whether they have a chance to contend again next season. "What the Pittsburgh team did in the 1970's put the city of Pittsburgh on the map," Cowher said at his news conference Monday morning. "I couldn't even imagine doing that. What Bill Belichick has done with the Patriots, that's hard." The Seahawks, who made the first Super Bowl appearance in the franchise's 30 seasons, have the biggest potential free agent in Shaun Alexander, the league's most valuable player. They want to keep him, and Alexander has said he wants to return to Seattle. But Alexander could command a considerable signing bonus, perhaps as much as $20 million, and that may be too rich for the Seahawks. He will be 29 by the start of next season, an age at which other running backs have begun to decline. Alexander's agent was quoted last week as saying that the sides were still too far apart to make any predictions. If Alexander were to leave, the Seahawks would have a gaping hole in their offense. His departure would significantly damage the team's hopes of remaining the National Football Conference's elite team. If Alexander stays, the Seahawks have a young team with a spectacular offensive line playing in front of a star running back and a Pro Bowl quarterback. "I believe that Seattle is really, really close to being a dominant football team," Alexander told reporters after the game Sunday. "We can have a great tradition for a long time. I want to be a part of that. But fair is fair. My gut tells me Seattle is going to be fair." Even Coach Mike Holmgren's status could become a distraction in the off-season. He is entering the final year of his contract, which, under normal circumstances, no coach likes to do. But the 57-year-old Holmgren has plenty of outside interests, and he may not want to remain a coach for much longer. His future figures to be the most pressing issue for management after Alexander's. Cowher is going nowhere, although his offensive coordinator, Ken Whisenhunt, who helped open up the offense during the playoffs, is expected to interview for the Raiders' head-coaching job. Losing assistants is one of the pitfalls of sustained success. Just ask Belichick, who lost his offensive and defensive coordinators after last year's Super Bowl, then lost his defensive coordinator for the 2005 season, Eric Mangini, to the Jets. Still, the Steelers would seem to be in position for a sustained run at the top of the American Football Conference. They were 15-1 and the top-seeded team in 2004 before losing to the Patriots in the conference championship. Their core will remain together, except for the retiring Jerome Bettis. And, like the Patriots of recent years, the Steelers have a young, improving quarterback to rely on. The three-game losing streak that imperiled their season began when Ben Roethlisberger was out with a knee injury. Racked by the worst nerves of his career, Roethlisberger played miserably Sunday night, finishing with a 22.6 quarterback rating. He may never equal Tom Brady's three Super Bowl victories, but his coming-of-age performance in the playoffs indicates that he is the kind of quarterback who can keep the Steelers in contention for years. Hines Ward, the game's most valuable player, signed a contract extension before the season and will probably retire as a Steeler. The way Ward's situation was handled may indicate how the Steelers will deal with this off-season. With one year remaining on his contract, Ward wanted an extension and held out for nearly two weeks of training camp. After several phone conversations with Cowher, Ward returned to camp, with the assurance that he would receive a new contract. He did, in a gesture that surely sent a signal to other players that the Steelers, even in the salary-cap era, try to take care of their own. Receiver Antwaan Randle El, whose dazzling touchdown pass to Ward secured the victory Sunday, is a free agent. Randle El moved into the starting lineup after Plaxico Burress signed with the Giants last March. He is the sort of versatile player who fits perfectly into a team that loves gadget plays. But center Jeff Hartings, who was named to the Pro Bowl as a reserve, may be more vulnerable. The offensive line is the guts of the offense, which still relies on the running game. Hartings, who helped running back Willie Parker rush for 1,202 yards this season, is to make $4 million next season, and that is more than the Steelers can afford to pay him. He will be asked to take a pay cut, and if he refuses, he will almost certainly be released. Quarterback Tommy Maddox is certainly on the way out. He was supplanted by Charlie Batch as Roethlisberger's backup after shaky performances while Roethlisberger was injured. Batch is also a free agent, but the Steelers want to keep him. Three starters -- cornerback Deshea Townsend, free safety Chris Hope and defensive end Kimo von Oelhoffen -- will also be free agents, as will the backup defensive end Brett Keisel. "It's part of the business," Ward said. But on Monday, Cowher spoke of going home to watch his daughters play in their high school basketball games. He joked about becoming an assistant coach, having his wife telling him where to go and whom to take with him. For the Steelers and the Seahawks, such moments are luxuries. The decisions about which play to run have ended. The long climb back to the Super Bowl has begun.

PITTSBURGH STEELERS
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS
FREE AGENTS (SPORTS)
SUPER BOWL
FOOTBALL


Fears Over Aftermath of Mexico Floods

Abstract: VILLAHERMOSA, Mexico , Nov. 6 — Many parts of this city remained underwater on Tuesday, more than a week after torrential rain swelled rivers that then burst their banks, as the authorities and residents expressed concern about the potential for looting and for outbreaks of disease. In the neighborhood Las Gaviotas, one of the hardest hit, the floodwaters were more than nine feet deep. “We were the first to leave and we will be the last to go back,” said Ruth Sánchez Acosta, who was staying with friends near Villahermosa’s main cathedral. In flooded areas of Villahermosa, the capital of the Gulf state of Tabasco, many residents paid quick visits to their houses as the waters receded to feed abandoned pets, retrieve soggy clothes and lay sodden furniture out to dry on the roof. The authorities began pumping water from Villahermosa’s commercial district, and by the end of the afternoon Paseo Tabasco, the main avenue, which last week was a broad canal under seven feet of water, had become a shallow channel. But the receding waters also heightened the risk of disease. Officials said there was no sign yet of epidemics, although the floodwaters’ descent could lead to outbreaks of diseases like malaria, dengue fever and cholera. Officials said they planned to spray the city to prevent outbreaks. Along the flooded streets, the risk of disease was visible. Dead chickens, dogs and even pigs floated in the water. New medical teams arrived in the city, joining teams of medical workers and police officers from elsewhere in Mexico. The lower waters also made it easier for looters to get into abandoned houses. Residents said thieves had been traveling the flooded streets at night. During the day, soldiers and police officers patrolled some of the flooded streets, but they were not present at night. Thousands of people in flooded areas chose to remain on their roofs to guard their few possessions. In a radio interview on Tuesday, José Luis Luege, the head of Mexico’s National Water Commission, said it would take a couple of weeks to pump out many neighborhoods. Residents of Las Gaviotas, he said, would not be able to go home until the end of the month. Authorities raised the death toll in Tabasco to three. In the neighboring state of Chiapas, where a mudslide late Sunday in the riverside village of Juan de Grijalva left at least 16 people missing, the authorities said that they had found two bodies and that they were continuing to search for more. An estimated 60,000 to 70,000 people were being housed in shelters, Interior Minister Francisco Ramírez Acuña said in a television interview on Tuesday. He estimated that some 400,000 people in Tabasco would need some kind of government aid to get back on their feet. President Felipe Calderón visited both Tabasco and Chiapas on Tuesday. He announced a reconstruction fund of about $670 million, but admitted that it would be only a start. The Tabasco governor, Andrés Grenier, said the damage had reached almost $5 billion. The natural disaster in low-lying Tabasco has captured the country’s attention. Mexicans have donated food, water, clothes, diapers and medicine.


