ZAGREB, Croatia (AP) — Prosecutors have charged former Prime Minister Ivo Sanader for allegedly taking a commission from a credit deal during the time he served as deputy foreign minister in 1990s.
The indictment, announced on Wednesday, alleges that Sanader abused his position when he took some €480,000 ($691,296) for the credit arrangement with Austria's Hypo Alpe Adria bank …
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — TCU was coming off a one-win season when Gary Patterson arrived 12 years ago as part of the new coaching staff.
Any victory, even by only a single point, was enough to make the Horned Frogs happy back then.
Patterson has never really wavered on that feeling, but what others expect out of his program has certainly changed. No. 5 TCU, after all, has been a BCS buster, become a perennial Top 25 team and won at least 11 games four of the last five seasons.
"Everybody has high expectations, and you sometimes forget winning is winning," said Patterson, a defensive coordinator-turned-head coach.
While winning by one or two points is still plenty …
THE TIME FOR BANK LEADERSHIP TO START DEVELOPING A STRONGER TALENT MANAGEMENT PROGRAM IS NOW.
For years, reports have circulated about the emerging talent crisis in corporate America. Thus, for many, this may seem like old news. Yet recent changes in demographics among C-suite executives and board members have resulted in an immediate need for well-qualified, next-generation talent to ensure ongoing performance and business vitality.
So while the talent deficit has been recognized for some time, industry experts have noted a remarkable change this past year, characterized by both ownership and action. Namely, CEOs as well as boards of directors are taking ownership of this …
A suspect has been arrested in connection with the mailing of packages containing acid to several local officials in northwestern Austria, a security chief said Sunday.
Alois Lissl, director of public safety in the province of Upper Austria, also said authorities had been alerted to a fifth suspicious package.
A man was in custody in the town of Wels, Lissl told The Associated Press in a phone interview. He identified him as a 48-year-old real estate broker from the local district of Schaerding, adding he was arrested late Saturday and that he had maintained his innocence.
There have been a mysterious series of incidents involving packages which, …
Brazilian stocks are trading sharply higher as global leaders make headway in tackling the world financial crisis at the G20 summit in London.
Brazil's benchmark Ibovespa index rose 4.9 percent to 44,011 in the first two hours of trading.
Shares in state-run oil company Petroleo Brasileiro SA jumped 3.4 percent, while the world's biggest …
Tough law enforcement can curb the sale of cigarettes to minors,helping to prevent smoking by youths, Chicago researchers arereporting.
Experimentation with cigarettes by junior high school studentsin southwest suburban Woodridge dropped 50 percent over two years -to 23 percent - after the village passed a tough law prohibitingsales to minors, psychologist Leonard Jason and colleagues fromDePaul University said.
Under the law, modeled after liquor licensing laws, stores thatsell cigarettes to minors face suspension of cigarette sales licensesand fines of up to $500. Minors can be fined $25 for possession.
In Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the …
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' aides have urged former Surgeon General Richard Carmona to run for a U.S. Senate seat in Arizona, Carmona said Friday, in the strongest indication that Giffords herself will not seek the seat.
Democrats have been speculating about Giffords' political future since she was shot in the head in January during a constituent event at a Tucson shopping center. She has been undergoing rehabilitation therapy in Houston. Her recent appearance for a key vote in Congress renewed buzz about whether she was well enough to seek re-election or even run for the seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.
Carmona declined to identify who …
Jet engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada says it will lay off more than 400 workers by next year in response to the steep decline in corporate jet purchases.
The subsidiary of United Technologies Corp. said it will lay off 250 workers by the end of the year. It also will shut a plant in Longueuil (Long-ay), Quebec, where Pratt & Whitney Canada is based, by the end of 2010, leaving 160 …
Just at its peak, the cherished tomato plant often begins to sag.It wilts rapidly from a lush, productive bush into a yellow-leafedshadow of its former self.
Several afflictions can damage tomato vines severely enough atthis time of year to reduce or even halt tomato production. Twoblights and a leaf spot named septoria are the three most damaging.
Early blight has concentric rings, each a half-inch to one-inchin diameter, despoiling foliage and fruit.
Late blight is less common but still a risk. It hits in Augustwith gray and brown splotches on the leaves. One method ofidentifying the disease is to pick a suspicious leaf. All blightsand leaf spots …
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The nation's financial downturn has forced many states to make tough decisions on expensive but long-untouchable public employee benefits.
Nowhere was the breakthrough more evident than in union-friendly New Jersey, where a Republican governor aided by Democrats enacted sweeping cost-saving changes.
Experts say the overhaul of pensions and health care benefits simultaneously was significant in scope and marked a …
World leaders lined up Sunday behind a bold pledge by rich nations to cut budget deficits in half by 2013.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, host of a summit of the world's 20 top industrial and developing nations, said at Sunday's session that it's "imperative that we get our fiscal house in order."
The deficit-cutting goal would mean that countries cut their red ink in half within three years and get their total debt stabilized by 2016.
"Advanced economies have committed to fiscal plans that will at least halve deficits by 2013 and stabilize or reduce government debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016," according to a draft …
A 44-year-old man was executed Thursday evening for raping and murdering an 11-year-old girl, despite pleas from his attorneys he was too mentally impaired to qualify for capital punishment.
Bobby Wayne Woods received lethal injection about a half-hour after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to halt his punishment, which was delayed briefly until the high court ruled in his case. His lawyers had argued Woods was mentally impaired, making him ineligible for execution, and that previous appeals to spare Woods' life were unsuccessful because of shoddy work by his lawyer at the time.
Tests administered to Woods put his IQ anywhere from the 60s to the 80s. An IQ of 70 is considered the threshold for mental impairment.
Woods was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to die for the April 1997 slaying of Sarah Patterson, his ex-girlfriend's daughter. She and her 9-year-old brother were snatched from their home in Granbury, near Fort Worth. Sarah's throat was slit with a knife. Her brother was beaten and left for dead but survived to testify against Woods.
Asked by a warden if he had a final statement, Woods lifted his head from the pillow on the death chamber gurney and replied: "Bye. I'm ready."
Eight minutes later, he was pronounced dead.
"I'm not a person that likes harm done to anybody, but I believe in justice being done," Larry Patterson said after watching his daughter's killer die. "She had no choice. She didn't get a second chance."
The execution was the 24th and last scheduled for this year in Texas, where 18 inmates received lethal injection in 2008 in the nation's busiest capital punishment state. At least five already are scheduled for 2010, including two in January.
In the appeal to the Supreme Court, Woods' lawyer, University of Texas law professor Maurie Levin, argued the performance of Woods' state-appointed attorney during earlier appeals was "so egregious" the prisoner's mental impairment claims could not be accurately assessed. She pointed out the attorney has since been removed from a list of lawyers eligible to represent condemned inmates but by the time she got the case, "the damage had been done."
State attorneys told the high court no constitutional right exists for an inmate to have an effective appeals attorney and Woods' claim of due-process violations "does not change that fact." They also argued Woods' mental impairment claims already have been rejected by the courts and the last-ditch appeals improperly duplicated those rejections.
Woods blamed Patterson's death on a cousin who subsequently committed suicide. He said injuries to her brother were the result of an accident.
"We went walking around graveyards, horsing around by a fence," Woods told The Associated Press last year from death row. "Cody jumped on my back and hit a fence post.
"I guess I panicked."
At his trial, Cody Patterson testified Woods attacked him, and prosecutors presented a mountain of evidence implicating Woods in Sarah's killing, including signed confessions.
