On Top Of The News Email:[emailprotected] website: www.arubatoday.com Tel:+297 582-7800 Wednesday, September 25,2013
IRAN’S LEADER READY TO TALK
EDITH M. LEDERER JULIE PACE Associated Press UNITED NATIONS (AP) —
President Barack Obama and new Iranian President Hasan Rouhani both spoke up forcefully for a resumption of stalled nuclear negotiations Tuesday at the U.N., but they gave no ground on the long-held positions that have scuttled previous attempts to break the tense impasse.
Hasan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
(AP Photo/Brendan McDermid)
The leaders’ separate appearances at the United Nations General Assembly came amid heightened speculation about a thaw in U.S.-lranian relations following the election of Rouhani, a more-moderate sounding cleric. In fact, officials from both countries had quietly negotiated the possibility of a brief meeting between Obama and Rouhani. But U.S. officials said the Iranians told them Tuesday that an encounter would be “too complicated” given uncertainty about how it would be received in Tehran.
Continued on page 2
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who is leading an effort to defund Obamacare, speaks to reporters before the weekly Senate luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 24, 2013. The Senate’s Democratic majority leader, Harry Reid, paved the way for a vote to strip the House spending bill of language that would defund President Barack Obama's health care law, setting the stage for a budget showdown.
(Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times)
JONATHAN WEISMAN © 2013 New York Times WASHINGTON - Many Senate Republicans on Tuesday abandoned their colleague, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, in his tangled procedural fight over funding the government even as he took to the Senate floor and declared he would speak “until I cannot stand” to rally voters against the new health care law.
While the Senate appeared increasingly likely to override Cruz in a preliminary vote scheduled for Wednesday, Cruz pressed ahead with his opposition
and compared his fight to leaders who stood against the Nazis, ended the Cold War or launched the American Revolution.
“Everyone in America knows Obamacare is destroying the economy,” he said as he began speaking shortly before 3 p.m.
Yet outside the chamber, his colleagues worked to actively thwart his efforts to block a vote to take up the House-passed bill that does precisely what he wants: funds the government through mid-December while defunding the Affordable Care Act.
Cruz was calling on his colleagues to stonewall a measure they technically supported, reasoning that Senate Democrats would be successful in stripping the health care provision from the funding bill once the way was cleared to a Senate vote on the measure.
But other Republicans said they saw no reason to oppose opening debate on a measure they actually backed.
“We'd be hard-pressed to explain why we were opposed to a bill we're in favor of,” said Sen. Mitch Mc Connell of Kentucky, the Republican leader.
Others warned of political repercussions if Senate Republicans, who hope to regain control of the Senate in next year's elections, were seen as contributing to the government being shut down.
“Getting the majority in the Senate in 2014 is possible, and we don’t want to go down roads that make it harder,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, R- S.C., who is up for re-election next year.
Continued on page 3
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
SUP FRONT
Obama, Rouhani back resumption of nuclear talks
Continued from Front
Instead, Obama and Rouhani traded hopeful-yetunyielding messages during public addresses hours apart at the annual U.N. meetings.
Obama declared that it was worth pursuing diplomacy with Iran even though skepticism persists about Tehran's willingness to back up its recent overtures with concrete actions to answer strong concerns
at the U.N. and in many nations that the Iranians are working to develop a nuclear bomb.
“The roadblocks may prove to be too great, but I
DAVID RISING TOM ODULA Associated Press NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenya’s president proclaimed victory Tuesday over the terrorists who stormed a Nairobi mall, saying security forces had “ashamed and defeated our attackers” following a bloody fourday siege in which dozens of civilians were killed. President Uhuru Kenyatta said the dead included 61 civilians whose bodies have been recovered so
firmly believe the diplomatic path must be tested,” Obama said. He added that he while he was “encouraged” by Rouhani’s election, the new president’s “conciliatory words will have to be matched by actions that are transparent and verifiable.” Rouhani, making his international debut, said Iran was ready to enter talks “without delay” and insisted his country was not interested in escalating
tensions with the U.S. He said Iran must retain the right to enrich uranium, but he vigorously denied that his country was seeking to build a nuclear weapon.
far and six security forces, while some 175 were injured, including 62 who remain hospitalized.
Three floors of fhe mall collapsed and several bodies were trapped in the rubble, said Kenyatta. His office later said a terrorist's body was among those in the debris.
Five other extremists were killed by gunfire and another 11 other suspects had been arrested, he said; authorities had previously announced the arrest of sev
“Nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction have no place in Iran’s security and defense doctrine, and contradict our fundamental religious and ethnical convictions,” Rouhani declared. “Our national interests make it imperative that we remove any and all reasonable concerns about Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.”
He strongly criticized the economic sanctions that
have been imposed on Iran as part of fhe effort to persuade its leaders to open its nuclear programs to international inspection. The sanctions have badly hurt
en at the airport and three elsewhere. “These cowards will meet justice as well their accomplices and patrons, wherever they are,” Kenyatta said, in a televised address to the nation. Kenyatta, 51, has visited wounded survivors in hospital and made other emotion-filled speeches about the terrorist attack, which has been the harshest test of his leadership since he became president in April. “Fellow Kenyans, we have been badly hurt and feel
Iran's economy, and Rouhani called them “violent" in their impact. He also said that U.S. drone strikes that kill civilians in the name of fighting terrorism should be condemned.
U.S. officials said they were not surprised to see Rouhani publicly stake out those positions on the international stage. Still, they say they see him as a more moderate leader elected by an Iranian public frustrated by international isolation and the crippling sanctions.
However, the Obama administration is unclear whether Rouhani is willing to take the steps the U.S. is seeking in order to ease the sanctions, including curbing uranium enrichment and closing the underground Fordo nuclear facility.
The U.S. and its allies have long suspected that Iran is trying to produce a nuclear weapon, though Tehran insists its nuclear activities are only for producing energy and for medical research.
Even without a meeting between Obama and Rouhani, it was clear that the U.S. and Iran were edging close to direct talks. Obama said he was tasking Secretary of State John Kerry with pursuing the prospect of a nuclear agreement with Iran. Kerry, along with representatives from five ofher world powers, is fo meet Thursday with Iran's new foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif. □
great pain and loss. But we have been brave, united and strong,” said Kenyatta, the son of the country’s founding president, Jomo Kenyatta. “Kenya has stared down evil and triumphed.” Kenyatta’s statesman-like demeanor over the terror crisis is at odds with the charges he faces af fhe Internafional Criminal Courf for crimes against humanity in which he is alleged to have incited violence following Kenya’s 2007 elections.^
Brazil’s speech at UN lashes out at NSA program
LARA JAKES
AP National Security Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) —
Brazil's president delivered a stinging rebuke Tuesday to the United States over its surveillance program that has swept up data from billions of telephone calls and emails that have passed through Brazil — including her own.
She also called on the global body to create a framework of Internet regulation to halt the U.S. and other nations from using it as the “new battlefield” of espionage.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly on the first day of its annual meeting, President Dilma Rousseff accused the U.S. of violating Brazil's sovereignty with what she called a “grave violation of human rights and of civil liberties.”
“In the absence of the respect for sovereignty, there is no basis for the relationship among nations,” Rousseff said. “Friendly governments and societies that seek to build a true strategic partnership, as in our case, cannot allow recurring illegal actions to take place as if they were normal. They are unacceptable."
Last week, she shelved an upcoming state trip to the U.S. in a show of anger over the U.S. National Security Agency program. Brazil is an important hub for trans-Aflantic fiber opfic cables. The NSA, fasked wifh infercepfing potenfial terror communications, also reportedly hacked into the computer network of state-run oil company Petrobras.
Rousseff said the NSA also collected economic and strategic corporate data, as well as messages by Brazilian diplomats, including to the United Nations, and from her own office.
“The arguments that the illegal interception of information and data aims at protecting nations against terrorism cannot be sustained,” Rousseff said. Brazil “knows how to protect itself. □
Iranian President Hasan Rouhani shakes hands with French President Francois Hollande during the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly at United Nations headquarters Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
(AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
Kenyan president: terrorists ‘ashamed and defeated’
U.S. NEWS I * 3
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
Obama, Bill Clinton reunite to promote health care law
CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE
President Barack Obama, right, with former President Bill Clinton, left, speaks at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
(AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
DARLENE SUPERVILLE NEW YORK (AP) — President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton took to the same stage Tuesday to promote the new health care law that Obama championed after Clinton's own efforts to reform health care years earlier fell flat.
Joining forces under dimmed lights in a hotel ballroom in New York, Obama and Clinton laid out the law's benefits and its connection to the economy while dispelling what they called disinformation about its downsides. Clinton, acting as host, lobbed the questions; Obama an swered with the eagerness of a guest on a daytime TV talk show.
It was a pair of presidents in dark suits, reclining on comfy, white chairs as they reflected on the effort that went in to passing the sweeping law, and the intense challenges facing its implementation. New ex changes where Americans can buy health insurance
— a centerpiece of the law
— open for enrollment on Oct. 1.
“I don’t have pride of authorship for this thing, I just want the thing to work,” Obama said. He added that he was confident Americans will be swayed
by its advantages even though polls show they’re deeply wary of the law. “The devil you know is always better than the devil you don’t know.”
Clinton felt free to point out some of the drawbacks in the law’s implementation, while making clear that Obama was not the one to blame. For example, noting that the Supreme Court said states could not be forced to take Medicaid money to finance the expansion of health coverage.
“That's going to lead to a cruel result, and there’s nothing the president can do, and it's not his fault. That's what the Supreme Court said,” Clinton said. The joint appearance, sponsored by the former president's foundation known as the Clinton Global Initiative, marks the start of a concerted campaign by the Obama administration and its allies to inform consumers about their options under the law. It also took place around the 20th anniversary of Clinton's address to a joint session of Congress calling for an overhaul of the health care system.
That effort, by Clinton and former first lady Hillary Rodman Clinton, was unsuccessful. □
In Funding Fight, Republicans Back Away From Cruz
Continued from Front
“Repealing Obamacare is a goal all Republicans share,” he added, “but the tactics of achieving that goal can have a backlash.”
Cruz’s lonely stand was not really a filibuster. The first vote in a multiday process to get to a final showdown is set for around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Cruz could talk until then, but he is not able to delay or thwart the vote itself. And only a handful of Republicans are expected to join him in voting against taking up the House bill. Senate Republicans
pushed Cruz on Tuesday to give up his stalling tactics
and let the Senate take its final votes as soon as possible to strip out the health care language and other policy prescriptions, then approve new language to keep the government operating until mid-November.
An early vote would give House Speaker John A. Boehner more time to plan his next move: whether to put the Senate-passed bill up for a vote and ensure no government shutdown or add new Republican-favored language and send it back to the Senate.
If Cruz keeps up his crusade, the final vote cannot happen until Sunday.
“I don't know who else in the conference may feel
differently, but I do know what we send over there if the House doesn't get until Monday, they're in a
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) speaks to reporters during the weekly Senate luncheon at the Capitol in Washington, Sept. 24, 2013. Reid, vowing, “We will not bow to Tea Party anarchists," paved the way for a vote to strip the House spending bill of language that would defund President Barack Obama’s health care law.
(Gabriella Demczuk/The New York Times)
pretty tough spot,” McConnell said.
The Senate’s Democratic majority leader. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, moved Tuesday to change the House-passed bill, shortening the stopgap spending measure to fund the government through mid-November instead of mid-December. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., the chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, requested the change to raise pressure on the House to address the automatic spending cuts, known as sequestration, that are squeezing federal programs and are reflected in the spending plan passed by the HouseO
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
au.s. NEWS
4 men charged in Chicago shooting that injured 13
JASON KEYSER Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Two suspected gunmen and two others have been charged in last week’s shooting of 13 people including a 3-year
old boy in a crowded Chicago park, police said Tuesday.
Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the gunmen opened fire on the group in retaliation for an
earlier shooting in which one of them was slightly wounded. He said there was no specific target, but that the shooters went to the park because it was rival gang territory.
Police said all four suspects were charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery in Thursday’s attack in Cornell Square Park on the southwest side.
Investigators said the shooters where Tabari Young, 22, and 21-year-old Bryon Champ, who each opened fire on the crowded park as people played a nighttime basketball game on a warm late-summer evening.
After a brief court appearance Tuesday, a judge ordered all four to be held without bond.
Young, who was identified as the principal gunman, used a military-style weapon, while Champ used another gun, McCarthy said. Twenty-two-year-old Brad Jett, a suspected lookout, and 20-year-old Kewane Gatewood, who is accused of supplying a gun, were also charged, McCarthy said.
Young and Jett were charged Tuesday while Champ and Gatewood were charged Monday. The shooting injured two teenagers and 3-year-old Deonta Howard, who is recovering from surgery after being shot near his ear. Authorities say Young has more than a dozen previous arrests and have described Champ as a felon and a documented gang member.
Prosecutors said the men were members of the Blackstones street gang who were upset after an unreported shooting that took place earlier in the day in which Champ suffered a graze wound. The park was in an area frequented by members of the Gangster Disciples.
Champ, who was convicted in July 2012 on charges of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon, was previously sentenced to Cook County Jail’s boot camp.Q
This photo shows Cornell Square Park in Chicago’s Back of the Yard neighborhood where a recent shooting left multiple victims including a 3-year-old boy. Two suspected gunmen and two others have been charged in last week’s shooting, police said Tuesday.
(AP Photo/Chandler West)
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Jackson promoter, doctor accused of seeking payday
Brian Panish, attorney for the Michael Jackson family delivers his closing argument to jurors in a packed courtroom in downtown Los Angeles, Tuesday, Sept. 24,2013. Panish asked a Los Angeles jury to act as the conscience of the community and award damages for the loss of the pop star's life.
(AP Photo/AI Seib)
The company has claimed that Jackson insisted that Murray treat him because the doctor was giving him propofol as a sleep aid. The drug is not meant to be used outside operating rooms.
AEG Live drafted a contract for Murray's services, according to testimony, but it was only signed by Murray. Still, Panish said, the contract was valid because it was the result of oral negotiations with Murray.