With Clear Vision, Two Americans Brace for Rio’s Polluted Waters

Abstract: If a broken spine, two fractured ribs and a lacerated kidney did not put an end to Helena Scutt’s Olympic dreaming, it should come as no surprise that she and her crewmate, Paris Henken, are not prepared to let the health risks in Rio de Janeiro dissuade them from taking part in their first Games. Last month, Scutt and Henken became the first American sailors to qualify for the Rio Games. They will sail in a new Olympic class, the 49erFX, a high-performance skiff that looks more like a high-wire act and is open only to women. In light of the speed and the ocean spray and the fact that competitors are suspended off the boat on trapeze wires, the 49erFX is also one of the events that will put athletes in closest contact with the polluted waters of Guanabara Bay . “At this point it’s obviously not ideal, and I’m not the first to say that,” Scutt said in a telephone interview from Henken’s home in Coronado, Calif. “But we’re really trying not to be distracted by it. The team’s prepared us well with medical recommendations and hygiene recommendations. We’ve just been following those and mostly just trying to be able to stay focused on our job, which is to win a medal. “It’s easy for people to say sailors should just throw their hands up and not compete, but the reality is that if we do that, there’s 50 people on line behind us who will take our spot.” Scutt and Henken, bronze medalists in last year’s Pan American Games , have made two training trips to Rio — in December 2014 and August 2015 — and plan to spend much of May, June and July there in preparation for the Olympics, which begin Aug. 5. The major concern remains falling ill during the Games. Both said they had received the recommended vaccinations and taken precautions — they plan to keep their mouths closed as much as possible during racing and to hose down their equipment each time they return to shore — and while Scutt took antibiotics as a preventive measure on one Rio visit, she said that she did not believe that was a viable option for the longer stay ahead. Image Henken and Scutt sailed in the Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta last August off Rio de Janeiro. Credit Matthew Stockman/Getty Images “We’ll just continue to keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Scutt said. “We’re absolutely in favor of efforts to clean up the bay, as we would be for anywhere else in the world. But at this point we are realistic about the timelines, and we’ve seen it, and we know we are going to keep seeing it.” They are taking a similar approach with concerns about the Zika virus, which has some female Olympians, like the soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo, expressing doubts about making the journey. Health officials and Olympic organizers have struggled to determine the risks posed by the mosquito-borne Zika virus, its potential effects on pregnant women and even the ways in which it can be transmitted, as it spreads through more than two dozen countries in the Americas. “I’m not thinking about being pregnant any time soon,” Henken, 20, said of concerns about the virus. “We’re not going to be afraid because of mosquitoes. We’ve been informed about the dangers and the risks and stuff, but we’re O.K. We’re not worried.” Henken and Scutt, 23, will be among the youngest members of the United States sailing team when it is completed. Scutt was born in Britain before moving with her British parents to the Seattle area when she was 2. She came relatively late to competitive sailing, after playing elite soccer as a youth, and graduated from Stanford with a degree in biomechanical engineering. Henken is a part of a sailing family from Coronado, the small resort city just across the bridge from San Diego that was once one of the hubs of the America’s Cup races. Henken’s family moved there from San Clemente, where her father, Edmond, still has his orthodontics practice, in part to find a better sailboat racing program for Paris; her twin brother, Sterling; and their older brother, Hans. Image Scutt, left, and Henken will sail in a new Olympic class, the 49erFX, in which competitors are suspended off the boat on trapeze wires. Credit Matthew Stockman/Getty Images Hans, who sailed on the Stanford team and is dating Scutt, just missed making the Olympic team himself. He and his crewmate, Judge Ryan, are the alternates in the 49er class, the well-established forerunner of the 49erFX. “These boats are very challenging from the point of view that they are very overpowered and very tippy,” said Charlie McKee, U.S. Sailing’s high performance director, who was instrumental in pairing Scutt and Henken in 2013. “Most Olympic boats are very difficult to sail well, but these when it gets windy and wavy are difficult just to get around the track without flipping .” McKee, a former Olympic medalist who has known Henken since childhood, said that she had an innate ability to embrace risk and that he had seen her smiling and laughing in daunting situations during races. “That is something that is very hard to coach or teach,” he said. But there were no laughs in Marseille, France, in September 2013 when Henken and Scutt, competing in their first world championships in the 49erFX, sailed upwind during a race and came too close to a competitor heading downwind. Scutt, suspended out wide, was struck full force by the other boat’s wing, fracturing her spine. “The boats didn’t touch — it was just my body,” she said. “And both boats went from full speed to flipped over in a split-second.” Scutt never lost consciousness, and amid the intense pain she said she was reassured by being able to feel herself wiggle her toes in the water. “I thought: At least I’m not paralyzed,” she said. Scutt said the major medical concern was internal bleeding from a lacerated kidney. Henken said she had nightmares after the accident. “I’m the one who steers the boat, and I thought I could have done something more to avoid it,” she said. “But Helena and I talked right after she got out of the hospital, and she assured me it wasn’t my fault and she didn’t hold anything against me.” When Scutt returned to Stanford for her senior year, she had limited mobility and needed a golf cart to make it to class. But she was able to resume sailing by winter break and, despite the concerns of her family and plenty of reflection of her own, she said she was eager to resume competing in 2014 even if close encounters with other boats still cause her to flash back on occasion. She and Henken have had to hustle and take chances to make their first Olympic team. They raised more than $100,000 on their own to supplement national program funding, and each put her studies on hold in December 2014. Henken took a leave from the College of Charleston after one semester; Scutt stopped work on her master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Stanford. Both intend to re-enroll in the fall, and with financing secure for next season, they should be able to focus only on academics and sailing. But first is Rio, and the opportunity and risks now symbolized by Guanabara Bay, so scenic from afar and so dirty at closer range. “I’m not going to claim to know about the politics behind it all,” Scutt said. “It’s obviously a very populous city with a lot of economic challenges. I’m not going to comment on that because I know it’s far more complex than I could wrap my head around right now, but I just hope the sport is able to draw the attention and momentum not just to Rio but all over. Because it’s really a world issue. It’s not unique to Rio.”

