Can: 2012

четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.

Balk call helps sink Mets

It started out as a pickoff play and wound up as a balk, anejection and the play that may have determined the game.

With the Pittsburgh Pirates leading the host Mets by two runs inthe fourth inning Monday, New York called for a pickoff play thatstarts with John Olerud behind the first-base bag.

Crew chief Frank Pulli called the balk, the runner wound upscoring and Pittsburgh emerged with a 4-2 victory.Mets manager Bobby Valentine was ejected arguing the play.Baseball rules say pitchers can't throw to unoccupied bases, andPulli, the second-base umpire, ruled Olerud wasn't near the bag whenpitcher Bobby Jones threw over."This is not a play I called out of a Little …

7 experts to be tried over 2009 Italy quake

ROME (AP) — Seven scientists and other experts were indicted on manslaughter charges Wednesday for allegedly failing to sufficiently warn residents before a devastating earthquake that killed more than 300 people in central Italy in 2009.

Defense lawyers condemned the charges, saying it's impossible to predict earthquakes. Seismologists have long concurred, saying the technology doesn't exist to predict a quake and that no major temblor has ever been foretold.

Judge Giuseppe Romano Gargarella ordered the members of the national government's Great Risks commission, which evaluates potential for natural disasters, to go on trial in L'Aquila on Sept. 20.

Italian media …

Witness: New straps supplied before NYC crane fell

The criminal trial surrounding a deadly New York City crane collapse has honed in on claims that a worn polyester strap was used _ and failed _ at a key point in securing the towering rig. But a witness says the crane rigger had been provided with brand-new straps.

An official with the concrete company in charge of the crane work testified Wednesday that he obtained six of …

среда, 14 марта 2012 г.

Transforming Our Army-A Soldier's Perspective

As I meet with soldiers and their families at posts, camps and stations around the world, I see the unbelievable accomplishments of our soldiers firsthand. I am amazed by what our Army has accomplished during the past year.

My goal, when I go out to visit with soldiers, is to get a pulse check on how things are going and to leave them better informed. I bring recommendations from soldiers in the field back to the Pentagon. The number one topic of discussion at soldier forums around the world during the past year has been Army transformation.

Transformation is, without a doubt, a complex concept. If you do an Internet search on Army transformation you will find hundreds of …

Pens Drop Fifth Straight to Hurricanes

RALEIGH, N.C. - Rod Brind'Amour had a goal and an assist, and the Carolina Hurricanes routed the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 on Saturday night. Justin Williams, Ray Whitney, Eric Belanger and Chad LaRose also scored, and Kevyn Adams had an empty-net goal to help Carolina improve to 9-3-2 in its last 14 games.

John LeClair and Mark Recchi had second-period goals for Pittsburgh. The Penguins have lost five straight and have been outshot 179-101 during that slide.

Erik Cole had two assists in his first game against the player who nearly ended his career. Cole broke his neck last March when Pittsburgh's Brooks Orpik rammed him into the boards, causing an injury that cost the …

Drugmaker Pfizer cutting up to 800 scientist jobs

Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug company, is laying off up to 800 scientists this year in its latest effort to refocus disappointing research efforts and cut its massive overhead ahead of an anticipated crash in revenue.

New York-based Pfizer plans to reduce its global research staff _ currently about 10,000 people _ by 5 percent to 8 percent this year, company spokeswoman Kristen Neese said Tuesday.

"This is in line with our refocused research areas," Neese said.

The move comes after the company announced in September that it was narrowing its research focus to six disease areas _ Alzheimer's, cancer, schizophrenia, pain, …

300 urge more local control of city schools

More than 300 parents, teachers and community members called formore local control of Chicago's schools Tuesday as the late MayorWashington's forum on education reform headed into the neighborhoods.

Testimony from Tuesday evening's meeting at the Hyde Park CareerAcademy, the first of 10 neighborhood forums intended as an outgrowthof Washington's citywide forum held Oct. 11, will be used to fashiona parent-community school reform proposal.

That proposal then will be debated with similarly craftedsuggestions from teachers, the business community and the Board ofEducation.

"The mayor (Washington) was committed to the pubic schools ofChicago," the Rev. …

Myanmar's Junta Stalls Envoy Another Day

YANGON, Myanmar - Myanmar's junta leader stalled a U.N. envoy for yet another day Monday, delaying his chance to present international demands for an end to the crackdown on the largest protests in two decades. In Yangon, troops removed roadblocks and shifted to the city outskirts, apparently easing their stranglehold on the city that was the center for the demonstrations to end 45 years of military dictatorship.

Ibrahim Gambari, the U.N.'s special envoy to Myanmar who has been in Myanmar since Saturday, was given an appointment to meet with Senior Gen. Than Shwe on Tuesday in the junta's remote capital, Naypyitaw, an Asian diplomat said.

Instead of the meeting Monday …

Police: Ambush kills 5 police in NW Pakistan

Gunmen ambushed five police officers and a forestry official responding to reports of a dead body in northwestern Pakistan, killing all six, police said Sunday.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but authorities did not rule out Taliban militants.

The insurgents, who have run roughshod over the Pakistani region bordering Afghanistan in recent years, have frequently targeted security forces, though usually through roadside bombs and suicide attacks.

The ambush took place late Saturday in a forested area in the Mansehra district, an area believed home to several training camps for militants involved in the conflict with India over the Kashmir …

2 Holiday Dramas Challenge and Inspire

Friday's (STAR) (STAR) (STAR) (STAR) episode of the Emmy-winning"Picket Fences" (9 to 10 p.m., Channel 2) reaches far beyondtelevision's standard warm-and-fuzzy Christmas stories to questionthe importance of religious faith in contemporary society.