Panish urged jurors to act as the conscience of the community and award damages to Jackson’s family. Jackson's mother, Katherine, her daughter Rebbie and nephews Taj and TJ, sat in a front row as Panish delivered his remarks. □
LINDA DEUTSCH AP Special Correspondent LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lawyer for Michael Jackson’s family on Tuesday portrayed concert promoter AEG Live LLC and Jackson’s doctor as mercenaries who sacrificed the pop star's life in a quest to boost their own fortunes.
Attorney Brian Panish made the claims while delivering his closing argument at the long-running trial of the negligence case, asking jurors: “Do people do things they shouldn't do for money? People do it every day.”
A $150,000 a month contract to care for Jackson was a lifeline to help Dr. Conrad Murray climb out of his financial troubles, Panish told jurors, saying the doctor was $500,000 in debt and about to lose his home. AEG Live, meanwhile, had only one interest — launching a world tour for the King of Pop that would yield untold millions in profits, the
lawyer said.
The lawsuit filed by Katherine Jackson, the singer's mother, accuses AEG Live of negligence in hiring Murray and seeks as-yef unspecified damages for the singer’s family.
Panish told a packed courtroom that Murray's woes were unknown to AEG Live when Jackson proposed the doctor as his private physician because the company did not research his finances.
He also said Murray’s willingness to close his medical offices to take the job could have raised a red flag if AEG Live had investigated the cardiologist. Murray was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter after giving Jackson an overdose of the anesthetic propofol as he tried to sleep during preparations for his “This Is It” concerts in London.
Attorneys for AEG will present their closing argument on Wednesday.
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Fight over copper heiress’ will ends in deal in NY court
Photo shows the New Caanan, Conn., estate of Huguette Clark, a copper magnate from Montana.
(AP Photo/Barbara Cleary’s Realty Guild)
JENNIFER PELTZ Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — A feud over how an enigmatic heiress meant to bequeath a $300 million fortune made in Montana copper mines and the beginnings of Las Vegas was settled Tuesday, with a deal that mainly benefits distant relatives and the arts.
A nurse who once stood to inherit as much as $30 million from Huguette Clark will instead have to give back more than $5 million received during Clark’s lifetime, and a lawyer and an accountant whose work for Clark came under question get no bequests. The settlement was filed in court and got a judge’s approval Tuesday. Word of a pact emerged over the weekend, as a likely twomonth trial loomed over the true intentions of a reclusive woman who died at 104 and signed two starkly different wills within six weeks when she was 98. “This result is a fair result,” Manhattan Surrogate’s Court Judge Nora Anderson said.
Clark died in 2011, leaving no close relatives. Her father, U.S. Sen. William A. Clark, made his wealth from mining and the establishment of Las Vegas, among other ventures.
HANNAH DREIER
Associated Press
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The
world’s largest gambling conference got under way in Las Vegas on Tuesday with flashing slot machines.
Rarely seen in public since at least the 1960s, Huguette Clark had elected to live in since 1991 in a Manhattan hospital, rather than her grand homes in Manhattan, Santa Barbara, Cali
chain smoking businessmen, and glittery performers dressed as characters from “Avatar” and the “Walking Dead."
Geoff Freeman, who took over as head of the Ameri
fornia, and New Canaan, Connecticut.
Her circ*mstances came under question in 2010, when some descendants of her half-siblings unsuccessfully asked a court to bar her lawyer and accountant from involvement in her affairs. The two have denied wrongdoing.
Then the two wills emerged. The first left most of her money to her distant relations. The second cut them out, giving bequests to arts charities, the nurse, a goddaughter, the hospital and others.
The relatives said caregivers and advisers had manipulated Clark. The beneficiaries said she showed deliberate generosity to those most involved in her
can Gaming Association this summer, welcomed the 25,000 attendees and then ushered in a comedy troop to lampoon them. The room stayed mostly quiet.
Freeman told The Associated Press one of his top priorities for the coming year will be persuading state regulators to impose less stringent restrictions on the casino industry, and to make them more uniform. “Our industry isn’t allowed to update because of the regulatory environment. That's something we need to address. We want to be regulated. However, there are places that it crosses the line and really affects innovation and makes us less competitive,” he said. “Each new state that comes on feels like they have to turn the screws a little bit tighter than the one before.”
During a media briefing.
life.
The nurse, Hadassah Peri, worked 12-hour days and seven-day weeks for Clark for years, said her lawyer, Harvey Corn. But he said Peri — who will inherit nothing and give back about a fifth of roughly $30 million in gifts before Clark's death — was “very happy to contribute to the settlement.”
In the two biggest bequests under the deal, 20 Clark family members will receive a total of $34.5 million, while the estimated $85 million Santa Barbara estate, its contents and $4.5 million will go to an arts foundation. It's envisioned that the property will become a museum. Washington’s Corcoran Gallery of Art is to get at least $10 millionO
he reiterated the industry’s support for federal online gambling legislation but admitted the prospects for a bill's passage this year are gloomy.
Several states have legalized Internet gambling individually as Congress has failed to act.
Elaborate displays promoting new slot machine brands dominated the conference’s exhibit floor at the Sands Expo & Convention Center. One company trucked in giant plastic raptors to promote a new “Jurassic Park” game. Another used showgirls turned into zombies to promote a new “Walking Dead” brand. The image of Las Vegas magician David Copperfield towered over one corner of the convention.
In addition to new themed slot machines, this year's Global Gaming Expo features a special exhibition just for entertainment. Q
Raptors, zombies kick off gambling expo in Vegas
U.S. NEWS I* 7
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
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US home prices rise 12.4 percent, most in 7 V 2 years
US Financial Front:
American consumer confidence dips on jobs outlook
C. S. RUGABER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — U S.
home prices rose 12.4 percent in July compared with a year ago, the most since February 2006. An increase in sales on a limited supply of available homes drove the gains.
The Standard &Poor's/ Case-Shiller 20-city home price index reported Tuesday improved from June, when it rose 12.1 percent from a year ago. And all 20 cities posted gains in July from fhe previous month and compared with a year ago.
Still, the month-over-month price gains shrank in 15 cities in July compared with the previous month, indicating prices may be peaking. And the monthover-month gains in the 20-city price index have slowed for three straight months.
Stan Humphries, chief economist for real estate data provider Zillow, said home price should continue to rise but at a slower pace. Mortgage rates have increased more than a full percentage point since May. And more homes are being built. That should ease supply constraints that have inflated prices in some markets. “This ongoing moderation is good for the market overall,” Humphries said.Q
MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Economics Writer WASHINGTON (AP) —
Americans' confidence in the economy fell slightly in September from August, as many became less optimistic about hiring and pay
increases over the next six months.
The Conference Board, a New York-based private research group, said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index dropped to 79.7 in September. That's down from August’s reading of 81.8, which was slightly higher than previously estimated. Consumers’ confidence is closely watched because their spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity. The September reading was only slightly
below June’s reading of 82.1, the highest in 5 Vi years.
While confidence has bounced back from the depths of the Great Recession, it has yet to regain a reading of 90 that typically
coincides with a healthy economy.
In September, confidence fell on a dimmer outlook for the next few months. Lynn Franco, who oversees the survey, said that reflected concerns about the job market and wages. Consumers were actually more optimistic about present conditions.
“While overall economic conditions appear to have moderately improved, consumers are uncertain that the momentum can be sustained in the months
ahead,” Franco said. Amna Asaf, an economist at Capital Economics, said she believed that higher interest rates and lower stock prices contributed to the drop in confidence. But she noted that the sur vey concluded before last week’s decision by the Federal Reserve to make no changes to its bond buying program. That decision sent stock prices up and interest rates down. “We suspect that if the rebound in equity prices is sustained, along with the drop back in gasoline prices, confidence will rebound,” she said.
On Tuesday, the average U.S. price for a gallon (3.8 liters) of gas was $3.46, according to AAA. That’s eight cents cheaper than
a month ago.
Recent data suggest economic growth may be slowing. Consumers spent more cautiously in August as their income barely grew. And higher interest rates are threatening to slow home sales, just as many markets are starting to recover.
The economy added 169,000 jobs in August, a modest gain but hardly enough to signal robust job growth. The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 7.3 percent from 7.4 percent. But the decline was mostly because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.
A weaker outlook for the rest of the year was a key reason the Federal Reserve decided last week to hold off on slowing its $85-billiona-month in bond purchases. The bond purchases have kept longer-term interest rates low, making mortgages and other consumer loans more affordable.
Many economists believe the Fed won’t reduce the bond purchases until December at the earliest.
The economy has been held back this year by tax hikes, federal spending cuts and weaker global growth. It expanded at an annual rate of 2.5 percent in the April-June quarter. □
Pedestrians with shopping bags cross a street in Philadelphia. The private Conference Board reported a slight dip in US consumer confidence for September on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
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UK opposition woos voters on energy
Russia to file piracy charges against Greenpeace group
JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON (AP) — Britain’s main opposition leader wooed voters Tuesday with an alternative to austerity, vowing to reward Britons suffering a “cost-of-living crisis" in the wake of the global financial meltdown. Labour leader Ed Miliband told his party's annual con ference in the seaside resort of Brighton that if he won the 2015 election he would freeze gas and electricity prices for 20 months — a pledge he used to underscore his willingness to stand up to the powerful on behalf of voters.
The pledge drew praise from Labour supporters, but criticism from energy firms. “Freezing the bill may be superficially attractive, but it will also freeze the money to build and renew power stations, freeze the jobs and livelihoods of the 600,000-plus people dependent on the energy industry and make the prospect of energy shortages a reality, pushing up the
prices for everyone,” said Angela Knight, chief executive of Energy U.K., which represents the country’s big power companies. Labour has struggled to win back voters since the party lost power in 2010, after 13 years in office, having been in power when the global banking crisis erupted in 2008.
The 43-year-old Miliband has been painted by opponents as ineffectual, and his once-socialist party, which has shifted toward the center since the mid-1990s, is wary of appearing too left-wing. Miliband made no pledge to reverse the current Conservative-led government's austerity measures, which have seen billions cut from public spending and thousands of jobs eliminated. Miliband said a Labour government would “stick to strict spending limits to get the deficit down." But he promised policies to ease the pain on what he has called the “squeezed middle,” from more house building to better mentalhealth services and tax cus for small businesses. Miliband accused Prime Minister David Cameron’s government of failing to stand up to big corporations and other “powerful interests," and said Britain's economy had become skewed in favor of the wealthy few.
“For generations in Britain, when the economy grew, the majority got better off," he said. “And then somewhere along the way that vital link between the growing wealth of the country and your family finances was broken. They used to say a rising tide lifted all boats. Now the rising tide just seems to lift the yachts."Speaking to party members for an hour without notes, Miliband said he had taken risks in running for the party leadership, standing up to the powerful Rupert Murdoch-owned press and defeating a motion in Parliament authorizing British military action in Syria.□
A. ROSLYAKOV LYNN BERRY Associated Press MURMANSK, Russia (AP) —
Russia’s top investigative agency said Tuesday it will prosecute Greenpeace activists on piracy charges for trying to climb onto an Arctic offshore drilling platform owned by the statecontrolled gas company Gazprom.
The 30 activists from 18 countries were on a Greenpeace ship, the Arctic Sunrise, which was seized last week by the Russian Coast Guard.
The ship was towed Tuesday into a small bay near Russia's Arctic port of Murmansk and the activists were later bused to the local headquarters of Russia's Investigative Committee for questioning.
The Investigative Committee, Russia’s main federal investigative agency, said its agents will question all those who took part in the protest and detain the “most active" of fhem on piracy charges. Piracy carries a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of 500,000 rubles (about $15,500).
Two activists tried to climb onto the Prirazlomnaya platform on Thursday and others assisted from small inflatable boats. The Greenpeace protest was aimed at calling attention to the environmental risks of drilling for oil in Arctic waters.
“When a foreign vessel full of electronic technical equipment of unknown purpose and a group of people calling themselves members of an environmental rights organization try nothing less than to take a drilling platform by storm, logical doubts arise about
their intentions,” Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said in a statement.
Fie said the activists posed a danger to operations on the oil platform. “Such activities not only infringe on the sovereignty of a state, but might pose a threat to the environmental security of the whole region,” Markin said.
The oil platform, the first offshore rig in the Arctic, was deployed to the vast Prirazlomnoye oil field in the Pechora Sea in 2011, but its launch has been delayed by technological challenges.
Gazprom has said it was to start pumping oil this year, but no precise date has been set.
Greenpeace insisted that under international law Russia had no right to board its ship and has no grounds to charge its activists with piracy.
“Peaceful activism is crucial when governments around the world have failed fo respond to dire scientific warnings about the consequences of climafe change in the Arctic and elsewhere,” Greenpeace International executive director Kumi Naidoo said in a statement.
“We will not be intimidated or silenced by these absurd accusations and demand the immediate release of our activists,” he added. One Greenpeace activist told The Associated Press that Coast Guard officers hif and kicked some activists when they stormed the Greenpeace vessel.
The Arctic Sunrise was anchored Tuesday in Kulonga Bay near Severomorsk, the home port of Russia's Northern Fleet, 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Murmansk.Q
The leader of Britain's Labour party Ed Miliband is joined on stage by his wife Justine as he acknowledges the audience following his keynote speech during the opposition Party's annual conference in Brighton, England, Tuesday Sept. 24, 2013.
(AP Photo / Stefan Rousseau, PA)
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Pakistan quake kills 39; creates new land mass
ABDUL SATTAR REBECCA SANTANA Associated Press QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) —
Thousands of Pakistanis ran into the streets praying for their lives Tuesday as a powerful earthquake rocked a remote area in the southwest, killing at least 39 people and possibly creating a small island off the coast.
The Pakistani military said it was rushing troops and helicopters to Baluchistan province’s Awaran district, where the quake was centered, and the nearby area of Khuzdar.
Local officials said they were sending doctors, food and 1,000 tents for people who had nowhere to sleep as strong aftershocks continued to shake the region. Most of the victims were killed when their houses collapsed, according to the chief spokesman for the country’s National Disaster Management Authority, Mirza Kamran Zia, who gave the death toll. He warned that the toll might rise and said the agency was still trying to get information from the stricken area.