Sailing
2016 Summer Olympics
Water pollution
Brazil
Guanabara Bay
Paris Henken
Helena Scutt


Nebraskans Raise Their Voices in Fight Against Keystone XL Pipeline

Abstract: NELIGH, Neb. — From the edge of a rye field teeming with grasshoppers, Willie Nelson and Neil Young sang on Saturday in opposition to the proposed Keystone XL project, warning through lyrics that a “company wants to build a tar sand pipeline where it don’t belong.” The site of the concert — a patch of farmland where 26 acres of corn were harvested early to create a makeshift parking lot — was as unlikely as the coalition of Nebraskans who have united against Keystone XL and made this state the legal and emotional center of the pipeline opposition. “I’ve told them, ‘You’ll have to haul me out from in front of that bulldozer, because I’m going to protect this farm,’ ” said Art Tanderup, who with his wife, Helen, hosted the concert. Their land in the rolling hills of northeast Nebraska would be directly along the pipeline route. Image A crowd of about 8,000 turned out for the concert on Saturday. Credit Ryan Henriksen for The New York Times It has been six years since TransCanada , an energy company, first proposed this 1,179-mile crude-oil pipeline to southern Nebraska from Alberta. In that time, a group of Nebraska farmers, ranchers, Native Americans and city-dwelling environmentalists has held meeting after meeting to rally opposition to the pipeline and forge a delicate trust as it worked toward a common goal. Keystone XL has broad support nationally from Republicans, who trumpet the pipeline’s potential to create jobs and provide needed energy from an ally. But many people in this usually conservative state have been unmoved by those arguments, and some have pressed the issue in court. Activists have scored some successes. After they complained loudly about the initial route, which would have gone through the ecologically delicate Sandhills region, TransCanada agreed to shift the pipeline eastward. Even with that change, the debate is far from settled. Leaders of the opposition movement now want the pipeline project scrapped altogether, citing concerns about TransCanada and fears that a spill would irreparably harm the Ogallala Aquifer, the underground water source used to irrigate cropland and supply taps across a wide portion of the heartland. Image Willie Nelson at Saturday’s concert. Nebraska’s top judges recently heard a landowners’ challenge to the pipeline project. Credit Ryan Henriksen for The New York Times Because Keystone XL would cross an international border, President Obama will have the final say on whether it is built. He has put off his decision for years, most recently signaling that he would allow the State Department to continue studying the issue while awaiting a decision from the Nebraska Supreme Court. This month, Nebraska’s top judges heard a group of landowners’ arguments challenging the state’s approval process for the route. Their decision will determine whether Gov. Dave Heineman’s support of the route is sufficient to allow construction in Nebraska, or whether a five-member state commission must review the company’s application. The justices might not rule until after the midterm elections. Mr. Heineman, a Republican, opposed the initial route through the Sandhills, but last year approved the revised path, saying it avoided sensitive lands and could be operated safely. The years of delays, and the potential for yet more waiting, have frustrated TransCanada officials, who insist the project would be safe and an economic boon, with farmers among the beneficiaries. Image Tashina Red Hawk, a 10-year-old Sicangu Lakota Indian from Rosebud, S.D., attended the event. Credit Ryan Henriksen for The New York Times “The need for Keystone XL hasn’t changed,” said Shawn Howard, a company spokesman. “Our customers continue to remain behind it. We need a decision and we need the politics behind it to stop.” But Dave Domina, a lawyer who represented that group of Nebraska landowners before the State Supreme Court, said his clients had grown frustrated with TransCanada and were worried about the pipeline’s impact on future generations. “I think what it says about Nebraskans is, first and foremost, don’t try pushing us around,” said Mr. Domina, who is also the state’s Democratic nominee for the United States Senate. Of course, not all Nebraskans oppose Keystone XL. Plenty of landowners have signed agreements allowing TransCanada to build on their property, and many other residents have long been satisfied that the project is in the state’s interest. Image Signs indicating the pipeline stance. Credit Ryan Henriksen for The New York Times Paul Landow, a political science professor at the University of Nebraska Omaha, said urban Nebraskans tend to favor pipeline construction while more residents of rural areas are opposed. Professor Landow said the coalition of opponents has presented its case smartly and, to a certain extent, been effective. Still, he said, the pipeline debate most likely will not be a deciding factor in statewide political contests. At Saturday’s Harvest the Hope concert, where about 8,000 people turned off the gravel road to spend the afternoon at the Tanderup farm, many spoke emotionally and at length about their opposition to the pipeline and the problems they fear it portends. Leaders of Native American tribes from Nebraska and South Dakota said they would take whatever steps necessary to protect their land. Landowners told reporters they feared the pipeline would tarnish the soil for their grandchildren. And Mr. Nelson and Mr. Young tied Keystone XL to the broader issues of climate change and corporate influence in politics. They urged Nebraskans to continue working to block the pipeline’s construction and protect the environment. “I know it’s a great thing we’re doing,” Mr. Young said from the stage. “But even if we don’t win this round, we’re going to be even stronger next time.”

Nebraska
Keystone Pipeline
TransCanada Corporation
Ogallala Aquifer
Willie Nelson
Neil Young
Dave Domina
Dave Heineman