Legal advocates for church and state clash in court over thecase of a comatose Wisconsin woman who will die if her baby isn'taborted quickly. Complicating the morally challenging case is anapparent medical miracle: The unmarried mom is a virgin.

Warning to parents: The provocative CBS drama reveals disturbingsecrets about moms, dads and Santa Claus.

FREE TO WORSHIP: Estonian rebels defy Soviet …

Singapore looks to tourism, casinos to fuel growth

SINGAPORE (AP) — Wear red if you want to win at Singapore's Marina Bay Sands casino, but sport white to boost your luck at rival Resorts World Sentosa.

So says feng shui expert Danny Cheong, who has seen demand for his skills soar thanks to last year's opening of the city-state's first two casino resorts.

"Before I would occasionally get clients who asked for help with playing the horses or the lottery," said Cheong, a 50-year-old Singaporean trained in Hong Kong. "Now everybody wants advice about the casinos."

Singapore's two huge casino resorts, which together cost more than $10 billion to build, are at the center of a decade-long effort to diversify the island's …

Cavaliers-Trail Blazers, Box

…

CLEVELAND (104)

James 14-30 3-4 34, Wallace 2-3 0-0 4, Varejao 5-8 2-4 12, M.Williams 12-19 3-3 33, Pavlovic 3-6 0-0 6, Hickson 2-3 1-2 5, Gibson 1-2 0-0 2, Szczerbiak 2-6 2-2 8, Kinsey 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 41-78 11-15 104.

PORTLAND (98)

Batum 3-5 0-0 7, Aldridge 8-20 5-7 21, Oden 3-4 4-4 10, Rodriguez 3-5 0-0 7, Roy 8-23 6-7 23, Bayless 2-3 6-6 10, Przybilla 1-4 4-6 6, Outlaw 2-8 0-3 5, Fernandez 3-9 0-0 9. Totals 33-81 25-33 98.

Shanghai Masters Results

Results Thursday from the Shanghai Masters, a $3.25 million ATP tournament played on hard courts at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

Third Round

Nikolay Davydenko (6), Russia, def. Fernando Gonzalez (10), Chile, 6-3, 7-5.

Radek Stepanek (13), Czech Republic, def. Stanislas Wawrinka, Switzerland, 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-2, retired.

Robin Soderling (9), Sweden, def. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (5), France, 6-3, 6-3.

Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia, def. Gael Monfils, France (11), 6-2, 3-0, retired.

Novak Djokovic (2), Serbia, def. Rainer Schuettler, Germany, 6-4, 6-2.

Gilles Simon (8), France, def. Tomas Berdych, Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4.

Feliciano Lopez, Spain, def. Jurgen Melzer, Austria, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-1.

Rafael Nadal (1) , Spain, def. Tommy Robredo, Spain, 6-1. 6-4.

вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.

Now, a cooler for your terrace ; It is an outdoor cooling system, called Harley Masterkool, that uses micro particles of water to absorb heat from the atmosphere that it then uses as energy for its own evaporation.

What is it? It is an outdoor cooling system, called HarleyMasterkool, that uses micro particles of water to absorb heat fromthe atmosphere that it then uses as energy for its own evaporation.

The system employs technology to create 5 micron water droplets,similar in size to natural fog, for this purpose.

Does it work? Well, it reduces the ambient outdoor temperature ina given area by 5-10 degree Celsius. It also repels mosquitoes andother insects.

Where can it be used? It is designed for open areas of up to 750sq. m. The main application areas are hotels, restaurants,factories, workshops, shopping malls and multiplexes. Smaller unitsare also available for private terraces, lawns and small openspaces.

How much does it cost? They range from Rs 75,000 for a machinethat covers an area of 50 sq. m. to Rs 4.5 lakh for machines thatcover areas of 750 sq. m.

And where is it available? It is being marketed in India by F.Harley & Co.

Manu Kaushik

Cell phone cancer warning adds to parental worries

When Amy Morris' twin boys, then 11, went on an academic trip to Washington last year, she agreed to give them cell phones at the program's request. But this summer she was dismayed to learn that girls at her 8-year-old daughter's day camp were using cell phones they'd taken along in their backpacks.

"We were outraged," says the Connecticut mother, who adds that the camp didn't know. "These girls think it's a cute game. But it's inappropriate, and it's unnecessary."

It's a signature parenting dilemma of the wireless age: Should kids have cell phones? And how old is old enough? It pits our understandable desire to keep tabs on our offspring _ not to mention make them happy _ against the instinctive feeling that it's simply, well, wrong for youngsters to spend their time chatting and texting over the airwaves.

Now, there's further ammunition for Morris and other reluctant parents like her to stand firm: The warning last week by the head of a prominent cancer research institute to his faculty and staff. Limit cell phone use, he said, because of the possible cancer risk _ especially when it comes to children, whose brains are still developing.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, was based on early, unpublished data and came despite numerous studies that haven't found a link between increased tumors and cell phone use. But it's struck a nerve among parents who already have other reasons to resist their children's entreaties.

"Now we hear about this possible medical risk," says Marybeth Hicks, an author, columnist and mother of four. "I couldn't possibly know if it's real or not. But I know that it's probably not necessary for most children to have a cell phone."

To her, "it's part of this whole rush to adulthood _ Hello Kitty backpacks for third-graders have cell phone pockets in them! Marketers have skillfully created a groundswell of begging among kids _ and we all know that begging can work."

Hicks, whose book "Bringing Up Geeks: How to Protect Your Kid's Childhood in a Grow-Up-Too-Fast World," is about just such problems, has her own personal experience with persistent children.

"My 10-year-old daughter thinks she's deprived," says Hicks. "She's been saying she's the only one at school without a phone, and it's actually getting to be true." And her son, she says, was the only kid in his 8th-grade class without a phone. (He just got one, right before freshman year in high school.)

