In Aiding Poor, Edwards Built Bridge to 2008

Abstract: John Edwards ended 2004 with a problem: how to keep alive his public profile without the benefit of a presidential campaign that could finance his travels and pay for his political staff. Mr. Edwards, who reported this year that he had assets of nearly $30 million, came up with a novel solution, creating a nonprofit organization with the stated mission of fighting poverty. The organization, the Center for Promise and Opportunity, raised $1.3 million in 2005, and — unlike a sister charity he created to raise scholarship money for poor students — the main beneficiary of the center’s fund-raising was Mr. Edwards himself, tax filings show. A spokesman for Mr. Edwards defended the center yesterday as a legitimate tool against poverty. The organization became a big part of a shadow political apparatus for Mr. Edwards after his defeat as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 and before the start of his presidential bid this time around. Its officers were members of his political staff, and it helped pay for his nearly constant travel, including to early primary states. While Mr. Edwards said the organization’s purpose was “making the eradication of poverty the cause of this generation,” its federal filings say it financed “retreats and seminars” with foreign policy experts on Iraq and national security issues. Unlike the scholarship charity, donations to it were not tax deductible, and, significantly, it did not have to disclose its donors — as political action committees and other political fund-raising vehicles do — and there were no limits on the size of individual donations. Mr. Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, set out to keep his political options open by promoting issues he cared about, like poverty. “He wanted to learn, travel and be in a position to be a viable candidate,” said J. Edwin Turlington, a Raleigh lawyer who was the manager of Mr. Edward’s 2003 presidential exploratory committee. “He had the ability to raise money to fund his activities. He had a vision, and he knew it would take money.” Mr. Edwards mixed policy and politics in a way that allowed his supporters to donate to the causes he believed in — and to the organizations he had set up. He also set up two political action committees, something commonly done by politicians thinking of running for president. But it was his use of a tax-exempt organization to finance his travel and employ people connected to his past and current campaigns that went beyond what most other prospective candidates have done before pursuing national office. And according to experts on nonprofit foundations, Mr. Edwards pushed at the boundaries of how far such organizations can venture into the political realm. Such entities, which are regulated under Section 501C-4 of the tax code, can engage in advocacy but cannot make partisan political activities their primary purpose without risking loss of their tax-exempt status. Because the organization is not required to disclose its donors — and the campaign declined to do so — it is not clear whether those who gave money to it did so understanding that they were supporting Mr. Edwards’s political viability as much or more than they were giving money to combat poverty. The money paid Mr. Edwards’s expenses while he walked picket lines and met with Wall Street executives. He gave speeches, hired consultants, attacked the Bush administration and developed an online following. He led minimum-wage initiatives in five states, went frequently to Iowa, and appeared on television programs. He traveled to China, India, Brussels, Uganda and Russia, and met with Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and his likely successor, Gordon Brown, at 10 Downing Street. “He was not a U.S. senator; he had no office,” said Ferrel Guillory, a political program director at the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina. “So he set up a series of entities to finance his travel, to finance a political shop and to finance an issue shop. It all adds up to a remarkable feat of keeping a presidential candidacy alive without any of the traditional bases for it.” Mr. Edwards depended for his activities in large part on donations from supporters. In addition to the two nonprofit organizations, he created a leadership political action committee and a 527 “soft money” organization that also shared the same name: the OneAmerica Committee. These two committees each allowed donors to give more than the $2,300 per person limit in a presidential primary or general election, and, in some cases, to give in unlimited amounts. From 2005, when he established them, through 2006, the committee and the soft money organization raised $2.7 million, most of which paid for travel and other activities that helped Mr. Edwards maintain his profile. “It’s a permanent campaign,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonprofit group based in Washington. “It’s about shaking every money tree possible and finding every means to finance a permanent campaign. It’s like having different checking accounts, with different rules, and the goal of keeping your name and agenda in the public eye.” The two foundations and the two political committees all shared an address in Washington and jointly raised around $4 million. Most donations to the political committees came from his core supporters, trial lawyers and unions, and in one case from Oak Spring Farms LLC, which gave $250,000. Many donations ranged from less than $10,000 to $50,000. For example, Boyd Tinsley, the violinist and backup singer for the Dave Matthews Band, gave $50,000, as did the Service Employees International Union, whose organizing efforts Mr. Edwards has supported. The Edwards campaign defended the activities of the nonprofit. “One of the Center for Promise and Opportunity’s main goals was to raise awareness about poverty and engage people to fight it,” Jonathan Prince, deputy campaign manager, said yesterday. “Of course, it sent Senator Edwards around the country to do this. How else could we have engaged tens of thousands of college students or sent 700 young people to help rebuild New Orleans? It’s patently absurd to suggest there’s anything wrong with an organization designed to raise awareness about poverty actually working to raise awareness about poverty.” “Of course, some of the people who worked for Senator Edwards in the government and on his campaign continued to work with him to fight poverty and send young people to college,” he added. “Perish the thought: people involved in politics actually trying to improve peoples’ lives.” Mr. Edwards also developed mutually beneficial relationships with public and private institutions. He founded the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina, which provided him with a platform. In return, he raised $3 million to sustain it. He was hired by the Fortress Investment Group, a New York hedge fund, to “develop investment opportunities,” according to a 2005 Fortress news release. That led to meetings with such people as Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany; Henry Kravis, founder of KKR, one of Wall Street’s most successful investment funds; and the chief executives of General Electric, Citigroup, Coca-Cola and DaimlerChrysler. “Fortress became a vehicle for foreign travel,” Mr. Turlington said, “but it was also a way to spend more time with sophisticated financial people.” The Edwards campaign declined to disclose the amounts raised or spent by the two similarly-named nonprofit agencies — the Center for Promise and Opportunity and the Center for Promise and Opportunity Foundation — since their 2005 tax filings, which are the most recent to have been filed. The Center for Promise and Opportunity Foundation, which started with $70,000 in 2005, gave out $300,000 in college scholarships in 2006, said Pamela Garland, the executive director of the College for Everyone Program that is part of the foundation. The center, often praised for helping poor students in Greene County, N.C., get into college, is on track to give out $476,000 this year, Ms. Garland said. Mr. Edwards broke his ties to that charity once he announced his candidacy for president. “It’s really just me now,” said Ms. Garland, who began her job last May. She credited Mr. Edwards with devising the program, raising the money and speaking to high school students, using his own up-from-poverty story to inspire them. At the same time, the larger nonprofit group had a more politically active agenda. Its directors included Mr. Turlington, the Raleigh lawyer; Miles Lackey, Mr. Edwards’s former chief of staff; Alexis Bar, his former political scheduler; and David Ginsberg, currently a senior adviser for communications. The $1.3 million the group raised and spent in 2005 paid for travel, including Mr. Edwards’s “Opportunity Rocks” tour of 10 college campuses, consultants and a Web operation. In addition, some $540,000 went for the “exploration of new ideas,” according to tax filings. Nonprofit groups can engage in political activities and not endanger their tax-exempt status so long as those activities are not its primary purpose. But the line between a bona fide charity and a political campaign is often fuzzy, said Marcus S. Owens, a Washington lawyer who headed the Internal Revenue Service division that oversees nonprofit agencies. “I can’t say that what Mr. Edwards did was wrong,” Mr. Owens said. “But he was working right up to the line. Who knows whether he stepped or stumbled over it. But he was close enough that if a wind was blowing hard, he’d fall over it.” Of the explicitly political entities, Mr. Edwards’ OneAmerica Committee 527 organization allowed donors to give without limitations. The money was transferred to his leadership political action committee. Leadership committees were initially created to allow prominent politicians to raise money for distribution to needy office-seekers. But Mr. Edwards spent the entire $2.7 million he raised for OneAmerica, including $532,000 raised by the 527, on himself, an increasingly common trend among politicians.

Presidential Election of 2008
Edwards John
Philanthropy


Syria Shuts Main Exit From War for Iraqis

Abstract: DAMASCUS, Syria , Oct. 20 — Long the only welcoming country in the region for Iraqi refugees , Syria has closed its borders to all but a small group of Iraqis and imposed new visa rules that will legally require the 1.5 million Iraqis currently in Syria to return to Iraq . The change quietly went into effect on Oct. 1. Syrian officials have often threatened to stem the flow of refugees over the past eight months, but until now have backed down after pleas from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. For more than a year, 2,000 to 4,000 Iraqis have fled into Syria every day, according to United Nations officials. On the last four days that the border remained open, the officials said, 25,000 Iraqis crossed into Syria. “The door is now closed to Iraqis in every direction,” said Sybella Wilkes, a spokeswoman here for the United Nations refugee agency. It is unclear whether Syria will enforce the rules for the Iraqis already in the country. United Nations officials believe Syria is likely to continue its practice of not deporting citizens of other Arab countries whose immigration status is illegal. Syria announced the new rules this summer and said they would take effect on Sept. 1. But it postponed their implementation and continued to accept refugees until Oct. 1. Under the old visa rules, Iraqis entered Syria without restriction and were allowed to remain for three months. Damascus has avoided any announcement about the policy since it took effect, leaving refugees and United Nations officials in a haze of uncertainty. Under the new rules, Iraqis must apply for visas at the Syrian Embassy in Baghdad. Only academics, merchants with commercial interests requiring travel to Syria, and taxi and truck drivers qualify for visas. The immediate effect has been to cut the flood of refugees to a trickle, no more than a hundred people a day, according to the United Nations. Over the long term, it means that Iraqi refugees who overstay their three-month visas to Syria may have to make the dangerous trip back to Baghdad and apply to return under the new visa requirement, which disqualifies all but a handful. Syrian officials have said they were responding to a longstanding request from the Iraqi government to close their border, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, following government policy. They said the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, told Syrian leaders on a state visit in August that the constant flow of refugees undermined the Iraqi government’s effort to bring greater security to the country. That account was corroborated by diplomats based in Damascus and by United Nations officials. Attempts to reach officials in the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and prime minister’s office were unsuccessful on Saturday. Jordan is the only other neighbor of Iraq to take in a substantial number of refugees, housing an estimated 500,000 to 700,000 Iraqis. But Jordan limited admission to Iraqis more than a year ago. The visa changes come as the Syrian government has tightened its control over its Iraqi refugee population. Kadhim Aydan, 42, originally from the Dora neighborhood of Baghdad, moved his wife and 13-year-old daughter to comparative safety in the Iraqi city of Iskandariya. He occasionally earns money in Syria writing articles for Arabic newspapers. Now, he said, it will be impossible to bring his family to join him because he cannot get them visas, and he is afraid he will not be readmitted to Syria if he goes to visit them. “The situation here is degrading, and getting worse all the time for Iraqis,” Mr. Aydan said as he played backgammon in a teahouse in Sayeda Zeinab. Saif Jassem, 25, fled to Syria last November, after he was fired from his job in Baghdad. His gratitude is tempered by the fear that he will be forced to return to the war that claimed his father’s life. He described life for the Iraqis in Syria as “tragic,” adding, “We need a solution for the entire Iraqi community.”

