Saturday, June 30, 2012
A Race of Skill and Endurance
Braving the icy wilderness
The Iditarod Trail crosses snowy mountain ranges, frozen rivers, coastal areas, treeless arctic plains, and land with trees so thick it's like going through a tunnel. Temperatures normally range from 20 below zero to 40 below zero, and that doesn't count the wind chill.
One year, temperatures fell as low as 72 degrees below zero. That race was canceled because the dogs were getting frostbite on their paws.
Winds can be so fierce that blowing snow makes it almost impossible to see.
Sometimes ice gets so thick that the water underneath has nowhere to go. Then, water flows over the top of the thick ice and forms a new, thin layer of ice on top of the overflowing water. This can be very dangerous to mushers, because they can fall through the thin ice into the frigid water.
Keeping dry is the most important thing mushers can do. They carry dry clothes for themselves and booties for the dogs.
Checkpoints
Teams must stop at checkpoints throughout the trail. These stopping points are often villages where musheres and their dogs might get a chance to eat and drink.
At each checkpoint, veterinarians look over the dogs. Mushers rub salve, or ointment, on a dog's paws. If a dog is injured or too tired, it might leave the race and be flown home from a checkpoint. The dog's safetyis very important.
Each team can start with a maximum of 16 sled dogs. If dogs have to be sent home, the mushers keep racing with fewer dogs. But they must have at least six dogs at the finish line.
Mushers
Mushers have to be at least 18 years old. Kids from 14 to 18 can compete in the Jr. Iditarod, which is 160 miles long.
Mushers have to study a lot. They learn how to plan strategy, coach the team, keep the different dogs healthy and happy, and provide food. They must be able to handle race hazards such as floods, avalanches and wild animals.
Race Through the Wilderness
The Iditarod
On March 7, about 70 daring mushers, or sled dog racers, and about 1,000 dogs met in Anchorage, Alaska, for the official opening of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod (eye-DIT-uh-rahd) is one of the most challenging races in the world.
The Iditarod starts in Anchorage and crosses more than 1,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness, it ends up in Nome.
The newspaper found out more about this exciting race and talked to a long-time Iditarod musher.
Historical transport
The Iditarod follows trails that native Alaskans have used for about 10,000 years. European settlers used the same network of trails to carry mail, supplies and people. Dogsleds could get to places where horses and cars could not go.
Until about 1920, the Iditarod Trail was the main Alaskan winter route. Then the dogsled gave way to the airplane.
Race to save lives
In 1925, a dangerous disease called diphtheria (dif-THIR-ee-uh) threatened the people of Nome. It looked as if no one would be able to get the needed medicine to the sick people there.
But dog teams succeeded in carrying the life -saving medicine from Nenana to Nome. Dog and musher teams raced across about 670 miles over the icy wilderness in less than in five days.
In 1973, Dorthy G. Page and Joe Redington Sr. started the Iditarod race. They wanted to celebrate the many things sled dogs have done for Alaskans. The sled dogs life-saving trip was just one of the services the dogs have provided.
The race
"Iditarod" is the name of a ghost town along the trails. Many experts believe it means "distant place".
The Iditarod begins at Anchorage with a ceremonial start to the race. The race truly begins the next day from Willow.
The Iditarod Trail runs for about 1,049 miles. It varies year by year, because obstacies may arise, forcing mushers to break new trail.
The race keeps going until the last team comes in. The fastest winning time was eight days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and two seconds. The last racers can take nearly three weeks to come in.
Mushers begin training dogs in August, with the dogs pulling four-wheelers. In the spring and early summer, when the snow thaws, the dogs get a vacation.
On March 7, about 70 daring mushers, or sled dog racers, and about 1,000 dogs met in Anchorage, Alaska, for the official opening of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod (eye-DIT-uh-rahd) is one of the most challenging races in the world.
The Iditarod starts in Anchorage and crosses more than 1,000 miles of Alaskan wilderness, it ends up in Nome.
The newspaper found out more about this exciting race and talked to a long-time Iditarod musher.
Historical transport
The Iditarod follows trails that native Alaskans have used for about 10,000 years. European settlers used the same network of trails to carry mail, supplies and people. Dogsleds could get to places where horses and cars could not go.