“We all ran out for safety in the open field in front of our house.
Many other neighbors were also there. Thank God no one was hurt in our area, but the walls of four or five houses collapsed," said Khair Mohammed Baluch, who lives in the town of Awaran, roughly 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of the epicenter.
Pakistan’s chief meteorologist and the U.S. Geological Survey put the magnitude of the quake at 7.7. Pakistani officials were investigating whether the earthquake was so powerful that it pushed up the
earth and formed a new land mass.
Witnesses reported seeing a small island appear off the coast of the port of Gwadar after the quake, said the director general of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, Arif Mahmood.
Gwadar Police Chief Pervez Umrani said people gathered on the beach to see the land mass, which was about 9 meters (30 feet) high and 100 meters (109 yards) long.
Many residents are believed to be involved in smuggling fuel from Iran, while others harvest dates. The area where the quake struck is at the center of an insurgency that Baluch separatists have been waging against the Pakistani government for years. The separatists regularly attack Pakistani troops and symbols of the state, such as infrastructure projects.
A Pakistani military official speaking on customary condition of anonymity said security officials were fired on while escorting doctors to Awaran. No one was wounded.
The quake was felt as far as New Delhi, the Indian capital, some 1,200 kilometers (about 740 miles) away, but no damage or injuries were immediately reported there.
The quake also jolted Pakistan's largest city, Karachi, roughly 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the epicenter. People in the city's tall office buildings rushed into the streets, and Pakistani television showed lights swaying as the earth shook. “My table and computer started shaking. I thought I was feeling dizziness but soon realized they were tremors,” Karachi resident Mohammad Taimur said. □
People rush out their offices after they felt a major earthquake that struck Baluchistan province in southwest Pakistan, 693 Kilometers (430 miles) from Karachi, Pakistan, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. A deadly earthquake struck Tuesday in southwestern Pakistan sending poeople fleeing into the streets and praying for their lives as buildings swayed, officials said.
(AP Photo/Shakil Adil)
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Egypt: No immediate move to dismantle Brotherhood
MAGGIE MICHAEL Associated Press CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's military-backed government on Tuesday signaled it was in no rush to dismantle the Muslim Brotherhood, preferring to wait for a ruling outlawing the ousted president's group to be upheld by a higher tribunal.
The group rejected Monday’s court verdict and vowed to appeal it.
But with much of their leadership in prison and public opinion appearing to run strongly against them, analysts said the Brotherhood can do little more.
In New York, meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama said that future support for Egypt would depend on its progress in pursuing democracy.
In the nearly three months since a coup ousted President Mohammed Morsi after millions took to the streets demanding his removal, the government has rounded up around 2,000 top leaders, mid-level organizers, and rank-andfile members of the Muslim Brotherhood, from which he hails. Many have been charged with inciting of violence.
Hundreds have been killed in government crackdowns on protest camps and demonstrations, while Morsi supporters have attacked churches and police stations in retaliation. The media depicts the interim government as waging a war on terror, and public opinion appears to support the crackdown as
well as extraordinary measures, like a state of emergency and a nighttime curfew, that the state says
is necessary.
Monday’s court verdict, which orders that the group be outlawed and its assets confiscated, was widely seen as a dramatic escalation in the campaign against the
MOHAMED OSMAN Associated Press KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) —
The Sudanese media said Tuesday that two people had died in riots that broke out in a central city amid a wave of protests over the lifting of fuel subsidies. Witnesses meanwhile say Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters who took to the streets in the capital Khartoum.
They say protesters angry at the austerity measures chanted Tuesday against President Omar al-Bashir, who has ruled the country for more than two decades. The witnesses spoke
Brotherhood, a prelude to the draining of its funding and the closure of its elaborate network of so cial services, schools and hospitals. These have been crucial to the group’s effort to build grassroots support, and are credited with a major role in its election victories.
On Tuesday, Egypt's state
anonymously by telephone for fear of reprisal.
The semi-official Sudan Media Center quoted Mohammed al-Kamil Fadallah, acting governor of Gezira State south of Khartoum,
as saying that a student and commuter bus driver in their early 20s died in “recent rioting events” in the capital Wad Medani, without specifying how. Fadallah said rioters set a number of public buildings on fire.
Police on Tuesday meanwhile described unrest that started in Khartoum’s twin town of Omdurman as “limited riots” in which a
run news agency reported that the Cabinet has “postponed taking any decisions” to implement the court order, deciding instead to await “final court rulings out of respect for the judiciary.”
Ibrahim el-Sayyed, a senior official of the Brotherhood’s political arm — the Freedom and Justice Party — said the group will appeal the verdict although it rejects it.
“This is an attempt to terrorize (group) members, “ he told The Associated Press. “Nothing will stop us,” he said, alluding to previous crackdowns on the Brotherhood throughout its 85year history.
He said Brotherhood-affiliated hospitals and schools would continue to work. But others said the movement's options were few. “The Brotherhood is dying,” says Ammar Ali Hassan, a scholar of Islamic movements. □
subsidy cut
number of private properties were burned down and shops looted, but blamed “criminal elements” for being behind them.
Sudan’s Council of Ministers on Monday approved a subsidy lift which nearly doubled prices of gasoline and fuel.
Sudan’s loss of its main oilproducing territory with the independence of South Sudan in 2011 was a punch to its fragile economy.
Last year, an initial attempt to cut subsidies of fuel and food sparked similar protests but were quelled by heavy crackdowns on protesters, activists and journalistsO
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Pedestrians walk by anti-Muslim Brotherhood graffiti depicting ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi, in Cairo, Sept. 23, 2013.
(Tara Todras-Whitehill/The New York Times)
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Fourth Mexico City officer arrested in bar kidnapping
China tries ex-banker on ID fakery
E. EDUARDO CASTILLO Associated Press MEXICO CITY (AP) — The
number of Mexico City officers arrested in connection with a mass kidnap and killing of 12 young bar-goers in May climbed to four on Tuesday, the city police chief said.
Security Chief Jesus Rodriguez Almeida said all four have been turned over to the prosecutor’s office and that he has no evidence to conclude they were involved.
“We're not prejudging whether they're guilty or not,” Almeida told The Associated Press. He did not give the officer’s name.
The case of the after-hours bar known as Heaven, where the 12 were abducted last May in broad daylight, shook the city’s image as one of the safer areas of Mexico, relatively free of brutal, drug-related crime. The bodies of the young victims were found in late August in a mass grave outside the city in a rural part of Mexico state. Authorities say the mass killing was part of a dispute between gangs that control drug sales on street corners and in Mexico City’s bars. Prosecutors have said they believe one gang was exacting revenge for the slaying of a drug dealer in a bar in the trendy Condesa neighborhood.
The Mexico City prosecutor announced Monday that two police had been arrested in the case, putting the total at three. Rodriguez on Tuesday confirmed the arrest of the fourth officer. The total number of suspects in custody is now 18. Ricardo Martinez, attorney for the victims’ families, said he is not surprised that police are being implicated. “There are both crimi nals and public servants involved,” he said.
Almeida admitted that the arrests affect the reputation of the police force, which was also considered one of the better in a country infamous for corrupt law enforcement. Police are often arrested in high-profile crimes in Mexico, especially along the border and in areas where drug cartels are fighting for territory. Mexico City authorities continue to insist that organized crime does not operate in the city. Almeida said all four officers who were arrested had been through the department’s vetting process, but he could not say for confidentiality reasons whether they had passed their background checks. He said each of the four had between four and 11 years of service on the force. “Among police worldwide, there are officers who follow the law ... and those who turn away from the law, and have to face the legal consequences of their actions,” Almeida said, noting that the mega-city's police force has 87,000 officers. “It's a myth that police are involved in all criminal activity," he added, noting that his department maintains a constant fight against corruption. Prosecutors have said the first police officer, who was detained last week, worked in the Zona Rosa, a touristy area of bars and restaurants just a block from the U.S. Embassy where the 12 disappeared on May 26. Two more officers, whose detainment was announced Monday, are being held under house arrest while authorities investigate their alleged involvement.Q
BEIJING (AP) — A former Chinese banking official accused of amassing a real estate empire of at least 45 properties under multiple fake identities stood trial Tuesday for forgery, state media said, in a case that has revealed privileges of the powerful in China.
The trial opened in Jingbian County People’s Court in the northern province of Shaanxi against Gong Ai’ai, a former vice president of a local rural bank, the official Xinhua News Agency said. Four former government employees
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Two
European women arrested trying to smuggle 24 pounds of cocaine out of Peru have appeared before a judge for questioning. The lawyer for Irish-born Michaella McCollum and Melissa Reid, from Scotland, refused to comment to reporters on the content
also went on trial for their role in the wrongdoing. Calls to the court went unanswered.
Gong denied the charges of forging, buying and selling state identification papers, arguing that all her identification documents were processed by police authorities, state media said. A verdict was expected at a later date. If convicted, Gong would face time in jail.
Gong, who allegedly bought at least 45 properties worth $160 million, came to be known as “Sister House" among the
of Tuesday’s hearing. Attorney Meyer Fishman said he could not comment until the trial has concluded. The two had the option of pleading guilty in exchange for a lower sentence. The case’s prosecutor says that if they plead guilty, 20-year-old McCollum and 19-year-old
Chinese public and fueled public demands that officials declare their assets. The prosecution against Gong is one of several high-profile anti-graft cases since Xi Jinping became China's leader last fall with calls for renewed efforts to fight corruption.
After the case surfaced earlier this year, people were shocked by the size of Gong’s real estate holdings— including 41 properties in the ultra-pricy housing market of Beijing — in a country where an average family struggles to afford one apartment.O
Reid face a minimum of six years and eight months in prison with no eligibility for parole.
According to Peru’s national prisons institute, 90 percent of the 1,648 foreigners in the country’s prisons are either sentenced or awaiting trial for drug trafficking.O
Gong Ai'ai, center, a former vice president of a local rural bank, is handcuffed and held by police officers as she stands trial for forgery of identities in Jingbian County People's Court in northwest China's Shaanxi province Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013. (AP Photo)
Peru drug hearing for 2 UK women
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Cuba OKs rules on commercial zone at Mariel Port
The 180-square-mile ate jobs and “promote in- growth in exports, and the
(465-square-kilometer) creased infrastructure and substitution of imports,” the special zone aims to ere- activities that permit the decree said.
Men working on the makeover of the harbor in Havana, Cuba exit a small boat at the end of their workday. City authorities see an opportunity to transform this seedy industrial zone and revitalize the depressed, densely packed Spanish colonial core, due to a new port under construction west of the Cuban capital.
(AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
Groups accuse US of rights abuses in Vieques
ANDREA RODRIGUEZ Associated Press HAVANA (AP) — Cuba has approved tax exemption rules for a special commercial zone at a massive port under construction west of Havana, in hopes of luring more foreign investment as the country tries to lift its economy with a series of reforms.
Signed by President Raul Castro and published this week in the government’s Official Gazette, the law says commercial operators in the industrial park at the Port of Mariel will be exempt from labor and customs duties, won’t have to pay taxes on sales or services for the first year and will enjoy a 10-year tax holiday on profits. After that, profits will be taxed at 12 percent.
DANICA COTO
Associated Press
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP)
— The National Lawyers Guild and other groups have filed a petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights against the U.S. government in a case involving Puerto Ricans living on the island of Vieques, which was once used as a bombing range.
The petition accuses the U.S. of abuses following decades of live-fire training on the island by the U.S. Navy, which left in 2003 after an errant 500-pound bomb killed a security guard in 1999.
Guild attorney Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan told The As sociated Press on Tuesday that families on Vieques suffer serious health conditions because of a toxic environment left by Navy bombing. The petition was in part filed to force the U.S. government to release more information about the extent of the military’s activities on Vieques and its impact on people, she said.
“There’s a lot of information that remains unknown regarding toxic contaminants,” she said. “People are unaware of what is causing their health issues and the continuous contamination of the island.” The petition was filed Monday on behalf of 10 Vieques residents who had cancer or have relatives
who are sick.
Guild attorney Annette Martinez Orabona said the group is asking the commission to determine whether the U.S. violated any human rights. If that occurs, the commission would make a list of recommendations that the U.S. government would be bound to follow, she said.
“We’re not asking for specific reparations, but at some point we will," she said. She said they are not focused on money but rather on changes including improved health care and more efficient transportation from Vieques to Puerto Rico.
Martinez said the main goal is to get the U.S. gov ernment to acknowledge that the military’s target practice adversely affected people's health.
“That is something that they have denied over and over again," she said.
Navy spokesman Jim Brantley did not immediately return a request for comment.
In late March, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report saying it found no evidence that people had been sickened by substances left behind by bombs and other munitions, identified by the Environmental Protection Agency as TNT, napalm, depleted uranium, mercury and lead. □
Cuban authorities have recently recognized the need to attract more foreign investment, which has waned in recent years although the government has not made figures public.
Local employees must still be hired through state-run agencies, a practice that is often criticized by foreigners doing business on the island.
The rules take effect Nov. 1. Cuba experimented with small special economic zones in the 1990s, but they fizzled out without having a significant impact on the economy.
Mariel, about 28 miles (45 kilometers) west of the capital, is due to come online around the end of the year and replace Havana as Cuba’s hub of shipping activity.
Havana decided to build the port after determining in 2009 that the Bay of Havana could not be expanded to accommodate larger ships that will begin passing through the Panama Canal in 2015. Two-thirds of Mariel's $900 million cost has been financed with investment from Brazil, whose president, Dilma Rousseff, is expected to visit in January for the inauguration of the first stage of operations: 770 yards (700 meters) of docks and a container terminal.
“It's not just a port, it's a logistical system for the exportation of goods produced here in Cuba,” Rousseff said while touring the construction site in early 2012. □
Winemaker Jorge Gutierez of Montes Wines to visit Aruba!
PALM BEACH - Coming this October, Aruba will have the unique opportunity to get to know the young winemaker Jorge Guitierez, who is in charge of the Premium Wines of Montes
1982, Jorge Gutierez has always been passionate about wine. After finishing University, he worked right away as winemaking assistant at “Terramater winery" in Maipo Valley in Chile. Here he understood how important hard work is in this industry, especially during harvest.