Syria
Iraq
Immigration and Refugees
United Nations
Visas
Sadr Moktada Al-


Mexico: Stranded Tourists Airlifted From Acapulco

Abstract: Mexico began airlifting hundreds of stranded tourists to Mexico City from Acapulco on Tuesday after a tropical storm flooded highways, the airport and some hotels at the faded and violent Pacific resort town. It was another blow to the city, once a playground for the Hollywood set but now struggling to overcome organized crime violence and a passé reputation. Days of heavy rain from the storm, as well as another on the Gulf Coast, have sent rivers of mud cascading through scores of cities and villages on both coasts, leaving an estimated 47 people dead and thousands homeless, one of the highest storm tolls in Mexico in recent years. Although many hotels in Acapulco were undamaged, some began rationing food and other provisions because of power failures and the inability of workers or trucks to get through flooded streets on the outskirts to supply them.


Experiencing a Shift in Sales, Garmin Beats Estimates

Abstract: Garmin handily beat quarterly profit estimates and forecast a strong 2014 as sales of GPS-based fitness, aviation and outdoor products more than made up for shrinking sales of personal navigation devices, a market it once dominated. Garmin said it expected revenue to grow 10 to 15 percent from businesses other than its personal navigation device unit, a forecast that implies that sales from these devices will account for less than half of the company’s revenue this year. Garmin said it expected a profit of $2.50 to $2.60 a share on revenue of $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion for 2014. Analysts on average were expecting a profit of $2.56 a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Net income rose to $163.6 million, or 83 cents a share, in the fourth quarter, from $129.3 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, earnings were 76 cents a share, beating the average analyst estimate of 62 cents. Total sales fell 1 percent to $759.7 million, beating an average estimate of $712.8 million.


For New York Medical College, a Learning Curve in Changing Religious Affiliation

Abstract: VALHALLA, N.Y. — New York Medical College was planning to change its affiliation to Jewish from Catholic when an employee approached Rabbi Moshe D. Krupka in the cafeteria, voice raised and finger wagging, and demanded, “When you take over, will I be able to eat my ham sandwich here?” A nervous hush fell over the room on that day two years ago. Some students and workers had protested the impending takeover by Touro College , while others were just nervous, unsure what to expect. The college officials giving Rabbi Krupka his first tour were mortified by the confrontation, but curious about his answer. The rabbi, a senior vice president at Touro, cut the tension with a most rabbinic reply: “It depends.” “On what?” the man asked. “On whether you like ham,” the rabbi answered. Institutions of higher education switch religious affiliations, as New York Medical College did nine months ago, so rarely that there really is no playbook to follow. It has meant addressing countless wary questions as they arise, including where to install mezuzas in doorways — 108 so far — and where people may be allowed to carry a cup of coffee. Some teachers and students worried about a loss of identity; others said Touro lacked the prestige to be a suitable sponsor. But as Rabbi Krupka’s reaction suggested in that cafeteria exchange, the shift has been subtle for most people. “There was a lot of speculating and worrying,” said Matthew Pravetz, a Franciscan priest and a professor of anatomy who has been at the medical school since 1982. In reality, he said, the biggest change may be scheduling classes around Jewish holidays, “but I don’t think anyone minds having more days off.” Students wondered if they would find the library locked on the Jewish Sabbath, but it remains open — no one staffs it, but the lights work on timers, and the Internet connections stay on. When officials met to choose holidays, Rabbi Krupka said, “we got to Good Friday, and people assumed we would cross it off the list.” But he added, “We decided there was no reason not to keep it.” Ultimately, the change may be less profound for the medical school than for Touro, a move up in prestige with a well-known subsidiary and a new academic field. The medical school gained a prominent new dean late last month, with the appointment of Dr. Edward C. Halperin, previously the dean of the University of Louisville’s medical school and a former vice dean at Duke’s medical school. The medical school takeover continues Touro’s aggressive expansion, from its start in 1971 as a 35-student college in Manhattan to one with dozens of campuses across the country and overseas, and with some 19,000 students. Since it was founded by Bernard Lander, an Orthodox rabbi and a sociologist who served as president until his death in 2010, Touro has identified itself as a Jewish institution engaged with worldly problems. It has long had a mostly non-Jewish student body, with particular appeal to older students and immigrants. In the past 15 years, Touro has opened a graduate school of business and three schools of osteopathic medicine, and it was a pioneer in online education, before selling that operation in 2007. Touro has been known for a bare-bones administration and for having low tuition costs for a private college — undergraduates pay about $25,000 a year in tuition, room and board. The relative lack of structure may have contributed to its occasionally being in the news for the wrong reasons, as in 2007, when two people, including an administrator, were indicted for falsifying transcripts in exchange for bribes. Dr. Alan H. Kadish, a noted cardiologist who became president of Touro two years ago, said that acquiring the medical school was a natural expansion for a college with osteopathic schools and popular undergraduate programs in medical science, and was not about raising Touro’s profile. “It really was the logical next step,” he said. He declined to be specific about future expansions, but said, “There are probably 10 proposals on my desk right now.” With about 800 M.D. students and nearly as many in related graduate programs, New York Medical College, which is in Westchester County, has long been the major supplier of student doctors to its next-door neighbor, Westchester Medical Center, and to Metropolitan Hospital in Manhattan. In its early decades, the college, founded in 1860, was unusually open to women and minorities. In the late 1970s, facing financial trouble, the medical school agreed to be sponsored by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The college did not become a Catholic institution, like Notre Dame or Boston College, but a college “in the Catholic tradition,” operating with fewer church restrictions. Touro officials said on taking over that they were surprised to discover that there were no crucifixes to take down and few doctrinal limitations on curriculum to reverse. It already taught topics like contraceptive and fertility treatments that the church opposed. Dr. Kadish said that as far as he knew, the only area the school might embark on that it shunned during its Catholic affiliation was embryonic stem cell research. The medical school’s chapel was never church-consecrated, so no formal decommissioning was needed. As for how Jewish to make things, officials played it by ear. Mezuzas, the little boxed Hebrew prayer scrolls mounted on door jambs, were installed at building entrances but not auditoriums or classrooms. Professors chose whether to have them outside their offices, and after the tradition was explained, some non-Jewish professors requested them. The one area in which strict Jewish standards apply is the cafeteria, whose kitchen operates under kosher rules and rabbinic supervision. The old kitchen equipment was thrown out or blowtorched in a cleansing ritual. Lacking space for two sets of everything — one for cooking and serving meat, the other for dairy — it was decided that this would be a meat kitchen, untouched by milk products. A griddle was set aside solely for making eggs, which can fit into either category. Pastries made in a factory that uses dairy products are acceptable, as long as they are individually wrapped, and opened somewhere else. “This was a huge learning curve for me, and I’m Jewish,” said Todd Kurtis, the dining director. The rules extend only as far as the cash registers, which divide the kosher serving area from the nonkosher dining commons, where any food from outside is welcome. But about that cup of coffee. With milk forbidden, a table was set aside in the common area for adding ingredients to hot drinks. Once milk is added to a cup, the drink may not go back across that invisible barrier into the serving area, much less into the kitchen. There is no sign to that effect, but the rule was explained. Repeatedly. “At the beginning, a couple of times, there was almost a flying tackle of somebody,” Mr. Kurtis said. “But everyone’s gotten the message.”