At La Guardia, a Break From Work and Preflight Pizza Pies

Abstract: Catering to the wheels-up-in-an-hour crowd, this no-nonsense Mediterranean restaurant in the basement food court at La Guardia Airport is light on atmosphere and heavy on preflight boozers. It can nonetheless feel cozy at the dark end of a February snowstorm — especially when packed with delayed travelers, including two identically dressed white-shirted businessmen from the Midwest. — ALAN FEUER IN THE SEATS The boss, Gerard McMaster, the 47-year-old treasurer of what he called “a very large” retail operation based in Michigan, and one of his subordinates, Glen Tomaszewski, 40, a company controller. ON THE PLATES For Mr. Tomaszewski, the safe choice of a pizza margherita: fresh tomatoes , mozzarella, garlic, basil and Parmesan cheese ($11.99.) For Mr. McMaster, the somewhat bolder Bronx Bomber pizza (ordered despite his Tigers-loving claims of “anyone but the Yankees”): classic cheese with spicy pepperoni ($12.99.) WHY THEY CAME To grab a quick bite before their 8:24 p.m. flight back to Detroit on Tuesday, following a day spent in the corporate equivalent of a root canal: meeting with the bankers. Believe these gentlemen on the front line of business that it is not impossible to raise money these days, it’s just, as Mr. McMaster put it, “a little more costly.” Still, one has to wonder if the visitors from the heartland had any harsh words for their New York financiers, whose brethren have caused such damage to the body economic. “Not today,” Mr. McMaster said slyly. WHAT THEY TALKED ABOUT Critical information-technology matters like which is the more adaptive console — the PlayStation 3, the Wii or the GameCube. Also, corporate media strategy, which is to say, the movies: from “Inglourious Basterds” (“Very violent, very funny, very entertaining,” Mr. Tomaszewski said) to “Avatar” (“Better than I thought.”) The more the snow fell, the more the conversation wandered from the boardroom. “We’ll talk about anything,” Mr. McMaster said, “except business.”


Hit by Fuel Costs, Con Ed Projects Bigger Increase in Bills

Abstract: Con Edison is expecting to bill its residential customers in New York City and Westchester County 22 percent more for electricity this summer than last because of rising fuel costs, officials at the utility said on Friday. A customer who uses 350 kilowatt-hours of power per month, a typical amount, would pay about $105, $19 more than a year ago and $8 more than an estimate at the end of May. Business customers will most likely see their bills rise 25 percent, to an average of $2,893.08 a month. The expected increase for June through September, detailed in an internal monthly memo and reported in The Daily News on Friday, is nearly twice the 13 percent increase that Con Edison had forecast. With natural gas prices rising and oil near record highs, the utility revised its estimates. “It’s all due to rising fuel costs,” said Chris Olert, a spokesman for Con Edison. “We make no money on power generation. If we pay X cents per kilowatt-hour, our customers pay X cents per kilowatt-hour as well.” Con Edison passes along its energy costs dollar-for-dollar to its 3.2 million customers, but makes money on the transmission and delivery of that power. The rates it can charge for transmission are set by state regulators in Albany; there was a 4.9 percent increase in April. Though Con Edison routinely passes along its fuel costs, some lawmakers said that the utility’s executives should try harder to keep costs down. “Con Ed is continuing to fleece taxpayers while giving exorbitant pay packages to its executives,” complained Eric N. Gioia, a city councilman who represents Sunnyside and other areas of Queens and is planning to run for public advocate next year. “New Yorkers deserve better.” “In the past year, when the price of food, milk, rent and transit has gone up, New Yorkers can ill afford yet another price increase for their utility bills,” Mr. Gioia added. According to a filing to securities regulators made by Con Edison in April, Kevin Burke, the utility’s chief executive, received $5.52 million in compensation last year, nearly $800,000 more than in 2006. State Assemblyman Michael N. Gianaris, Democrat of Queens, said that when Con Edison gets approval from state regulators to charge more, it should explain to customers that different parts of their bills are rising at different speeds. The average of the different categories, he said, gives customers the false impression that their bills are not increasing as fast.

Consolidated Edison Inc
Prices (Fares Fees and Rates)
Oil (Petroleum) and Gasoline
Gioia Eric N


N.Y.C. Pay Project Overseer Warned About Management in ’03

Abstract: Last week, federal prosecutors sketched out what they said was an $80 million scheme to defraud a giant information technology project to automate the payroll system for New York City employees. The participants in the fraud essentially stole the money for their own enrichment, billing the city for work they did not do, the prosecutors charged. But some city officials had huge concerns as far back as 2003 about the integrity of the project, whose costs have ballooned by hundreds of millions of dollars. In a scathing letter made available on Monday through a state Freedom of Information Law request, the city official in charge of overseeing the project, known as CityTime , accused the company that designed CityTime, SAIC , of repeatedly delaying the project in order to get paid more, failing to hew to basic industry standards and rewriting contracts on its own. The official even predicted, sarcastically, that SAIC would try, in a year’s time, to charge the city “8,000 hours” for shoddy work. The letter, dated Feb. 19, 2003, offers a devastating critique of the company, and raises questions about the city monitors of the project — the mayor’s and comptroller’s offices. And the consultants hired to ensure quality control, it appears, were doing very little of it. In the letter, Richard R. Valcich, executive director of the city’s Office of Payroll Administration, assailed SAIC, a giant engineering company based in McLean, Va., for conducting numerous reviews without approval from the city, other than to “further delay the project and, of course, increase SAIC’s costs.” Mr. Valcich also said “a certain level of professionalism and compliance with acceptable industry standard practices is expected of a contractor for the execution of a $100 million-plus project.” The cost of the project is now more than $600 million, and counting. Stating that SAIC’s “commitment to quality is almost nonexistent,” Mr. Valcich also described a document outlining SAIC’s plans to finish the project as a “straw man” and said “the cost in ill will, damage to SAIC’s credibility and reputation within the city, and reduction of expectations within SAIC’s team are a high price to pay for this document.” Marc LaVorgna, a spokesman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, said the administration was reviewing the 2003 letter. But he pointed out that Mr. Bloomberg did say, in remarks on Monday, that the city was “determining what future role SAIC can have on the project and which SAIC employees can have a role in it.” Mr. Bloomberg added: “We just have zero tolerance, absolutely zero tolerance, for any kind of corruption whatsoever. And going forward, we’ve taken some steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again.” A spokeswoman for the city comptroller, John C. Liu, whose audit this year highlighted some of the issues that eventually surfaced in the federal indictment, said Monday that the letter reinforced his concerns about SAIC. In September, Mr. Liu announced that he was withholding $32 million to SAIC until June, contingent on its full and timely completion of the CityTime project. “This 2003 letter, and moreover the lack of discernible follow-up to it, was key to solidifying a strong consensus within our office that the contract should not be renewed,” said Sharon Lee, the spokeswoman for Mr. Liu. “Serious questions have long been raised about this consultant’s ability and intent to deliver quality on time within budget.” When asked about the letter, Laura Luke, a spokeswoman for SAIC, said, “SAIC recognized the deficiencies in the CityTime program in 2003 and worked closely with the city on assessing and fixing the problems addressed in the February 2003 letter.” Ms. Luke added: “A year after the February 2003 letter, the city told us we were working well together and approved our personnel, approach and overall architecture. This weekend, the CityTime system will be expanded to over 100,000 city employees.” Mr. Valcich retired in 2004. He did not return phone calls on Monday seeking comment about his letter. But Mr. Valcich’s successor as executive director, Joel Bondy, could figure in the investigation, which is continuing. Mr. Bondy, who has not returned calls for comment after six people were indicted in the case on Wednesday, is close to Mark Mazer, who is accused of being the mastermind behind the scheme. On Thursday, Mr. Bondy, who has not been charged, was suspended without pay.