Hicks, who lives in East Lansing, Mich., is aware that some parents feel cell phones are an essential security tool for their kids. But, she says, "I always know where my kids are. A cell phone is a tool to negotiate the world once you have the responsibility to be out in the world on your own."

Morris, of Weston, Conn., has decided that for her own kids, middle school is about the right time. "My boys are starting to walk home alone sometimes," she says. "I want them to have a phone." Being boys, though, they tend to forget the darned things all the time _ especially in situations when they actually need them.

So far, Morris has avoided giving one to her younger child, she says, not an easy thing in a society where kids, especially girls, are so sensitive to social pressures. "I think a lot of parents in this country just give in," she says. She's especially concerned about the rampant text messaging among the younger set.

Statistics from the Pew Research Center show just how deeply ingrained in our daily lives cell phones have become: Fully 78 percent of all adults own them, including 86 percent of 18-29 year-olds and 55 percent of Americans 65 and older. Pew doesn't compile statistics on those under 18.

Text messaging, on the other hand, is the province of the young: 74 percent of 18-29 year-olds do it but only 6 percent of the 65-plus crowd.

It's harder to gauge the tween set (usually defined as between 9 and 13) but it's telling that in 2004, 21 percent of those aged 8 to 10 and 36 percent of the 11 to 14 group had phones, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation _ a number sure to have ballooned since then.

Should the latest medical news cause huge concern among parents who HAVE given in? "If you've got good reasons for them to have it, I'd go ahead," says Frank Barnes, a professor who chaired a recent report on the subject. However, he added, "they've probably got other things they should be doing."

As for whether it's a health hazard, Barnes, who teaches electrical and computer engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder, said it's more a question of "How do you deal with the unknown? We just don't have the data."

Ultimately, parents have to make their own rules _ but that's difficult when the social pressure is so strong, notes Lisa Bain, executive editor of Parenting magazine. "The age is creeping down," she says. "Girls tend to get them younger. It's become a status symbol _ it makes them feel grown up."

Bain can see both sides of the argument. Parents really need to set limits, she says, especially because so many phones these days are also cameras and have Web access. On the other hand, she said, the first time she dropped her middle-school aged daughter off at the mall, "I thought, thank God she has a cell phone."

Of the recent medical warning, Bain says: "So many scary studies come out. This will give some parents second thoughts, and other parents ammunition. But for the vast majority, it's not going to mean a lot."

After all, says Bain, "It's like standing up against a tidal wave."

___

Science Writer Malcom Ritter contributed to this report.

A marathon effort for friend jasmine

Pupils at a Glastonbury school got their running shoes on lastweek to raise money for Meningitis UK.

Staff and pupils at St Benedict's School ran 400 miles to helpraise money for the charity, in the wake of Jasmine Clare's deathfrom the disease at the beginning of the year.

Jasmine had been a pupil at St John's Infant School in the town.

Jasmine's mother, Dina, was on hand to begin proceedings bystarting the first lap of the school field when she blew a whistleat 9 am. The final laps were completed at 3pm, by which time thechildren and staff were exhausted but proud of their efforts.

"The initial target had been to run a total of 100 miles aroundthe field but the enthusiasm and energy of all involved resulted ina final total of 400 miles," said Jane Neale.

"To date, this fantastic effort by the staff and pupils raised afigure fast approaching Pounds 1,000."

Masterful caddy

(3)

Eurozone unemployment hits 10 percent in November

Unemployment in the 16 countries that use the euro rose to 10 percent in November for the first time since the single currency was introduced at the start of 1999, official figures showed Friday.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said the 0.1 percentage point increase from October brought the unemployment rate to its highest level since August 1998.

Of the euro members, Spain has the highest unemployment rate at a massive 19.4 percent, while the Netherlands has the lowest at 3.9 percent. Such sharp divergences have reignited talk in some quarters that the single economic policy implied by the common currency is more appropriate for some countries than others.

In November 2008, the jobless rate was 8 percent in the eurozone as the recession took its toll.

Unemployment in the 27-country EU, which includes non-euro members such as Britain and Sweden, also rose 0.1 percent in November to 9.5 percent, its highest level since the data series began in January 2000.

In total, 22.9 million people were unemployed in the EU in November, with 15.7 million out of work in the eurozone.

Elsewhere, Eurostat confirmed that the eurozone economy grew by 0.4 percent in the third quarter, driven by a strong performance in Germany, and by 0.3 percent in the wider EU.

In the eurozone, the only countries in recession were Spain, Greece and Cyprus. In the wider EU, falling output was still evident in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Romania as well as Britain.

The severity of the recession is evident in the annual comparisons _ despite the modest third quarter growth, Eurostat said eurozone output was 4 percent lower than the year before, while the EU's GDP was down 4.3 percent. However, both were improvements on the 4.8 percent and 5.0 percent contractions recorded in the second quarter.

Despite the modest third quarter improvement, growth is not expected to return to pre-crisis levels for a while yet, meaning the output lost during the recession will take years to be made up.

Friday's data comes ahead of the European Central Bank's latest policy statement due next Thursday.

Stocks zigzag as traders stay cautious after slide

Stocks zigzagged Wednesday, a day after a big slide, as improved reports on factory orders and jobs did little to ease worries about the economy.

A private sector report on unemployment failed to curb unease about job losses, one of the biggest problems facing the economy. A rise in factory orders and data on increased worker productivity also couldn't shake investors' concerns that the economy remains troubled and that a 50 percent rally in stocks since March is overdone.

Stocks traded in a tight range but were essentially flat a day after the Dow Jones industrial average tumbled 186 points on renewed worries about the health of banks and as traders looked to pocket recent gains. The lack of buyers a day after the slide signaled that investors still think stocks may be too expensive.