That same year (2006) he had the chance to go to NapaValley and worked in “Artesa Winery and Vineyards" as a winemaking assistant.
Napa Valley being one the most famous wine re
Wines, Chile. During his visit he will hold several seminars for food and beverage industry professionals on the island, but also he will hold a very special Winemaker’s Dinner available to the general public. This event will take place Wednesday, October 2, at the Sunset Grille at the Radisson Aruba Resort, beginning at 7:30pm.
Born in Santiago, Chile in
gions in the world opened his eyes and made Jorge realized how big and intense the wine world is. This harvest also changed his life because it gave him the chance of meeting the famous winemaker from Chile, Mr. Aurelio Montes. This was a big coincidence; he was just starting his new venture Napa Angel wines in Napa Valley. Aurelio trusted Jorge and
Finca de Apalta in Colchagua Valley, where all the premium and super premium wines are made. On September 2013 he also took full responsibility for the Outer Limits wines.
He has had so far an awesome professional experience, very challenging and especially interesting. He is very excited about
invited him to work in Chile. In the 2007 harvest he worked in Montes Chile as assistant winemaker in one of the most impressive wine cellars in South America: “La finca de Apalta" in Colchagua Valley were all the Montes Chile premium wines are made. After that Aurelio sent Jorge back to Napa and had him work as Winemaker and Project Manager for Montes USA,
making wines in Napa Valley (NapaAngel wines), Paso Robles (StarAngel wines) and Pinot Noir from Santa Barbara.
During his time in the U.S. Jorge also travelled to Argentina to be part of the Montes Argentina (Kaiken Winery) winemaking team. Currently, and after 5 years of living in the US Jorge is now back in Chile, working as chief winemaker for La
the future of Montes Wines, in the US, Chile and Argentina. Jorge also enjoys backpacking, bodyboarding, hiking, playing instruments, nature and good music. If you wish to enjoy a night of fine wine and dining and to meet the young winemaker Jorge Gutierez, make your reservations right away at the Sunset Grill at the Radisson Aruba Resort. □
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
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First Aruba Yoga & Peace Event at Westin Aruba Resort
PALM BEACH - Last Saturday September 21st was the International Day of Peace. Worldwide groups of people took moments to acknowledge and organize activities around this theme. On Aruba, people gathered together and connected while practicing and finding Peace with in and in community during the first Yoga & Peace event at the Westin Beach Resort organized by Awakened Spirit Yoga Center’s owner and the World Peace Prayers Society's volunteer Anouscka van der Kuyp. For the first time on Aruba three organizations joined forces in bringing people togeth er to meditate or pray for peace in all the countries of the world by performing the World Peace Prayer Flag Ceremony developed by the World Peace Prayer Society on Aruba. This ceremony where the message "May Peace Prevail on Earth" is spread, is also conducted at the United Nations on Peace Day each year. During the ceremony participants connect with the countries of the world through the flags while sending wishes for peace to all those countries. During the event Hatha Yogi’s from Awakened Spirit Yoga Center, from Mary Joan Foundation and Club Kibrahacha 60+, as well as Raja Yogi’s from Brahma Kumaris as well as first time yogi’s and others practiced side by side bringing unison to the one intention to find and create peace from within themselves first. After the Yoga session and connecting through the flag ceremony around the Peace Pole carrying the message of Peace in four different languages the participants completed the sessions with a full veg *BecnUu
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etarian lunch, sharing and celebrating before taking this spirit of Peace back into their worlds. A special thanks to all participants and Zr. Rota Grun and her team from Brahma Kumaris. And special thanks to the staff from Westin for allow ing the exhibit of Peace artwork by schoolchildren from Aruba as well as all over the world and for cooking our meal with content hearts. Further info: www.awakenedspiritcenter.org and www. world peaceprayer. org.Q
Enrollment now open for Arikok Junior Ranger Camp
ORANJESTAD - Parke Arikok would like to share with the whole community information about its ‘Arikok Junior Ranger Camp,’ organized for October 7, 8 and 9, 2013. The Park is providing kids ages 10 to 12 with the opportunity to gain more knowledge about the diversity and richness of Aruba's flora, fauna, geology and also history. In addition, information will also be given about the impor tance of sustainability and the importance of reaching one’s own potential. The Park would like to stimulate all parents to encourage their kids to participate in the Arikok Junior Ranger Camp. Kids can apply via the Park's website: www. arikoknationalpark.org or send their application letter to: arikokwild4life@ gmail.com. For more information please call us at 585-1234. □
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Acqua Condominium Aruba progressing at satisfactory pace
PALM BEACH - Acqua Condominium Aruba, a project spearheaded by Acqua Construction, on 325, 278 sq. ft. of prime property land on Palm Beach announced this week that construction has been progressing at a satisfactory pace and that the sales gallery as well as the model-suite within the Sabbia Tower, are ready to welcome tours and inquiries, seven days a week.
The Sabbia Tower, overlooking Palm Beach boasts 208, 2-bedroom condos, with 2 baths each, spread over 14 floors. The two top building floors embrace 16 penthouse apartments with majestic views. The building, the public areas and amenities are scheduled to conclude construction in 14 months. Then following the completion of the elegant club house, the three tropical landscaped
pools and the spacious parking lot, condos will be delivered to their proud new owners.A spokesperson for Acqua Condominium reports that the construction crew is currently completing the fencing and working on the pool, parking lot, and exterior landscaping. In the next few weeks with the installation of the windows, the building will be sealed from the outside and the finish ing details including tiling, painting and carpentry will commence. The spokesperson also revealed that all along. Aqua Condominium has enjoyed much attention, and is being visited regularly by tourists longing to make their dream of a vacation-home on the island, come true. In fact, the project has successfully sold 45% of its first phase, to date.The two condo towers, on the already fullyfenced property, will be complemented by a twostory shopping complex, facing the Palm Beach Plaza Mall, with commercial space for trendy restaurants and upscale shops. Making the decision on a purchase, and acting on
it fast, was recently made even more imperative, in view of the fact that the island government of Aruba reiterated its commitment to a building moratorium for the next 10 years, making Acqua Condominium a truly unique investment opportunity, as it is the one and only high-rise condo project, on property land, in the island’s most-desired location.lt the image of Aqua Condominium tugs at your heartstrings, you are invited to visit the sales gallery and the elegant model-suites available for viewing, fully finished with luxurious touches and highend amenities. The sales center is open daily from 8:30am to 5:30pm; Saturday from 1 Oam to 2pm and Sunday from 10:00am to 2pm. Meet the sales team who will guide you through the purchase of the stylish condo of your dreams, allowing you to return to Aruba as often as you wish.
You will find the website very helpful with all legal documents, floor plans, furnishings and finishings, posted on line: www.acquaruba.com.Q
Oracle wins 7th straight in America’s Cup
BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Skipper Jimmy Spithill and defending champion Oracle Team USA overtook Emirates Team New Zealand on the upwind third leg Tuesday to win their astonishing seventh straight race and force a winnertake-all finale in the longest America’s Cup ever.
All but defeated a week ago, Oracle Team USA tied the faltering Kiwis 8-8 on the scoreboard by winning its 10th race overall. Oracle was docked two points for illegally modifying boats in warmup regattas. If it hadn’t been hit with the harshest penalties in the 162-year history of the America’s Cup, Oracle Team USA's sailors would be hoisting the silver trophy in victory. Instead, the epic 19th race is scheduled for Wednesday, weather-permitting, on San Francisco Bay. Either Oracle will finish one of the greatest comebacks in sports history or Team New Zealand, marooned on match point for the past week, will get the elusive win it needs to claim the Auld Mug for the second time in 18 years. Oracle, which trailed 8-1 last Wednesday, came from behind and passed the Kiwis after they tacked
Oracle Team USA sails past Alcatraz Island during the 18th race of the America’s Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, in San Francisco.
Associated Press
too early and slowed while zigzagging toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The American-backed boat — with only one American on its 11 -man crew — sped past and built its lead to more than 1,000 yards on the windward fourth leg going past Alcatraz Island. The final margin was 54 seconds. Spithill, a 34-year-old Australian who has been almost defiant about his team's ability to rebound from the penalties, did a flyby of Pier 27-29, with his crew lining the port hull to wave and pump their fists toward the crowd. Earlier, Oracle forced Emirates Team New Zealand into two penalties during the wild start of Race 17 and won by 27 seconds. The races were so pivotal that software billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns Oracle Team USA, skipped making a keynote speech before 60,000 people at Oracle Open World so he could witness the comeback firsthand from a chase boat on the bay. Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker dominated Spithill at the start and beat him to the first mark with his 72foot catamaran, allowing him to control the race.
Continued on Page 21
Dream, Mercury advance to conference finals
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Brittney Griner hit a turnaround jumper with 4.9 seconds left to lift the Phoenix Mercury to a 7877 victory over the Los An
Atlanta Dream center Erika de Souza celebrates the Dream's 80-72 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the WNBA basketball Eastern Conference semifinal series, Monday,
Sept. 23, 2013, in Atlanta.
Associated Press
geles Sparks in the deciding Game 3 of their WNBA first-round playoff series on Monday. Phoenix advanced to the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Lynx, while Atlanta will face the defending WNBA champion Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference finals. Candice Dupree scored 22 points, Dewanna Bonner added 19, and Diana
Taurasi had 18 points and 10 assists for the Mercury. Phoenix saw most of its seven-point lead evaporate in the third, when Griner picked up her fourth foul and sat the rest of the period. Both teams shot poorly in the fourth quarter, when they each went more than 2 minutes without scoring. After WNBA Most Valuable Player Candace Parker gave the Sparks a one
point lead on a layup with 7 seconds to go, Griner responded with the winning basket for the Mercury.
The Atlanta Dream also advanced to the next round of the playoffs, beating the Washington Mystics 80-72. Erika de Souza scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Dream, which went on a 15-2 run early in the period to take control of the game.Q
SPORTS R 25 SEPTEMBER
ONLY THIS If fl T C THURSDAY If U II E SEPTEMBER FOR UNO Z SONS!
Williams reaches 3rd round at Pan Pacific Open
Venus Williams of the United States returns the ball against Victoria Azarenka of Belarus during their second round match of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament in Tokyo Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
Associated Press
JIM ARMSTRONG AP Sports Writer TOKYO (AP) — Venus Williams upset top-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday to advance to the third round of the Pan Pacific Open.
Williams, making her first appearance in the Tokyo tournament since 2009, took advantage of sixdouble faults by Azarenka, who struggled with her game from the outset at Ariake Colosseum. Azarenka said after Tuesday’s match that she wasn’t well and hadn’t been able to practice for three days because of her condition.
“She didn’t seem like herself at all," Williams said. “Hitting the double-faults,
I could tell she wasn’t feeling her best. I am not sure what was bothering her but I hope she feels better."
Azarenka, who lost to Serena Williams in the final of fhe U.S. Open, broke Williams to make it 4-4 in the second set after trailing 4-2. But Williams came right back in the next game to go up 5-4 ad then served out to win the match in 1 hour, 21 minutes.
“I didn’t sleep at all last night,” Azarenka said. “You can't play at 20 percent against one of the top players. I've been feeling bad for a couple of days and if just got worse today."
In 2011, Williams withdrew before her second-round match at the U.S. Open because of Sjogren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease and came into the Tokyo tournament 63rd in the world rankings.
“I’ve had some issues to say the least,” Williams said. “But I like to think that builds character and I've
got a whole lot of character. I’m getting better every tournament, my serve is better, my back is better, a lot of things are getting better.”
Williams next faces No. 13-seeded Simona Halep of Romania, who defeated Germany’s Andrea Petkovic 7-6 (4), 6-3.
In other second-round matches, second-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland defeated Cana da’s Aleksandra Wozniak 7-6 (5), 6-0. Fourth-seeded Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark overpowered Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-3.
Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced by beating third-seeded Sara Errani of Ifaly 6-4, 6-4.
Kuznefsova, a two-time major winner, hit seven aces in the match. The Russian and will next face 15th-seeded Sorana Cirstea of Romania. Cirstea
beat Japanese wild-card entry Misaki Doi 6-1, 6-2. Canada’s Eugenie
Bouchard defeated ninthseeded Sloane Stephens of the United States 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-3. Bouchard will next play sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who beat Japan's Ayumi Morita 6-4, 6-1.
Other winners include Samantha Stosur, Ana Ivanovic, Dominika Cibulkova and Madison Keys.Q
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Manning’s 3 TDs helps Broncos beat Raiders 37-21
DENVER (AP) — Peyton Manning threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns to lift the Denver Broncos to another easy victory in the NFL on Monday, beating the overmatched Oakland Raiders 37-21.
It was Denver’s 14th straight regular-season win, tying the franchise record set in 1998 when the Broncos won their second Super Bowl. Denver's 127 points this season lead the league and are 31 more than secondplace Green Bay. Manning’s first touchdown, a 2-yard pass to Eric Decker, came after a subtle play action fake that froze the defense and left Decker uncovered in the back of the end zone.
His targets for the next two touchdowns, Wes
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (18) scrambles away from Oakland Raiders middle linebacker Nick Roach (53) in the third quarter of an NFL football game, Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, in Denver. Associated Press
Welker and Julius Thomas, didn’t have defenders within three steps of them — a sure sign Manning had diagnosed the defense well before the snap and knew exactly where he wanted to go with the ball.
Manning’s 12 touchdown passes are one more than Tom Brady's old record for the first three games in an NFL season, set in 2011. He still has yet to throw an interception, which matches a record held by Michael Vick, who also threw 12 touchdowns before his first pick in 2010.
Manning’s game wasn’t entirely perfect — there were the five incompletions, though two of them were flat-out drops and another two hit receivers in the hands but would have been diffi cult catches. The Broncos also settled for three field goals and had to punt once.
And Manning's prediction that Chris Clark would be a seamless replacement for injured Ryan Clady as his blindside protector didn’t exactly pan out. Lamarr Houston beat Denver’s new starting left tackle in the third quarter for a sack and strip that halted a drive that had reached the Raiders 13. Oakland’s Terrelle Pryor finished 19 for 28 for 281 yards but played catch-up from the start. The Raiders trailed 17-0 before Pryor hit Denarius Moore for a 73-yard score.