Frauds and Swindling
Valcich Richard R.
Office of Payroll Administration (NYC)
Science Applications International Corp
New York City


Of Rings and Moons

Abstract: Q. Why haven’t the icy particles and dust that make up the rings of Saturn coalesced into a moon ? A. NASA scientists suggest that some of the moons of Saturn are giving rise to rings, rather than vice versa. Saturn has a complicated array of rings as well as more than 50 known icy moons, and more moons are being discovered. The latest is apparently a moonlet announced in 2007, found by the Cassini space probe in a bright area of Saturn’s faint G ring, one of the outer rings. It was the only ring not previously known to be associated with a moon. Scientists say they believe it is an agglomeration of relatively large particles and a main source of the particles in the ring. It is not known for sure if the rings of Saturn date from very early in the history of the solar system or are comparatively recent, but NASA suggests that they formed at different times and in different processes. For example, Cassini found what NASA describes as “ a great plume of icy material blasting from the moon Enceladus ,” believed to be a major source of material for the E ring. Moreover, NASA says, “most of the planet’s small, inner moons appear to orbit within partial or complete rings formed from particles blasted off their surfaces by impacts of micrometeoroids.” Cassini also found that Rhea, another of the moons of Saturn, apparently has its own rings.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration


Imagining Hong Kong’s Future, Under China’s Tightening Grasp

Abstract: HONG KONG — What will Hong Kong be like a decade from now? When his new film “Ten Years,” which answers that question with five dystopian tales set in 2025, was denounced as a “thought virus” by the Chinese state-run newspaper Global Times, the Hong Kong director Ng Ka-leung was unfazed. “If anything, the editorial brought mainland Chinese people’s attention to our small production,” said Mr. Ng, who is also one of the film’s two producers. “Ten Years” has become a surprise hit across theaters in Hong Kong, tapping into fears in the semiautonomous Chinese territory over the erosion of local culture and civil liberties, fears fed most recently by the disappearance of five people connected to a Hong Kong company that publishes political books banned in the mainland. Since its general release in late December, most showings have been sold out. With a budget of about 500,000 Hong Kong dollars, or about $64,000, the indie production had raked in nearly 5 million Hong Kong dollars by Thursday, Mr. Ng said. On Friday, it received a best film nomination for the Hong Kong Film Awards . “We didn’t even spend a dollar on promotion,” he said. “We initially thought we were only going to show it in private screenings and had never expected such huge demand.” In its five short stories, each by a different director, “Ten Years” portrays the Hong Kong of the near future as struggling under the tightening grip of its Chinese Communist rulers, even though the former British colony was returned to Beijing in 1997 under a “one country, two systems” principle with the promise that its freedoms and way of life would be preserved for 50 years. In one story, “Dialect,” the Mandarin of the mainland has displaced the local Cantonese as the official language. Those who cannot speak it are marginalized. Hank, a taxi driver, has to post a sign saying he does not speak the language. His income is dwindling, as non-Mandarin-speaking drivers are barred from picking up passengers in some areas. Children are taught in Mandarin at school and, in one poignant scene, Hank’s son walks up to him after class calling him the Mandarin “baba” instead of “loudau” in colloquial Cantonese. “Ten years ago, they had to learn Cantonese to be here,” a passenger laments to Hank. In other stories, books are censored, homes are bulldozed against their owners’ will, and the Chinese government meddles in local policy-making, aided by obsequious Hong Kong officials and even hired thugs. “If people weren’t terrified, who would give a damn about the national security law?” a Chinese official asks in “Extras,” in which the Chinese government hires gunmen to stage a terrorist attack in Hong Kong, hoping to frighten people into supporting such legislation. In 2003, the Hong Kong government’s attempt to pass a national security law was halted by half a million protesters, who were concerned that it could be used by the Communist authorities to crush dissent. In “Self-Immolator,” a woman sympathetic to a Hong Kong independence movement pours gasoline over her head and sets herself ablaze outside the British Consulate, a scene that could have been inspired by protests in 2014 urging the British government to stand up against China’s treatment of Hong Kong. Fantastic as these fables might be, they have clearly resonated with many people in Hong Kong. “The movie is a reminder that if we do nothing, Hong Kong will become another Shenzhen,” said Oscar Lai, who watched the film with fellow activists from the pro-democracy group Scholarism. People can discuss just about anything freely in Hong Kong, unlike in Shenzhen, the mainland city on its northern border. But in his annual policy address last year, Hong Kong’s leader, Leung Chun-ying, sternly warned against an article in a campus magazine that he said advocated “self-determination and self-reliance.” Though an independence movement has yet to gain traction in Hong Kong, polls show younger residents distancing themselves from a Chinese identity and wary of closer integration. In 2014, most of them supported, and many participated in, months of protests for freer elections in Hong Kong, startling the world with their defiance and civility . This month, thousands of people took to the city’s streets to protest the disappearance of the five associates of Mighty Current, a local publisher of scandalous, often thinly sourced, books about Chinese leaders, worried that they had been spirited into China against their will. The Hong Kong police are still investigating how one, Lee Bo , managed to enter mainland China, where he is said to be “ assisting in an investigation, ” without his travel document. The fastest way to cross the border these days, joked a cartoonist for The South China Morning Post, a local English-language newspaper, is by opening a bookshop. Image In one of the stories in “Ten Years,” taxi drivers who cannot speak Mandarin find themselves barred from certain districts in Hong Kong. Credit Andy Wong “Hong Kong people did not care about the booksellers until the disappearance of Lee Bo, the only one who went missing from Hong Kong, not in the mainland or Thailand,” said Nathan Law, secretary general of the Federation of Students, a union active in democracy movements. The group has organized screenings of the film at universities in coming weeks. “People had thought they were safe in Hong Kong,” he said. “The government's intransigence to people’s demand for democracy has shaken our confidence in ‘one country, two systems’ since Aug. 31,” he said, referring to the day in 2014 that China announced stringent restrictions on elections in Hong Kong. The move set off the months of protests known as the Umbrella Revolution . Even the scathing Global Times editorial , describing “Ten Years” as doing “more harm than good” to the city, acknowledged some of the fears reflected in the film. “The film’s popularity in Hong Kong is generally thought to speak to Hong Kong’s deep anxiety in the past two years,” it said. “Clearly, the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’ is more complicated than thought.” After the editorial’s publication, comments written in the simplified Chinese characters used in mainland China began appearing on the film’s Facebook page, with many expressing a wish for the film to be shown in the mainland. Like a gamer who has scored a triumph, Mr. Ng’s assistant posted “Achievement unlocked” on the film’s Facebook page , wearing the Global Times’s disapproval as a badge of honor. While Mr. Ng agrees that the film portrays a dark future, he points viewers to glimmers of hope. In the closing story, “Local Egg,” which he directed, banned books are pulled off the shelves. But many are stowed away in a secret location, where they are avidly read by rows of young people under a dim tungsten light.