Investors reacted coolly to a mostly upbeat mix of news. The ADP National Employment Report found that employment fell by 298,000 in August following a revised loss of 360,000 jobs in July. It was the smallest drop since September 2008, but ADP said employment is likely to fall for at least several more months.

The ADP jobs report is a closely watched precursor to the Labor Department's crucial monthly reading on the jobs market, which is due Friday.

"Until Friday's data comes, no one is really making any big bets," said Neil Massa, senior trader at MFC Global Investment Management.

With the housing and manufacturing industries starting to show signs of healing, the biggest concern on Wall Street is layoffs. Job cuts have to slow for consumers to feel better about spending money, which the economy is depending on for a solid recovery.

The stock market was already on edge ahead of the reports. Unconfirmed rumors of a major bank failure helped set off the selling Wednesday, adding to the growing anxiety on Wall Street that stocks are overvalued following their huge rally from 12-year lows this spring. Even after Tuesday's slide the Standard & Poor's 500 is still up 48 percent since early March 9.

Another report said productivity rose at the fastest pace in nearly 6 years in the second quarter. The government also said orders to U.S. factories rose less than expected in July as reduced demand for petroleum products offset a jump in orders for aircraft and other transportation goods.

"We need these periods of backing off," said Darin Newsom, senior analyst at DTN in Omaha, Neb. "When there is no news to really spark the interest that we need to take this thing higher, the inclination is to sell off."

In midday trading, the Dow slipped 6.96, or 0.1 percent, to 9,303.64. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 1.59, or 0.2 percent, to 996.45, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 0.33, or less than 0.1 percent, to 1,968.56.

Bond prices edged higher, pushing down yields. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 3.35 percent from 3.34 percent late Tuesday.

The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices rose.

Light, sweet crude fell 41 cents to $67.64 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The stock market's spring and summer rally took a hit Tuesday as unease about banks and whether the market will stall sent major indexes down by 2 percent. The Dow is down 270 points since Friday, its biggest drop over three days since July 7, when it lost 341 points.

Stocks sold off even in the midst of data showing the first month of growth in manufacturing activity since January 2008, and the sixth straight monthly increase in pending home sales. Investors have largely come to expect improvements in manufacturing and housing, which have already been showing signs of healing. But still-rising unemployment and sluggish consumer confidence remain big concerns.

Though analysts had been expecting a pullback in stocks for weeks, the market continued to carve out modest gains, with the Dow rising eight straight days before Friday, putting in its longest winning streak of the year. But trading was choppy, evidence of investors' growing hesitance to put more money in stocks considering the economy's gradual recovery.

"There is a power struggle going on on Wall Street right now between the people that lost a lot of money and want to take stocks up and those that are really looking at fundamentals and want to take their foot off the gas," said Michael Kane, founder and CEO of Hedgeable.com.

Analysts expect trading to remain volatile through the fall, historically a rough time for stocks.

In other trading, the Russell 2000 index of smaller companies fell 0.90, or 0.2 percent, to 557.16.

Three stocks fell for every two that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, where volume came to a 598.7 million shares compared with 679 million shares traded at the same point Tuesday.

Overseas, Japan's Nikkei stock average tumbled 2.4 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 slipped less than 0.1 percent, while Germany's DAX index fell 0.1 percent and France's CAC-40 lost 0.3 percent.

Stewart cuts wrist during taping of Weiner skit

NEW YORK (AP) — The story about U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner's use of Twitter to send a lewd photo to a woman has been awkward for comic Jon Stewart, a friend of the congressman's. On Tuesday, it proved painful.

Stewart broke a glass and gashed his wrist while taping a Weiner skit on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show." The taping was briefly stopped so a bleeding Stewart could get medical attention, then resumed after he was bandaged up. Network spokesman Steve Albani said the accident was left in Tuesday's show.

Stewart and Weiner briefly roomed together when they were younger, a point "The Daily Show" host noted over the past week. That hasn't stopped Stewart from making fun of his friend, who admitted Monday to inappropriate online contact with women he met on social networks.

Tuesday's skit featured Stewart in a mock news conference designed to resemble Weiner's from the day earlier. Stewart broke the glass when the script called for him to make a margarita.

The show posted a picture of Stewart's bandaged wrist and a bloodstained cuff of his shirt.

(This version CORRECTS APNewsNow. Corrects headlines and copy to Stewart cutting wrist; updates with details)

Transit center to move ahead without tenant

Red Rose Transit Authority is likely to move forward with its plans for a downtown Lancaster transit center soon, even if the authority fails to find a tenant for the center's office space, said James Lutz, RRTA's executive director.

The authority's plan includes about 40,000 square feet of office space that it hopes to lease to a single tenant. But if the project moves forward without a tenant, Lutz said, he expected the office space would be scaled back to between about 15,000 square feet and 22,000 square feet. Lutz would not be more specific about the timeline the authority would use to determine when it would move forward with its $5.3 million project.

"We're anxious to get started," he said.

Under either scenario, the authority's plan for about 5,000 square feet of space on the center's first floor would remain the same, Lutz said. That space would house the authority's sales operations, customer waiting areas and a mezzanine area that could be used for community meetings.

Lutz said the transit authority has spent more than a year pursuing a tenant. He said the authority is continuing discussions with several potential tenants, although he would not name them or identify what types of businesses they represent.

If the authority does find a tenant, Lutz said, plans call for the center to be built with three upper floors, each being about 13,000 square feet.

If RRTA cannot find a tenant, two or three upper floors would be built, each with about 7,500 square feet of unfinished office space. The authority would later lease this space to one or more tenants, Lutz said.

Either way, Lutz said, the authority hopes to begin construction early next year.