Colleges and Universities
Jews and Judaism
Touro College
New York Medical College
Valhalla (NY)
Roman Catholic Church
Lander Bernard


Pervasive Fraud Found in Afghans’ Vote for Parliament

Abstract: KABUL, Afghanistan — Although the preliminary results of the Sept. 18 parliamentary elections, expected to be announced Sunday, were postponed, interviews with Afghan and Western officials indicate that fraud was pervasive and that nearly 25 percent of the votes are likely to be thrown out. The fraud, which included ballot-box stuffing, citizens forced to cast their votes at gunpoint, corrupt election officials and security forces complicit with corrupt candidates, is expected to mean that 800,000 to a million votes will be nullified, according to two Western officials who are following the election closely. The Afghan Independent Election Commission , which oversees the counting, has refused to disclose the number of votes that could be thrown out, but said in a statement that it had decided to nullify wholly or partially the votes cast at 430 polling places, and that votes at another 830 sites were being audited, suggesting substantial problems. Until now the commission has been praised for endeavoring to run an honest vote-counting process, but the delay at the last minute, as hundreds of candidates have thronged to the capital, Kabul, clamoring to know the results, has raised questions. In an e-mailed statement released just two hours before a planned news conference to announce the results, the commission said it would make the announcement on Wednesday. “The reason for the delay in results is to be more accurate and precise,” the announcement said. People close to the commission said that at least 89 percent of the votes had been counted and sifted for fraud in all provinces, but that in the majority, a few votes remained to be counted and commission members wanted to wait until the count was complete. Afghan and Western observers said, however, that they were worried that the commission was coming under enormous political pressure to change the outcome, especially for a handful of powerful figures. “You can do a lot of mischief in three days,” said a Western observer knowledgeable about the election process. The commission worked intensively through the weekend and until 4 a.m. Sunday to reach the almost complete results, according to an election commission official, a statement that indicated that, up until the last minute, the commission planned to make the announcement on Sunday. At stake is the makeup of the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan Parliament and the only body with the power to question the policies of President Hamid Karzai. The lower house must approve his ministers and pass and reject laws proposed by the president and his ministers, and may demand explanations of government policies. Although Mr. Karzai and his inner circle backed a number of candidates, it is so far unclear whether they did well enough to guarantee him the 130 seats he sought — enough to be sure of a majority on important issues. The main opposition to the president, Abdullah Abdullah’s Coalition for Hope and Change, is watching the moves of Mr. Karzai’s candidates closely to be sure they do not displace any of the coalition’s candidates. One of the movement’s organizers, Ahmad Wali Massoud, said that, barring last minute politicking, his group is all but certain to have 88 seats, enough to wield considerable political power. Mr. Abdullah was the main election challenger to Mr. Karzai in 2009. Whether this election turns out to be another embarrassment for the country because of the rampant fraud, as last year’s was, rests on the shoulders of the Independent Election Commission, which is responsible for holding the election and counting the votes, and the Electoral Complaints Commission, which handles accusations against individual candidates. Last year the former commission was accused of bias toward President Karzai and either overlooking or assisting in the widespread fraud. It was the complaint commission that restored a modicum of integrity by ultimately throwing out more than a million votes in last year’s presidential election. This year, Mr. Karzai is perceived to have weakened the complaint commission by changing its structure so that a majority of members were Afghans rather than international representatives. It is hard to tell if, in fact, the commission is weaker, since it is still at an early stage of its work. The complaint commission must adjudicate all challenges. The Independent Election Commission, which had been viewed as complicit in the fraud that marred the presidential election, gained a new identity this year under a new commissioner, Fazal Ahmad Manawi, and a new chief electoral officer, Abdullah Ahmadzai, both appointed last spring by Mr. Karzai. While many people had been dubious about them, the two men worked to make the commission’s fraud detection stronger, to fire lower-level officials who presided over fraud last year and to make the commission more transparent. Mr. Manawi, an ethnic Tajik, is a native of mountainous Panshir Province who trained as a mullah and a judge and hides his political acumen beneath a disarmingly disheveled appearance and suits that always look a little too large. Although he acknowledges privately to friends that he has the ambition to be the chief justice of the Supreme Court or the attorney general, he has also said that if he loses his integrity, he loses his biggest asset, and at only 42 years old, he is not in a hurry to be rewarded with a high position. Mr. Ahmadzai, a member of the Kuchi tribe, is a former Asia Foundation official who is widely perceived as a technocrat. He is a tall, quiet man with a reputation as a scrupulous election officer, impervious to pressure. People who know him say that he will have no qualms about resigning if he thinks the process is less than proper. However, nothing in their past could have prepared the two men for the level of pressure they now face from hundreds of candidates angry about the apparent outcome. A total of 2,500 candidates vied for 249 seats. Since the election on Sept. 18, Mr. Manawi has returned to his office each day at dusk from the tally center, where the votes are counted, to find candidates crowding his waiting room for an audience to request that he change the votes in their favor, he said. At night when he goes home, more come knocking on his door. A devout Muslim, he said he can no longer go to mosque to pray even on Fridays because he is accosted by people. “We live in the same neighborhood, so some candidates come to me and ask me to take them to his house so they can ask him for help,” said Maulawi Enyatullah Baligh, a friend of Mr. Manawi and a lecturer in theology at Kabul University. “But his answer was always clear: ‘I can’t add one vote to your box and I can’t take one vote out of your opponent’s box.’ ” Mr. Massoud, the opposition organizer who also counts himself as a friend of Mr. Manawi, added that he was hoping that Mr. Manawi would be able to withstand the pressure. “He wants to somehow prove himself, prove that he is loyal to his job, to the people, and wants to be as honest as possible, but there is the infrastructure of the whole government around him, so one doesn’t know how much he can resist, how much he can do,” Mr. Massoud said. “We can’t say quite yet.”

Elections
Afghanistan
Afghanistan War (2001- )
Politics and Government


Data Cops Guard Against Excessive Charges

Abstract: Data? Don’t talk to me about data. Mobile 4G data is the most expensive part of my smartphone habit. One recent morning, as I browsed Twitter in a coffee shop, everything stopped suddenly because I had already burned through the month’s data allowance. I had the option of waiting until January or paying about $4 for an extra 200 megabytes. Guess which I chose? You’ve probably had similar experiences. Apps that monitor data use and alert you when you have used too much could be a good solution. For iOS users the simplest and clearest app I’ve found for this job is DataMan Next by Johnny Ixe. Its design is similar to iOS 7’s look, with bold colors and clear, large text that allows the app to tell you much of the information you seek in one glance. When it opens, DataMan asks important information such as how your cellphone plan is billed (monthly or weekly), what date the cycle begins and how much data is included. In case you are not starting the count at the beginning of the cycle, you can put in how much data you have already consumed. All of these settings can be adjusted later. Once it is set up, the app runs in the background, gathering information on how much data you are using over a mobile data connection like 4G or over Wi-Fi. Opening the app brings up the home page, which has a big percentage number in the middle, a counter to when the billing cycle ends and simple displays of how much you have already used on cellular or Wi-Fi. It also looks at your use patterns and predicts whether you are “safe” for the month’s limit. The home page color changes from green to red as you approach the limit. Image My Data Manager breaks down data use by amount and by type — Wi-Fi, roaming or mobile. The app can also send alerts as you hit different percentages of your data allowance. When you get to 90 percent, you might consider downloading music files over your home Wi-Fi, instead of streaming music on the move. The app costs $2, and through a $1 in-app purchase you can change details like the colors or font. My Data Manager is an alternative, available on both iOS and Android . But where DataMan is elegant, My Data Manager is a bit more fussy. It is free, though, and provides a more thorough measure of data habits. Like DataMan, My Data Manager asks for details on your mobile data charges, and then monitors data use in the background. It has a quick-glance home page to report the data used in a month and how much was mobile versus Wi-Fi. It even has a section to monitor data use when you are roaming overseas. If you tap on the small graph icon on the bottom of the screen, the app will display a bar chart of your data use on a daily basis. You can also see a map showing where you downloaded data the most. The idea is to give you insight into your data habits so you can modify them sensibly. The app even compares your data habits to those of the average user in your nation. Personally, I find this level of scrutiny a time-waster all its own. But it might suit your tastes and help you save money. I wish the app were less cluttered and more modern on the iOS installation. The Android version looks cleaner and more up to date, and includes an indication of data use by app. I did manage to crash the Android app a few times, though. Image DataMan Next predicts whether a user is in danger of breaching a limit. Another good option is Onavo Count, free on Android and iOS . The Android version looks well designed, with a minimalist interface and intuitive graphs. The app requests the same information on data charges as its peers, and runs in the background without your having to interfere. Its home screen tells you how much of your monthly or weekly data you have consumed with a display of shading on a colored ring. This app has a few extras too. On the home page it shows how your data use breaks down into categories like video-viewing, use of social media and so on. It can also show how your use of particular apps compares with that of the average user. You may either get a kick out of realizing you are in the top 20 percent of Vine users, for example, or be horrified that your Facebook habit is using so much precious mobile data. The iOS version, while it offers features like data use by app, felt more awkward to me. It also requires that you set up a special connection to Onavo’s servers to monitor your data use, which may put you off. Other possibilities are the free Data Monitor by Nutec Apps on iOS and 3G Defender on Android . They work similarly, but look a little more cluttered and feel different from the other apps. It is also worth noting that in iOS 7 and Android 4.x, Apple and Google have included systems to see how much mobile data is being consumed. But you have to dig into the settings to find them, and the info is not necessarily as complete as that offered by the apps mentioned here. Good luck shaving megabytes off your mobile data, and remember to be supercareful using data when roaming — the overage fees can be steep. Quick Call Stephen Hawking’s Snapshots of the Universe is a new $5 iPad app that is based on the scientist’s writings. It offers an interactive graphics and text experience aimed at teaching the physics of gravity, black holes and so on to children — and to you.

Mobile Apps
Android
Apple
Wireless
Smartphone
Mobile phone


C.C. Sabathia Indicates He’s Being Traded to Brewers

Abstract: MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Cleveland Indians ace C. C. Sabathia all but acknowledged Sunday in a text message to an ESPN.com reporter that he was going to be traded. Amid numerous reports that he would be sent to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of a deal for the top prospect Matt LaPorta, Sabathia wrote, “I’m good, excited. It’s weird leaving these guys.” Sabathia went 19-7 with a 3.21 earned run average to win the American League Cy Young Award last season. He would give the Brewers a power pitcher to pair with Ben Sheets as Milwaukee tries to make the playoffs for the first time since 1982. The left-handed Sabathia, who can be a free agent after the season, is 6-8 with a 3.83 E.R.A. for the Indians, but has not had much run support.. The Indians, who were one win from the World Series last year, have fallen out of contention, making this move likely. Sabathia rejected a four-year, $72 million extension from the Indians during spring training and announced he would not negotiate any deal until after the season.

Baseball
Trades (Sports)
Cleveland Indians
Sabathia C C


Bruins Top the Senators in a Shootout

Abstract: David Krejci scored the shootout winner and had an assist in regulation as the visiting Boston Bruins defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2. Tuuka Rask made 30 saves in regulation and stopped three of four Senators in the shootout, including a bizarre try from Kaspars Daugavins. He carried the puck by pressing down with the tip of his stick before attempting a failed 360 move in front of Rask. ¶ Boston University Coach Jack Parker is retiring after 40 years on a job in which he won 894 games and 3 national championships. The program was damaged last season by sexual assault charges against two players and an ensuing report that said there was a “culture of sexual entitlement” on the team.