Until about 1920, the Iditarod Trail was the main Alaskan winter route. Then the dogsled gave way to the airplane.
Race to save lives
In 1925, a dangerous disease called diphtheria (dif-THIR-ee-uh) threatened the people of Nome. It looked as if no one would be able to get the needed medicine to the sick people there.
But dog teams succeeded in carrying the life -saving medicine from Nenana to Nome. Dog and musher teams raced across about 670 miles over the icy wilderness in less than in five days.
In 1973, Dorthy G. Page and Joe Redington Sr. started the Iditarod race. They wanted to celebrate the many things sled dogs have done for Alaskans. The sled dogs life-saving trip was just one of the services the dogs have provided.
The race
"Iditarod" is the name of a ghost town along the trails. Many experts believe it means "distant place".
The Iditarod begins at Anchorage with a ceremonial start to the race. The race truly begins the next day from Willow.
The Iditarod Trail runs for about 1,049 miles. It varies year by year, because obstacies may arise, forcing mushers to break new trail.
The race keeps going until the last team comes in. The fastest winning time was eight days, 22 hours, 46 minutes and two seconds. The last racers can take nearly three weeks to come in.
Mushers begin training dogs in August, with the dogs pulling four-wheelers. In the spring and early summer, when the snow thaws, the dogs get a vacation.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Korean shamanism finds new life in modern era
Colorful flags snapped in the sea breeze as more than a dozen Korean shamans, dressed in bright colors, danced and chanted prayers in front of a huge cow's head stuck to a trident.
The ceremony on a ship was designed to exorcise demons that threaten fishermen and bring good luck to everybody on board. The presence of several hundred spectators underlined how the ages-old trance rituals were going strong again, having been shunned as recently as 30 years ago.
"People are trying to understand more, learn more, and see more. They are very interested in this," said Kim Keum-hwa, one of South Korea's most famous shamans, who led the ceremony.
Though an ancient practice, Korean shamanism - in which singing and dancing are used in trance rituals addressed to specific gods, often to get an answer to specific questions - had long been suppressed in Asia's second most Christian nation.
In leaping from poverty to rapid modernization, the county's dictatorship in the 1970s tried to eliminate shamanism, claiming that shamans deluded the world, while some Christian missionaries demonized them and their followers.
But today, visiting a mudang - shaman priest or priestess - is so common that politicians consult them seeking answers to questions such as whether they should relocate their ancestors' remains to ensure good luck in the next election. Shaman characters have also featured in popular television shows.
"Public perception towards shamanism has improved a lot, with popular TV dramas contributing to shifting these views," said Park Heung-ju, an authority on mudang at the Kut Research Institute in Seoul."You can find repose by meeting with mudang."
Much of this is due to the pressures of modern life in South Korea's high-stress society, said Shin Kwang-yeong, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.
"Nowadays, many Koreans feel strong uncertainties and life seems unstable in many ways, so they want to find something that can give them a sense of security," he said. "The same things have also created a dramatic increase in the number of people who follow religions here in Korea."
EXORCISING SPIRITS
To start the on-board ceremony, the shamans light a bundle of straw and float it on the water with offerings of food to exorcise evil spirits.
Later they go into a trance, speaking directly to spectators to wish them good luck and good health to the accompaniment of lively music from pipes, flutes and drums.
At the end, shamans and spectators mingle as one group, dancing in a circle to the fast-paced music.
"Shunning shamanism is not right. Today's event is meant to be for praying for the sake of families," said Lee Sung-soo, who said he was a Buddhist but danced with the group nonetheless.
In one sign of how mainstream shamanism has become, one mudang shaking bells in front of the laden altar was Hendrikje Lange from Switzerland, who credits shamanism with lifting her out of a debilitating depression.
Lange, 45, encountered shamanism as part of her studies of Korean percussion instruments, but resisted actually taking part in a possession ritual until several accidents and visions convinced her she needed to change her life.
Now, she is one of dozens of shamans initiated by Kim, including a handful of foreigners.
"All I can say is that something is happening with energy. I feel that the longer it keeps going, the stronger the energy is," she said.