Lutz said a slow economy and a sluggish market for office space have contributed to the authority's failure to get a tenant so far.

"We're disappointed, but not surprised," he said.

Jan Beitzer, of the Lancaster Downtown Investment District Authority, said the transit authority should move its project forward now because the center will improve the livability and attractiveness of downtown.

She said the center would give buses a common transfer point and would allow them to avoid idling on downtown streets, where they add to traffic congestion and obscure the visibility of some storefronts.

"We need to get the buses off the main streets," said Beitzer, executive director of the Lancaster DID.

The transit center also will provide a nicer place for RRTA's retail operations and for customers waiting for buses, said Jack Howell, president of the Lancaster Alliance, a city revitalization organization.

понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.

Youngest sister is in a snit over sibling back-stabbing

D D ear Diane: I am the youngest of nine children, and my problem iswith one of my sisters.

My boyfriend and I have been dating for six years. We plan tomarry but are not rushing things because I am not in my career spotyet.

My family accepts him - except for one sister. She is goingaround behind my back telling my other sisters that he is no good.She has even told my father something bad about him. However, shedidn't succeed in spoiling things with my family, because they stilllike him.

I guess she is doing this because she has been with so many guysand none of them treated her kindly. Her so-called marriage was amistake, too. I believe she has a hard time seeing her little sisterstaying with one man.

I have already told my boyfriend about her, and he said the bestthing is to let it be, that some people learn things the hard way.

Diane, this family back-stabbing hurts me very much. I am thekind of person who holds things in until I just explode. What can Ido? TEMPERATURE RISING

Dear T.R.: Don't explode. And don't retaliate by pointing outthe losers she dated and married - you'd only be escalating the war,raising your temperature and hers.

Handle your anger by confronting your sister. Tell her whatyou've heard. Ask her to comment about your boyfriend to you, not toothers in the family.

Most sisters have some competitive feelings toward each other.When you were children, scrambling for the best seat at the table orvying for the best grade in math helped prepare you for grown-upscrambles on the job and in the subway. But now that you are adults,competition with siblings isn't helpful. It blocks communication anddestroys closeness.

Lower your emotional thermostat and your sister's with somefrank discussion.

Dear Diane: I found out that "Mike," a man I've known for twoyears and have deep feelings for, is marrying a woman he gotpregnant. He does not love her. He is just very old-fashioned.

I tried talking him out of marriage, but he still thinks it'sthe right thing to do. If he took the chance to get to know mebetter, he would feel as I do. What should I do? CONFUSED HEART

Dear C.H.: So this guy needs a marriage counselor and itshould be you, hmm? Unh-unh.

Your friend is soon to be a father. He may say he doesn't lovehis bride-to-be, but only the two of them really know whether it'slove or obligation.

When someone announces plans to marry, it's a way of saying,"I'm no longer available." Your dream that you and he would makebeautiful music together is pretty unrealistic. It's also too late.

Wish him well and seek true love elsewhere.

Dear Diane: I am a "rebate aficionado" who thinks there areimportant problems that manufacturers and vendors should address.Some of the problems are: When they promise a certain amount in rebate, but instead of acheck, you get coupons. When they want a receipt. Do they think that when we shop, we areable to get separate receipts for each item? When it's impossible to soak off the necessary label without havingit tear. This is especially difficult when the Universal ProductCode symbol is placed at the bottom of the label and the label is onthe very end of the jar. When it's only one to a name or to an address. If we buy theproduct and are faithful consumers of that brand, we should be ableto send away for as many offers as we have proofs. When they splash "Free Offer" but in small print they add an amountfor postage and handling. Much better to say "free plus postage andhandling."

Manufacturers and vendors should realize that if the purpose ofthe incentive offer is to encourage the purchase of their item, theywill only succeed if the purchasers feel they are getting theirmoney's worth. SHIRLEY S.

Weir Leads Mercedes-Benz Championship

Kapalua might consider changing its logo to a Maple Leaf this week. Mike Weir of Canada, who only 10 weeks ago qualified for the winners-only Mercedes-Benz Championship with his first victory in more than three years, made an 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 6-under 67 in much more agreeable conditions Friday for a one-shot lead over Stephen Ames and Jonathan Byrd.

Ames, the only player in the field who actually lives in Canada, fixed a flaw in his putting stroke and also shot 67, making birdie on three of his last five holes despite missing a 6-footer along the way.

Weir, raised in Bright's Grove, Ontario, now lives in Utah and played only one full round of golf last month when he went to San Diego to check on equipment. Ames was born in Trinidad & Tobago and moved to Calgary in 1991, becoming a naturalized citizen in 2003. He hasn't played since winning the Skins Game, and during his 10-day vacation on Maui, only played 18 holes over two days with his sons.

And here they are on an island in the Pacific, their names atop the leaderboard in the first tournament of the year.

"That's odd," Weir said. "We're probably the least ready for it. There might be something to that."

Canadian tourists on the west coast of Maui won't be hard to find on Saturday.

About 100 of them were standing above the first fairway in the opening round when Ames and Weir playing in consecutive groups, and they seemed to split up. They can stay in one place for the third round. Weir, at 8-under 138, and Ames will be in the final group.

Byrd made birdie on his last two holes for a 69.

Brandt Snedeker was atop the leaderboard most of the round for the second straight day until faltering late. This time it wasn't a broken driver but a faulty putter. He had a 15-foot birdie for a share of the lead, but three-putted for a 69 that left him two shots back.

Nick Watney, who led the first round after a 68, made two late birdies for a 72 and was at 6-under 140 with Snedeker.

The best round belonged to Mark Calcavecchia, certainly no flat-belly but in much better shape for the Plantation Course at Kapalua after hiking up South Mountain outside Phoenix to get his legs in shape. He hit every green in regulation, three-putted twice, but still made nine birdies in his round of 66 and was at 5-under 141.