Richard Hattox, the former Hood County district attorney who prosecuted Woods, said authorities also had DNA evidence of the girl's blood on Woods' knife, her blood on his shoe and his DNA on her panties, which were found in Woods' car.
"How could there be little doubt?" Hattox said Wednesday. "Every bit of his appeal effort has been expended toward his claim of retardation. And there's no proof he is retarded."
As the owner of an 80-year-old family grocery business, John Herr has seen things come and go. Of the vast array of ways he could shape his family grocery store, he's tried to pick and choose, embracing some innovations and rejecting others.
Of one thing, he's certain.
John Herr's Village Market in Millersville could get bigger and perhaps even open other locations. But "you'd have to be nuts to do that," he says.
You really have to walk fast and pay attention to keep up with Herr. Herr, who has been running his own store with 135 employees for 54 years, isn't slowing down a bit. In fact, he's thinking about adding more features to the store that has been located at 25 Manor Ave. since 1974.
"We've got a salad bar and an inhouse bakery and a lot of other things that the big chains have," Herr said. "People don't cook anymore, so we have to do the made-to-order stuff, too."
Conspicuous by its absence, however, is the modern staple of supermarkets. When you check out groceries at John Herr's Village Market, Millersville, a clerk, dressed nattily in a candy-stripped smock, will physically punch the cost into a cash register. UPC symbols are useless here.
Price scanners are nowhere to be seen in Herr's market. In some sense, the lack of scanners give the entire supermarket a "time warp" atmosphere.
However, Herr, and his vice president of 47 years, Jim Eshleman, admit that those days of minimal technology in the store are probably gone.
Maybe.
"We've talked to our customers, and they say they really don't want the scanners," Herr said. "But, it's come to the point where we may have to get them in order to (survive)."
According to both Herr and Eshleman, the scanners are important to the merchandise warehouses and the big chains because they can pinpoint exactly what the buying patterns are of the customers. If a customer has a special "bonus buy" or "gold card" distributed by the chains, it can scan that through at the checkout, which will record the information and know precisely which customer is buying what item.
The scanners, according to the National Cash Register Co., cost between $400 and $2,000 apiece. Only one scanner is placed in each checkout register. John Herr has 10 checkout registers.
"If we want to know what we should carry, we just ask people," Eshleman said, although he noted that as more people move into the area, the supermarket might want to keep closer tabs on what it should be stocking.
The Darrenkamp family has a history similar to Herr's in the grocery market business. The grandfather of the family sold produce and fish from a horse and buggy. That business grew to a store on Lancaster's Union Street in 1932 and has since expanded to three locations: Willow Street, Mount Joy and a new 50,000-square-foot market at Willow Valley.
Darrenkamp's has embraced technology.
"In the long run it's better for the business," said Dave Darrenkamp, coowner with his brothers of Darrenkamp's Mount Joy Market Inc. "At first they may not like it, but they always come around when they see how things are used."
The Willow Valley Darrenkamp's features in-house ATMs, scanners at the checkout, credit card machines for purchases, a full-service restaurant that seats 64, 47,000 different brands and more than a million items overall.
"There are more of us; we have four families," Darrenkamp said. "We have no choice but to grow. Jack (Herr) has taken on the attitude if ain't broke, don't fix it, and he's got a great business. He really does a great job with his store."
But, says Darrenkamp, he was once in the same boat as Herr, struggling to keep up with the surging pace of the marketplace.
"If you would have told me two years ago that we would have 480 employees, in three different stores with all this new technology in the stores, I would have looked at you like you were nuts," Darrenkamp said.
After 80 years and three generations, John Herr's Village Market has survived fairly well. Too much technology, Herr said, might take away from the store's personal touch.
Herr and Eshleman have lowered the ceilings and eliminated as much of the light from fluorescent bulbs as possible. In the big stores, the ceilings are high and aisles wide in order to pack more goods and people in, but that makes the shopping experience impersonal, Herr says.
"We did this intentionally to make the store more comfortable with a more homey atmosphere," Herr said. "We've put in hanging lamps and opened up a bit of space, and to in and our customers, it just feels much more personable."
Service and personality are the calling cards of the market. Baggers are stationed at each of the store's checkout lines. There are also packers just outside the doors to help shoppers load their groceries into their cars. While groceries can be purchased with a MAC card, the store isn't open 24 hours.
"We're not that modem," Herr quips. "We need to sleep sometimes."
The history
The store opened its doors in 1919 when Herr's grandfather, David, bought a broom and harness shop where the Framery, a picture framing store on the corner of Manor and George streets, now stands. Back then, Herr's sold everything from boots to dish cloths.
In 1945, the business was passed on to Herr's father, John Sr., and Herr began working there when he was 16, slicing meats and delivering groceries.
The store was completely remodeled and expanded by 1964, when Herr took over. As to the future, Herr isn't sure. He said he doesn't have family members working at his store.
"We'll worry about that when it comes," he said.
Herr has had a lot of time to reflect on the changes of his business.
"I think the biggest thing that has happened is the frozen-food business," Herr said. "There are so many new items specifically made just for the microwave oven. Everything has to be able to be prepared so quickly because nobody cooks anymore."
Eshleman remembers when people who lived on farms in the outlying areas of the town set aside one day a week to come to town. It was the day when they went to the bank, the grocery store, the barber and the doctor.
Later, the store would stay open until after the last bus from Lancaster arrived in Millersville.
"People got their groceries and walked home with them," Eshleman recalls. "Today, everybody shops with their car, and a lot of people shop almost daily."
Steve Molitor leaned in real close and waited patiently for the response.
Fernando Beltran Jr., his opponent in Saturday's Rumble At Rama IV, had been asked what he planned to do differently than the three previous men who had lost to The Canadian Kid.
"I'm not sure what they did wrong but I'm coming here to win," Beltran said through a translator during a pre-fight press conference on Thursday. "Even if I have to die in the ring, I'm going to win. I'm hungry and I'm going to do it."
Molitor shook his head and smiled when he heard the answer.
The 27-year-old isn't overly concerned about Beltran. He fully expects to stretch his pro record to 27-0 when he defends his IBF junior featherweight title for the fourth time in nine months on Saturday.
"He's no different," Molitor said. "At the end of the night he's going to be a loser just like the rest of them."
Maybe so, but the Mexican challenger is approaching this bout with real urgency.
Beltran (30-2 with one draw) is taking his second shot at a world title and is eager to make amends for the unanimous decision loss he suffered to Joan Guzman in April 2005, when they were fighting for the WBO super bantamweight belt.
"The first time I was inexperienced," explained Beltran. "I was physically prepared but inexperienced. This time is a different story."
He earned the right to a mandatory fight with Molitor by beating countryman Jose Arboleda in December and has spent the past two and a half months preparing for the Canadian.
There's more muscle on his 55-kilo (122-pound) frame than ever.
"He's never been in this shape before," said Fernando Beltran Sr., who trains his son. "It's going to be a great show.
"We know for sure that we're going to win."
The Molitor camp is accustomed to hearing that kind of pre-fight talk.
"I've been in this sport for 27 years and I hope that every fighter who travels so far comes to win," said Chris Johnson, who trains Molitor. "I hope they come prepared."
On the blustery morning of Nov. 13, thousands came together to commemorate the life of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Standing side by side, backs against the wind, people of all races and backgrounds celebrated as ground was broken on the National Mall in Washington, D. C., for the memorial to this civil rights legend. Even in death, Dr. King was able to unite this nation.