Shin, the sociologist, said an additional part of the mudang's appeal was the sense that it was personal.
"People may have faith in other religions, but those religions seem vague and not tailored to them personally," he said. "People go to see shamans because they all believe their stories and situations are unique."
Jung Mi-soon, a participant in the ceremony, said that shamanism spoke to her directly.
"I felt something from my heart. This ritual has everything in there - happiness, sadness, anger and fun," said the 46-year-old housewife who has had more than 10 surgeries which she attributes to spiritual sickness.
"Sometimes tears pour out from my heart. Sometimes it's just fun when everyone is dancing and bowing. And, it's healing."
The ceremony on a ship was designed to exorcise demons that threaten fishermen and bring good luck to everybody on board. The presence of several hundred spectators underlined how the ages-old trance rituals were going strong again, having been shunned as recently as 30 years ago.
"People are trying to understand more, learn more, and see more. They are very interested in this," said Kim Keum-hwa, one of South Korea's most famous shamans, who led the ceremony.
Though an ancient practice, Korean shamanism - in which singing and dancing are used in trance rituals addressed to specific gods, often to get an answer to specific questions - had long been suppressed in Asia's second most Christian nation.
In leaping from poverty to rapid modernization, the county's dictatorship in the 1970s tried to eliminate shamanism, claiming that shamans deluded the world, while some Christian missionaries demonized them and their followers.
But today, visiting a mudang - shaman priest or priestess - is so common that politicians consult them seeking answers to questions such as whether they should relocate their ancestors' remains to ensure good luck in the next election. Shaman characters have also featured in popular television shows.
"Public perception towards shamanism has improved a lot, with popular TV dramas contributing to shifting these views," said Park Heung-ju, an authority on mudang at the Kut Research Institute in Seoul."You can find repose by meeting with mudang."
Much of this is due to the pressures of modern life in South Korea's high-stress society, said Shin Kwang-yeong, a sociology professor at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.
"Nowadays, many Koreans feel strong uncertainties and life seems unstable in many ways, so they want to find something that can give them a sense of security," he said. "The same things have also created a dramatic increase in the number of people who follow religions here in Korea."
EXORCISING SPIRITS
To start the on-board ceremony, the shamans light a bundle of straw and float it on the water with offerings of food to exorcise evil spirits.
Later they go into a trance, speaking directly to spectators to wish them good luck and good health to the accompaniment of lively music from pipes, flutes and drums.
At the end, shamans and spectators mingle as one group, dancing in a circle to the fast-paced music.
"Shunning shamanism is not right. Today's event is meant to be for praying for the sake of families," said Lee Sung-soo, who said he was a Buddhist but danced with the group nonetheless.
In one sign of how mainstream shamanism has become, one mudang shaking bells in front of the laden altar was Hendrikje Lange from Switzerland, who credits shamanism with lifting her out of a debilitating depression.
Lange, 45, encountered shamanism as part of her studies of Korean percussion instruments, but resisted actually taking part in a possession ritual until several accidents and visions convinced her she needed to change her life.
Now, she is one of dozens of shamans initiated by Kim, including a handful of foreigners.
"All I can say is that something is happening with energy. I feel that the longer it keeps going, the stronger the energy is," she said.
Shin, the sociologist, said an additional part of the mudang's appeal was the sense that it was personal.
"People may have faith in other religions, but those religions seem vague and not tailored to them personally," he said. "People go to see shamans because they all believe their stories and situations are unique."
Jung Mi-soon, a participant in the ceremony, said that shamanism spoke to her directly.
"I felt something from my heart. This ritual has everything in there - happiness, sadness, anger and fun," said the 46-year-old housewife who has had more than 10 surgeries which she attributes to spiritual sickness.
"Sometimes tears pour out from my heart. Sometimes it's just fun when everyone is dancing and bowing. And, it's healing."
Fed-up Lebanese protest against protests
If you can't beat them, join them.
Dozens of Lebanese, exasperated by rampant tire-burning protests across the country, rolled out tires and stopped traffic in the capital Beirut on Thursday.