In Letter, Rail Unions Defend Disability Plan

Abstract: A national coalition of railroad labor unions has written to members of the New York Congressional delegation, defending the rail industry’s occupational disability program as “the single most important protection” rail employees have against the hazards of working in a dangerous industry. The federal Railroad Retirement Board, which awards disability payments to nearly all the rail workers who ask for them, is the subject of four government investigations into the legitimacy of those payments. “The occupational disability program provides critical protection for rail workers and their families,” said the letter, which was dated Thursday. “The dangerous and strenuous conditions that existed in the railroad industry at the time the program was created still exist.” In September, The New York Times reported that more than 90 percent of all career employees at the Long Island Rail Road retire early and then apply for disability payments — by far the highest disability rate among the nation’s railroads. Those workers have collected a quarter of a billion dollars in disability payments since 2000. “We urge Congress to reject the rail industry’s pressure and the media’s rush to judgment on our occupational disability protection and to continue to support the negotiated occupational disability program that is a cornerstone of the railroad retirement system,” the letter added. The letter was sent by 12 union leaders to New York’s senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles E. Schumer, and five members of Congress from the New York area. A spokesman for Senator Clinton, Ben Kobren, said the senator had called on the retirement board’s inspector general to expedite his investigation, adding that if there had been fraud or other wrongdoing, “all those who were complicit should be held accountable for their actions.” The president of the Long Island Rail Road, Helena E. Williams, said in a statement: “We support disability benefits for those who truly deserve them. As noted by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board’s own inspector general in an Oct. 10 memo, more stringent review of disability applications is required.”

Long Island Rail Road Co
Handicapped
Railroads
Federal Railroad Administration


You Finished 3rd in the Euros’ Group Stage. Congratulations. Maybe.

Abstract: PARIS — It is too early to make definitive statements about how the expansion of the European Championships to 24 teams might (or might not) be diluting the quality of play at the tournament — although so far, scoring is down . Still, one quirky ramification of the expansion is guaranteed: Several teams will temporarily have no idea whether their tournament runs are over. So far, Albania is the most notable team in that situation. When the final whistle was blown Sunday night and Albania had beaten Romania, 1-0, the round-robin format in Group A was complete, and Albania had its first-ever victory in a major tournament. The team’s players and fans were ecstatic. But no one really knew what it meant. The Albanians were 1-2-0 in their three group games, meaning they had finished with 3 points and sat in third place behind France and Switzerland. In previous iterations of this tournament, the top two teams in each group advanced to the knockout rounds. Third- and fourth-place teams went home. This time, however, four of the six third-placed teams will also advance to the round of 16. So while Albania’s group stage was finished, its players had to return to their training camp in northwestern France and wait — possibly as long as three full days — to find out whether they would play another game. “First we will have to prepare as if we have to play Friday or Saturday,” said Gianni de Biasi, the team’s Italian coach. “In the meantime we’ll be watching other games.” Four points seems to be the magic number guaranteeing a third-place team will advance. The last time a 24-team model was used at a major tournament was the 1994 World Cup, when the third-place teams with 4 points advanced and those with fewer did not. At this tournament, however, some 3-point teams will make it: After Tuesday’s games, Slovakia (4 points) and Northern Ireland (3 points) were guaranteed berths, the latter because of a superior goal difference over Turkey and Albania, the other third-place teams with 3 points. Albania is still alive, but barely. On Wednesday, Sweden and Ireland, each with 1 point, will play their final games in Group E, and Group F is a total tossup. Hungary already has 4 points, Iceland and Portugal have 2 points, and Austria has 1 point heading into their final group matches. The permutations are numerous, resulting in a barrage of explainers as well as, presumably, a run on flexible train and airplane tickets while the teams wait to see just where their next matches will be (if they happen at all). The machinations of the entire experience are not lost on the players. After holding England to a 0-0 draw on Monday in St.-Étienne, France, Slovakia goalkeeper Matus Kovacik was clearly aware of the math when he said the tie felt like a good result. “This wait will be more pleasant because we managed to get this point,” he said, referring to the jump from 3 points to 4. Albania, in the meantime, had to wait until Wednesday to learn its fate. A team official said the team had spent its time at its training base, going through standard practices and video sessions, although it was impossible to focus on any single opponent. Of course, even if Albania does not advance, the thrill of its first victory in a top tournament cannot be taken away. With Albania’s meager soccer tradition and fractured political history, the win was greeted with sheer joy: Fans cheered in the streets in Tirana; the prime minister, Edi Rama, wrote, “ Goooooooooool ,” on his Twitter feed. And in what was perhaps the best news a team could receive while in limbo, the Albanian soccer federation announced this week that regardless of whether the Albanians’ long wait ended with another match, the players would be rewarded. Because of their inspiring victory, the federation said, each member of the team will receive a diplomatic passport, as well as a cash bonus.

Soccer
Euro 2016 UEFA European Championship


Suspected Arms Dealer Seems Closer to Extradition

Abstract: BANGKOK — A contentious, four-hour hearing on the extradition of Viktor Bout , a Russian suspected of being an arms dealer, ended inconclusively Monday, but judges appeared to quash the prospect of a lengthy second trial that could have delayed or scuttled Mr. Bout’s departure for the United States. Mr. Bout, a Russian businessman whom United States officials accuse of running a vast network of arms trafficking spanning Africa, Afghanistan and beyond, faces charges of selling arms to a terrorist group and conspiring to kill American citizens with those weapons. A court in August ruled that Mr. Bout could be extradited to the United States on those charges. The two-judge panel said Monday that it would decide on a second set of charges of money laundering and wire fraud on Tuesday. Thai prosecutors, at the request of the United States authorities, are seeking to close the second case to speed Mr. Bout’s extradition. The judges said they would not allow witnesses to be called, a sign that analysts said might result in a swift conclusion. The final decision of whether to send Mr. Bout to the United States rests with the Thai prime minister. Unlike previous appearances in court, Mr. Bout was accompanied by men wearing masks, combat helmets and flak jackets who appeared to be security forces. Mr. Bout also wore a bulletproof vest on his way to the court. A former Soviet Air Force officer, Mr. Bout said that he feared for his safety if he was extradited to the United States, but he has not elaborated on whom or what he fears. Mr. Bout derided what he called “special American influence” in Thailand and criticized the Thai judicial process. “In this country you never know what is what,” he said. Mr. Bout engaged in a particularly heated exchange with the presiding judge over his demand for a Russian interpreter, a request denied by the court. Mr. Bout, a graduate of a prestigious Soviet language institute, turned to the gallery full of reporters and said in English: “This is due process of law or what? Gentlemen, you are all witnesses!” The presiding judge, whose name was withheld by court officials, ostensibly for security reasons, later replied: “The last time you were here with an English translator, and you showed that you understood. It seems like you are trying to delay this case.” Mr. Bout was arrested in a March 2008 sting operation at a hotel in Bangkok after he agreed, according to the authorities, to sell millions of dollars’ worth of weapons to undercover United States agents posing as rebels from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC. The undercover agents told Mr. Bout that they wanted missiles to kill American pilots patrolling in Colombia, to which Mr. Bout is said to have replied that the United States “was also his enemy,” according to the American indictment. Mr. Bout has said that he was on vacation in Thailand and denies ever selling or trading in weapons. He ran a “fully legal” air transport business that carried a variety of products, including weapons, for governments and other customers, he said in a statement. The business became unprofitable and was shut down in 2001, he said. Mr. Bout’s air cargo business helped inspire the 2005 film “Lord of War” and a book, “ Merchant of Death ,” by two American journalists.

Bout Victor
Arms Trade
Thailand
Suits and Litigation


Roddick Goes All Out Against Federer, but Result Is No Different

Abstract: Andy Roddick shook his head on just a few helpless points last night, repeating a familiar motion the last four years whenever he has seen Roger Federer on the other side of the net. But this time, when Roddick walked off the United States Open court that radiated pure electricity, he said he had no more questions. About himself or about Federer. Dressed in fierce black to counter Federer's fancy black attire in last night's spell-binding quarterfinal on Arthur Ashe Stadium court, Roddick drove aggressively through his groundstrokes, like an 18-wheeler bent on delivery. He blasted his faithful serve, returned with precision and barreled, unafraid, to the net. And why not? Roddick had lost 13 of 14 career matches to Federer, the No.1 ranked player in the world for the last 187 consecutive weeks. If Roddick were going to leave the United States Open early — instead of in the finals as he did last year to Federer — he was going to make this man figure him out. As usual, Federer did. Chipping back Roddick's 140 m.p.h. serve on instinct for a backhand winner and striking one of his 15 aces in the first two tie-breakers, Federer upended Roddick, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) 6-2, to charge into the semifinals against Nikolay Davydenko. The first two sets, played in an electric night atmosphere buoyed by celebrities, featured no service breaks. Federer finally found his opening in the sixth game of the third set and the match came to an abrupt conclusion. Although fiercely disappointed, Roddick was defiant in defeat. "I'm not walking with any questions in my head this time," he said. "I played the right way." He added: "I thought I made him play as well as he could play." But Federer, who is attempting to become the first man in the Open era to win four straight U.S. Open titles, was not about to call it a perfect match. "I don't know if it was my best match or not," he said. "It's irrelevant, I think." Federer has already moved on, thinking about his 9-0 match record against Davydenko. He improved to 14-1 against Roddick. But although Roddick won a set off Federer in last year's final, he seemed to push Federer even more on this night. "I felt pretty good from the first ball," he said. "I had a game plan — I felt like I executed it pretty well most of the time." Roddick had topped the charts at the Open this year for the fastest serve with 145 m.p.h., two miles faster than the young American, 6-foot-9 John Isner. But unlike with Isner, whose high bounce and kick caught Federer off guard for a first-set loss, he was ready for Roddick. In the second set tiebreaker at 4-4, Roddick served 140 m.p.h. to Federer's backhand. Federer chipped it back to Roddick's feet, on the baseline, and Roddick was stuck. No chance. And no surprise. "No, I've seen it done too many times," he said. No matter how many chances Roddick took, they seemed in vain last night. When he charged the net (winning 50 percent of the time), Federer would send the ball whizzing by his ear a millisecond later with his passing shots off his one-handed backhand. And although Roddick staved off one set point in the first set tiebreaker, on the second attempt, Federer wasted no time. He coolly blasted an ace right down the middle at 122 miles an hour. Roddick shook his head for the first time, but not the last. The only time Roddick has defeated Federer was in 2003 in the finals of Montreal, the same year Roddick won the U.S. Open. Since then, Federer has had a stranglehold on this event. Roddick, seeded fifth in the draw, still has not been able to solve him, even after more than a year with his high-profile coach, Jimmy Connors. In that span, Roddick has won just three tournaments: Cincinnati in 2006, Queen's Club before Wimbledon this year and then Washington in July. Roddick lost to Federer at the semifinals of this year's Australian Open, suffered a shocking first-round upset at the French Open, and a five-set quarterfinal loss to Richard Gasquet at Wimbledon. But this Grand Slam event has always been his favorite. "You can just feed off the energy," he said. "It's a show. You're just pushing each other." As much as Roddick pushed back on this night, it was Federer who had the right touch.