Movies
Hong Kong
China
Censorship
Ng Ka-leung
Lee Bo
Civil Unrest
Scholarism
Ten Years


Parodying Cable News With a Talk About Race

Abstract: On Tuesday night on MSNBC’s “All In,” Chris Hayes had a very direct conversation about race with the Gawker writer Cord Jefferson. Prompted by a news report of a group of young people in Huntington Beach, Calif., who looted and vandalized property, the pair lamented the lack of community leadership and suggested that acting out in that manner was a learned behavior. It was a joke. Actually, there were two beats to the joke. The young people they were talking about were white. And the whole discussion was a put-on, a satire meant to show how lame the hoary race tropes of cable news have become. As a comedy bit, it was very well done. Both men were straight-faced and earnest. Mr. Hayes, tapping his inner Bill O’Reilly, did a fine job of bloviating his way through an introduction heavy with outrage: “The story of the white criminal culture is not a story the mainstream media will tell you. But once you scratch the surface, these stories are everywhere you look.” Mr. Jefferson, whose post on Gawker prompted the TV bit, was the designated finger-wagging scold (a black man taking measure of white pathology). “These young people are learning this kind of behavior in lacrosse camps,” he said. “They’re learning this kind of behavior at college spring break. They’re learning this kind of behavior at Ivy League fraternities where drug use and binge drinking are normalized behavior.” Cable news and humor are generally matter and antimatter, with self-selected audiences listening intently while self-serious anchors lion-tame guests fighting for the last sound bite. Nuance doesn’t do well on cable, and complexity goes there to die. As a result, something as fraught as race often ends up being covered in cartoonish ways during signal events like the death of Trayvon Martin. All of the familiar trademarks of cable silliness were there in the faux news segment. Mr. Hayes and Mr. Jefferson prattled on while a video news loop showed, over and over, a handful of individuals trashing outhouses and a bike store after a surfing contest, all the while drawing lessons from thin air and moralizing over fake sociological claptrap. It was, in other words, a very standard bit of cable news. As such, it was both striking and very much of a piece with the universe it was parodying. Is “Fox and Friends” real? Does Chris Matthews really feel all shout-y and frantic about every little wobble in the political debate? Can Mr. O’Reilly really be as deeply offended by almost everything he sees, or Rachel Maddow as surprised as she acts about things that aren’t that surprising? At some point, we all know that Anderson Cooper’s bottomless pit of empathy and umbrage is running on empty. Speaking by telephone on Thursday, Mr. Hayes said that the risks of inserting satire into a format built on sobriety were worth it. “It’s definitely entering dangerous territory because the social contract assumes that when I express opinions, those are genuinely my opinions,” he said. “You don’t mess with that lightly, but we thought it would be illuminating to play with those conventions.” The segment on “All In” began with a written warning — “the following is a satirization of recent news analysis” — and ended with a return to preachiness, with Mr. Hayes wagging a finger, this time he meant it, and suggesting that viewers needed to see that coverage of black America was just as silly. Image On MSNBC’s “All In” on Tuesday, the host Chris Hayes, left, had a satirical conversation about race with the Gawker writer Cord Jefferson. But it was still a bit of a moment. Instead of waiting for Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert to clip and annotate cable vapidity, MSNBC was temporarily acting as a kind of self-cleaning oven, parodying the excesses of cable from a very near distance. “I think it was sort of brilliant,” said Jeffrey P. Jones, the director of the Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia, and the author of “Entertaining Politics.” “What they did has been done before in all kinds of ways, but the context, of putting the satire right into a cable news show, makes it very powerful.” Pop culture is perishable. Certain things that seem like givens — that there will always be people at desks on television telling us what we should think about what happened that day — can eventually run out of gas. The growing bankruptcy of cable news reminds me of the rise and fall of celebrity profiles in magazines. After years of churning out breathless stories about this or that star, writers grew bored with the formula. They began to undermine it in self-conscious ways, sometimes writing a profile that was mostly about how dumb and hard it was to write a profile. You can only take so many rides in a convertible with the starlet or watch as she sips lattes at the Chateau Marmont before it becomes hard to act like an actual transaction is under way. Making news entertaining on a live television show is no easy thing, either. MSNBC and Fox News have to hunt down red meat every day for their political bases, while CNN has to search for traction in the middle. On those days when Edward J. Snowden is not freed from the Moscow airport or a man isn’t convicted of enslaving women, they still have to turn on the lights and begin talking. It’s simple math that the people caught in the cameras will eventually say and do dumb things to fill white space. Beating up on its excesses is like riding down the hill after a bloody battle and shooting the wounded. That doesn’t mean that “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” aren’t great, only that they operate in a target-rich environment. And it is worth pointing out that they serve as a primary source of information for many viewers. Those shows are about to get a bit of company. Fusion, a joint venture of ABC News and Univision, announced last week that its initial prime-time lineup, starting in September, will include a news satire show produced by David Javerbaum, an executive producer on “The Daily Show” from 2006 to 2012. In some respects, the fact that Mr. Hayes broke some ground is not surprising. He is a relative newcomer to the land of prime-time cable talkers, doesn’t have much in the way of ratings at risk, and is more self-aware than others on cable news. And NBC is a natural home for a wink: Brian Williams, the anchor of the “Nightly News,” has always been on the playful side about the conventions of “anchordom.” “The biggest challenge is to find a way to surprise viewers and subvert expectations,” said Mr. Hayes, adding that he loved the generally positive response the segment had received online and elsewhere. “The format is in need of evolution.” Mr. Jefferson of Gawker described the segment as “a one-act play on racism.” He suggested that because a generation of viewers has become accustomed, and devoted, to the work of Mr. Stewart and Mr. Colbert, “it makes sense that others begin to incorporate what they do so well.” Those shows have created a generation of meta-news consumers who are in on the joke and already know the story. What remains is the appetite for context and meaning, the kind of thing great satire supplies in abundance. The next generation of information consumers might demand their news with the jokes already tacked on.