Police armed with automatic rifles quickly deployed down the street, looking baffled at the small crowd raising the banner "We are tired", and blocking traffic with colorfully decorated tires. Angry motorists honked their horns.
Lebanon, politically fragile after a 1975-1990 civil war, has been plagued for weeks by almost daily demonstrations using burning tires to cut off main highways in to protest everything from political disputes to electricity cuts.
Laughing as the group quickly dispersed, the police officer in charge said: "I won't give them a ticket. We're all sick of this problem. And their tires are pretty."
Dozens of Lebanese, exasperated by rampant tire-burning protests across the country, rolled out tires and stopped traffic in the capital Beirut on Thursday.
Police armed with automatic rifles quickly deployed down the street, looking baffled at the small crowd raising the banner "We are tired", and blocking traffic with colorfully decorated tires. Angry motorists honked their horns.
Lebanon, politically fragile after a 1975-1990 civil war, has been plagued for weeks by almost daily demonstrations using burning tires to cut off main highways in to protest everything from political disputes to electricity cuts.
Laughing as the group quickly dispersed, the police officer in charge said: "I won't give them a ticket. We're all sick of this problem. And their tires are pretty."
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Philadelphia Phillies
"There is no question that this current run of five, six years is the strongest baseball era in Phillies history." A quote from the great Mike Schmidt, the best third baseman in major league history, and former Philadelphia Phillie. A man who is arguably the greatest player in this storied franchise's history was stating that this time period was better than his own star-studded, championship rosters of the Phillies of the 80s. I'm not one to argue with a legend, I am agreeing with what he said, however with the recent string of injuries and the Phillies becoming one of the older teams in the league raises the question, is this the end of an era? The team that won the World Series in 2008 and ended the drought of Philadelphia not having a championship are no longer young superstars, but are now aging veteran players.
Lets take a look at what changed this franchise around, I decided to start this new era with the hiring of Charlie Manuel back in 2005. The Phillies had become a perennial doormat in the National League East and were desperately looking for a manager to help right the ship in Philadelphia. Known to the fans as Uncle Charlie, Manuel has built the Phillies into one of the premier teams in major league baseball on top of bolstering his resume. Ryan Howard was a big part of that, winning the rookie of the year in 2005 and becoming the NL MVP in 2006. Since being hired with the exception of losing 3 more games from 2005 to 2006 the Phillies have the best record in baseball in 2011 with 102 wins.
In 2007 the Phillies won the NL East and made the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Despite being swept in the NLDS to the Colorado Rockies Philadelphia got the taste of October baseball I had missed and haven't looked back since. Jimmy Rollins was named the MVP the second consecutive year a Phillies player had won an MVP.
In 2008 the Phillies won the division again with the help of newly acquired closer Brad Lidge was perfect in save opportunities that year going 41 for 41 and 7 for 7 in the playoffs en route to the Phillies winning the World Series in 5 games against the Tampa Bay Rays. Pat Gillick was named executive of the year, and Manuel was named manager of the year while the Phillies celebrated down Broad Street before Utley's infamous speech.
In 2009 the Phillies looked to defend the title and become the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati in the 70s. The Phillies gained former Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee at the trade deadline to help power the Phillies back to the World Series. The Phillies lost to the Yankees in 6 games bringing home their 27th title.
Lets take a look at what changed this franchise around, I decided to start this new era with the hiring of Charlie Manuel back in 2005. The Phillies had become a perennial doormat in the National League East and were desperately looking for a manager to help right the ship in Philadelphia. Known to the fans as Uncle Charlie, Manuel has built the Phillies into one of the premier teams in major league baseball on top of bolstering his resume. Ryan Howard was a big part of that, winning the rookie of the year in 2005 and becoming the NL MVP in 2006. Since being hired with the exception of losing 3 more games from 2005 to 2006 the Phillies have the best record in baseball in 2011 with 102 wins.
In 2007 the Phillies won the NL East and made the playoffs for the first time since 1993. Despite being swept in the NLDS to the Colorado Rockies Philadelphia got the taste of October baseball I had missed and haven't looked back since. Jimmy Rollins was named the MVP the second consecutive year a Phillies player had won an MVP.