As co-chairs of the Executive Leadership Cabinet of the Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial Project Foundation, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to all of those whose generous support made the groundbreaking possible. However, we must keep in mind that amidst the excitement, and the wonderful media coverage of the historic groundbreaking, one important fact remains: Our job is not yet finished.
The Washington D.C. National Memorial cannot be completed until we reach our goal of $100 million. So far, the foundation has raised $70.4 million.
There is no doubt that Dr. King is a hero for all of humanity - and his rightful place among our nation's greatest leaders on the National Mall is overdue. Now, we must not rest until his memorial becomes a permanent, physical reminder that all people are created equal and that racial injustice cannot be tolerated in a civil and free society.
Dr. King was a staunch defender of such freedom and equality, and he put his life on the line to free all Americans - regardless of one's race, color, creed or national origin - from the tyranny of inequality.
Our nation indeed, our world - is a far better place because of the life he Inland the calling he answered. His place in the pantheon of American leadership enshrined on the National Mall is well-deserved.
By joining our actions with our intentions, we can ensure that the construction can begin in 2007 as scheduled. We hope that we can continue to build upon the dream he began so many years ago.
To contribute, please visit www.buildthedream.org for more information.
We appreciate your generosity, and we hope to return to Dr. King's site on the Mall in 2008 to reveal a finished monument, one worthy of his historic and noteworthy contributions to this great country.
[Author Affiliation]
Ambassador Andrew Young; Gary L. Cowger, General Motors Co-Chair, Executive Leadership Cabinet Co-Chair, Executive Leadership Cabinet Washington DC, Martin Luther King, Jr. Washington DC, Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — B.J. Coleman threw for 375 yards and tied his career high with four touchdowns and Chattanooga held off Eastern Kentucky 42-24 Saturday night for its first win of the season.
Coleman, who had four TDs last year against Wofford, was 24-for-32 with one interception. He had scoring passes of 21, 80, 6 and 14 yards to stake the Mocs (1-2) to a 35-9 lead with 8:49 left in the third quarter.
The Colonels (0-3) scored the next 15 points, starting with T.J. Pryor's 10-yard touchdown to Orlandus Harris with 6:07 left in the third.
Eastern Kentucky made it 35-24 after Marcus Williams blocked a Mike Hammons punt and Shawn Shupperd returned it 25 yards for a touchdown.
The Mocs answered with a nine-play, 86-yard drive, culminating in Keon Williams' 3-yard rush with 2:30 left.
Kadeem Wise intercepted a deep pass by Pryor with 28 seconds to go.
Making his second visit in six days to Victory Lane, Carl Edwards triumphantly raised the glittering gold belt he earned at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. In a town known for title fights, Edwards emerged as a heavyweight contender Sunday.
"We do this to win. Winning these races is the greatest," Edwards said. "Winning a championship would be the ultimate. What we're trying to do is win the championship this year. That's our No. 1 goal."
Just three races into this new season, it's far too early to call Edwards the favorite to win the Sprint Cup title. And this win may not be controversy free: NASCAR discovered the lid was off of his oil tank box during postrace inspection and is taking the parts back to North Carolina for further inspection.
Five Nationwide Series crew chiefs were suspended six races each, fined $15,000 and their drivers were docked 25 points last month because their lids were loose during an inspection.
It could mean that Edwards, who won his second Cup race in six days, could have a short first visit atop the points standings. He holds a 21-point lead over Kyle Busch.
Edwards earned it by overcoming an early pit-road penalty, escaping NASCAR punishment on a second pit-road mishap, then holding off a rusty Dale Earnhardt Jr. on a pair of late restarts Sunday.
Edwards, who scored his first win of the season in Monday's rain-postponed event in California, celebrated win No. 2 with his trademark backflip. Then he gleefully carried around the shiny new belt he was certain good friend John Cena, the WWE champion, would covet.
For Edwards, it seemed like a return to his 2005 form, when he finished third in the series standings.
"I think we are close to the form we were in 2005 when it seemed like a Roush Fenway car would win every week," Edwards said.
It was the sixth victory for team owner Jack Roush in 11 races at Las Vegas, and it ended Jimmie Johnson's string of three straight wins in the desert.
Edwards was penalized early in the race when one of his tires rolled away from the team during a pit stop. He then caught a break when it happened a second time, escaping a penalty because NASCAR determined the tire broke free because a television cameraman shooting from inside the box interfered with the crew members.
"When you think you didn't actually break a rule, you have to keep a level head," said crew chief Bob Osborne, who immediately climbed off the pit box to make a case against being penalized.
"I wanted to go ballistic and yell and scream and kick and punch and do whatever I had to do to get my way. But I kept a level head and NASCAR reviewed it."
With the decision to not penalize the team, Edwards remained in contention to run for the win. But two late restarts gave the competition a chance to run down his No. 99 Ford.
Kurt Busch's wreck with 11 laps to go brought out the caution, and Edwards was in front of Earnhardt on the restart with five to go. But Earnhardt appeared to spin his tires at the start, and Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon had to split his car to avoid running into him.
"I've been out of the game so long," joked Earnhardt, who hasn't consistently run up front for several years. "I ain't had a whole lot of practice out there. I looked like a tool out there."
Once past Earnhardt, Gordon and Kenseth raced side-by-side and Edwards pulled away. Then Gordon drifted into the side of Kenseth's car, starting a spin that led to Gordon slamming into the inside wall. His Chevrolet broke into tons of part and pieces, and NASCAR had to red-flag the race to clean the debris.
"It's uncharacteristic of Jeff to overdrive or make a mistake like that," said Greg Biffle, who had to avoid the wreckage.
That accident set up a two-lap sprint to the finish, but the wait time cooled Earnhardt's tires and he was unable to mount a charge on Edwards on the restart. Earnhardt's losing streak stretched to 64 races.
"The red flag just really killed us," said Earnhardt, who settled for second. "We were terrible on cold tires. It's real frustrating."
Biffle was third and was followed by the Richard Childress Racing cars of Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton. Kasey Kahne was sixth, followed by David Ragan, Travis Kvapil, Denny Hamlin and Mark Martin.
Kyle Busch, who was trying to become the first driver to win from the pole at Las Vegas, struggled with adjustments to his Toyota the entire race and had to settle for 11th on his hometown track.
Johnson, the two-time defending series champion, was looking for a fourth straight win in the desert. But his team struggled the entire weekend, he fell two laps down in the race and finished 29th.
Two-time series champion Tony Stewart bruised his foot 108 laps into the race when his right front tire failed and he hit the wall for the second-straight day.
"I was kind of worried, my legs, my entire legs from my hips down were just tingling," Stewart said. "And I had pain in my lower back and that kind of scared me a little bit. I've not had my legs tingle like that before.
"I was kind of worried about, `What's going on here?'"
He slowly climbed from his car and gingerly walked with the assistance of two emergency personnel into a waiting car that took him to the infield care center. He said the tingling sensation had improved before he left the care center, and said he still planned to participate in the Cup test scheduled for Monday and Tuesday in Phoenix.
"It's going to be a miserable next two days," he said. "I was already sore. We'll do what we've got to do the next two days."
Bath Rugby did not put in a firm cash offer to tempt Matt Stevensback to The Rec, it has emerged. Despite having held two informalchats with Stevens during the early stages of the disgraced prop'sban for cocaine use, the club's new chief executive Nick Blofeldsays he felt it was "too early" to put a concrete contract offer onthe table.
But Saracens were less circumspect and announced on Monday thatthey had signed the 27-year-old England international on a two-yeardeal.