What helped more than a steady heartbeat was the weather.

Clouds drifted across the Kapalua for most of the day, but there were no steady blasts of showers until the end of the round. The wind wasn't nearly as severe, either, and it reflected in the scoring.

The course played more than three shots easier. Ten players broke 70, compared with only two in the first round.

Perhaps the best example was the 503-yard ninth hole, which plays into the trade wind and was so tough earlier in the week that most players had to blast a fairway metal just to reach the second portion of the fairway. Weir isn't the biggest hitter on tour, but he managed to reach the green in two on Friday, then made a 15-foot eagle putt that sent him on his way.

He played the par 5s in 5 under.

Ames found the answer late Thursday afternoon on the putting green, when he noticed his head too far behind the ball that caused his putter to swing upward too quickly through the ball. He showed up about 10 minutes earlier than usual _ this is a working vacation _ to correct the problem, and took only 26 putts on the tough greens of Kapalua.

Most of his birdies came inside 10 feet, but he got his round going with a pair of 15-footers, and the 20-foot birdie at the end.

"This is a family vacation," he said. "Golf keeps getting in the way."

Weir and Ames are thrilled to be at Kapalua, perhaps because it took so long for them to qualify. Weir's previous victory was the Nissan Open in 2004 as he retooled his swing under Andy Bennett and Mike Plummer. He saw progress, but didn't get any measurable results until one glorious Sunday at Royal Montreal, when he beat Tiger Woods in a singles match before a delirious home crowd at the Presidents Cup.

It was no coincidence that he won three weeks later in Arizona as part of the Fall Series, the third-to-last event of the season.

"I think there was a correlation there," Weir said. "It was a tough few years. I felt like I was on my way there. To win after 3 1/2 years is almost harder than the first one."

Ames won the final event of 2007 at Disney, winning by one shot with a bunker save from 65 feet. He only went to Disney to work on his game, and this week is not much different.

"I went there to work on my game, and I'm still working on my game," Ames said. "I'm happy with the progress I've made."

Twenty players were under par, and the first tournament of the year is still wide open. Ten shots separate Weir from Joe Ogilvie in 27th place among the 31-man field, with four players bringing up the rear.

Calcavecchia is on somewhat of a hot streak. He won the Merrill Lynch Shootout with Woody Austin in December, tied for seventh in the Target World Challenge and is swinging as well as ever.

Plus, he only carried one putter.

Calcavecchia ditched his 5-wood Thursday for a long putter and a conventional one _ the latter being the putter he used to win the PODS Championship in March. He went with the long putter only Friday, and that might be the end of the experiment.

"You'll probably never see it in action again," Calcavecchia said of his short putter. "It got me here, though."

Defiant Gadhafi threatens attacks in Europe

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A defiant Moammed Gadhafi threatened Friday to carry out attacks in Europe against "homes, offices, families," unless NATO halts its campaign of airstrikes against his regime in Libya.

The Libyan leader, sought by the International Criminal Court for brutally crushing an uprising against him, delivered the warning in an audio message played to thousands of supporters gathered in the main square of the capital Tripoli.

Addressing the West, Gadhafi said Libyans might take revenge.

"These people (the Libyans) are able to one day take this battle ... to Europe, to target your homes, offices, families, which would become legitimate military targets, like you have targeted our homes," he said.

"We can decide to treat you in a similar way," he said of the Europeans. "If we decide to, we are able to move to Europe like locusts, like bees. We advise you to retreat before you are dealt a disaster."

Friday's was one of the largest pro-government rallies in recent weeks.

It came just four days after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Gadhafi, his son Seif al-Islam and Libyan intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanoussi for crimes against humanity. International prosecutors allege government troops fired on civilian protesters during anti-Gadhafi street demonstrations earlier this year.

The popular uprising has since turned into a protracted civil war, with anti-government rebels controlling much of eastern Libyan and parts of Libya's western mountains. NATO has been bombing government-linked targets since March.

In his speech Friday, Gadhafi denounced the rebels as traitors and blamed them for Libya's troubles. He said Libyans who fled to neighboring Tunisia are now "working as maids for the Tunisians."

"What brought you to this stage? The traitors," Gadhafi said in the audio message.

He urged his supporters to "march on the western mountains" to clear the area of weapons the French government delivered to the rebels there several days ago.

China ready to help finance Philippine projects

China remains ready to help finance Philippine infrastructure projects with a $1.8 billion fund despite the cancellation of one major telecommunications deal two years ago due to a bribery scandal, the Chinese ambassador said Monday.

The Chinese development fund can be used by the Philippines to finance mutually agreed infrastructure projects to bolster its economy amid economic hard times, Ambassador Liu Jianchao told reporters.

"This is one of the assistance that China is willing to provide" to help the Philippines "weather the financial crisis," Liu said.

Any loan from the fund must be repaid within 15 years with an annual interest of three percent but no repayments have to be made in the first five years.

The fund would have been used to finance a $330 million Philippine government deal with China's ZTE Corp. to set up a nationwide broadband network but President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo canceled the deal in 2007 after allegations that she, her husband and a former elections chief benefited from huge kickbacks.

Arroyo, her husband and the former elections chief have strongly denied any wrongdoing. Arroyo's spokesmen said then that opposition politicians raised the allegations to undermine her rule. ZTE has denied bribing anyone in the deal.

"I'm sure China and Philippines will have projects in the future after this incident," Liu said.

The scandal "really upset Chinese companies," he said, but added his government has explained that the Philippines remains an attractive country for telecommunications, infrastructure and construction investments.

The Chinese fund has also been used to finance the rehabilitation of a railway connecting Manila to the Clark industrial zone to the north. The project began in 2004, Chinese Embassy officials said.