In 2008 the Phillies won the division again with the help of newly acquired closer Brad Lidge was perfect in save opportunities that year going 41 for 41 and 7 for 7 in the playoffs en route to the Phillies winning the World Series in 5 games against the Tampa Bay Rays. Pat Gillick was named executive of the year, and Manuel was named manager of the year while the Phillies celebrated down Broad Street before Utley's infamous speech.
In 2009 the Phillies looked to defend the title and become the first NL team to repeat as World Series champions since the Big Red Machine in Cincinnati in the 70s. The Phillies gained former Cy Young award winner Cliff Lee at the trade deadline to help power the Phillies back to the World Series. The Phillies lost to the Yankees in 6 games bringing home their 27th title.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
F. Y. I.
Still on the Books
In Arkansas, school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise.
State Stats
The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee in 1867.
Back Then
In ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a woman was considered a marriage proposal.
No Kidding
A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of the same size.
Actually Said
by Gib Lewis, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
"I cannot tell you how grateful I am --- I am filled with humidity."
Top Breed
At 5 feet, the whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America.
In Arkansas, school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise.
State Stats
The typewriter was invented in Milwaukee in 1867.
Back Then
In ancient Greece, throwing an apple to a woman was considered a marriage proposal.
No Kidding
A strand from the web of a golden spider is as strong as a steel wire of the same size.
Actually Said
by Gib Lewis, former Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
"I cannot tell you how grateful I am --- I am filled with humidity."
Top Breed
At 5 feet, the whooping crane is the tallest bird in North America.
Venezuelan tribe angry at "sacred" stone in Berlin
Wolfgang von Schwarzenfeld's sculptures in a Berlin park were meant to promote world peace, but the 79-year-old German now finds himself at war with a Venezuelan tribe which accuses him of stealing a sacred pink stone known to them as "Grandmother".
The Venezuelan government is championing the Pemon Indians of the "Gran Sabana" region by demanding the return of the polished stone from Berlin's Tiergarten park - putting the German government in something of a dilemma.
With Caracas calling it robbery, and the sculptor arguing that the stone was a legal gift, the monolith is emitting more negative energy than its esoteric fans in Berlin are used to.
Blissfully unaware of the diplomatic tug-of-war, Robert, a Berlin gardener, got off his bicycle to light joss sticks among the stones from five continents that form the "Global Stone Project", awaiting friends for an afternoon shamanic ritual.
But newly arrived Venezuelan tourists Grecia Melendez and Juan Carlos Brozoski knew all about the war of the stone and suspected there were political motives behind the protests.
"(President Hugo) Chavez always wants a conflict with someone," said 32-year-old Melendez, taking photos of the 12 cubic meter stone, which is engraved with the word "love" in different languages - and graffiti with couples' names and hearts.
Von Schwarzenfeld, a frail figure with whispy white hair and scuffed brown shoes, waved a sheaf of documents authorizing the removal of the stone from the Canaima National Park in 1998.
As with all the stones arranged in a circle in Berlin, a "sister" stone remained behind. Every summer solstice, their burnished surfaces reflect the sun "as a symbol of a united mankind, hopefully one day in peace", he said.
The project was inaugurated in 1999 near Berlin's landmark Potsdamer Platz and Brandenburg Gate. As children played among the stones, Von Schwarzenfeld defied Venezuela to take back what he called a "gift to Berlin" from former president Rafael Caldera.
"Peace for me does not mean the absence of conflict," said the artist, undeterred by threats and what he too suspects are "political motivations" behind the tussle over the stone.
ALL THE ANTS YOU CAN EAT
A video circulated on Youtube has mobilized public opinion in Venezuela, recounting the mythical origins of the Kueka (grandmother in the Pemon language) and its pair, and voicing locals' sense of loss.
"This man decided to take the Kueka without caring about its cultural value for the Pemon community," Venezuelan activist and ecologist Any Alarcon says in the video.
Culture Minister Pedro Calzadilla told state television the donation was "illegitimate" because the stone was part of "the cultural patrimony of the (Pemon) community". Prosecutors are looking into the stone's removal because "whoever authorized the removal of the Grandmother committed a crime", he said.