Four plays later. Manning connected with Thomas for a 13-yard score to push the lead back to 170
Pittsburgh Pirates’ Starling Marte celebrates his home run off Chicago Cubs relief pitcher Kevin Gregg during the ninth inning of a baseball game Monday, Sept. 23,2013, in Chicago. The home run gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Associated Press
NL Capsules
Bucs clinch first playoff spot since’92
The Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates are headed to the playoffs for the first time in 21 years, clinching at least a National League wild card Monday when they beat the Chicago Cubs 2-1 and the Washington Nationals lost to St. Louis.
It will be Pittsburgh’s first trip to the postseason since Barry Bonds and Jim Leyland led the team to three straight NL East division titles from 1990-92. Bonds then left for San Francisco as a free agent, and the smallbudget Pirates piled up 20 consecutive losing seasons — the longest streak in ma jor professional sports. Starling Marte hit a tiebreaking homer off Kevin Gregg (2-6) in the ninth inning at Wrigley Field, and the Pirates threw out a runner at the plate for the final out. Back in the visitors’ clubhouse, they doused each other in champagne once St. Louis’ 4-3 win over the Nationals went final. Cincinnati also clinched at least a wild-card berth when it beat the Mets. The Pirates and Reds both trail first-place St. Louis by two games in the NL Central division with five to go.
Jason Grili escaped with his 32nd save in 34 chances. REDS 3, METS 2, 10 INNINGS CINCINNATI (AP) — ShinSoo Choo drove in the
winning run with a single off the wall in the 10th inning as Cincinnati secured a playoff spot after beating New York. The secondplace Reds clinched at least an NL wild card when Washington lost to St. Louis. Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker said there would be no celebration yet, not with a second straight NL Central division title still in play.
Greg Burke (0-3) gave up a one-out single by Devin Mesoraco in the 10th, and Derrick Robinson singled him to third. Choo followed with his third hit of the game off left-hander Sean Henn.
Manny Parra (2-3) allowed one hit in the 10th.
CARDINALS 4, NATIONALS 3
ST. LOUIS (AP) —Carlos Beltran homered and Adam Wainwright earned his 18th win as St. Louis eliminated Washington from playoff contention.
Looking for their first NL Central title since 2009, the Cardinals maintained a two-game lead over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh with five to play. All three teams are headed to the postseason. St. Louis secured no worse than a wild card on Sunday. The Nationals won the NL East last season with 98 wins but were eliminated by St. Louis in the division series. One year later, they were knocked out by the Cardinals againO
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Loney’s walkoff homer gives Rays sweep
Tampa Bay Rays’ James Loney, second from right, greets teammates Yunel Escobar, left, and Luke Scott, second from left, after hitting a ninth-inning, game-winning home run off Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Tommy Hunter, right rear, during a baseball game Monday, Sept. 23, 2013, in St. Petersburg, Fla. The Rays won 5-4.
Associated Press
The Associated Press ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) — James Loney hit a leadoff homer in the ninth as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to complete a fourgame sweep of Baltimore with a 5-4 win on Monday, putting a serious damper in the Orioles’ wild-card playoff hopes in the American League.
AL Capsules
The win pushed the Rays a full game ahead of idle Cleveland for the top AL wild card spot. Baltimore fell five games behind the Indians with six games to go for both teams.
With the bases loaded, two outs and trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Baltimore's Wil Myers sent a flare behind second base. Second baseman Alexi Casilla, who entered the game in the eighth, made a fully extended diving catch but he collided with Nick Markakis, racing in toward
the ball from right field. The ball came loose and two runs scored.
Then, in the ninth, Loney lined a pitch from Tommy Hunter (6-5) down the right field line.
Joel Peralfa (3-8) pitched a perfect ninth for the Rays, who have won nine of 12 . RANGERS 12, ASTROS 0 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Alex Rios hit for fhe cycle and Derek Holland struck out nine in his second shutout of fhe season as Texas started its final push for a playoff spot.
The Rangers pulled within a game of idle Cleveland for the second AL wild-card berth with six games remaining.
Rios finished off fhe cycle with a triple to right-center field in the sixth inning, and later scored to put Texas up 11-0. He doubled in the first inning, had an infield single in the third and hit his 18th homer in the fourth.
Holland (10-9) got his 10th win in his ninth try since his last victory on Aug. 4. The left-hander won at home for fhe first time since May 31.
Houston starter Jordan Lyles (7-9) gave up seven hits and seven runs with three walks in three innings. The first cycle of Rios' career was fhe seventh in
Rangers’ history. Adrian Beltre was the last to do it, last Aug. 24 against Seattle.
TWINS 4, TIGERS 3, 11 Innings
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Josmil Pinto hit an RBI single in the 11th inning and Minnesota overcame 12 strikeouts by Justin Verlander. The Tigers led 3-0 in the eighth, but Jose Veras gave up RBI doubles to Eduardo Escobar and Ryan Doumit. Brian Dozier led off the ninth with a tying homer against previously perfect closer Joaquin Benoit. Dozier opened the 11th with a single off Luke Putkonen (1-2) and advanced on a wild pitch. Pinto punched a single to right field to give manager Ron Gardenhire his 998th career victory.
Verlander gave up six hits and walked three in six shutout innings for the Tigers, whose magic number remained two for clinching the AL Central division title. WHITE SOX 3, BLUE JAYS 2 CHICAGO (AP) — Jose Quintana pitched into the eighth inning and rookie Marcus Semien hit his first major league homer to lead Chicago.
Quintana (9-6), who entered the game with the most no-decisions in the American League at 17, allowed two runs and five hits in 7 1-3 innings. Addison Reed pitched the ninth inning to record his 39th save.
Toronto starter J.A. Happ (4-7) threw 110 pitches in his five innings, allowing fhree runs and eight hits.
In other AL it was Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 4; Texas 12, Houston 0; Minnesota 4, Detroit 3,11 innings; Chicago White Sox 3, Toronto 2; Oakland 10, L.A. Angels 5; and Kansas City 6 , Seattle 5,12 innings.Q
The crew on Oracle Team USA celebrates after crossing the finish line during the 18th race of the America’s Cup sailing event against Emirates Team New Zealand, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013, in San Francisco. Oracle Team USA won races 17 and 18 to pull even with Emirates Team New Zealand. At left is skipper Jimmy Spithill.
Associated Press
America’s Cup
Continued from Page 18
The Kiwis led by 7 seconds rounding the second gate mark before commiffing the blunder that cost them the lead and, perhaps, the oldest trophy in international sports. In Race 17, Spithill appeared in trouble just before fhe starf but hooked behind Barker into a favored leeward position as the boats jockeyed just inside the Golden Gate Bridge. The 72-foot catamarans touched, and Oracle tactician Ben Ainslie yelled at the Kiwis to tack away. They collided again, this time harder, with Ainslie gesturing angrily.
Team New Zealand sat dead in the water to clear the penalties as Oracle pulled away. Oracle
stayed ahead the whole way around the five-leg course.Spithill and his mates are the first to win
seven straight races in an America's Cup match. There have been three five-race winning sfreaks
when the Cup was bestof-9. This regatta started as best-of-17, but Oracle will need to win 11 races to keep the Cup. Oracle has twice trailed by seven points, most recently when Team New Zealand won Race 11 on Wednesday for an 8-1 lead.q After Oracle won Race 12, Team New Zealand was denied the chance to seize the Cup when Race 13 was abandoned because of a 40-minute time limit with the Kiwis well ahead in light wind. When the race was resailed in better breeze, Oracle won to begin its winning streak. With the two victories Tuesday, Oracle Team USA has won for fhe ninth time in 13 races since Ainslie, a British Olympic star, replaced American John Kostecki as tactician. □
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
^HEALTH
g
Fluoride Spin
By: Dr. Carlos Viana
Imagine you are a government official trying to decide what to do with the oldest and biggest toxic industrial pollutant. Nationwide, in the United States fluoride remains one of industry's largest pollutants. By the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) last estimate, at least 155,000 tons a year were being released into the air by U.S. industrial plants.
Emissions into water lakes, rivers, and ocean have been estimated to be as high as 500,000 tons a year. Recent EPA data indicates that fluoride is currently the 6 th most emitted Hazardous Air Pollutant in the US, although total air emissions are now considerably lower than 155,000 tons.
Our air is contaminated by fluoride emissions from the production of iron, steel, aluminum, copper, lead and zinc; phosphates (essential for the manufacture of all agricultural fertilizers); plastics; gasoline; brick, cement, glass, ceramics, and the infinite other products made from clay; electrical power generation and all other coal combustion; and uranium processing.
Our water is being polluted with fluoride by the producers and processors of glass, pesticides and fertilizers, steel and aluminum, chemicals, and metals. The metal processing industries include copper and brass, as well as titanium, super-alloys, and refractory metals for military use.
So, like any other deceptive politician you take your pollution problem, which is going to cost a lot of money to get rid off, and manipulate the facts about fluoride to influence the public so they believe that fluoride is good for them - this is called “putting a spin to the problem"; the latest buzzword for lying to the public. For nearly 50 years, the U.S. government and media have been telling the public that fluoride is safe and beneficial -- it is supposed to reduce cavities, especially in children. Manufacturers add it to toothpaste; municipalities put it in the public’s drinking water. Pollution problem solved by spending no money and making money for industry that gets to sell its pollution to the pharmaceutical and food industries.
The truth is that raw hazardous pollution trapped in scrubbers of the industries listed above is sold as fluoridation. Pretty neat solution for the politicians and industry; however, using of fluoridated toothpastes and dental products or in gestion of fluoridated water directly or used in food processing dramatically raises levels of lead in children’s blood. These high toxic levels cause learning disorders and brain damage.
Want some no-nonsense proof? Read the FDA fluoride toothpaste that you are using “WARNING: Keep out of reach of children under 6 years of age. In case of accidental ingestion, seek professional assistance or contact a Poison Control center immediately”. And you are still using this stuff? Fluoride is a poison that there is enough in one standard tube of fluoridated toothpaste to KILL a 20 pound/ 9 kilo child. Professionally, I used to think that we were immune to fluoride problems here in Aruba.
Unfortunately, I have been seeing fluorosis in our clinic. The ingestion of fluoride causes a condition marked by mottling, yellow patches or spots on the teeth and damage to the bones; especially bones that are still growing. We are ingesting fluoride from dental products, reconstructed juice with fluoridated water and processed foods that contain fluoride. On our last trip to Curagao we heard that, frighteningly, our sister island is putting fluoride in their water.
As a member of the International Academy Of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT) I am privileged
to review the Academy’s data on ongoing examination of the toxicological data on fluoride, the Academy has made several preliminary determinations over the last 18 years, each concluding that fluoride added to the public water supply, or prescribed as controlled-dose supplements, delivers no discernible health benefit, and causes a higher incidence of adverse health effects. This is not new information; yet, with the continuing medical use of fluoride, we should be questioning what the real motives are.
The solution? Read the label of any food products you bring into the house. Start using baking soda as toothpaste or start using natural oral care products for periodontal health without fluoride. We use natural care products that contain Xylitol. This plant based sugar-alcohol has been shown to support sinus and lungs and dental health. Remember it is a bacterium that causes cavities in your mouth.
Get The Point! The only people who question the safety of fluoride, says the United States government, are quacks. Interestingly, the word “quack” was first used as a derogatory term describing the first dentists that started using mercury “quaksilver” in people's mouths. If telling people the truth and offering al ternatives to products that are know to be detrimental makes me a quack, so be it. I am looking forward to working with you so you can find out more about what you can do for a healthy mouth and body; we can quack- quack together.
CARLOS VIANA, Ph. D. is an Oriental Medical Doctor (O.M.D.) having studied in Shanghai, China; a Board Cert. Clinical Nutritionist (C.C.N.), a fellow member of the Board Certified Association of Addiction Professionals (C.Ad.), the Chairperson of the Latin American Committee of the International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology (IAOMT), a Rejuvenating Cell Therapist and specializes in Anti-Aging Medicine, has a weekly radio program, writes and lectures extensively. For information: VIANA NATURAL HEALING CENTER NV, Kibaima 7, Aruba, TEL: 585-1270, Web Site:
www.vianaheal.com
Dr. Viana’s Award Winning BOOK: Prescriptions from Paradise, Introduction to
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This screenshot of an iPhone 5, Friday, Sept. 20 2013, shows the iTunes Radio app. The iTunes Radio app comes with new iPhones and the free iOS 7 update.
Associated Press
RYAN NAKASHIMA
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) —
Now that iTunes Radio has shipped to millions of iPhone and iPad owners, does that mean you should delete Pandora? Not so fast, I say.
Apple's new music service, which comes with new iPhones and the free iOS 7 update, lacks some of the mojo that has helped Pandora become the leader in Internet radio. Mainly, it doesn’t have the intelligence that Pandora has gained from tens of billions of interactions with listeners who have given a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” to a song.
Providing an Internet radio service — in other words, making randomized playlists based on genres, songs or artists — is more difficult than it seems. Over several days of playing with iTunes Radio, I found the app frequently misjudged my tastes, and I ran out of skips more than once. (You can skip a song only six times per station per hour, the same as Pandora).
It could be my own fault: iTunes Radio takes a big cue from your song collection in picking what to play, and what I do own is mostly a patchwork of gifts and other songs that don't reflect my preferences. That said, I found iTunes Radio's song selection more miss than hit.
For instance, when I created a custom station based on Adele, instead of hearing soaring, yet up-tempo tunes sung with a huge vocal range, I got a bunch of what I consider mushy rock ballads over and over. I love Bruno Mars, but I didn’t want to hear “Talking to the Moon” in Adele Radio. And it ignored my tap to “never
play this song” again, as it was repeated three songs later. ITunes Radio also played artists that, to me, bear little resemblance to Adele: Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and Maroon 5.
With Adele Radio in Pandora, I got artists that I closely associate with Adele, including Kate Nash, Feist, Norah Jones and Regina Spektor. But then again, I had already given a “thumbs up” in previous Pandora sessions to three of the first seven songs that played, so the app knew that I liked them. That shows the time I've invested in Pandora deserves to not be wasted.