Blofeld admitted to the Chronicle he was disappointed Stevens hadoverlooked the club that launched his career, while coach SteveMeehan's frustration was thinly veiled.
"I would have thought there were opportunities for Matt to comeback and make a bigger statement than just rugby," said the headcoach.
NO DEAL: Stevens - a larger-than-life personality and Bath's best-known player - plunged the club into crisis a year ago when heannounced he had tested positive for cocaine. He stood down from theclub before being banned by the game's authorities for two years.
On Monday - a year into his suspension - Durban-born Stevensconfirmed he would be joining Saracens, a club with which his SouthAfrica-based family has strong financial connections.
The Bath camp's disappointment at Stevens' decision to head eastmust be keen, particularly because just two months ago Blofeld wasopenly courting the tighthead.
In a statement on the club's website published in November,Blofeld said: "I have spoken to Matt about where he sees his futureand what he would like to do.
"We would love him to come back to us and I have made thatclear... it is clear that Matt's presence at the club has beenmissed both on and off the pitch."
Stevens For his part, Stevens said at the time that he would giveBath's interest "very serious consideration".
Speaking to the Chronicle this week after confirmation ofStevens' new deal, Blofeld said: "It's slightly disappointing butMatt has his own reasons. We wish him all the very best, to behonest, and good luck to him.
"We would have loved it for him to come back here but it's not tobe so we move on.
Describing why he hadn't made a firm offer to Stevens, Blofeld,added: "We thought it was too early. I hadn't been here that longbut I had a couple of conversations with Matt and I just wanted himto know we would love him to come back to this club.
Continued on page 111 Grewcock sees red as European campaign endsin Rec loss - See pages 108&109 Continued from page 112 "We hadn'tbeen in contact again recently so he's obviously weighed up the prosand cons and decided to go with Sarries."
While disappointed at Stevens' decision, head coach Meehan wasbullish about Bath's chances of prospering without his services.
"We've been without Matt for 12 months now and there's another 12months before he plays," he said. "Our squad will move on in thattime. We'll be looking forward to competing against Sarries whenhe's playing for them.
"Ever since I've been at Bath and beforehand every time Matt'scontract negotiations were brought up he was always linked with aLondon club, so in some respects it's not surprising at all.
"He would have made the decision for his own personal reasons,which he hasn't shared with me. That's fine, that's his right, but Iwould have thought there were opportunities to come back and make abigger statement than just rugby. But that's a difference ofopinion.
"You have to take into consideration that one of Saracens'financial backers is good friends with the Stevens family so thatcould have had a significant part to play in all of this."
Stevens, who played 120 times for Bath during his seven-yearspell at The Rec will officially join Saracens on January 19, 2011,once he completes his drugs ban.
He said: "I have many great memories and friends in Bath butthere is something special happening at Saracens and I am very eagerto be part of it."
Blofeld believes Stevens' departure "simplifies the spreadsheet"when it comes to contract negotiations and shortens the odds onDuncan Bell receiving a new contract from Bath.
"We would love Duncan to be here and I'm sure we're close to anagreement, but at this stage I'd rather not comment further," saidBlofeld. "We are in that delicate situation at the moment - it's myfirst experience of it. It's a bit of a house of cards, jugglingpeople with contracts."
Stevens signs for Saracens
Everybody wants to feel safe and deserves to, but what about offenders?
The federal government is working towards passage of Bill C-IO, formerly known as "The Safe Streets and Communities Act," as a bundled bill in order to speed up the legislation. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) believes this action is hasty and not thought through, as it focuses mainly on punishing offenders further and barely at all about the victim's healing.
According to the MCC Ottawa website, four of the nine pieces of legislation propose longer or mandatory prison sentences, two would impose greater financial penalties on offenders, and two would create new obstacles for offenders reintegrating into society. Only two directly address the needs of victims, and none of the initiatives propose new crime prevention or rehabilitation strategies.
MCC doesn't believe these initiatives will make streets and communities safer. Instead, it advocates for community-based justice initiatives, including preventive and restorative justice, claiming they address the victim as well as the offender. Community-based justice programs are proven to work better than merely imprisoning people, according to the John Howard Society, which cites recidivism rates of 45 percent for people who have been incarcerated without communitybased justice programs, but only 15 percent or less for those who are involved in such programs.
"Justice varies for each community," says Paul Heidebrecht, director of the MCC Ottawa Office. "It is not just a one-sizefits-all process of what will make everyone safe in Canada. We think the Government of Canada should be looking at the creative alternatives."
Bundling bills is a fairly rare occurrence, according to Heidebrecht. It occurs occasionally, but usually the legislation requires that each separate initiative be processed three different times to ensure there are no faults. The Conservative's election platform stated that Bill C-10 would be pushed through within the first 100 sitting days of Parliament.
Don Peters, MCC Canada's executive director, recently sent a letter to Rob Nicholson, the minister of justice and attorney general of Canada, advising the government to take due process to attend to the bill: "We affirm the Government of Canada's interest in making our communities safe - Our basic concern is that Bill C-10 will diminish the federal government's capacity to fulfill this calling."
Included among the omnibus Safe Streets and Communities Act's nine pieces of legislation are: The Protecting Children from Sexual Predators Act, which proposes increased penalties for sexual offences against children and two new offences for facilitating or enabling the commission of such an act; The Penalties for Organized Drug Crime Act, which would target organized crime by imposing tougher sentences for the production and possession of illicit drugs; and The Eliminating Pardons for Serious Crimes Act, which would extend the ineligibility period of pardons to five years for summary conviction offences and 10 years for indictable offences.
According to the government, the crime bill will target crime and terrorism, and provide support and protection to victims of crime. Heidebrecht, on the other hand, believes the bill will primarily impact offenders and ex-offenders.
[Sidebar]
It is not just a one-size-fits-all process of what will make everyone safe in Canada. We think the Government of Canada should be looking at the creative alternatives.
[Author Affiliation]
BY RACHEL BERGEN
National Correspondent
COLUMBUS, Ohio - What gets college football players through the long and punishing hours of conditioning, weightlifting, practice and planning are thoughts of a perfect season and a trip to the national championship game.
Then, in one game, or even on one play, all those hopes and dreams can disappear.
"You look up at the scoreboard and you're kind of in disbelief," Ohio State tackle Kirk Barton said Tuesday. "All that promise and work has kind of faded."
Barton and the rest of the Buckeyes haven't forgotten how their high hopes disintegrated in a 25-22 loss to Texas before an Ohio Stadium record crowd of 105,565 last season.
Just two weeks into a long season, their shot at a national championship was already in deep trouble.
Now the same fate awaits the loser of Saturday night's return match between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Texas at Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. Just a week removed from a lopsided opening win, one team will be tagged with a loss and likely will have to lower its sights.
In the last eight Bowl Championship Series title games, 11 of the 16 teams were unbeaten going into the game. Only one team since the 1998 season (LSU in 2003) won even a share of a national championship after a loss before the title game.
"You make the assumption going into the year that the teams that meet for the title are going to be undefeated," Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel said.
The players are well aware of the importance of staying unbeaten.
"We've GOT to win," said Ohio State center Doug Datish.
Even though Texas is dripping with tradition in its 113 years of football, it has never hosted a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game until now.
Tressel said he casts his No. 1 vote in the coaches poll for Texas, which has won its last 21 games. Longhorns coach Mack Brown said he has been voting Ohio State No. 1.