Federer Roger
United States Open (Tennis)
Tennis
Roddick Andy


Why Parental Leave Policies Are Changing

Abstract: A news article posted on Tuesday, San Francisco Approves Fully Paid Parental Leave , by Thomas Fuller, described a groundbreaking law that will give parents six weeks of fully paid leave when they have a new baby. Readers responded vigorously on Facebook , some to applaud the law and others to chide the United States for not offering such benefits as a matter of course. Here, three reporters for The New York Times — Jodi Kantor, an enterprise reporter who has written about gender, politics and the workplace; Noam Scheiber, a labor reporter based in Washington, D.C., and Mr. Fuller, the San Francisco bureau chief — discuss their views on new family leave laws in California, New York and corporate America and what they might augur in terms of national policy. First up, Jodi Kantor. Dear Noam and Thomas, Here’s a mashup of what I used to hear, as a reporter and parent, about the prospects for ever having state-mandated parental leave in the United States: Paid family leave may be desperately needed, but it’s a political pipe dream. Democrats are unwilling to fight for it. The business world will never go for it. The United States just has terminally shoddy parental leave policies. (Cue dirgelike music and new parents giving longing glances to countries like Sweden, which grants 480 days of paid leave.) But now — every day — the statements above are becoming a little less true. On Tuesday San Francisco approved six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents. Last week, New York State adopted a measure that will phase in 12 weeks of paid family leave, which can be used to care for ailing relatives as well as new babies (the pay for higher-income workers will be partial; details here .) Similar laws have been passed in California, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington State. Washington D.C. may be next; Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota are possibilities, too. To be clear, we’re not talking about the arms race in the corporate and technology worlds to provide deluxe doses of paid parental leave — like the whole year that white-collar workers receive at Netflix. Those are voluntary corporate policies. We’re discussing laws that will cover far more people: if you’re a supermarket checkout clerk in Albany, your employer will for the first time be legally required to give you paid leave. So why is this finally happening now, and so fast? The push for paid parental leave has no clear leader. Aside from some long-dedicated activists and White House support, there’s barely an organized movement at all. This isn’t like the gay marriage effort, with a well-planned multiyear strategy and deep-pocketed financiers. One answer is demographics. Nearly 70 percent of mothers with children under 18 now work, according to the Labor Department. More than three-quarters of single mothers are sole breadwinners. The need for paid leave is more urgent and desperate than ever before. Another reason: generally speaking, workers are going to pay for the leave themselves, through small paycheck deductions similar to those taken out for familiar government programs like Medicare and Social Security. Most of the new programs are funded by tiny contributions, a dollar or two a week, that will be collected by the employer and paid out to the employee when the leave is taken. This is why opposition is pretty low — the government isn’t footing the bill, and aside from possibly hiring temporary help to fill in for employees on leave, neither are businesses. The San Francisco law is an exception, requiring larger employers to fill in workers’ paychecks beyond what the state-run system contributes. So, for the first time in United States history, we can start to see what a system of state-mandated parental leave might look like, beyond postpartum disability pay. By Swedish standards, it would still look like a messy patchwork, with wild swings in coverage depending on where you live and work, and plenty of gaps and exclusions. But we’ve never had much of a system at all, so this is still a huge shift — especially since every one of the new laws covers paternity leave for men. Next, Noam Scheiber Dear Jodi, I completely agree: the quick succession of the New York and San Francisco measures suggests we’re on the verge of something big here. And the “why now?” question really does loom large. In fairness, there have been some well-organized efforts to build political momentum around this issue over the years. The Working Families Party, which was founded in New York in 1998 to pull Democrats to the left on economics, has made a concerted effort to elevate the issue since 2007, and the party is now active in a dozen states. The community organizing that party leaders and activists did back then — and the polling they consulted — identified paid leave as a cause that would excite both low-income and middle-class workers, especially women. The Rockefeller Family Fund has been active in funding research and advocacy work around the country on this issue and related ones , like paid sick leave. That said, the movement seems more dispersed, organic, and generally leaderless than the effort to advance marriage equality, as you point out. So we can’t chalk it all up to a vast left-wing conspiracy. I’d argue that economics is a big part of the story. In particular, and maybe a bit paradoxically, I think we’re seeing the result of a tight labor market for those near the top, coupled with wage stagnation and downward mobility in the middle and at the bottom. For the high-earners, there’s the arms race you talked about, with companies like Netflix and Google g expanding their leave policies to compete for top talent. But once companies lavish these benefits on highly sought engineers, it’s not easy to stop there. You’ll recall that Netflix initially excluded hourly workers from its policy of up to one year of paid leave, only to partially reverse course a few months later and offer hourly workers several months of parental leave at full pay amid mounting pressure from advocacy groups. And why were hourly workers so exercised about this? Again, economics. In the middle and bottom of the income spectrum, you have a generation’s worth of stagnating and even declining real wages (except for a brief period in the mid-to-late 1990s), making it more and more necessary for middle- and working-class households to send two earners into the work force. But with two adults at work and the family dependent on both of their incomes, it’s extremely difficult to take time off to care for a baby or a parent. As the Working Families Party likes to put it, the manufacturing worker who once made $20 or $30 an hour could support his whole family on that income, making it possible for his wife to raise the children or care for a parent. Now that he and his wife both have to work at Wal-Mart — and still bring home less money combined than he once did alone — they’re out of luck when that baby arrives. Long story short, when workers who are struggling thanks in part to the lack of paid leave see more affluent workers getting heaping portions of it, it’s no surprise that they start to demand something similar. Consider it a uniquely American form of consciousness-raising. One final (mercifully noneconomic) factor I’d cite, which you and I have both written about: fathers , and their increasing determination to be involved in child-rearing. I think college-educated men our age — we’re both Gen Xers — are the first generation of American men for whom it’s more socially embarrassing to be A.W.O.L. when it comes to diaper-changing and school drop-offs than it is to be active participants. It’s only natural that these fathers are, in turn, demanding workplace policies that accommodate their family obligations (as are their spouses, on their behalf). And you can’t underestimate the political influence of a bunch of upper-middle-class 30- and 40-somethings. Put it all together, and I’d expect the trend to keep accelerating. We know that Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are big supporters of paid leave. It will be fascinating to see how the eventual Republican nominee navigates the issue. And Thomas Fuller Dear Noam and Jodi, Greetings from San Francisco! I suppose it’s not that surprising that this was the first city in the United States to roll out fully paid parental leave. San Francisco is so proudly liberal that the label “Republican” is a throw-down-the-gloves insult to some here. The vote on Tuesday in the board of supervisors was unanimous, and one of the supervisors talked about putting the city “on the level of European social democracies that have more forward-thinking policies.” So there you have it, America in 2016: a socialist is winning primaries in the presidential race, and San Francisco is talking about emulating European welfare states. There was opposition to the parental leave measure, but it seemed to me quite muted. The city’s Small Business Commission opposed it during the drafting process but didn’t seem very enthusiastic in speaking out against it. The commission’s executive director didn’t return my call or email. Outside City Hall on Tuesday, the sponsor of the parental leave measure, Supervisor Scott Wiener, had organized some speeches by supporters. But inside the beautiful wood-paneled board of supervisors meeting room, everything was businesslike. The ordinance passed in an almost matter-of-fact, procedural way. One of the supervisors, David Campos, said he was disappointed the measure wasn’t going to take effect faster — it’s being phased in according to how many employees a company has and will be fully in force in January, 2018. I was interested to learn how the measure came about: a member of Mr. Wiener’s staff is having a baby and looked into parental leave provisions across the country…and a few months later an ordinance was born. Readers, can you tell us how this model will benefit you, or would have benefited you had it existed in the past? Is it enough or do you want more?

Family Leave,Maternity Leave,Paternity Leave


Camilo Villegas Eagles 18th for Honda Lead

Abstract: Camilo Villegas made an eagle putt on the par-5 18th hole at the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., for a six-under 64 and a one-shot lead over Rickie Fowler, Branden Grace, Graham DeLaet and Robert Streb after the first round. Tiger Woods and the defending champion, Rory McIlroy, each had a 70.