TV
Comedy
News media,journalism
Race and Ethnicity
MSNBC
Chris Hayes


Intrigue and Plot Twists in Global Climate Talks

Abstract: In the otherwise ponderous and unhurried context of global climate negotiations, the past two weeks have seen a variety of gripping twists. It started this month in Singapore, where Barack Obama, the U.S. president, and other leaders used the sidelines of an economic forum to deflate expectations for a treaty at the December climate summit meeting in Copenhagen. “There was an assessment by the leaders that it is unrealistic to expect a full internationally, legally binding agreement could be negotiated between now and Copenhagen,” Michael Froman, a deputy U.S. national security adviser, said at the time. Those rooting for a climate pact at Copenhagen were left to mull over the meeting’s shrinking significance until — twist! — computer hackers turned the global climate conversation on its head with a trove of spicy e-mail messages. The correspondence — apparently purloined from a server at a British research center — suggested that a few of the globe’s pre-eminent climate scientists were of a sniveling sort, and perhaps inclined to fudge data, stifle contradictory voices and even traffic in a bit of geeky machismo. “Next time I see Pat Michaels at a scientific meeting,” reads a message allegedly from Benjamin D. Santer, a climate scientist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, referring to a fellow climatologist and skeptic of human-driven warming, “I’ll be tempted” to beat him up. As they relate to the notion that human industry — in its myriad forms — is having some sort of effect on the climate, the effect of the hacked e-mail messages seemed negligible. “No individual or small group of scientists is in a position to exclude a peer-reviewed paper” from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Rajendra K. Pachauri, the chairman of that panel, wrote in a statement late last week. The I.P.C.C., in reviewing the vast body of climate research, has asserted that human activity — that is to say, the combustion of fossil fuels, the burning of forests, and so forth — is “very likely” contributing to global warming. But for those inclined to view climate change as a grand hoax perpetrated by a tight-lipped conspiracy of environmentalists and clean-technology investors, the e-mail messages were red meat. “I certainly don’t condone the manner in which these e-mails were released,” Senator James Inhofe, a Republican from Oklahoma and a longtime skeptic of global-warming science, said in a statement last week. “However, now that they are in the public domain, lawmakers have an obligation to determine the extent to which the so-called ‘consensus’ of global warming, formed with billions of taxpayer dollars, was contrived in the biased minds of the world’s leading climate scientists.” Mr. Inhofe’s call for an investigation — twist! — had barely escaped his lips when the results of a Washington Post-ABC News poll were released, suggesting that the percentage of Americans who believe that global warming is happening had dipped to 72 percent from 80 percent over the past year. “It’s a sad state of affairs when science becomes subject to partisan politics,” Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster, was quoted as saying in The Post. “It can only be attributed to the sense that this issue has become part of a political battle.” Of course, the matter has always been so. Climate change pits the industrialized world, which has the financial means to adapt to a hotter planet, against poor ones demanding recompense for a problem they did little to create. It pits prosperous countries, which became so through copious use of fossil fuels, against developing economies reluctant to put a price on carbon, now that it’s their turn to grow. And it pits comparatively fuel-efficient and carbon-capping blocs like the European Union against a more reluctant and politically divided United States, itself keenly eyeing CO2-spewing trade rivals like China. Such was the stalled geopolitical tableau into which the climate-science e-mail “scandal” unfolded until — twist! — Mr. Obama titillated Copenhagen watchers with a pledge Wednesday to appear at the conference armed with a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the United States by something “in the range of” 17 percent below 2005 levels, by 2020. And the United States would aim for a reduction of 83 percent by 2050, White House officials said last week. As my colleague John Broder noted in reporting the announcement, it was “the first time in more than a decade that an American administration has offered even a tentative promise to reduce production of climate-altering gases.” Still, reaction to the American gambit was mixed, with many leaders in Europe expressing disappointment that Mr. Obama planned only a brief appearance near the outset of the two-week negotiations in Copenhagen and that the planned emissions reductions were, by most measures, rather modest. Environmental groups like Greenpeace, for example, were withering in their critique of the announcement. “The proposed emissions reductions target — 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 — is less than one-seventh of what the European Union leaders have said they are prepared to commit,” Greenpeace said in a statement. “The proposed reduction refers to 2005 emissions and not the standard 1990 baseline used by scientists and policy makers around the world,” it said. “Arranging the numbers this way may be more politically palatable, but it misleads the public on information key to its welfare.” Others, though, praised the move as having the potential to reignite the potential for meaningful climate action. “We are thrilled at President Obama’s announcement today,” John Doerr, a partner at the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, said in a statement. Mr. Obama’s presence, Mr. Doerr suggested, would “help drive these issues forward.” And as if on cue — twist! — Chinese leaders said Thursday that they would aim to slow the growth of their country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. For those hoping for ambitious emissions reduction targets from China, the pledge was disappointing — particularly in that it appeared to be even less aspiring than the cautious goals presented by the United States the day before. But few failed to recognize that the Copenhagen plot line — after years, really, of stalemate, lowered expectations and continued scientific bickering — appeared to be moving forward. “As we head towards Copenhagen, the world’s two largest emitters have stepped up to the plate at the highest political level,” Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute, said in a statement. “This shows that international engagement on climate change can produce real results.” The Copenhagen talks begin Dec. 7. Stay tuned.