Meanwhile, Pandora lets you see song lyrics and the artist's biography. It also lists some of each song’s hundreds of musical qualities, such as “acoustic sonority” and “major key tonality." That helps explain why Pandora considers it similar to other songs in a station. ITunes Radio picks songs using input from recording labels, third-party metadata services like Gracenote and Apple’s own editorial choices. But it doesn't show you lyrics, bios or explain why a song was chosen. There are reasons to appreciate iTunes Radio, however.
UBIQUITY
ITunes Radio gets first-class treatment in iOS 7's new Control Center. This set of handy functions can be accessed by swiping up from the bottom of the screen no matter where you are in the device.
It also appears on the lock screen. Along with typical media controls such as play/pause, volume and skip, iTunes Radio adds a little star where the “back” button usually is. That pops
up a separate menu where you can tap “play more like this,” "never play this song,” or “add to iTunes wish list" so you can finetune your station while doing other things like playing “Zynga Poker."
A swipe down, or one press of the home button, gets you back to what you were doing.
In Control Center, Pandora has a back button that doesn’t do anything, and you can’t thumb up or down without going back into Pandora's app itself. EASY PURCHASES ITunes Radio makes it really easy to buy songs you like from iTunes. If you're in the app, a box in the upper right corner shows the price of the song. Tap it twice. You might also need to enter your iTunes password. The app keeps a running history of what you've listened to.
You can get 90-second previews to remind you what you've heard, also with the ability to buy right there. A separate tab shows which songs you’ve specifically added to your wish list. Pandora also has a history, but not song previews. Buying a song through iTunes takes a few more taps than in iTunes Radio. It’s marginally more difficult to get back to Pandora after purchasing, by double clicking the home button and selecting it from the range of apps that are displayed. FEWER ADS
ITunes Radio has noticeably fewer ads than Pandora, and there are no standalone graphical ads. Most ads featured someone speaking in a neutral voice about an artist or album that you can purchase on iTunes, sometimes accompanied by a graphic or photo. I imagine Apple is
just getting started selling ads, and ones for products and services beyond music will come soon enough.
By comparison. Pandora is slathered with ads. If you're looking at the app, the bottom part of the screen is almost always covered with an ad that you can get rid of by clicking the small “x.”
I’ve seen video ads and heard audio ads. The audio ads in particular sound like traditional radio spots and can be jarring.
Either way, you can pay to
get rid of ads completely — by signing up for Apple’s $25-a-year iTunes Match service or Pandora's $36-ayear Pandora One.
SO?
ITunes Radio is a contender in Internet radio by dint of being featured prominently in iOS 7. The Music app is at the bottom right on each home screen. You simply need to go there and choose “Radio.” It’s also reachable from the home page of the iTunes Store on the desktop app.Q
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
EBUSINESS
General Electric Co. lands $2.7B order from Algeria
LARRY RULISON © 2013 Albany Times Union SCHENECTADY - Workers at the General Electric Co. turbine plant in Schenectady have the oil- and gas-rich country of Algeria to thank for a $2.7 billion order for the company’s power plant turbines and generators - one of the largest in company history. The Schenectady plant which employs 1,150 hourly workers - will produce 12 steam turbines for six new combined-cycle power plants being built forSonelgaz Group, Algeria’s stateowned utility.
Another 26 gas turbines - which are paired with steam turbines in combined cycle plants to maximize output - will be made at GE’s Greenville, S.C., factory, but the 38 generators needed for the turbines will also be made in Schenectady.
Brian Sullivan, business agent for IUE/CWA Local
MICHAEL FELBERBAUM AP Business Writer RICHMOND, Virginia (AP)
— Shareholders of Smithfield Foods Inc. on Tuesday approved a plan to sell the world’s largest pork producer and processor to a Chinese company.
The Smithfield, Virginiabased company said more than 96 percent of the votes cast during a special meeting in Richmond were in favor of Shuanghui International Holdings Ltd.’s $34 per share offer, or $4.72 billion in cash.
The deal, which is expected to close Thursday, will be the largest takeover of a U.S. company by a Chinese firm, valued at about $7.1 billion including debt. Its sale to Hong Kongbased Shuanghui comes at a time of serious food safety problems in China, some of which have involved Shuanghui, which owns food and logistics enterprises and is the largest shareholder of China's biggest meat processor.
“We will cease to be the company you saw in the past,” Smithfield’s CEO Larry Pope told shareholders.
301, the union that represents hourly workers at the turbine plant, called the Algerian deal "great news” for his members and GE's local operations.
"Not only did we bid against a host of major competitors; the order solidified a strong manufacturing base for us into 2015," Sullivan said. "In addition, it shows the world we are still No. 1 in worldclass power manufacturing.”
GE spokeswoman Chris Horne said steam turbines each take between 12 and 18 months to build, and that the Algerian order will provide "a significant portion” of the factory’s work over the next two years. "This is a very big deal for us,” Horne said. "It is one of the largest single orders we've seen in Schenectady ever.”
GE's Schenectady campus has been on the upswing in recent years. About a year
“This does not mean the company goes away, the company just enters into a new phase and a new era of its life.”
Smithfield’s shares rose to a penny to $33.99 in morning trading Tuesday, just short of the buyout offer.
ago, it became headquarters to GE Power & Water, now GE’s largest industrial unit. It is also home to GE's renewable energy business and GE’s new battery factory. A total of 4,000 employees work at the sprawling property.
Horne said GE has hired 450 new production employees for the turbine and generator operation over the past two years. Some of that hiring was in anticipation of the Algeria deal. GE will earn $1.9 billion for supplying the six Algerian plants, which will have the capacity to produce 8 gigawatts of electricity - enough to power 8 million homes - and increase the North African country’s generating capacity by 70 percent.
The rest of the mega-deal, which GE announced Monday, includes two smaller contracts that bring the total value of Monday's announcement
caught in a tug of war with consumers. The company needs to raise prices to offset rising commodity costs, namely the corn it uses for feed. But shoppers are still extremely sensitive to price changes in the current economy. By raising prices.
to $2.7 billion. They include a contract to supply mobile gas turbines, which were delivered earlier this year, as well as equipment for a power plant in Hassi R'mel in the northern part of Algeria.
News of the contract couldn't come at a better time for Steve Bolze, CEO of GE Power & Water. During the second quarter of the year, revenues at GE Power & Water fell 17 percent year-over-year to $5.7 billion, and profit also dropped 17 percent to $1.08 billion. The first quarter was even worse for the unit, when revenue dropped 26 percent and profit sagged 39 percent. GE said that energy demand in Algeria is growing at an average annual rate of 14 percent, with 20 gigawatts of electricity needed by 2017. The country will be powering the new plants with gas from its own natural gas fields.Q
Pope noted that the industry has been stagnant and the ability to grow has been tough. The deal, he said, gives the whole industry an opportunity to grow. “The times for this company and the future, I think are very bright," Pope said. “It's the same old Smithfield, but better.”
Smithfield has said that the buyout and China’s growing demand for pork will be a boon for American agriculture and an opportunity to export to new markets. Smithfleld's existing management team will remain in place and Shuanghui also will honor labor agreements with Smithfield workers. Shareholders also on Tuesday approved retention bonuses for the company’s executives.
The acquisition highlights what could be growing interest in American food by Chinese consumers. Foreign food, such as milk powder from New Zealand and vegetables from neighboring Asian countries, is prized by Chinese consumers because of the frequent domestic food safety scandals.Q
Fed concerned over early trades after meetings
MARCY GORDON MARTIN CRUTSINGER AP Business Writers WASHINGTON (AP) — The
Federal Reserve is concerned about suspiciously heavy trading of gold futures after its meeting last week that may have been triggered by a premature release of market-sensitive information.
In a statement, the central bank said Tuesday that news organizations that receive embargoed information from the Fed agree to withhold information until the time set for its release. The Fed statement said, “We will be conducting follow-up conversations with news organizations to ensure our procedures are completely understood.” After the meeting, the Fed said it would hold off on slowing its $85-billion-amonth in bond purchases. That surprised markets and led to a day of record highs on Wall Street. Trading in financial markets is now dominated by automated computer systems, which make trades in tiny fractions of a second that can lead to millions of dollars in profit. Receiving the data early — even by a few milliseconds — can give an unfair advantage to some firms. The security of sensitive, market-moving information has become a concern for federal officials. Possible leaks of government data have already led the Labor Department to tighten its procedures for distributing information early to reporters, including the closely monitored monthly employment report. Labor also revoked early access for some media organizations. The Fed also operates media lockups when its policymaking committee meets eight times a year, although the procedures are less strict than at Labor and the Commerce Department. Labor and Commerce officials hold lockups in secure facilities and control the Internet and phone lines. When lockup begins, the connection is shut off for 30 to 60 minutes and reporters receive the embargoed information. □
Employees work on production lines at a pork processing plant owned by Henan Shuanghui Group Ltd., in Luohe, in central China's Henan province. Shareholders of Smithfield Foods Inc. on Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2013, approved a plan to sell the world’s largest pork producer and processor to Shuanghui
International Holdings Ltd.
Smithfield Foods, whose brands include Armour, Farmland and its namesake, was founded in 1936 and has grown to annual sales of $13 billion and has about 46,000 employees. Pork producers such as Smithfield have been
(AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)
Smithfield risks cutting into its sales should consumers cut back or buy cheaper meats, such as chicken. In 2009, Smithfield Foods posted its first annual loss since 1975, and lost money again in 2010, but has since rebounded.
Smithfield shareholders approve Shuanghui deal
BUSINESS!* 25
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
US stocks fall for a fourth day on mixed reports
STEVE ROTHWELL Markets Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Wall Street couldn’t shrug off doubts about the economy and government gridlock on Tuesday.
Mixed economic reports and concern about a government shutdown dragged stocks lower in the final half-hour of trading. They had been positive most of the day.
The modest losses extended the losing streak for the Standard & Poor’s 500 index to four days. It was the longest run of declines in a month. The Dow Jones industrial average also dropped for a fourth straight day.
Investors struggled with conflicting news about the economy on Tuesday. One report showed that home prices in July rose the most in more than seven years. Another showed that Americans’ confidence in the economy slipped in September.
Investors are searching for direction after the Federal Reserve's surprise decision last Wednesday to keep its stimulus program intact. They had expected a reduction in the Fed’s $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. Investors are now parsing economic reports and comments from Fed officials to gauge the central bank's next move. Some are also nervous about political gridlock in Washington. They were
concerned that the federal government could shut down because Washing
TOKYO (AP) — Chip-making equipment manufacturer Applied Materials is acquiring Tokyo Electron Ltd., a rival maker of equipment for production of semiconductors, flat panel displays and solar panels. The two companies said Tuesday their $9.39 billion all-stock transaction will result in the creation of a new company with a market capitalization of about $29 billion. Tokyo Electron's chairman Tetsuro Higashi said the deal is meant to create a “truly global corn
ton lawmakers appear to be making little progress in budget talks. “A govern
pany" to meet the needs of companies supplying consumer electronics, such as smartphones and tablets. The new company will have shared leadership, with Higashi as its chairman and Applied Materials’ president and CEO Gary Dickerson as its CEO. Applied Materials’ shareholders will own about 68 percent of the new company and Tokyo Electron’s will hold about 32 percent. The two companies expect the deal to be finalized in the latter half of 2014.
ment shutdown starting next week is looking increasingly likely,” said Jim
The companies said they plan to conduct a $3 billion stock repurchase program within 12 months of the deal's completion. Tokyo Electron's profit has stagnated in the past few years because of weaker demand from chip makers. Morningstar analyst Andy Ng said in a research note that while the deal comes as a surprise, it makes strategic sense at first glance. The companies are two of the three largest chip equipment firms and have fairly broad product port
Russell, a regional investment director at U.S. Bank. “That will not be welcomed by the capital markets.” But Brad Sorensen, director of market and sector research at Charles Schwab, thought that worries about a government shutdown would ultimately be shortlived. “Investors are becoming a little bit immune to the games that Washington has started to play," Sorensen said. “Investors with a stronger stomach should probably buy the dip.” Stocks, for example, plummeted in the summer of 2011 as lawmakers wrangled about raising the debt ceiling. The market also sagged in October last year before the Presidential elections, on concerns that a divided government would be unable to agree on tax reform.□
folios. As semiconductor technology has advanced, the complexity of chip fabrication has also risen. He argues that by pooling knowledge and expertise, the companies stand to improve their technological advantage. The companies do have some overlapping products, but Ng said he views the deal as complementary, as their strengths vary. Shares of Applied Materials jumped $1.45, or 9 percent, to close at $17.44 on the Nasdaq.Q
r
Barclays floor trader Jason Hardzewicz, far left, gives a tour of the New York Stock Stock Exchange floor to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan in New York.
(Photo by Ben Hider/NYSE Euronext)
Applied Materials in takeover of Tokyo Electron
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Mother Goose & Grimm
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ACROSS
1 Baby dogs 5 Scarlett _ of “Gone With the Wind”
10 Alpha’s follower
14 _of Capri
15 Suddenly bright stars that fade
16 “Once _ a time.,,”
17 _ as a pin
18 Ceremony fora new member
20 Endeavor
21 Departs
22 Treaties
23 $1,000
25 Oscillating summer blower
26 Scours
28 Most unusual
31 Without companions
32 Braided pigtail 34 Teacher’s
favorite
36 Drive out
37 Mountain path
38 List of dishes
39 Hotel
40 Mob
41 Esau’s twin
42 Albert & Cantor
44 Reserved; coy
45 Christmas December 24
46 Deep pink
47 Social blunder
50 Have none of
51 Performance 54 Unable to read
or write
57 Remain
58 Custard pie
59 Animate
60 Seaweed type
61 Toddler
62 Intelligent
63 Out of work
DOWN
1 Half-quart
2 _-friendly;
easy to operate
3 Where kids spend recess
4 _ one’s hair; use rollers
5 Chili dog toppers, often
6 Sharpened
7 Rental car agency
8 Traitor
9 “_was saying.,.”