Wimbledon Champions Fall

Abstract: Andy Murray, the Wimbledon winner, lost to Ernests Gulbis of Latvia, 6-4, 6-3, in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal. Rafael Nadal won his third-round match, beating Jerzy Janowicz, 7-6 (6), 6-4. In the women’s event in Toronto, Marion Bartoli, the Wimbledon winner, retired because of an abdominal injury in her third-round match against Magdalena Rybarikova, who led, 7-6 (5), 1-0.

Canadian Open (tennis)
Marion Bartoli
Andy Murray
Tennis
Ernests Gulbis


Shrinking of Venture Capital Viewed as an Improvement

Abstract: SAN FRANCISCO — For a group accustomed to looking outward for the next big thing, Silicon Valley’s venture capitalists are getting very introspective these days. Much of the soul searching along Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, where many of the venture capitalists have offices, is leading to the same conclusion: venture capital needs to go back to basics. The biggest names in the industry are concerned about low returns and are blaming several factors: funds that have grown too large, the M.B.A.’s that have invaded the industry and older partners who have lost touch with what is new in technology. “I personally believe and I think the evidence proves that the venture industry has gotten too big, the funds have gotten too big,” said Alan Patricof, an investor for 40 years who backed America Online and Apple, at a recent venture investing conference in San Francisco. “Our biggest challenge today for venture capital is to think smaller.” Mr. Patricof is part of a growing chorus of voices calling for the amount of money in venture funds to shrink drastically to levels last seen two decades ago. His firm, Greycroft Partners, is taking a retro approach with a $75 million fund that makes smaller investments. Many in the industry predict that a third to a half of the 882 active venture capital firms could disappear, if only because poor returns will force underperforming firms to shut down. It is already happening: Investment in venture capital funds shrank to $4.3 billion in the first quarter, from $7.1 billion in the same quarter a year ago. There will be “a ton of venture capitalists who disappear over the next 18 to 20 months, and it’s going to be painful for a while,” said Bryan Roberts, a partner at Venrock. “But the best thing that could have happened to V.C. is this economic crisis, because it’s lowering the flow of capital into these funds.” The source of concern is lower returns brought on in part by a dearth of public stock offerings. Five-year returns in the venture capital industry, which reached 48 percent in 2000 at the height of the dot-com bubble, were just 6 percent through 2008, according to the National Venture Capital Association . Most venture capitalists say the trouble began amid the excesses of the dot-com era. Before then, most of the investors in venture capital were university endowments, foundations and wealthy families. But in the late 1990s, endowments sharply increased their stake in illiquid assets, including venture capital. Big pension funds saw how much money these investors were making and wanted in as well. The amount invested annually by venture capitalists swelled to $104 billion in 2000, from $2.7 billion in 1990, according to the venture capital association. Today it is about $30 billion. The surge of money is in large part to blame for the recent poor performance, many in the industry say. “The big financiers of venture capital are force-feeding the industry, and it’s like force-feeding cows — it makes the industry sick,” said Paul Kedrosky, a senior fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation who recently called for the venture industry to contract by half. “It’s a returns-driven business, and the only way you can post better returns is by shrinking.” Instead of figuring out how much start-ups actually need, too many firms calculate how much they have in their funds, divide it by the number of partners and the number of boards they can sit on, and come up with a sum to invest in each start-up, said Ben Horowitz, a partner in a new venture firm, Andreessen Horowitz . That often means forcing $3 million into a company that needs $300,000, he said. Overfinancing results in too many firms backing too many start-ups that do the same thing, some critics say, and it inflates the valuation of companies so that investors get smaller returns when they eventually sell. The good news is that Web start-ups do not need as much money today, said Dana Settle, a partner at Greycroft Partners. “You can actually make a nice venture return if you sell them for less than $100 million, you just have to go in at the right price,” she said. Greycroft has a $75 million fund, invests $500,000 to $3 million in each start-up and does not always demand a board seat. Neither does Andreessen Horowitz, which will invest as little as $50,000 in a start-up from its $300 million fund. “That is a much better model than putting a bunch of money in upfront,” said Marc Andreessen, Mr. Horowitz’s partner. Mr. Andreessen and Mr. Horowitz also attribute the venture industry’s struggles in part to the business school graduates who now populate Sand Hill Road offices, taking the place of the entrepreneurs who first formed venture firms. (Mr. Andreessen is a founder of Netscape, and he and Mr. Horowitz founded Opsware, a software company bought by Hewlett-Packard.) When too many venture capitalists serve on a start-up’s board with “no proper judgment, who have never built a company,” they tend to get too involved in running the company and, in high-pressure situations, imagine problems that do not exist, Mr. Horowitz said. “Their insecurity and own anxiety filters into the advice,” he said. Franklin Pitcher Johnson, a veteran venture capitalist known as Pitch who founded Asset Management Company in 1965, agrees. He had this advice for would-be venture capitalists at a recent conference: “Get a real job in an operating company, because what we back is operating companies — until you understand that, you can’t be much of a venture capitalist.” Still others blame the fact that money flows to firms with the biggest past successes, even though the venture field can be an industry of one-hit wonders. “The people who were venture gods in the 1990s are 10 years older than they were,” said Judith Elsea, co-founder and managing director of Weathergage Capital, which invests in venture funds. Experience is an advantage in any industry, but venture might be different, Ms. Elsea said, because “technology is so dynamic.” Despite all the calls for a return to the old-school model of venture capital, some new technologies, like those in clean energy, require huge amounts of money, so some firms will need to remain large. And certain investors dispute that too much money is the problem. Timothy Draper, founder of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, thinks there should be more venture capitalists, not fewer. “I don’t think we have enough venture capitalists to spread the wealth to the seven billion creative minds out there,” he said.

Venture Capital
Computers and the Internet
Start-ups
National Venture Capital Assn
Andreessen Marc L


David Wright’s Home Run Lifts the Mets

Abstract: In one of the more eventful meaningless games of the season, the Mets clobbered the Washington Nationals, 7-2 , behind an emphatic and emotional home run by David Wright on Saturday. One pitch after avoiding a fastball under his chin that made him spin out of the batter’s box, Wright slammed a two-out, three-run homer off Tyler Clippard that broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh inning. He then took an exceptionally slow, deliberate first few steps out of the box. Wright, who sustained a concussion last year after he was hit in the helmet with a fastball from San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain, has been facing brushback pitches throughout the season. “I got a ball thrown behind me today, I got a ball thrown up in my chin,” he said. “That’s not fun as a hitter. “It’s not about showing anyone up, it’s about letting them know that of course you don’t appreciate it, and if you’re going to pitch in, keep it down.” Ryota Igarashi, who got one out with the bases loaded in the seventh inning, was credited with his first victory in the major leagues. In the eighth, Manager Jerry Manuel used R. A. Dickey in relief for the first time this season, leaving in the bullpen Oliver Perez, who has not pitched since Sept. 6. Manuel’s explanation for the move — to use Dickey on his side day — demonstrated that he expects Sunday to be his last game as Mets manager. “What that experience was is that in the future, if anybody is here in the future, they could use his throw day to save an inning,” he said. Before the game, Manuel said Jeff Wilpon, the Mets’ chief operating officer, spoke to him Friday afternoon but did not divulge his plans for him. “He came in my office and we spoke,” Manuel said. “His thing was what he has basically told me the whole time is that we will talk after the season. We pretty much left it at that.”

New York Mets
Washington Nationals
Baseball
Wright David


McDonald’s Forecasts a Decline in January Restaurant Sales

Abstract: McDonald’s on Wednesday forecast a decline in global restaurant sales for January, as it and other fast-food chains fight for customers who are spending cautiously during continued economic uncertainty. The world’s biggest restaurant company also reported an unexpected rise in December sales at established American outlets, which helped lift its fourth-quarter profit above analysts’ estimates. The company reported that its fourth-quarter net income rose 1.4 percent to $1.4 billion, or $1.38 a share. That topped analysts’ average forecast of $1.33 a share, according to Thomson Reuters. Total sales rose 1.9 percent to $6.95 billion. Wall Street expected early 2013 to be tough for McDonald’s as it runs short of quick fixes for its business in the United States, and bumps up against strong year-earlier results that were bolstered by unseasonably warm weather. McDonald’s forecast for a decline in this month’s global sales at restaurants open more than a year suggests a “pretty clear drop-off between December and January,” a Morningstar analyst, R. J. Hottovy, said. Global same-restaurant sales were flat in December, although McDonald’s experienced an unexpected 0.9 percent rise in the United States, its second-largest market in revenue behind Europe. The company’s push to keep more restaurants open on Christmas Day and its shift of the limited-time offering of the popular McRib sandwich to December from October bolstered the December results in the United States. Analysts polled by Consensus Metrix had expected those sales to drop 1.78 percent. McDonald’s expects near-term top and bottom-line growth to remain under pressure in part because the company must top strong results from a year earlier, the company’s chief executive, Don Thompson, said in a conference call with analysts. Last year’s global sales at McDonald’s restaurants open at least 13 months increased 6.7 percent for January and 7.3 percent for the first quarter. Fast-food chains like Burger King Worldwide Inc. and Yum Brands’ Taco Bell have introduced new menus in the United States and are doing a better job of competing with McDonald’s. At the same time, American consumers have less money in their pockets since the end of the payroll tax cut. “We suspect choppy demand trends and the impact of the loss of the payroll tax deduction are in part to blame” for the company’s downbeat guidance, a Lazard Capital Markets analyst, Matthew DiFrisco, said in a note to clients. To remain competitive, McDonald’s stepped up promotion of its value menus — like the Dollar Menu. That effort has put pressure on profitability, raising concern among analysts.