In Mavericks-Spurs Series, Past Is Present Once More

Abstract: DALLAS — As Manu Ginobili ambled off the court at American Airlines Center on Monday night, it was fairly evident that playoff game No. 161 for him had taken its toll. At this stage, they all do. The San Antonio Spurs had survived against the Dallas Mavericks to even their best-of-seven series at 2-2 in the first round of the playoffs, which at least gave Ginobili something to feel good about. At age 36, he absorbs all the bumps and bruises, the aches and pains. Winning softens the blows. Losing only makes them worse. “You give everything you have,” he said, “and every possession is exhausting and you end up really tired.” Ginobili, one of the more senior members of the league, has plenty of distinguished company in this series, which has turned into a slog for all parties involved. Tony Parker, 31, twisted his left ankle in the second quarter but still supplied the Spurs with 30 minutes in their 93-89 win . Tim Duncan, 38, said there were still some things that San Antonio could “clean up.” Vince Carter, 37, two days removed from a buzzer-beating 3-pointer for the Mavericks in their Game 3 win, went out and misfired on seven of his nine shot attempts in Game 4. Even some of the younger players (a relative description) took their lumps. There was the Spurs’ Tiago Splitter, 29, getting kicked in the head by the Mavericks’ DeJuan Blair, who was whistled for what the officials deemed a “hostile act” and ejected. It was a turning point in the fourth quarter as the Spurs prepared to return to San Antonio for Game 5 on Wednesday. “Game 5s are huge,” said Ginobili, who would know, having won three championships as a professional lifer with the Spurs. “We got a lot of experience on that.” The playoffs, so cluttered with riveting series, have showcased a class of emerging stars: John Wall, Damian Lillard and Stephen Curry, players with young legs and bright futures. But in Texas, the past is the present for at least one more go-round, as two veteran (code for old) teams grind each other to a pulp in their pursuit of the Western Conference semifinals. Consider the plight of Dirk Nowitzki, 35, whose 84th career game against the Spurs — his 23rd in the playoffs — was fraught with defenders who crowded him on the perimeter. Nowitzki shot 7 of 19 from the field, finishing with 19 points. He is shooting 38.5 percent in the series. He acknowledged his deficiencies. “I think they’re forcing me to play off the dribble,” Nowitzki said. “It’s no secret at this point. I’m not the greatest driver anymore, so they’re taking my air space away. That’s what the good teams have basically done my last couple years. But, hey, if it’s not there, I’m going to swing it, and let somebody else make the play.” The Spurs put Nowitzki in another tough spot late in the fourth quarter, on the other side of the ball. Nowitzki was defending Boris Diaw when Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich called for Diaw to set a screen for Parker. The Spurs wanted to force Nowitzki to make a decision: switch onto Parker and help prevent his dribble penetration, or stick with Diaw on the perimeter. Nowitzki helped on Parker, who kicked the ball back out to Diaw for a decisive 3-pointer. Nowitzki could not recover in time. “It’s harder for Dirk to be able to help and come back on the player who set the screen,” Diaw said. There has been an unusual level of candor in this series. These two teams have nothing to hide, not anymore. They know each other too well. So Diaw can talk about tactical decisions, and Ginobili can talk about being exhausted, and Nowitzki can talk about the price of growing old. It has not made the games any less entertaining or enthralling — perhaps the opposite. There is a sense of urgency now. These are players whose careers are closer to the end than to the beginning. Popovich was asked about Nowitzki’s relative lack of production, and he prefaced his response with an exasperated sigh — a Popovich hallmark. “I think Dirk’s been pretty good,” Popovich said. “I mean, he and Timmy aren’t going to score 28 or 30 a game like they used to, probably. You can’t expect those two guys to be doing that every night at this point in their careers. And they’re both getting some good stuff done. They’re both playing well.” Though the Spurs came away with the win, the series has highlighted concerns about their durability after an impressive regular season in which they posted the league’s best record at 62-20. How long can they sustain this sort of effort? Ginobili has been especially resourceful, and a symbol of hope. During the regular season, he averaged 12.3 points in 22.8 minutes per game. In the playoffs, he has averaged 19.8 points in 28.8 minutes per game. He said his production was the result of taking greater care of his body during the regular season — not that he is immune from feeling the effects of a hard series against a bunch of old, familiar foes. “It’s going to be a little sore, for sure,” he said. “But at least it’s going to be sore after a good effort.”

Basketball
Playoffs
Spurs
Mavericks
Manu Ginobili
Dirk Nowitzki
Tim Duncan
Vince Carter


Kerry Says Trip Will Focus on Finding Syria Solution

Abstract: WASHINGTON — Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that he planned to use his first foreign trip to advance new ideas about how to persuade President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to yield power and agree to a political transition. Mr. Kerry’s itinerary has not been formally announced, but he is expected to go to Europe and the Middle East later this month. Though the United States has sought to encourage a negotiated handover of authority to a transitional government, Mr. Assad’s determination to cling to power has proved to be a major, and so far insurmountable, impediment. “I believe there are additional things that can be done to change his current perception,” Mr. Kerry said. “My goal is to see us change his calculation.” Mr. Kerry did not say what ideas he had in mind. But he stressed the importance of trying to find common ground with the Russians, whose cooperation the Americans have long sought in trying to convince Mr. Assad that he is isolated internationally. Russia has publicly insisted that Mr. Assad’s departure from power should not be a precondition for negotiations between the rebels and the government. Russia has also continued to ship arms to the Assad government and provide financial support, American officials say. Mr. Kerry’s comments followed a meeting at the State Department with Jordan’s foreign minister, Nasser Judeh, who made similar comments about the need to narrow differences between Syrian rebels, who have demanded that Mr. Assad give up before a political transition is worked out, and the Syrian president’s supporters. “The positions are far apart, one requiring immediate departure, one saying that discussions will not take place if that is the precondition,” Mr. Judeh said. “So I think you have to go down the middle and try to bridge the two positions together. And I think we’ve seen some initiatives in that regard.” King Abdullah of Jordan is planning to visit Russia soon to discuss Middle East issues, including Syria. And Mr. Kerry indicated that he planned to follow up those discussions. Mr. Kerry’s comment on Syria came a day after Mr. Obama said little about the Syria crisis in his State of the Union address. In that speech, Mr. Obama said he would keep pressure on the Syrian government and support the Syrian opposition politically. But he did not voice confidence, as he had in his 2012 address, that Mr. Assad would soon be forced to relinquish power. Mr. Obama rebuffed a proposal last year by the heads of the C.I.A., State Department and Pentagon that the United States vet and arm a cadre of Syrian rebels. And there has been no indication that the White House is actively reconsidering that plan. Mr. Kerry lowered expectations for the trip Mr. Obama is planning to Israel next month, saying that the president would begin by listening to Israeli and Arab leaders and would not be bringing a major new proposal. “The president is not prepared, at this point in time, to do more than to listen to the parties, which is why he has announced he’s going to go to Israel,” Mr. Kerry said. “I think we start out by listening and get a sense of what the current state of possibilities are and then begin to make some choices.”

Syria
Arab Spring
John Kerry
Bashar al-Assad