"We feel like they deserve to be the No. 1 team in the country because they finished the (2005) season like we did but they've got more returning starters in key positions than we do," Brown said.
Really, the Buckeyes are a notch ahead of the Longhorns in the polls for only one reason. Both teams have lots of good players back, but Texas' quarterback is gone and Ohio State's is back.
Vince Young scrambled for a touchdown in the final seconds of the Longhorns' dramatic 41-38 victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl last year, giving Texas its first national championship since 1969. Young then elected to give up his final year of eligibility. In his place, Brown selected a redshirt freshman with the sounds-too-Texas-to-be-true name of Colt McCoy.
Ohio State, which has won its last eight games by an average score of 39-16, is led by a smaller version of Young, fifth-year senior Troy Smith. Just like Young, Smith isn't afraid to break containment, turn up field and turn into a running back. Just like Young, Smith has a strong arm that can deliver tight spirals to his fleet corps of receivers, led by former high school teammate Ted Ginn Jr.
Smith said he knows how big the Texas game is. Every time he walks across campus, he's reminded.
"Random chants from people," he said with a grin. "Just 'Beat Texas' all the time."
Longhorns running back Selvin Young doesn't buy the argument that it's not fair that one of the nation's top teams will have its title hopes crippled so soon. He believes the best programs test themselves against quality opponents as a way of gauging their progress.
"When boxers go out, they try to fight the best boxers there are to show themselves that they're the best," Young said. "We get opportunities like this early and it's fun."
Come late Saturday night, one team will be revising its goals and the other will be on the fast track to the title game on Jan. 8, 2007, in Glendale, Ariz.
"There'll probably be two undefeated teams at the end of the road and if you're not one of them you're probably not going to be playing for the championship," Barton said. "So you've got to treat every game like it's the Super Bowl. You only get one opportunity."
Bayern Munich striker Miroslav Klose will miss the Bundesliga match at Borussia Dortmund on Saturday because he still feels unfit after an injury layoff.
Klose scored two goals for Germany in a 4-0 World Cup qualifying win over Azerbaijan Wednesday, but played only the second half. The striker suffered an ankle injury shortly before the start of the season and has been coming off the bench for both Bayern and the national team.
Klose said Friday he would work on his fitness over the next week, possibly also missing the opening Champions League game at Maccabi Haifa.
BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb killed at least two U.S. soldierstoday in Mosul, and many parents kept children away from classes inthe capital after leaflets attributed to Saddam Hussein's partywarned of a "Day of Resistance" against the U.S. occupation.
Also Saturday, witnesses said an oil pipeline was on fire about 10miles north of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, an area of widespreadopposition to the U.S.-led occupation. Witnesses said they suspectedsabotage because the blaze was preceded by an explosion.
Sabotage to pipelines and the decayed state of Iraqi'sinfrastructure have slowed efforts to revive the country's giant oilindustry, considered the key to rebuilding this nation's economy,which has suffered from more than a decade of wars and sanctions.
The U.S. military said two U.S. soldiers were killed and twowounded in the roadside bombing in Mosul, Iraq's third-largest city,which Iraqi police initially reported as a land mine. Identities werewithheld pending notification of relatives.
Iraqi police Lt. Walid Hashim said the men were inside twocivilian cars when the blast occurred. He rushed to the scene and sawthat the drivers were dead while the two passengers were both badlyinjured.
"I tried to pull one of the dead out but his leg was going to comeoff. They were cut all over by shrapnel (and) one was wounded in theabdomen and was moaning," Hashim said.
The two deaths would bring to 122 the number of American soldierskilled by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end tohostile combat on May 1 when added to the total given by theDepartment of Defense on Friday. A total of 114 U.S. soldiers werekilled between the start of the war March 20 and the end of April.
Six Iraqi men were arrested overnight in Tikrit on suspicion ofresponsibility for the Oct. 1 roadside explosion near Samarra thatkilled Command Sgt. Maj. James Blankenbecler, the military saidSaturday. Blankenbecler, 40, of the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1stBattalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, was the highest-ranking U.S. enlisted man to die in Iraq.
Another U.S. soldier was injured in Mosul late Friday when hispatrol was attacked by a grenade or homemade bomb, the military said.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida (AP) — Convicted Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein will undergo a second round of questioning under oath about the inner workings of his $1.2 billion fraud, a judge ruled Friday.
Rothstein was grilled for two weeks late last year by attorneys representing wronged investors. This time, beginning June 4, he will give testimony in more than two dozen cases arising from the bankruptcy of his once-prominent firm, Rothstein Rosenfeldt Adler.
A court-appointed trustee has filed lawsuits seeking some $500 million against various entities connected to Rothstein in hopes of recovering money for investors and creditors. The trustee's lawyer, Charles Lichtman, said despite testimony that filled some 2,900 transcript pages in the first so-called "Big Deposition," a second one is crucial.
"The testimony taken in the Big Deposition won't be useful for these 29 cases," Lichtman said.
Rothstein, a 49-year-old disbarred lawyer, is serving a 50-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to orchestrating the Ponzi, or pyramid, scheme, which involved investments in phony legal settlements. He has said he is fully cooperating in both the ongoing criminal investigation and the civil lawsuits in hopes of winning a sentence reduction.
Prosecutor Lawrence LaVecchio said the Justice Department does not oppose the second round of testimony, but he questioned whether it might be repetitive.
While the lawsuits grind on, prosecutors say more criminal charges are expected in the coming months. In his first deposition, Rothstein fingered numerous people he claimed played roles in the Ponzi scheme including former law partners and bankers. Attorneys for those people contend he's lying so he can get out of prison.
So far, eight people including Rothstein have been charged in the case. All but one has pleaded guilty, and that person is scheduled to do so next week.
Call it a shift, a rotation, a see-saw.
Whatever the term, it happened again in the stock market Thursday:Investors moved their money away from high-flying computer andInternet stocks - the hot stocks over the last few months - and intomore stable, cyclical stocks.
The Nasdaq composite index, hit hard in recent sessions onaggressive selling of technology issues, dropped 21.93, or 0.9percent, to 2,528.44, after Amazon.com indicated that more losses arelikely in future quarters.The Dow Jones industrial average reached its third straight recordhigh close and fifth record in seven sessions, rising 32.93, or 0.3percent, to 10,878.38."It's more of the same shift that has been evident all week andlast week," said Larry Wachtel, market analyst at PrudentialSecurities. "Again, the Dow is doing well, the Nasdaq is slowing,financial and cyclical stocks are in the lead, technology andpharmaceutical stocks are in the Dumpster."The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 8.08, or 0.6 percent, to1,342.83.Oil, metals and financial companies, considered the cheapeststocks in the market, led the Dow. Investors have been buyingcyclical issues because of an improved outlook for the globaleconomy, economists said.Unlike the trading pattern in recent days, though, the gainsweren't confined to cyclical issues. Financial stocks also gainedafter a government report on employment costs signaled no change ininterest rates.Wages and benefits for American workers rose a slight 0.4 percentin the first three months of the year, the smallest amount on record,indicating the lowest unemployment in 30 years is still notgenerating wage pressures."We expect the absence of inflation pressures will keep the Fed onthe sidelines for the time being," said Tim O'Neill, chief economistfor Harris Bank.American Express shares gained $2.31 1/4 to $135.37 1/2,contributing most to the Dow's advance. J.P. Morgan and Citigroupalso advanced.Investors continued to batter technology shares. Amazon.comslumped $25.25 to $168.25. The online retailer reported lateWednesday a first-quarter loss of 23 cents a share, narrower than the29 cents analysts expected. However, the company expects its growthto slow and losses to increase as it continues to invest heavily innew businesses.Drug stocks again took big hits as investors continued to takeprofits in that sector as well. Merck fell 37 1/2 cents to $70.371/2.Contributing: Associated Press
Rick Aguilera, making his first appearance since May 20,scattered four hits in 7 23 innings as the New York Mets beat the LosAngeles Dodgers 1-0 Monday night at Shea Stadium.