Glenn Beck and Fox Agree to Part Ways

Abstract: The negotiations that led Glenn Beck to announce his departure from the Fox News Channel on Wednesday ended with an expression of “let’s part as friends,” according to several people with knowledge of the talks. But behind that moment was a torrent of acrimony that underscored just how fractious the relationship between Mr. Beck and the network had become during his three-year run on Fox. Mr. Beck’s official departure was preceded by conversations over a period of months with the Fox News chairman, Roger Ailes . Even as Mr. Beck and Mr. Ailes described how much they liked each other in an interview with The Associated Press, the message conveyed between the lines by both sides was that, despite ratings that would normally bring about an automatic contract renewal, this was a relationship that had grown cold — and run its course. On Wednesday, the two sides made it official, announcing that Mr. Beck would end his top-rated show at some unspecified point later this year. His contract with Fox ends in December, but he is expected to sign off well before then. Hired away from CNN’s Headline News in 2008, Mr. Beck found a home at Fox News, giving voice to disaffected Americans who were deeply troubled by President Obama’s election. He reached as many as three million viewers on some nights, setting time-slot records for Fox. Although his ratings have since declined — he averaged 1.9 million viewers in March — he still dominates the 5 p.m. hour among the cable news networks. Notably, Mr. Beck became a daily broadcast platform for a libertarian strain of politics that is also evident in the Tea Party , a movement he embraced. Critics loudly condemned him for living with his own facts — but that only seemed to widen the conspiracy that he outlined each night, aided by a growing number of chalkboards in his studio. But at that studio, he was unhappy from almost his first day on the job, which happened to be the day before Mr. Obama was inaugurated. Even in his first year, he was contemplating an exit from Fox and wondering if he could start his own channel. Beck supporters presented a picture of constant sniping, planted stories about his declining ratings, and discomfort with his ability to build a career for himself outside the Fox News brand. From Fox’s perspective, the facts about Mr. Beck’s run on the network have been public and indisputable. Among those were the refusal of hundreds of Fox advertisers to allow their commercials to be placed on Mr. Beck’s program, and a history of incendiary comments that attracted harsh backlash, including one where the host called President Obama a racist and another where he compared Reform Judaism to radical Islam. (He later apologized for both comments.) Mr. Ailes suggested in the interview Wednesday that he was happy with the departure being characterized as either a cancellation or a decision by Mr. Beck to quit. Fox has retained all its other high-rated hosts in the past, but they didn’t come under the intense scrutiny that Mr. Beck has faced, nor the mass opposition from advertisers. As onerous as that might have been to Fox financially, it did not seem to be an issue for Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of the News Corporation. In two recent comments to shareholders, Mr. Murdoch defended Mr. Beck. He said of the advertiser boycott, “They don’t boycott watching it. We’re getting incredible numbers.” He followed that by pointing out that even with his diminished ratings, Mr. Beck’s show provided a “terrific kickoff” to the lineup of Fox shows that followed. But the ratings clearly could not overcome the fractures in the relationship. “By the end both sides had had enough,” said one executive who was involved in the decision to end the deal. Mr. Beck’s new deal with Fox allows him to develop and produce new projects for Fox and its Web sites. But those projects are likely to amount to occasional specials and appearances, nothing more. Mr. Beck is known to have contemplated an expansion of his subscription Web site and a takeover of a cable channel in whole or in part. Already, his growing media company produces several hours of shows on the Web each weekday. A spokesman for Mr. Beck declined to say whether the agreement included a noncompete clause that would preclude Mr. Beck from hosting a TV show elsewhere for a period of time. On his show on Wednesday, Mr. Beck said to his viewers, “We will find each other,” adding later, “I’m going to be showing you other ways for us to connect.” A senior Fox News executive, Joel Cheatwood, will join Mr. Beck at Mercury Radio Arts later this month. Notably, descriptions of Mr. Beck’s future plans drew derisive comments in some quarters of Fox News, where they argued that Mr. Beck needed the huge platform of his Fox show to build his media empire. At times, Mr. Beck and his managers said they sensed that Fox was retaliating in public, although they did not prove it. Last month, when Mr. Cheatwood was first said to be moving over to Mercury, his Fox salary was suddenly leaked to a reporter. That day, a staff member who had been working with Fox on Mr. Beck’s show was asked if he could imagine working at an institution that would leak a salary figure. The staff member replied, “Not only can I imagine it, we’ve done it for 27 months,” referring to the precise number of months Mr. Beck had been at Fox. “It’s not fun.”

Beck Glenn
Fox News Channel
Ailes Roger E
Cable Television


Left Ankle Injury Leaves Kiwanuka on the Fence

Abstract: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Gingerly, Mathias Kiwanuka cut two big ice bags from his left ankle after Thursday’s practice at Giants Stadium. Once bare, the ankle looked normal on the outside. But will it be healthy enough on the inside for Kiwanuka to play effectively and at length at right defensive end Sunday when the Giants (1-0) play their first road game, against the St. Louis Rams (0-1)? “I will probably take all the time up until game time before I’m 100 percent,” Kiwanuka said. “But I’ll be there.” The condition of the ankle is a lingering concern to the Giants and to Kiwanuka. They expected it to be fully recovered by now, a week after it was injured on the final play of last Thursday’s 16-7 victory over Washington in the season opener. But Kiwanuka, one of the most important and versatile players on the team, missed practice on Wednesday. He participated in only about half the plays in Thursday’s workout, according to Steve Spagnuolo, the defensive coordinator. “I thought it was going to come around before now,” Kiwanuka said of the ankle. “I think I’ll be good stepping out there on Sunday, regardless.” Kiwanuka sustained the injury when Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels tackled him from behind and fell on Kiwanuka’s legs. Kiwanuka had beaten Samuels and started to close in on quarterback Jason Campbell. Samuels was called for holding. Kiwanuka said last week that he thought the play was unsportsmanlike. Kiwanuka’s backup at the position is Dave Tollefson. Kiwanuka, 6-foot-5 and 265 pounds, is in his third year, a first-round draft choice in 2006 from Boston College. He moved from defensive end to linebacker last season and played well there until breaking the fibula in the same leg on Nov. 18 at Detroit. That injury healed in the off-season, but he moved back to defensive end this year when Osi Umenyiora, the right end, sustained a season-ending knee injury during an exhibition game against the Jets on Aug. 23. Kiwanuka shifted smoothly back. “He looked like he was back at home,” Spagnuolo said of Kiwanuka. Antonio Pierce, the middle linebacker, said Kiwanuka was impressive at right end considering he had not played there for more than a year. “He’s a natural defensive end,” Pierce said. “He was out of position playing linebacker, obviously. His whole life, he was a defensive end. That’s what the guy was probably born to do.” When asked to describe the transition, Kiwanuka said he thought there was going to be a longer adjustment period. “It’s exciting to get back out there and be able to play free,” he said. “I don’t want to say that I didn’t enjoy playing linebacker. I had a great time when I was there.” What, he was asked, is the difference between the two positions? “When you’re a linebacker, you don’t have a chance to fire off the ball, you’re kind of sitting back and waiting to analyze what the offense is doing and figuring out where you’re supposed to go,” Kiwanuka said. As a defensive lineman, he added there was a greater opportunity to make a game-changing play. “I love it, I love it, it’s a one-on-one battle most of the time,” he said. “You’re going against a tackle and, when you get free, you get a shot at the quarterback and you can affect the game. You get a sack, cause a fumble, pick it up and return it. That’s the trifecta right there.” Pierce, the leader of the defense, said he had no doubt that Kiwanuka would play well against the Rams. “If it ain’t broke, he’s going to be out there,” Pierce said. “Obviously, last year, it was broken and he couldn’t be out there. But nothing’s going to stop him.” EXTRA POINTS R.W. McQuarters, the cornerback and punt returner, did not practice Thursday because of a calf injury. Last week’s depth chart listed his backups as Domenik Hixon, Ahmad Bradshaw and Sinorice Moss. ... Also missing practice Thursday were cornerback Terrell Thomas, with a hamstring injury, and place-kicker Lawrence Tynes, with a knee injury.

Kiwanuka Mathias
New York Giants
Football


Supreme Court to Weigh Limits on Cases Involving Medical Devices

Abstract: WASHINGTON, June 25 — Setting the stage for a confrontation between the states and manufacturers, the Supreme Court said on Monday that it would hear an appeal raising the issue of whether the makers of medical equipment approved by the federal government may be sued under state law by patients injured by those devices. Although the appeal will most likely turn on the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the 1976 medical devices amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the case is part of a broader debate in Washington over the extent to which the Bush administration and Congress may preclude the states from imposing consumer regulations that are more stringent than the federal government’s. Federal agencies under the control of Bush administration appointees have sought to adopt regulations covering matters as diverse as auto safety and medicine labeling to preclude active state prosecutors and trial lawyers from bringing lawsuits that would impose higher safety standards. An array of agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, have proposed or adopted rules that would make it more difficult for consumers to bring lawsuits under state laws that are more favorable to victims than are federal regulations. Critics of the Bush administration say that the approach strips consumers of valuable state protections. Supporters say the federal effort to pre-empt the states sets uniform national standards and discourages overzealous state prosecutors. In the case before the Supreme Court, both the Bush administration and the defendant company, Medtronic, had urged the justices to reject the appeal of a patient who was injured when a balloon catheter it made ruptured during an angioplasty in 1996. The patient, Charles R. Riegel, and his wife, Donna, sued Medtronic for a variety of state tort law violations, including negligent design and breach of warranty. The company maintained that Mr. Riegel’s surgeon should not have used the balloon catheter because of Mr. Riegel’s condition and that the surgeon used the device in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Both a Federal District Court and a Federal Appeals Court in New York dismissed most of the Riegels’ claims. Those courts concluded that because the F.D.A. had approved the balloon catheter after a rigorous review and before it went to market, injured patients could not file claims against Medtronic under state law. The medical devices amendment forbids a state from adopting any requirement “which is different from, or in addition to, any requirement” in federal law. Federal courts around the nation have taken different views of whether that provision bars state law damage claims against medical devices approved by the F.D.A. The issue has so confounded the courts that three appeals courts reviewing the same medical device made by the same company have reached two different conclusions about whether patients could bring a lawsuit. Lawyers involved in the Medtronic case say they expect the court to hear from manufacturers and business groups in support of Medtronic, as well as from states and consumer organizations on behalf of the patient who was injured. The case, Riegel v. Medtronic, No. 06-179, is expected to be heard by the court in the fall. A group of similar cases involving drugs is moving through the courts.