After Pemon tribespeople demonstrated outside Germany's embassy last week with spears, feather headdresses and banners saying "The Pemon People Want Our Wise Grandmother Back", the German envoy promised to relay their feelings to Berlin, while telling them it would be no easy task to return the stone.
German Foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said Berlin wanted a solution "agreed by all sides - Venezuela, the indigenous groups, the artist and the city of Berlin".
Von Schwarzenfeld was not convinced, saying the stone's removal would sacrifice "the 15 years of my life and all the money I spent. If it is taken away, it ruins the whole project."
Beside him stood German anthropologist Bruno Illius, who has studied the Pemon tribe for two decades. He said there was "no such thing as a 'holy stone' for the Pemones, just small magical stones with practical purposes, like helping you to catch fish".
Illius rubbished stories about the stone's removal bringing misfortune on the tribe, like drought and the disappearance of the ants they eat in spicy sauce, saying he had eaten plenty of ants on three visits to the region, as recently as last year.
"This is all a fraud, a deception," the professor said.
The Venezuelan government is championing the Pemon Indians of the "Gran Sabana" region by demanding the return of the polished stone from Berlin's Tiergarten park - putting the German government in something of a dilemma.
With Caracas calling it robbery, and the sculptor arguing that the stone was a legal gift, the monolith is emitting more negative energy than its esoteric fans in Berlin are used to.
Blissfully unaware of the diplomatic tug-of-war, Robert, a Berlin gardener, got off his bicycle to light joss sticks among the stones from five continents that form the "Global Stone Project", awaiting friends for an afternoon shamanic ritual.
But newly arrived Venezuelan tourists Grecia Melendez and Juan Carlos Brozoski knew all about the war of the stone and suspected there were political motives behind the protests.
"(President Hugo) Chavez always wants a conflict with someone," said 32-year-old Melendez, taking photos of the 12 cubic meter stone, which is engraved with the word "love" in different languages - and graffiti with couples' names and hearts.
Von Schwarzenfeld, a frail figure with whispy white hair and scuffed brown shoes, waved a sheaf of documents authorizing the removal of the stone from the Canaima National Park in 1998.
As with all the stones arranged in a circle in Berlin, a "sister" stone remained behind. Every summer solstice, their burnished surfaces reflect the sun "as a symbol of a united mankind, hopefully one day in peace", he said.
The project was inaugurated in 1999 near Berlin's landmark Potsdamer Platz and Brandenburg Gate. As children played among the stones, Von Schwarzenfeld defied Venezuela to take back what he called a "gift to Berlin" from former president Rafael Caldera.
"Peace for me does not mean the absence of conflict," said the artist, undeterred by threats and what he too suspects are "political motivations" behind the tussle over the stone.
ALL THE ANTS YOU CAN EAT
A video circulated on Youtube has mobilized public opinion in Venezuela, recounting the mythical origins of the Kueka (grandmother in the Pemon language) and its pair, and voicing locals' sense of loss.
"This man decided to take the Kueka without caring about its cultural value for the Pemon community," Venezuelan activist and ecologist Any Alarcon says in the video.
Culture Minister Pedro Calzadilla told state television the donation was "illegitimate" because the stone was part of "the cultural patrimony of the (Pemon) community". Prosecutors are looking into the stone's removal because "whoever authorized the removal of the Grandmother committed a crime", he said.
After Pemon tribespeople demonstrated outside Germany's embassy last week with spears, feather headdresses and banners saying "The Pemon People Want Our Wise Grandmother Back", the German envoy promised to relay their feelings to Berlin, while telling them it would be no easy task to return the stone.
German Foreign ministry spokesman Andreas Peschke said Berlin wanted a solution "agreed by all sides - Venezuela, the indigenous groups, the artist and the city of Berlin".
Von Schwarzenfeld was not convinced, saying the stone's removal would sacrifice "the 15 years of my life and all the money I spent. If it is taken away, it ruins the whole project."
Beside him stood German anthropologist Bruno Illius, who has studied the Pemon tribe for two decades. He said there was "no such thing as a 'holy stone' for the Pemones, just small magical stones with practical purposes, like helping you to catch fish".