10 Lighter fluid
11 Heroic tale
12 Sound the horn
13 Blyth & Jillian
19 Come _; ravel 21 Actor Kaplan
24 Smallest of the litter
25 Get an “F”
26 Indian wraparound
27 Exact duplicate
28 Sudden attack
29 Wondered
30 Male voice
32 _ and cons
33 Regulation
35 Hollow cylinder
37 Pine or maple
38 Family member
40 Animal with a musky scent
41 Jackass
43 Tell the meaning of
44 Museum guide
46 Provide food for a banquet
47 Present
48 Actress Sheedy
49 Verbal opposition
50 Molten rock
52 Summon
53 Sort; variety
55 Golfer Ernie
56 Curved edge
57 Zoom downhill
CLASSIFIED!* 27
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
Reservations: Hot Tables, No Groveling
TEJAL RAO
© 2013 New York Times
It can require stamina to land a table at New York’s great restaurants. Even if you call the reservation line at the right moment, or beat other diners refreshing the page on the restaurant’s website, you can still end up with a table on the outermost edges of what’s considered dinner time. That is, of course, if you get a table at all.
What few diners realize, though, is that procrasti nators often have access to the best seats. Cancellations, along with the prime tables held for VIPs or friends of the house, are generally released back into reservation systems, becoming available for booking at the very last minute. Persistently checking reservation sites within 48 hours or so of your desired mealtime may pay off. The New York edition of Eater even does some of that work for you, manually searching all of OpenTable's New York listings to pull prime tables, then sharing them in a regular column.
A handful of new services are finding ways to eliminate that step altogether, automating the process so that people don’t even need to search for open seats. Instead, diners are alerted to those openings in some cases, in real time. In July, Jason Davis, a New York entrepreneur and software engineer, started Last Minute Eatin’, an automated Twitter account that alerts diners to available reservations on OpenT
able. The idea sprang from his own reluctance to plan ahead.
“I love New York City restaurants and I hate keeping a schedule,” he said. Every few minutes, the program runs through the 1,000 listings with the greatest number of reviews (regardless of whether they are positive or negative), along with listings for new restaurants that he picks. It then tweets a few good finds (like a 7:30 p.m. table for two at the Dutch
in SoHo) every 20 minutes, along with a link to book the table.
Davis is not the only entrepreneur who sees potential hidden in OpenTable's vast troves of data. Reed Kavner, a product manager at the crowdfunding website Piggybackr in San Francisco, began Rezhound in January after several unsuccessful attempts to eat at Nopa. The free service allows users to choose specific restaurants and dates of interest across the country, then alerts them by text or email the moment a table opens up. (In Chicago, Kavner said, requests for Stephanie Izard’s restaurant Girl & the Goat account for almost all use.) Some technologically ad ept diners have gone further. Diogo Monica, a security engineer at Square, a San Francisco tech company, made food blog headlines in July after writing about his role in the “reservation bot wars” on his personal website. Eager to eat at State Bird Provisions, Monica wrote a program to run through its Urban Spoon page and email him when a table became available. When reservations were disappearing immediately after becoming available, he realized that bots (Web applications that perform specific tasks for their programmers) were going a step further and booking the tables the second they were released. Monica then created his own bot and posted the source code for others to use on GitHub, a website where programmers share their work. (Brandi Willard, a spokeswoman for Urban Spoon, said the company had processes in place to combat what she described as “reservation fraud.”)
It may seem embarrassing for high-profile restaurants to have their empty tables advertised just before dinner, but it's a valuable service to both the diners and the restaurants: No one wants to face an evening with empty tables. In Chicago, the sibling restaurants Alinea and Next, which sell advance tickets rather than take reservations, broadcast news of last-minute openings with thousands of followers on Twitter and Facebook. The feeds also immediately notify readers when the tickets are scooped up, which is very quickly despite the price tags: starting at $210 for Alinea, and $125 for Next.Q
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Jason Davis at the Gramercy Tavern in New York. Davis started an automated Twitter account called Last Minute Eatin’ that that alerts diners to available reservations on the OpenTable website. (Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times)
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What 95% certainty of warming means to scientists
Smoke pours from a chimney at a cement plant in Binzhou city, in eastern China's Shandong province, Thursday, Jan. 17, 2013.
Associated Press
SETH BORENSTEIN AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Top
scientists from a variety of fields say they are about as certain that global warming is a real, man-made threat as they are that cigarettes kill.
They are as sure about climate change as they are about the age of the universe. They say they are more certain about climate change than they are that vitamins make you healthy or that dioxin in Superfund sites is dangerous. They'll even put a number on how certain they are about climate change. But that number isn’t 100 percent. It’s 95 percent.
And for some non-scientists, that’s just not good enough.
There’s a mismatch between what scientists say about how certain they are and what the general public thinks the experts mean, experts say.
That is an issue because this week, scientists from around the world have gathered in Stockholm for a meeting of a U.N. panel on climate change, and they will probably issue a report saying it is “extremely likely" — which they define in footnotes as 95 percent certain — that humans are mostly to blame for temperatures that have climbed since 1951.
One climate scientist involved says the panel may even boost it in some places to “virtually certain” and 99 percent.
Some climate-change deniers have looked at 95 percent and scoffed. Affer all, most people wouldn’t
get on a plane that had only a 95 percent certainty of landing safely, risk experts say.
But in science, 95 percent certainty is often considered the gold standard for certainty.
“Uncertainty is inherent in every scientific judgment," said Johns Hopkins University epidemiologist Thomas Burke. “Will the sun come up in the morning?” Scientists know the answer is yes, but they can’t really say so with 100 percent certainty because there are so many factors out there that are not quite understood or under control. George Gray, director
of the Center for Risk Science and Public Health at George Washington University, said that demanding absolute proof on things such as climate doesn't make sense. “There’s a group of people who seem to think that when scientists say they are uncertain, we shouldn't do anything,” said Gray, who was chief scientist for fhe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the George W. Bush administration. “That's crazy. We’re uncertain and we buy insurance."
With the U.N. panel about to weigh in on the effects of greenhouse gas emissions from fhe burning of oil, coal and gas. The Associated Press asked scientists who specialize in climate, physics, epidemiology, public health, statistics and risk just what in science is more certain than human-caused climate change, what is about the same, and what is less. They said gravity is a good example of something more certain than climate change. Climate change “is not as sure as if you drop a stone it will hit the Earth,” Princeton University
climate scientist Michael Oppenheimer said. “It’s not certain, but it’s close.” Arizona State University physicist Lawrence Krauss said the 95 percent quoted for climate change is equivalent to the current certainty among physicists that the universe is 13.8 billion years old.
The president of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences, Ralph Cicerone, and more than a dozen other scientists contacted by the AP said the 95 percent certainty regarding climate change is most similar to the confidence scientists have in the decades' worth of evidence that cigarettes are deadly. “What is understood does not violate any mechanism that we understand about cancer,” while “statistics confirm what we know about cancer,” said Cicerone, an atmospheric scientist. Add to that a “very high consensus” among scientists about the harm of fobacco, and it sounds similar to the case for climate change, he said.
But even the best study can be nitpicked because nothing is perfect, and that’s the strategy of bofh
tobacco defenders and climate deniers, said Stanton Glantz, a medicine professor at the University of California, San Francisco and director of ifs tobacco control research center. George Washington's Gray said the 95 percent number the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will probably adopt may not be realistic. In general, regardless of the field of research, experts tend to overestimate their confidence in their certainty, he said. Other experts said the 95 percent figure is too low. Jeff Severinghaus, a geoscienfist af the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, said that through the use of radioactive isotopes, scientists are more than 99 percent sure that much of the carbon in the air has human fingerprints on it. And because of basic physics, scientists are 99 percent certain that carbon traps heat in what is called the greenhouse effect.
But the role of nature and all sorts of other factors bring the number down to 95 percent when you want to say that the majority of the warming is humancaused, he said. □
PEOPLE & ARTS I * 29
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
Mary Pickford film found in U.S. barn is restored
HOLLY RAMER Associated Press KEENE, New Hampshire (AP) — The only copy of a 1911 Mary Pickford movie that marked a turning point in the silent film star's career is being restored after its discovery by a carpenter in an old New Hampshire barn.
The Library of Congress is funding a project to restore the film, titled “Their First Misunderstanding,” and it will be shown next month at Keene State College, where a retired professor has overseen the restoration.
The film is the first for which Pickford was given credit in the advertising materials. Before that, movie studios didn’t want actors to become household names because they’d demand more money, said Pickford scholar Christel Schmidt, editor of “Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies."
Peter Massie, who discovered the film along with six other vintage reels in a barn he was tearing down in 2006, is looking forward to seeing it.
“This is the coolest thing I've ever found on any job,” he said.
The property where Massie found the films apparently used to be a summer camp for boys, and the movies were probably shown to entertain the campers, said Larry Benaquist, who founded the film program at Keene State.
Massie donated the films to the college, and Benaquist led the effort to identify and restore them.
Pickford, known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was one of Hollywood’s earliest stars.
She was a co-founder of the United Artists film studio and helped establish the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She
This image provided by Keene State College shows frames of a 1911 movie with actress Mary Pickford. The film was discovered in a New Hampshire barn and is undergoing restoration.
Associated Press
retired from acting in 1933 and died in 1979.
The 10-minute comedydrama stars Pickford and her first husband, Owen Moore, as newlyweds having their first argument.
The first minute or so was destroyed, but the rest was in remarkably good condition, Benaquist said.
He quickly determined that one of the reels was a lost 1913 silent film about Abraham Lincoln.
But it took longer to identify the Pickford film because the 35 mm celluloid had stuck to itself.
Pickford had been known only as “Little Mary," "The Girl with the Curls" and “The Biograph" girl, after her former studio, but that changed after “Their First Misunderstanding,” Benaquist said.
“Now she was an actor with clout, and I think she used that to great advantage," he saidO
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WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
SSIPEOPLE & ARTS
g
A Miss Piggy muppet, that was used on “The Muppet Show/’ is all dressed up during a ceremony to donate additional Jim Henson objects to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2013.
Associated Press
Miss Piggy joins Kermit in Smithsonian collection
BRETT ZONGKER Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Miss Piggy is finally joining her love, Kermit the Frog, in the Smithsonian Institution’s collection of Jim Henson’s Muppets, and Bert and Ernie will have a place in history, too.
Henson’s daughter, Cheryl Henson, donated more than 20 puppets and props Tuesday to the National Museum of American History. The donation included Miss Piggy and some of her co-stars from “The Muppet Show” including Fozzie Bear, Scooter and the Swedish Chef. Henson also donated a number
of puppets from “Sesame Street” including Bert and Ernie, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Grover, and Count Von Count.
The donation also included Boober Fraggle and Travelling Matt from “Fraggle Rock.” Many of the puppets are the first constructions of the characters.
The museum was previously home to Oscar the Grouch, Kermit and the cast of Henson’s early TV show “Sam and Friends." The collection includes the original Kermit the Frog creation, as well as the more famous Kermit from “Sesame Street” and “The Muppet Show.”Q
Rogen, Goldberg to adultthemed animated film
NEW YORK (AP) — Sony Pictures will make a raunchy, adult-themed animated film written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg titled “Sausage Party."
The project was announced Tuesday by Sony, which is co-financing the film with Annapurna Pictures. Writing partners Rogen and Goldberg penned the script along with Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir. “Sausage Party" is described as “one sausage’s quest to discover the truth about his existence." After falling out of a shopping cart, the sausage journeys through a supermarket. Directing the film will be Conrad Vernon (the co-director of “Madagascar 3”)
This April 21, 2013 file photo shows Evan Goldberg, left, and Seth Rogen, posing on a beach as they promote their film “This is The End”, in Cancun, Mexico.
Associated Press
and Greg Tiernan.
Rogen and Goldberg have together written the comedies “Superbad,” "Pineapple Express,” "The Green Hornet” and “This Is the End."
“Sausage Party” is planned for release in 2015. □
Wendell Pierce sparks new Michael J. Fox sitcom
FILE - This Sept. 16, 2013 file photo shows Wendell Pierce at the NBC 2013 Fall season launch party in New York.
Associated Press
FRAZIER MOORE AP Television Writer NEW YORK (AP) — “I’ve always wanted one thing,” says Wendell Pierce. “To have a diverse career, to be a journeyman actor.” Mission accomplished this fall. With no fewer than four projects in release. Pierce will meet himself coming. Earlier this month, he made his latest appearance in a recurring role on the USA law drama “Suits."
He has a new film opening, an edgy indie drama titled “Four” wherein he plays a family man who keeps his hom*osexuality secret while he hooks up harmfully with a teenage boy through an online dating site.
In December, he returns as fancy-free jazz trombonist Antoine Batiste on HBO's glorious New Orleans series “Treme,” airing its final season.
And that’s all on top of Pierce’s dandy new role on “The Michael J. Fox Show,” which premieres on NBC Thursday at 9 p.m. EDT in a special hour-long edition. “This,” Pierce sums up proudly, “is the diversity I always wanted."
On the new comedy. Pierce summons his rascally charm to play Harris Green,
news director of a New York TV station and longtime pal of former anchor Mike Henry, played by Fox. Mirroring Fox’s own reallife plight, Mike suffers from Parkinson’s disease, but, after several years retired from the anchor desk at home with his family, he is persuaded by Harris to return to work (just as Fox is returning to full-time acting after a dozen years of limited performances).
Even though Harris sees Mike as his meal ticket (“Guaranteed ratings!” he crows when Mike agrees to come back), they are truly friends, and, reflecting that. Pierce and Fox have forged a chemistry that pops on screen.
At one point, Mike needles Harris about his resistance to settling down with a woman and being a dad. “Thirty years of lovemaking, not even one slip!” boasts Harris. “Not even a scare.” “Maybe you’re doing it wrong,” Mike offers.
“It’s like this — right?” jokes Harris, deadpan, demonstrating with his index finger passing just outside, not within, the circle formed by his other index finger and thumb.
It’s a delightful bit of comic
business, which Pierce says he and Fox invented on the spot.
“Michael has a really wonderful sense of timing, and he's really authentic,” reports Pierce. “We’ll do a take and I'll say, ‘Ah, I feel like I’m in a vacuum.’ And he’ll say, ‘I like working that way! Stay in the moment and the moment will inform you.'