Supreme Court
Medical Devices
Consumer Protection
States (US)
Bush George W


Blagojevich Case Goes to Chicago Jury

Abstract: CHICAGO — The fate of Rod R. Blagojevich , Illinois’s beleaguered former governor, who is accused of, among other things, trying to sell an appointment to the Senate seat that once belonged to President Obama, was in the hands of the jury on Thursday. Less than a year ago, another jury returned a guilty verdict on the least serious charge against Mr. Blagojevich, but gave up after deadlocking on 23 other corruption counts. The most serious charges against Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. For a second trial that was essentially about the same accusations against Mr. Blagojevich as the first, though, the latest chapter has looked utterly different. The previous jurors learned of tangled racketeering counts and heard not a word of testimony in Mr. Blagojevich’s defense. This time, jurors are considering 20 simplified charges and heard from a star-studded cast of defense witnesses: Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr. , and Mr. Blagojevich himself, who spent seven sometimes testy days on the stand. Mr. Blagojevich, who is a lawyer (though, according to his testimony, not much of a law school student) and a former federal and state legislator, is charged with wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy. The charges involve a series of situations in which, prosecutors say, he tried to gain campaign contributions or other benefits for enacting legislation, for releasing grant money and for appointing a new senator, as Illinois law requires the governor to do, after Mr. Obama was elected in 2008. In a closing argument here, Carrie Hamilton, an assistant United States attorney, worked to boil down the details into a single, easy thought for jurors: if Mr. Blagojevich tried to gain personally from a public act, she said, again and again, that is a crime. It was clear that prosecutors had heard the complaints of Mr. Blagojevich’s first jurors, who described the prosecution case as too complex. At least some of the jurors said they viewed Mr. Blagojevich’s acts as the ordinary talk among Chicago politicians, not actual crimes where money changed hands. “The law focuses on ‘the ask,’ not on whether there was a receipt,” Ms. Hamilton told jurors on Wednesday. The fact that many of the deals described on secretly recorded phone calls from Mr. Blagojevich and his top aides rarely resulted in any profits for him did not matter, she said. “The harm is done when ‘the ask’ is made,” she said. Mr. Blagojevich was arrested in December 2008, before he had appointed anyone to fill the Senate seat. But prosecutors said he had begun a desperate search for what he might get depending on whom he picked. At various times, the prosecutors say, he wanted a cabinet position to select Valerie Jarrett, an Obama confidante, or he wanted a $1.5 million contribution to pick Mr. Jackson, or he wanted a top nonprofit job or something else. But, on the stand, Mr. Blagojevich insisted that he was merely pondering different possibilities and that his favorite idea was a plan he had discussed to appoint to the Senate Lisa Madigan , the state attorney general, as a way to get crucial legislation passed in Springfield, where Ms. Madigan’s father, Michael, is the speaker of the State House. Aaron Goldstein, a lawyer for Mr. Blagojevich, told jurors in his closing argument on Thursday that his client had never received any money or campaign contributions in any of the alleged schemes. He said Mr. Blagojevich had talked a lot about the Senate appointment in the recordings, but had never made a decision. “He talked and talked,” Mr. Goldstein said. “That was all he did. Did he make one decision to do any of this stuff? No. Absolutely not.” He credited Mr. Blagojevich for testifying, noting that he did not have to do it. “He took a walk that looks pretty short, but it’s a walk that took courage,” Mr. Goldstein said of his client’s walk to the stand. “Rod took that walk, and he told you the truth.”

Blagojevich Rod R
Campaign Finance
Illinois


Yoenis Cespedes and Mets Parade Around the Bases and Into Sole Possession of First

Abstract: MIAMI — In the top of the fifth inning of the Mets’ 12-1 win over the Marlins on Monday night at Marlins Park, a chant broke out behind the Mets’ dugout. “Let’s go, Mets!” it began, softly. Daniel Murphy was on first base, Curtis Granderson was on second and Yoenis Cespedes was facing a 1-0 count from Tom Koehler. The Mets were leading, 3-0. “Let’s go, Mets!” the chant continued, increasing in volume and participation and punctuated by a clap at each word. It was sung mostly by the large contingent of Mets fans sitting behind the visitors’ dugout. Cespedes swung and missed, and the chant died down. But three pitches later, Cespedes — whose three doubles tied a Mets franchise record — laced a fastball into deep right-center field. Granderson and Murphy scored, and Cespedes advanced to second with a double. The Mets led, 5-0, and the chant was revived. Mets fans, after enduring six straight losing seasons littered with strange moments and disheartening performances, finally have hope again. Monday’s win, coupled with the Washington Nationals’ loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, made the Mets the sole leader of the National League East. The Mets fans’ section — buoyed by the New York “retirees moving down to Florida,” Granderson said — was the loudest and most densely packed in the park, which had swaths of empty seats. “Mets fans around the league are as excited as the people in New York are,” Manager Terry Collins said after the game. Cespedes, whom the Mets acquired minutes before the trade deadline on Friday, is a major reason. He was 3 for 5 with four R.B.I. on Monday, and he scored on a wild pitch in the sixth inning, a play that Collins said was indicative of his “baseball instincts.” “That’s why we got him,” Collins said. “We got him to be that guy in the middle of the lineup who drives in those big runs.” The rookie outfielder Michael Conforto — recently called back up to the majors after he was sent to Class AAA Las Vegas to make room for Cespedes on the roster — hit his first career home run in the second inning to start the offensive charge. It was a smooth three-run shot that left the Mets dugout roaring. “That ball was crushed,” Collins said. Conforto smiled as he rounded the bases and entered the dugout to several high-fives. “They were rowdy,” he said of his teammates. Before the game, Bartolo Colon (10-10) slouched comfortably in a leather chair in the clubhouse, resting his leg on an armrest and joking with several teammates. In one instant, with little warning, he slammed the foam roller he was holding onto a table, which generated a large “Thwack!” and startled many players. Colon simply smiled. That pregame easiness carried over to the game, when Colon — who had lost six straight decisions and had a 6.16 E.R.A. over his last seven starts — allowed one run and seven hits and struck out five in eight innings. He added a single, too. “That’s a big outing for Bartolo,” Collins said. “We need him.” Colon said that after his last start — when he gave up six runs and 10 hits and was relieved after two and a third innings — he went to the bullpen to work extensively on his timing because he felt it was not right. “You know what?” Collins said before the game. “Bartolo’s pretty easy to describe: He lives and dies with his fastball and the command of it, and the movement of it. So when one of those things is missing, he can be O.K. If two of them are missing, he’s got problems.” On Monday, they were not, and the Mets provided run support that they had lacked for so much of the season. They added four runs in the fifth, two of them on Cespedes’s double. Wilmer Flores continued his journey into the hearts of Mets fans by doubling in a run two batters later, and he scored when Kelly Johnson grounded out to first base. In the seventh, after the crowd erupted for Colon’s single to center field ("Thank God I got one," Colon said through an interpreter), Granderson hit a two-run single, and the Mets’ scoring was done. This happened after Cespedes, again with two runners on, doubled home two more runs in the sixth inning. The crowd began to chant once more.

Baseball
Yoenis Cespedes
Bartolo Colon
Miami Marlins
Mets


S.E.C. Approves Tougher Rules on Executive Pay

Abstract: WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal regulators voted Wednesday to require companies to reveal more information about how they pay their executives amid a public outcry over compensation. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 4 to 1 to expand the disclosure requirements for public companies. Company policies that encouraged excessive risk-taking and rewarded executives for delivering short-term profits were partly blamed for the financial crisis. The agency also changed a formula on how public companies report stock options and stock awards in regulatory filings. Such awards often make up most of the pay of top executives. Separately, the agency voted unanimously to require thousands of investment advisers who have custody of clients’ money to submit to annual surprise exams by outside auditors. The surprise audits would allow independent accountants to review the books and verify that the money is there. The snap audits would apply to about 1,600 investment advisers that do not use third-party custodians, out of roughly 11,000 advisers registered with the S.E.C. This move is aimed at plugging gaps that allowed the disgraced money manager Bernard L. Madoff to deceive investors. The changes will help investors make better-informed voting decisions for the companies in which they hold stock, said Mary L. Schapiro, the chairwoman of the S.E.C. “By adopting these rules, we will improve the disclosure around risk, compensation and corporate governance, thereby increasing accountability and directly benefiting investors,” Ms. Schapiro said before the vote. Kathleen L. Casey, one of the commissioners, said she opposed some of the new requirements, like added information on qualifications of directors and candidates for the board, that she said could be “unduly burdensome.” As a result, Ms. Casey said she was voting against the rule as a whole. It was the first final rule adopted by the S.E.C. this year under the tenure of Ms. Schapiro. Numerous proposals have been made by the commissioners. Under the new rules, companies will have to disclose legal actions involving the company’s executive officers, directors and nominees for the board. They also must explain the role played by diversity as a factor in choosing candidates for the board and detail potential conflicts of interest on the part of compensation consultants retained by the company. Anger over lavish Wall Street pay has led some American banks to take pre-emptive action. Goldman Sachs, for example, has said it would not give cash bonuses to 30 top executives. Instead, the bonuses will be paid in stock that cannot be cashed in for five years. The new requirements were proposed by the S.E.C. and opened to public comment in July. They build on rules the agency adopted in 2006. The expanded executive pay disclosure rules will take effect next spring, when companies send annual proxy disclosures to shareholders.

Executive Compensation
Regulation and Deregulation of Industry
Securities and Exchange Commission