Aguilera (5-2), who sprained a ligament in his right elbow andwas placed on the disabled list May 21, struck out four and walkedtwo, one intentionally. He retired 15 consecutive batters from thethird inning until the eighth, when Glenn Hoffman singled with twoout.
Randy Myers got the last out in the eighth and Roger McDowellpitched the ninth for his 19th save as the Dodgers were shut out forthe 14th time this season. Keith Hernandez drove in the game's onlyrun in the fourth inning with a single to right that stretched hishitting streak to 14 games, one shy of his career high established in1982 with St. Louis. Len Dykstra led off the fourth with a doubleoff rookie Shawn Hillegas (2-1). Wally Backman sacrificed Dykstra tothird and Hernandez followed with his eighth game-winning hit of theseason.
The Dodgers, losing for the sixth time in seven games, had onlyone runner reach third base. John Shelby led off the second inningwith an infield single and one out later moved to third on MikeScioscia's double. Tracy Woodson was walked intentionally after PhilGarner flied out to shallow right. Hillegas ended the inning with aground ball to first.
Giants 6, Phillies 1: In his first start since being acquiredfrom Pittsburgh, Rick Reuschel (9-6) pitched a five-hitter over seveninnings to give San Francisco victory at Philadelphia. Reuschelstruck out a season-high eight and walked none, keeping the Giants infirst place in the National League West. It was Reuschel's first winin six starts since he beat the Giants July 22. The Giants obtainedReuschel Friday for pitchers Jeff Robinson and Scott Medvin.Reuschel said he told Giants manager Roger Craig after six innings hecould go one more inning. "My arm felt fine, but my body was tired,"said Reuschel, who hadn't pitched in eight days. Craig said he toldReuschel, "I know you've read a lot in the media that you're going towin the pennant for us. But we're going to win it anyway. You don'thave to win every game. But you better win tonight."
Astros 5, Cardinals 2: Bob Knepper (7-13) pitched a seven-hitterfor his first complete game of the season as visiting Houston won forthe 10th time in 11 games. St. Louis had won three in a row.Knepper was 3-12 with a 6.35 earned-run average before going 4-1 witha 3.29 ERA in his last six starts. The veteran left-hander's lastprevious complete game was a 3-0 victory over Atlanta Aug. 15, 1986.The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Billy Hatcher washit by a pitch and stole his first of three bases before Bill Doran'sRBI single. Doran has hit in eight straight games. Hatcher stolethree bases in a game for the his time in his career. The seasonseries beteween the teams is 5-5.
Pirates 5, Reds 4: Bobby Bonilla hit a three-run homer to backDoug Drabek's seven-hit pitching for seven innings as Pittsburgh beatCincinnati, ending the Pirates' four-game losing streak and extendingthe Reds' string of defeats to five. Bonilla has hit safely in 13 ofthe last 15 games, including three home runs and 16 RBI. Drabek(6-10) won for the fourth time in his last five decisions as thePirates won at home against the Reds for the first time in two years.The Pirates lost nine in a row to the Reds at Three Rivers Stadiumdating to Aug. 22, 1985. Drabek is 5-2 in eight starts since theAll-Star break. Tom Browning (5-11) lost his fifth consecutivedecision.
Let's take a look back, from the horrific to the sublime:
"CROSSROADS" (2002)
Pop star: Britney Spears
Concept: Pre-adolescent fans will flock to see their role model in a movie that includes themes about date rape, miscarriage, losing your virginity, and your mother rejecting you.
Rating: Negative 2 gold records
"FROM JUSTIN TO KELLY" (2003)
Pop stars: Justin Guarini and Kelly Clarkson
Concept: This is how Entertainment Weekly critic Owen Gleiberman described it: "Set in Miami during spring break, it's like 'Grease: The Next Generation,' acted out by the food-court staff at SeaWorld."
Rating: 0 gold records
"GLITTER" (2001)
Pop star: Mariah Carey
Concept: Carey reportedly first planned to make this as an opera. She stars as an '80s overnight sensation with mommy issues.
Rating: 1 gold record
"8 MILE" (2008)
Pop star: Eminem
Concept: A white rapper struggles to earn respect from his black peers in Detroit. Autobiographical much?
Rating: 3 gold records
"PURPLE RAIN" (1984)
Pop star: Prince
Concept: A musician known as "the Kid" tries to overcome an abusive background and romance Apollonia, all in high heels.
Rating: 3 gold records
Source: Paige Wiser; pwiser@suntimes.com
Color Photo: Would Mariah Carey's "Glitter" have worked better as an opera? ; Color Photo: Date rape, a miscarriage and a mother's rejection crossed up "Crossroads." Color Photo: Justin and Kelly's acting was compared to a food-court staff. ;
A25-cent stamp saluting this summer's Olympic Games will beissued Friday in Colorado Springs, Colo. The horizontally arrangedcommemorative-size stamp will portray a male gymnast performing hisroutine on the rings. The gymnast is shown suspended horizontally inmid-swing - a dramatic image of strength and grace against a darkbrown background on a multicolored stamp.
Collectors desiring first-day cancellations who affix their ownstamps should send prepared envelopes to Customer-Affixed Envelopes,Olympic Summer Games Stamp, Postmaster, Colorado Springs, Colo.80901-9991.
Collectors who wish the U. S. Postal Service to provide stampsshould send their envelopes …
GOLD COAST, Australia (AP) — U.S. Open champion So Yeon Ryu shot an 11-under 61 Friday to take a four-stroke lead after two rounds of the Australian Ladies Masters.
Ryu, who had 12 birdies and a bogey at Royal Pines, had a two-round total of 17-under 127 after an opening 66.
The South Korean's score would have tied the course record held by seven-time Masters champion Karrie Webb, but it will not go in the books due to the lift, clean and place rule in effect on the fairways because of the wet course due to recent rain.
Before Friday, Ryu marked her balls with "62" to represent her career low round. Now she will be remarking them.
"Finally I can change the number," …
Byline: Daniel B. Wood Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- Exotic pests are in the news here.
No, not the politicians in the nation's capital, or corporate lobbyists, or even us media jackals, but rather an altogether different class of slug, nit, and louse.
That would be the pesky and microscopic kind that get into lettuce, oranges, and grapes and can ruin the food industry's whole day, while costing consumers billions. Or the amoeba-size microbes that feast on your favorite tree and can permanently alter the landscape of an entire state - from leafy and beautiful to postnuclear and lunarlike.
Though the bugs' names might raise a chuckle - glassy-winged sharpshooter, eucalyptus longhorned borer - the …
The Scotland Yard of the bug world: A new insectary in California targets agricultural pests like the glassy- winged sharpshooter and the eucalyptus longhorned borer.(USA)Byline: Daniel B. Wood Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- Exotic pests are in the news here.
No, not the politicians in the nation's capital, or corporate lobbyists, or even us media jackals, but rather an altogether different class of slug, nit, and louse.