China has become a major trading partner and provider of development assistance to the Philippines since diplomatic ties were established in 1975.

In 2007, two-way trade reached a record high of nearly $31 billion but it slowed last year and in the first four months of 2009 due to the global economic crisis, Liu said.

A free trade deal between China and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes the Philippines, will slash tariffs on more than 7,000 products and is expected to bolster trade, he said.

China is a major trading partner of ASEAN, along with Japan and South Korea.

GUEST EDITORIAL: COMMUNICATING GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE TO THE PUBLIC AND CLIENTS

"Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get." This often-used quote takes on a new meaning these days because what to "expect" in the future has become a spirited, often polarized, and increasingly nonscientific "debate." Increasing numbers of broadcast meteorologists, to whom the public looks for information and guidance on climate change and global warming, are not offering scientific information but rather, all too often, nonscientific personal opinions in the media, including personal blogs. Alarmingly, many weathercasters and certified broadcast meteorologists dismiss, in most cases without any solid scientific arguments, the conclusions of the National Research Council (NRC), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and other peer-reviewed research. For example, a recent public claim is, "I do not know of a single TV meteorologist who buys into the man-made global-warming hype."

Such posturing aside, sampling the many climate-change Web sites2 may leave many of us who want to be objective communicators of weather and climate information confused to say the least. How do we maintain our professional integrity while also exercising our rights to freely express our opinion on an issue that a recent Harris poll indicated is of great concern to the public in many countries? How do we best apply our own specialized education, knowledge, and communication skills to help the public understand the complex issues of climate change? We strongly believe that, above all, if we are to professionally, fairly, and objectively communicate scientific information (as opposed to a personal or political opinion), we should use our scientific training to stay as informed as possible and make sure to read beyond the headlines.

Few of us possess extensive training or research experience in global climate modeling or paleoclimatology, solar physics, glaciology, oceanography, or the numerous other rigorous disciplines related to climate change. However, many AMS Sealholders, CBMs, and most CCMs have a bachelor's degree in meteorology or a related science and should be comfortable reading climate change-related papers or abstracts in BAMS, Journal of Climate, Journal of Geophys/co/ Research, and other peer-reviewed sources such as summaries of recent IPCC and NRC reports.

The expertise of scientists actively researching climate change is well beyond that of most professional meteorologists, some of whom may only have basic training in weather analysis and forecasting. Nonetheless, the public sees media meteorologists as experts. If we "experts" communicate conflicting information, conveying personal opinions with no scientific basis, the public can become confused and often collectively "tune out" of the issue just when it requires the most attention. The same would happen if we gave conflicting personal opinions during dangerous weather events. When we stray from objectivity in communicating the latest scientific findings, we do the public a disservice.

As outlined in the CBM and CCM programs, a responsible broadcast and/or consulting meteorologist should continue to stay as informed as possible and look to the AMS for leadership. The "AMS Statement on Climate Change" recently adopted by the AMS Council should be required reading for all of us who communicate with the public or seek guidance on climate change. While some of us may disagree with its exact wording, the weight of the scientific evidence behind the Statement is very solid. If we consider ourselves practicing scientists or science communicators, those of us with little or no training in the science of global circulations, air-sea interactions, radiative physics, and/or global modeling would be hard pressed to disagree with the basic consensus view of so many outstanding researchers who contributed to documents such as the AMS Statement or other recent reports issued by prestigious national and international scientific panels and peer-reviewed scientific papers in journals such as the Journal of Climate. The consensus view certainly is not final or definitive: our science is dynamic, but it is the best science we have right now.

In its "Final Remarks," the AMS Statement reads: "Despite the uncertainties noted above, there is adequate evidence from observations and interpretations of climate simulations to conclude that the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface are warming that humans have significantly contributed to this change and that further climate change will continue to have important impacts on human societies, on economies, on ecosystems, and on wildlife through the twenty-first century and beyond."

If those who represent and communicate our shared sciences to the public feel a need to express personal opinions about global change and global warming, then they also have a professional obligation to at least share the above conclusions, which reflect the best thinking of our expert colleagues actively working to better understand and predict what may be the greatest challenge our science has ever faced.

[Author Affiliation]

-Bob Ryan (AMS PAST PRESIDENT; CBM; CCM; NBC-4, WASHINGTON, D.C.) and John Toohey-Aloro/es (AMS COMMISSIONER ON PROFESSIONAL AFFAIRS; CBM; CCM; NBC TELEMUNDO, MIAMI, FLORIDA)

Soderling beats Gonzalez to reach French final

Robin Soderling's upset of Rafael Nadal cleared a path to the French Open final.

The player who took advantage: Soderling.

The surprising Swede extended his improbable Roland Garros run by beating Fernando Gonzalez in a seesaw semifinal on Friday, winning 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 4-6, 6-4.

Soderling let a big lead slip away when he lost his serve in the final game of the third and fourth sets. He fell behind 3-love and 4-1 in the final set, but down the stretch came up with the kind of shotmaking that has carried him through the tournament, and he swept the last five games.

On Sunday, the No. 23-seeded Soderling will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 2 Roger Federer and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro.

"I have very far to go," Soderling said.

Federer is trying to complete a career Grand Slam and win his 14th major title, which would tie Pete Sampras' record. Federer has been beaten at the French Open each of the past four years by Nadal, the four-time defending champion who lost to Soderling in the fourth round Sunday.

Soderling never advanced beyond the third round in his previous 21 major tournaments.

"I had maybe the biggest challenge in tennis right now to beat Nadal here on clay in Paris," he said. "I was still in the tournament, so even though I played a great match, I wanted more. I still feel that way."

Soderling has never won a clay-court title, and the victory over Gonzalez was only his fourth in a five-set match.