“Michael has helped remind me of that: You create all those memories that in your real life you take for granted. In your heart and your mind, you create a world for your character so strong that it INDUCES your character's behavior." Pierce had been filming that morning, but, unexpectedly granted the afternoon off, he has joined a reporter at a sidewalk cafe on Manhattan’s Upper West Side where, clad in a polo shirt, chinos and sandals with black socks, he nurses a beer in the lateSeptember chill.
Spending time with him bears out the unifying nature of his diverse roles: He's a guy you like hanging with. With a full frame, a broad sweet face and a mischievous magnetism, he’s good company .□
America’s
MAUREEN DOWD © 2013 New York Times
WASHINGTON - When you’re trapped in a city with House Republican gargoyles who don’t understand math or history, much less reality, sometimes you crave a dose of grandfatherly wisdom.
Speaker John Boehner, trapped under the thumb of Tea Party anarchists, called Friday’s vote to defund Obamacare and invite a government shutdown “a victory for common sense.” More like a triumph of nonsense. The victory for common sense last week was not in Congress, but at Georgetown University. Speaking to an excited crowd of students and others Thursday night beneath soaring stainedglass windows, the 83-year-old Warren Buffett offered inspiring lessons in patriotism and compassion - traits sorely missing here as Republicans ran headlong toward a global economic cataclysm and gutted the food stamp program.
“I am sorry I’m late,” Nancy Pelosi murmured sardonically, as she arrived at the Buffett event. “We were busy taking food ouf of the mouths of babies.” Questioned by Brian Moynihan, the CEO of Bank of America, and later students, Buffett seemed happy to be back in one of his hometowns, where, as the son of an investor from Omaha who became a congressman, he had once worked as a waterboy for fhe Redskins and a paperboy for Georgetown Hospital.
His taste for making money was whetted when his customers at the hospital would give him bet suggestions for fhe numbers racket, big in Washington in those days.
“They would tell me if there was a woman that had given birth to a baby that was, say, 8 pounds, 11 ounces,” he said, or the time of fhe birth.
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway said he had begun investing at age 11 in 1942, a couple of months after Pearl Harbor, after spending five years saving up $ 120 .
He even joked that he had fond thoughts of 1929 because it was when he was conceived: ‘‘My dad was a stock salesman and after the crash he didn’t have anything to do.”
I wrote about Buffett in 1996, when Ted Turner upbraided fellow billionaires like Buffeft and Bill Gates as “ol' skinflints” for not loosening up ‘‘their wads” because they were afraid to
FROM IKE NEW YORK TIMES& TO!I „ ra «.
Billionaire
fall off the Forbes 400 List. Back then, Buffett said he would wait until after he and his wife died, when he planned fo give the bulk of his $15 billion to population control (even though, of course, every moment counts on that cause).
But then, about five years ago, Buffett said at Georgetown, he and Gates began plotting about philanthropy and now they have enrolled 115 plutocrats pledging a majority of fheir net worth.
‘‘I’ve been dialing for dollars,” he said, adding fhat when billionaires resist, he gives them a warning: ‘‘If I’m talking to some 70-year-old, I say, ‘Do you really think your decision-making ability is going to be better when you’re 95 with some blonde on your lap, or now?”’
He calls the Fed ‘‘the greatest hedge fund in history,” and observed of the moment America nearly went off the cliff: ‘‘I give enormous credif to Ben Bernanke and Hank Paulson and Tim Geithner and frankly, even fhough I didn’t vote for him, President Bush.”
W.’s ‘‘great insight,” one worthy of Adam Smifh, he said, was expressed in 10 words in September 2008: ‘‘He went out there from the White House and he said, ‘If money doesn’t loosen up, this sucker could go down.’” The populist voice of the 1 percent stressed that ‘‘inequality is getting wider” and that we must figure out how to ‘‘share the bounty.”
‘‘We’ve got something that works and we don’t want to mess that up,” he said. There will be periodic recessions and the occasional panic, he noted, advising that those times are good to buy stock at ‘‘silly prices.” ‘‘It’s very hard to write regulations that will keep people from acting foolishly, particularly when acting foolishly has proven very profitable over the preceding few years,” he said. ‘‘Humans, they all think they’re Cinderella at the ball, and they think, as the night goes along, the music gets better and the drinks flow, they all think they’re going to leave at two minutes to 12 and of course there’s no clocks on the wall and they’re still dancing, so it will happen again.” ‘‘But,” he added slyly, ‘‘buy when it happens.”
He doesn’t worry about keeping up with modern technology. He buys what he knows, like Coca-Cola, which he drank all evening. Evoking Ted Williams ‘‘waiting for fhe right pitch,” he counseled that: ‘‘You don’t need 20 decisions to get very rich. Four or five will probably do it over time.”
Being a successful investor is not about having a high IQ, he said, ‘‘but it does take a temperament that’s willing to step up and actually act. I always tell people, if fhey’re going in the investment business and you’ve got a 160 IQ, sell 30 points to somebody else because you won’t need it.”
Or sell some to the House Republicans.^
FRANK BRUNI © 2013 New York Times
The fall television season kicks into gear this week, with tons of new stuff, but before you check ouf any of it, you owe yourself a bigger treat. Go back and watch Chris Wallace’s interview with Ted Cruz on ‘‘Fox News Sunday.” That’s entertainment. For starters there’s Wallace’s demeanor: I would almost swear I caught him holding his nose. There’s his bafflement, the bafflement of an entire nation, about what Cruz hopes to accomplish with his doomed campaign to defund Obamacare. (Hint: he keeps himself in the spotlight. Could a cause be worthier?)
There’s Cruz’s sickly look after Wallace recites derisive statements about him from fellow Republicans and he’s reminded that even in his party and even on Fox, the distaste for him is robust. But the best part, the belly laugh, is when Cruz is asked to respond to those digs.
‘‘There are lots of folks in Washington that can choose to throw rocks,” he says, ‘‘and I’m not going to reciprocate.” Because he’s nobler than that. Because he takes the high, unrocky road.
Please. Cruz has been casting stones since he first moved into his Senate offices nine months ago. His quarry is bottomless. Let us not soon forget the hearings into Chuck Hagel’s confirmation as secretary of defense, when Cruz wondered aloud
Ted Cruz’s Flinty Path
whether Hagel had taken honorariums from countries hostile to the United States. This insinuation was groundless and shameless, but it paid off, in a fashion. A newcomer to the Senate, Cruz was the dark star of fhe proceedings.
A brufe was born. He went on to pelt Dianne Feinstein, a Senate elder whom he condescendingly lectured about the Constitution. And there were yet more stones for his Republican colleagues, whom he dismissed as ‘‘squishes.” If maffers nof if you are foe or friend: if Cruz can besmirch you in a manner fhat bolsters his purer-than-thou, blunter-than-thou, braver-thanthou pose, brace yourself.
This week he is blithely putting the lawmakers in his party between a rock and a hard place. If they fail to match the anti-Obamacare passion that he flexed anew in a Senate speech Monday, they’ll land on the far right’s watch list. But if they match it and the government shuts down, there’s a good chance that the Republican Party takes the blame and a hit it can ill afford.
It’s all the same to Cruz. His own notoriety is cemented. He won’t be a hero to many, but to the few who see him thaf way, he’ll be a veritable monument. Which seems to match how he regards himself.
‘‘He has come to the reluctant but unavoidable conclusion that he is simply more intelligent, more principled, more right - in both senses of the word - than pretty much everyone else in our nation’s capital,” writes Jason Zengerle in a profile of Cruz in the new issue of GQ. That’s not just a skeptical journalist’s take. That’s many exasperated Republicans’ assessment of Cruz, foo.
He has eschewed the slow route to Senate prominence, which would have involved building alliances, for the fast track, which means playing the firebrand, playing to the cheap seats and playing to a news cy cle that thrills to conflict.
And he’s lusting to do the same in the 2016 presidential race, especially if Rand Paul’s isolationism means that he can’t seize the role effectively. Cruz has bought into the notion that as a true conservative, he’d mimic Ronald Reagan’s success and avoid Bob Dole’s and Mitt Romney’s failures. This rewrites history, ignoring that the Republican nomination doesn’t go to the firebrand and that two Bushes won three presidencies by lofting words like ‘‘kinder,” ‘‘gentler” and ‘‘compassionate,” adjectives no one would ever affix to Cruz. But then he’s selective with facts, a trait on jaw-dropping display during the Senate speech. He bemoaned the brinkmanship that other lawmakers engage in, spoke as if fhere’d never been adequate debate over Obamacare and pretended that the law had been implemented fully enough to be definitively appraised.
He also said, ‘‘This country will be better off if we work together.” Because he’s all about harmony. Here’s more history he forgets: most of fhe politicians who’ve gone all the way had not just his ambition but also a geniality that’s alien to him and a degree of affection from peers that, by week’s end, he can say a permanent goodbye to. He’s grandstanding and bloviating his way to obsolescence.
To wit: Monday evening, the Senate’s two highest-ranking Republicans, Mitch McConnell and John Cornyn, rejected Cruz’s particular strategy to defund Obamacare. And Cruz doesn’t come across so winningly in a recent profile in The Weekly Standard, which, like Fox, is supposed to be friendly turf. Its author, Andrew Ferguson, describes a car ride in which he mulls hurling himself out the door, no matter how rocky his landing, rather than listen to Cruz for another second. The Senate can relate.□
WEDNESDAY 25 SEPTEMBER
MilFEATURE
m
Building World Cup stadium in Amazon presents challenge
SAM BORDEN ©2013 New York Times MANAUS, Brazil - The most challenging aspect of building a World Cup soccer stadium in the middle of the Amazon is debatable.
Some might say it is figuring out how to get oversize cranes and hundreds of tons of stainless steel and concrete into a city surrounded by a rain forest that stretches for about 2.1 million square miles. Others might mention the need
to put most of those materials together before the rainy season floods the entire construction site. Then, of course, there are those who might point to the need to install the special chairs.
Yes, the chairs. It may seem like a small concern - at least compared with the whole everything-beingflooded possibility - but one of the less obvious issues that comes with building a stadium in the jungle is what the searing equatorial sunlight here can do to plastic.
The seats are supposed to be varying shades of yellow and orange. “But if we
don't use the right kind of material," said Miguel Capobiango Neto, the coordinator of the construction project, “then the sun will melt the paint away. The seats will just turn white.” Neto sighed. “The Brazilian press compares us a lot to other stadium constructions," he said through an interpreter. “There is no comparison. There is nothing like this.”
The World Cup has never staged games in a rain forest, much less in the middle
of the Amazon. But that is the plan for next summer, an ambition that invites plenty of hurdles.
What other major stadium project had to drain an “unwelcome tributary of the French River,” as Neto put it, that ran through its foundation? What other builder has to spend multiple days on each joint that is soldered because the stifling humidity can cause steel to buckle? What other job has to accommodate one of the most ecologically sensitive regions in the world?
Then, of course, there are the concerns about how many more millions of dol lars will be spent on cost overruns, not to mention what will happen to the stadium once the four World Cup games scheduled to be played here next year are completed. (One recent proposal suggested the stadium could be converted to a prison.)
But despite having as many as 1,400 employees, the project has been bogged down by the delays, cost increases and design changes that come with seemingly every significant
piece of Brazilian infrastructure.
In a polite but pointed statement, Hubert Nienhoff, the chief executive of gmp-Architekten, the German firm that designed the stadium, said that though the “precise planning and implementation that Germans are credited with” might be respected in Brazil, they are “not always compatible with the existing pragmatic day-to-day business” in the country.
His point was unmistakable. Left unsaid was this: The progress in Manaus was so sluggish that at one point late last year, Jerome Valcke, the secretary-gen eral of soccer’s governing body, FIFA, said it was possible that games would not be played in the city if the stadium’s deadlines were not met.
That threat, according to local officials, prompted a construction surge, and with it a ballooning budget. The stadium was supposed to cost about 500 million reais (about $227 million) and be completed by July: now it will cost at least 600 million reais and is scheduled to be finished by De cember, Neto said.
As of the end of August, about 78 percent of the stadium was complete, according to FIFA, making the new target date at least theoretically feasible.
“The rainy season starts at the end of November,” Neto said. “Because of that, we must really rush to have the ceiling ready by then.” He was not joking; from December through March, this city generally receives as much as 45 inches of rain, almost twice as much as what Johannesburg, which hosted games during the 2010 World Cup, receives all year.
Of course, there are some
who believe the four World Cup games set for Manaus should not be played here anyway. Critics of the stadium in Manaus, as well as the similar projects in Brasilia and in Cuiaba, note the lack of top-division soccer teams in those cities and call the expensive stadiums “white elephants.” Organizers challenge that thinking, saying there are a number of options for post-World Cup events and highlighting the stadium’s design as being intentionally multipurpose. Environmentally friendly features like harvesting rainwater to use in the stadium’s toilets make the stadium sustainable, the designers said, and concerts and other exhibitions are among the possibilities raised for future use.
Local officials are also quick to note the exposure the World Cup will bring to the Amazon region, as Manaus is often used by tourists solely as a starting (or returning) point for forays into the jungle.
While certainly isolated, Manaus is hardly antiquated: the city has a population of about 2 million and a growing economy that includes electronics, chemical and oil companies. The Free Economic Zone of Manaus is also a significant industrial hub.
From a helicopter, this Amazonian city is a parade of stunning sights. Out in the river, there is the famous Meeting of the Waters, the phenomenon where the Rio Negro and the Rio Solimoes rub up against each other but do not mix. Along the banks, jungle lodges are carved snug against the forest. In the port, ships hauling sugar and fish and bananas and watermelons weave in and out of the docks.
“I think people would be surprised by what's here and what the people here do,” said Harold M. Wright, the director of the international relations office at the University of the State of Amazonas. “Having the stadium is important to this city. There's also a lot more passion for football here than people realize.”□
Arena Amazonia, a stadium being built for the 2014 World Cup, under construction in Manaus, Brazil. Construction of the stadium in the middle of the Amazon rain forest has caused a unique set of difficulties for the builders.
(Lalo de Almeida/The New York Times)