That would be the pesky and microscopic kind that get into lettuce, oranges, and grapes and can ruin the food industry's whole day, while costing consumers billions. Or the amoeba-size microbes that feast on your favorite tree and can permanently alter the landscape of an entire state - from leafy and beautiful to postnuclear and lunarlike.
Though the bugs' names might raise a chuckle - glassy-winged sharpshooter, eucalyptus longhorned borer - the …
Outdoor companies begin responding to female clients
It's a safe bet that whoever designed the first sternum strap on a backpack was not a woman. Any woman who has ever attempted to close a taut strap across the middle of her chest will testify that the majority of outdoor gear just doesn't take female anatomy into consideration.
Whether it's the length of a backpack that fails to accommodate women's hips, ski bindings based on how a man's knee distributes force, or clothing that simply doesn't fit, historically, outdoor companies have forgotten that women go outside, too. But that's all starting to change.
Increasingly, national and international outdoors companies …
(ADPnews) - Jun 10, 2011 - Moody's has set a Aa3 rating to the series 13 senior subordinated debts of Kansai Urban Banking Corp Ltd (OSA:8545), or KUBC.
Simultaneously, the agency put the rating on downgrade review.
The lender is a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp (SMBC), which is a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group (TYO:8316).
The debts total JPY 15 billion (USD 187.1m/EUR 129.2m) and are part of KUBC's JPY-150-billion domestic shelf registration of January 2011.
The rating is based on the lender's bank financial strength rating (BFSR) of D, mapping to a baseline credit assessment of Ba2, and the "very high" …
Byline: CHRISTINE OLLIVIER Associated Press
PARIS - President Jacques Chirac caved in to protesters on Monday, canceling a law on youth employment that fueled nationwide unrest and raising questions about France's ability to reform rigid labor laws in a globalized world.
Unions declared victory, but energized students decided to go ahead with a "day of action" today to try to knock down other measures - designed to reduce the 22 percent unemployment rate among youths - that are viewed as threatening job protections.
In an announcement that amounted to a humiliating admission of defeat, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said on nationwide TV that …
A couple of Saturdays ago, Robert Simmonds of Pretoria bought a ticket to watch a movie at Cinema Nouveau in Rosebank. But he was denied access to the cinema area because he was clutching a bag of popcorn he'd bought from a sweet shop in the centre.
The manager was duly called, who repeated the "cinema policy" line about patrons not being allowed to consume snacks bought elsewhere, and when he wouldn't budge, they said they were going to call "security".
Off they went, at which point Robert slipped into the movie with his illicit popcorn. "It was dark so they could not find me."
He's not sure if the guards came looking for him, "but I had visions of …
BERLIN (AP) — New data show that growth of German exports — a closely watched economic indicator — is slowing down.
The Federal Statistical Office said Tuesday exports in June were up by 3.1 percent to €88.3 billion ($126 billion) on the year, the smallest increase in 16 months.
It says the June uptick compares with an …
Merger talks between the Hospital of Englewood and bankruptProvident Hospital will continue now that a U.S. bankruptcy courtjudge has given their boards until late January to work out anagreement.
Judge Robert E. Ginsberg Monday approved a request byProvident's board to continue talks that would reopen Provident as afull-service inpatient institution. Provident, the city's oldestblack-owned hospital, shut its doors to patients Sept. 15 under theweight of staffing problems and a $40 million debt.
The merger proposal, as reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, wouldshut down inpatient services at Englewood's 82-year-old facilities,leaving emergency room and outpatient …
(ADPnews) - Mar 28, 2011 - The expected loss for the TV activities of Dutch Royal Philips Electronics NV (AMS:PHIA) in the first quarter of 2011 is higher than anticipated by Kepler's analyst Peter Olofsen.
The analyst had reckoned with a similar loss as in the fourth quarter of 2010, when the unit booked a negative …
Byline: AARON BARNHART - McClatchy
Hollywood seems a nice enough place to live. But if you're looking for weather metaphors to capture the mood of the TV and movie writers' strike, entering its seventh week, you need to go East.
Specifically, to Times Square on a miserable Thursday morning last week, where the Writers Guild of America-East was picketing the headquarters of Viacom, the media giant that runs MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and many other media outlets.
Out in L.A., talks have reached a stalemate between the 12,000-member guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which negotiates on behalf of the big six entertainment …
ALBANY -- A 24-year-old Troy man faces a maximum of eight years in prison for admitting Monday he sold cocaine to an undercover state trooper.
John Ryan of 3 Smith Ave. pleaded guilty before Albany County Judge Thomas A. Breslin to a reduced count of attempted third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
The guilty plea satisfied an indictment …
BACARDI taps the popularity of watermelon with the launch of Bacardi Grand Melon. The 70 proof rum features the essence of real watermelons and can be mixed with …
The Oscars are at a crossroads and Batman is standing right in the middle of the road.
Like the Scarecrow says in "The Wizard of Oz" (not "the Scarecrow" in "Batman Begins"), the Oscars can go this way, or they can go that way.
In recent years, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has increasingly honored independent films that haven't exactly done huge box office business. At the same time, moviegoers have been most interested in coming out to see blockbusters _ particularly superhero films.
Enter "The Dark Knight."
Christopher Nolan's latest Batman installment grossed $531 million, …
This year, the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) is celebrating the accomplishment of their 100th year anniversary. The CNA biennium conference was held in Ottawa this June with the theme "Be The Change", and I attended on behalf of CANNT. An Associate, Affiliate and Emerging (AAE) group meeting was held prior to the biennium conference. Karen Neufeld, CNA President, recognizing CANNT's involvement with CNA during their 100th anniversary year, presented us with a certificate.
Many CANNT members may not be aware of the collaboration between CNA and CANNT. CANNT is an Associate group of CNA. A total of 40 AAE groups represent 40,000 of the total 133,700 nurse members of CNA. Examples …
Auto Business News-December 15, 2011--Details of the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder revealed(C)1994-2011 ENPublishing - http://www.enpublishing.co.uk
Auto Business News - 15 December 2011
Leftlane News, an automotive news magazine, has revealed details of the 2013 Nissan Pathfinder.
The vehicle is to be unveiled at the 2011 New York International Auto Show scheduled for April 2012. It is to compete …
Abstract: The ages of many mammals are estimated by counting growth layers in tooth sections, yet validation of age estimation techniques using free-ranging mammals has been problematic. Contrary to age estimates for most other animals in which it is assumed that one bipartite growth increment forms annually, beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) age estimates have been calculated assuming that two growth layer groups (GLGs) form each year. Here we report the age validation for belugas based on date-specific incorporation of atomic bomb radiocarbon into tooth GLGs. Radiocarbon assays of dentinal layers formed in belugas harvested between 1895 and 2001 indicated that radiocarbon from atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons was incorporated into growing teeth and retained for the remaining life of the animal. Comparison of age determined by bomb radiocarbon with age determined by GLG counts indicated that GLGs form annually, not semiannually, and provide an accurate indicator of age for belugas up to at least 60 years old. Radiocarbon signatures of belugas were temporally and metabolically stable and were apparently derived more from the radiocarbon content of their prey than from water. Our understanding of many facets of beluga population dynamics is altered by the finding that this species lives twice as long as previously thought.