"I did a good job of coming back," Gonzalez said. "But Soderling is playing at a really high level. He gets to every ball. I couldn't take him out of position."

The 3 1/2-hour semifinal had lots of drama, and a little controversy. Gonzalez challenged a call late in the fourth set, contending a shot by Soderling had landed wide, and when the umpire denied his appeal, Gonzalez sat on the disputed mark in the clay to smooth it out.

"I did something for fun," Gonzalez said. "One point doesn't affect a five-set match."

Gonzalez won the game anyway, but played the rest of the match with dirt caked on his shorts.

The quality of play was high throughout. Soderling had 74 winners, including 16 aces, and Gonzalez totaled 59 winners, including 22 aces.

On another sunny day in Paris, with temperatures in the low 60s, the crowd included six-time French Open champion Bjorn Borg of Sweden. The nation's tennis fortunes have slipped in recent years, and Soderling is the first Swede to reach any clay-court final since 2000.

"We really need some upside in the tennis in Sweden," Soderling said. "Hopefully this will make a lot of young kids start playing tennis."

When Soderling hit a forehand winner on the first match point, he fell to his knees and covered his eyes.

"My first feeling was actually relief that the match was over, because it was a really long match, and I was tired at the end," Soderling said. "And then after a few seconds, I got really, really happy."

He has won nine consecutive matches, a career best, and is expected to climb to a career-high ranking of No. 12 next week.

The all-Russian women's final Saturday will renew a rivalry dating back a decade, and Svetlana Kuznetsova hopes to fare better than the first time she faced Dinara Safina.

They were juniors then _ Kuznetsova from St. Petersburg, Safina from Moscow, both with athletic bloodlines.

"I was like 12 or 13, and Dinara was an unbelievable girl," Kuznetsova said. "She's one year younger than me. I had no chance playing against her. I remember I lose to her 6-1, 6-love or something."

They've played each other many times since, and Safina leads 7-4 in tour-level matches. Saturday's showdown will be the biggest yet, with a Grand Slam title at stake.

It would be the first for Safina and the second for Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion.

"It's definitely going to be stress, definitely going to be emotion, definitely going to be business. Everything," the seventh-seeded Kuznetsova said.

They've been the best players on clay this year, meeting on the surface twice in finals last month. Kuznetsova beat Safina for the title at Stuttgart, Germany, then lost when they played in the final in Rome a week later.

Since climbing to the top of the rankings in April, Safina has reached the final in the four tournaments she has played, all on clay.

"She's going to be favorite to win," Kuznetsova said. "She's No. 1. She has played an unbelievable season."

In Safina's 21 matches as the top-ranked player, she has lost only once _ to Kuznetsova.

среда, 7 марта 2012 г.

Carly Simon to Promote Her New CD on QVC

WEST CHESTER, Pa. - Nobody does it better than Carly Simon. That's what QVC officials are hoping when the singer promotes her new CD, "Into White," on Friday.

Simon, 61, will perform with her children, Ben and Sally Taylor - from her marriage to James Taylor - during a 30-minute broadcast on the cable home shopping channel, a subsidiary of Liberty Media Corp. The broadcast begins at 7 p.m. (EST).

"Into White," on the Sony BMG label, a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann …

B is for BLAKE; A Is For Alphabet, B Is For Boxer, C Is For Clown, D Is For Dwarfs & Midgets and E Is For Everley Brothers. In other words, Peter Blake, the father of British Pop Art, is in Wales. EMILY LAMBERT takes a look at the show.(News)

Byline: EMILY LAMBERT

PETER BLAKE creates collages that are undoubtedly odd but never jarring or disruptive. His taste for cut-and-paste techniques does not, like most dada art, culminate in black humour. Blake is nothing if not light. He opposes nothing and negates nothing but instead basks in the icons of popular culture. His prints indulge the utmost veneration for Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, The Beatles, and Elvis.

If Andy Warhol's aim was to render culturally salient images meaningless, Blake puts his heroes on a pedestal, paying homage to them with neither irony nor ambiguity. He at once has affinities with Warhol and is his antithesis.

True, posing the Madonna beside roller skaters and weightlifters on Venice Beach - as in Blake's 1996 series Madonna on Venice Beach - suggests unadulterated irony.

But Blake's Madonna belongs there, blended seamlessly and comfortably into the scene. The juxtaposition is unfamiliar, but neither disturbing nor abrupt. It's as if the beach had always been her abode.

Blake is never particularly critical of the cultural iconography he plays with, just amused.

Indeed, Blake's worship of idols can be downright shameless.

His Alphabet series consists of 26 screen-prints illustrating each letter of the alphabet, from the obvious Z for Zebra, to the more ironic and humorous.

T, for example, stands for The Beatles, the iconic K represents The King (in other words Elvis Presley), then there's the esoteric P for Pachyderm.

This series characterises Blake's method of working, incorporating found images from postcards, magazines and popular ephemera.

But mixed in with Blake's predilection for iconic figures found in unlikely places is his love of the purely peculiar. Under O we discover Ornithology, Rainbow Babe represents R and U is a photographic collage of Unusual People.

Perhaps his best known work is the album cover for The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This strange, colourful huddle of people exemplifies Blake's style: among Beatles dressed in (psychedelic) uniform are Marylin Monroe (again), Charlie Chaplin, and a child wearing a Rolling Stones T-shirt.

Thirty years later, Blake returned to his love of crowds with Demonstrations in a Department Store (1998): cowboys, circus girls, nudes standing on each other's heads, dressed-up young boys, a model aeroplane flying down from the ceiling and Greek statues.

In juxtapositions that are always joyous, Blake makes the members of this motley crew belong together.

Of all the various forms of Pop Art, Blake's is the most affirmative, his humour the most sincere.