Resume : L'estimation de l'age chez de nombreux mammiferes se fait par l'enumeration des couches de croissance dans des coupes de dents, bien que la validation de cette technique d'estimation de l'age chez les mammiferes libres en nature pose des problemes. Contrairement a la plupart des autres animaux chez qui on presume de la formation d'un pas de croissance bipartite chaque annee, on calcule les estimations d'age chez le beluga (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) en presupposant la formation de deux groupes de couches de croissance (GLG) chaque annee. Nous presentons la validation de la determination d'age chez les belugas d'apres l'incorporation a des dates precises du radiocarbone provenant de bombes atomiques dans les GLG des dents. Les dosages du radiocarbone dans les couches de dentine deposees chez des belugas captures entre 1895 et 2001 indiquent que le radiocarbone provenant des essais atmospheriques d'armes nucleaires s'incorpore dans les dents en croissance et y demenre pour le reste de la vie de l'animal. Une comparaison des ages determines par le radiocarbone et par les comptages de GLG montre que les GLG se forment une fois et non pas deux fois Fan et qu'ils sont des indicateurs fiables de l'age des belugas jusqu'a l'age d'au moins 60 ans. Les signatures de radiocarbone sont stables en fonction du temps et du metabolisme et elles proviennent apparemment plus du contenu en radiocarbone des proies que de celui de l'eau. Notre comprehension de plusieurs aspects de la dynamique de population des belugas se voit modifiee par la reevaluation de cette espece qui vit deux fois plus longtemps qu'on le croyait precedemment.
[Traduit par la Redaction]
Introduction
Accurate age estimates are fundamental to ecological investigations of rates of individual growth, rates of population change, or rates incorporated in species-specific life-history parameters. For example, management tools such as potential biological removal (Wade 1998) and population viability analysis (Morris and Doak 2002) rely on age-specific fecundity and survival rates to calculate safe harvest levels. Life-history studies that attempt to understand the evolutionary significance of lifetime behavior (Boness et al. 2002; Winemiller 2005) rely on the timing of important events such as sexual maturation. Even population responses to climate change can be age-specific (Coulson et al. 2001). Particularly in management decisions, erroneous age estimates can have disastrous effects (Campana 2001). For example, age underestimation resulted in overly optimistic estimates of productivity and hence serious overfishing of several marine fish stocks before the inaccurate ageing was recognized (Beamish and McFarlane 1995; Smith et al. 1995; Campana 1997, 2001).
Many species are aged by examining growth lines or bands in hard structures. Bivalve shells (Lutz and Rhoads 1980), coral skeletons (Dodge and Thomson 1974), tortoise scutes (Germano 1998) and fish otoliths (Secor et al. 1995), scales (Robillard and Marsden 1996), vertebrae (Brown and Gruber 1988), and fin rays (Cass and Beamish 1983) all record growth increments that have been used for age estimation. In mammals, teeth (both dentine and cementum) and bone (Johnston et al. 1987; Klevezal 1996) are the basic recording structures, although teeth show less restructuring than bone (Garlich-Miller et al. 1993; Klevezal 1996).
The beluga (Delphinapterus leucas (Pallas, 1776)) is a toothed whale that is exploited throughout much of its circumpolar range (Stewart and Stewart 1989). Population trajectories that serve as the basis for management decisions rely on some combination of age at maturation, age-specific fecundity, age-specific survival, and longevity (e.g., Butterworth et al. 2002; Innes and Stewart 2002). Beluga ages have been estimated routinely by counting growth layers or bands in longitudinal sections of the teeth. The term "growth layer group" (GLG) has been adopted by the International Whaling Commission (International Whaling Commission 1980) and by marine mammalogists in general to denote a repeated dyad of contrasting lines, with each pair of light and dark lines representing a growth period (International Whaling Commission 1980; Hohn 2002). The term "GLG" is functionally similar to the term "growth band" or "growth increment" used by those determining the ages of fish, reptiles, amphibians, and terrestrial mammals (Neville 1967; Secor et al. 1995). Here we use the marine mammalogy terminology, i.e., GLG.
In general, GLGs in odontocete teeth are interpreted as representing 1 year of growth, although some shorter term banding may occur (Klevezal 1996). However, the deposition rate of GLGs in belugas has been interpreted to be semiannual, with two GLGs representing 1 year of growth (Sergeant 1959). If two GLGs are deposited each year, then age is equivalent to one half the number of GLGs (GLG/2), compared with the more conventional interpretation for most animals that age = GLG/1. The assumption that belugas form two dentinal GLGs/year (Sergeant 1959) was based on previous studies of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus L., 1758) that concluded two GLGs were formed each year and the observation that the maximum number of GLGs seen in beluga teeth was about twice that apparent in long-finned pilot whale (Globicephala melas (Traill, 1809)) teeth. Subsequently, it has been acknowledged that sperm whales deposit only one GLG/year (International Whaling Commission 1980; Evans et al. 2002). Indeed, Sergeant (1981) noted there was no a priori justification to assume two GLGs were formed each year in belugas.
Efforts to reject either the 1 GLG/year or the 2 GLGs/year hypothesis in belugas have been equivocal at best. Allometric comparisons suggest annual, not semi-annual, deposition (Ohsumi 1979). The examination of teeth from wild-born belugas held in captivity has been inconclusive (Brodie 1982; Heide-Jorgensen et al. 1994; Hohn and Lockyer 2001). The use of tetracycline marks as a dated chemical marker in teeth is one method of calibrating age estimates (Johnston et al. 1987; Brodie et al. 1990) but has not been definitive for belugas (Hohn and Lockyer 2001).
The use of radiocarbon (14C) to validate beluga ages may resolve this impasse. The atmospheric testing of atomic bombs in the 1950s and 1960s resulted in a rapid and well-documented increase in radiocarbon in the world's oceans (Druffel and Linick 1978). The period of initial radiocarbon increase in marine carbonate structures such as corals, bivalves, and fish otoliths was almost synchronous around the world (Kalish 1993; Weidman and Jones 1993; Campana 1997), allowing the first appearance of the increase around 1958 to be used as a dated marker in growth bands of marine animals (Druffel and Linick 1978; Kalish 1993). A similar pattern of increase, lagged by several years owing to the incorporation of dietary carbon, has been documented in porbeagle shark (Lampa nasus (Bonnaterre, 1788)) vertebrae (Campana et al. 2002) and spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias L., 1758) spines (Campana et al. 2006). Here we report the first radiocarbon assays of beluga whale teeth, using 14C as a dated chemical marker, to determine whether these teeth recorded and preserved a bomb radiocarbon pulse in growth layers formed during the 1960s. We use [[delta].sup.13]C assays to test the assumption that the primary source of carbon in belugas is dietary carbon rather than dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and we explore the impact of the differing age interpretations on life-history parameters of belugas.
Materials and methods
Nine beluga teeth were selected from archived material (Table 1). Three of the whales (gender unknown) were from archaeological sites on Somerset Island in the high Arctic (Elwin Bay, 72.53N, 90.93W; Port Leopold, 73.90N, 90.15W; Outridge et al. 2005) and lived their whole lives before atomic bombs. The year of death for these animals was approximated as the midpoint of the whaling activity at the site (Outridge et al. 2005). Five whales (all females) were killed between 1991 and 1997 by hunters living on southeast Baffin Island at Kimmirut (62.85N, 69.88W), Igaluit (63.75N, 68.55W), and Pangnirtung (66.12N, 65.68W), Nunavut. These whales were selected so that back-calculating from their year of death would place their birth date either before the period of atmospheric atomic bomb testing if age = GLG/1 or after bomb testing if age = GLG/2. A sixth, younger, beluga harvested in 2001, also at southeast Baffin Island, represented the recent period. Teeth were stored dry or in glycerin-alcohol-water (Pueck and Lowe 1975) until sectioning.
Belugas have homodont …