Illius rubbished stories about the stone's removal bringing misfortune on the tribe, like drought and the disappearance of the ants they eat in spicy sauce, saying he had eaten plenty of ants on three visits to the region, as recently as last year.
"This is all a fraud, a deception," the professor said.
Wandering Cape Cod bear captured in Boston suburb
He's baaack: A male black bear captured on Cape Cod earlier this month, where it was tranquilized and moved to central Massachusetts, showed up again on Tuesday just six miles from downtown Boston.
State officials said they had captured the bear in a tree in the Chestnut Hill area of Brookline, just west of Boston, and confirmed it was the same bear which roamed the Cape for about two weeks before being captured and relocated on June 12.
The bear was identified by a tag placed in its ear. It had probably traveled about 100 miles.
"Because this bear was in a highly congested urban area, an interagency Large Animal Response Team was deployed to the area," said the Massachusetts' wildlife agency, known as MassWildlife.
The 180-pound bear was then shot with a tranquilizer dart by the Environmental Police. Later, MassWildlife officials transported the animal to a remote location in western Massachusetts, about 150 miles away.
The Boston Globe reported that the bear was spotted in a white pine tree in the backyard of Alan Leventhal, chief executive of Beacon Capital Partners, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the United States, and on Boston University's Board of Trustees.
The agency said that black bear sightings have been reported in a number of towns west and south of Boston recently but could not confirm that all sightings were the same bear.
The Boston Globe reported that the bear was spotted in a white pine tree in the backyard of Alan Leventhal, chief executive of Beacon Capital Partners, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the United States, and on Boston University's Board of Trustees.
The Brookline Police Department tweeted photographs of the bear in the tree, with a caption that was a twist on the classic children's book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See":
"Black bear, black bear what do you see? I see Brookline police looking at me."
The so-called Cape Cod bear was first spotted May 27 in the Cape Cod area, the easternmost part of the state. State wildlife officials think the bear swam across the Cape Cod Canal from the mainland.
The Massachusetts bear population was last estimated at 3,000 in 2005, with most bears in northwest and western parts of the state, including the Berkshires region.
The black bear population has been slowly growing and expanding its range into eastern and southeastern Massachusetts, state officials said. Of the three species of bear found in North America, the American black bear is the smallest.
State officials said they had captured the bear in a tree in the Chestnut Hill area of Brookline, just west of Boston, and confirmed it was the same bear which roamed the Cape for about two weeks before being captured and relocated on June 12.
The bear was identified by a tag placed in its ear. It had probably traveled about 100 miles.
"Because this bear was in a highly congested urban area, an interagency Large Animal Response Team was deployed to the area," said the Massachusetts' wildlife agency, known as MassWildlife.
The 180-pound bear was then shot with a tranquilizer dart by the Environmental Police. Later, MassWildlife officials transported the animal to a remote location in western Massachusetts, about 150 miles away.
The Boston Globe reported that the bear was spotted in a white pine tree in the backyard of Alan Leventhal, chief executive of Beacon Capital Partners, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the United States, and on Boston University's Board of Trustees.
The agency said that black bear sightings have been reported in a number of towns west and south of Boston recently but could not confirm that all sightings were the same bear.
The Boston Globe reported that the bear was spotted in a white pine tree in the backyard of Alan Leventhal, chief executive of Beacon Capital Partners, one of the largest real estate investment trusts in the United States, and on Boston University's Board of Trustees.
The Brookline Police Department tweeted photographs of the bear in the tree, with a caption that was a twist on the classic children's book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See":
"Black bear, black bear what do you see? I see Brookline police looking at me."
The so-called Cape Cod bear was first spotted May 27 in the Cape Cod area, the easternmost part of the state. State wildlife officials think the bear swam across the Cape Cod Canal from the mainland.
The Massachusetts bear population was last estimated at 3,000 in 2005, with most bears in northwest and western parts of the state, including the Berkshires region.
The black bear population has been slowly growing and expanding its range into eastern and southeastern Massachusetts, state officials said. Of the three species of bear found in North America, the American black bear is the smallest.
Reading offers Brazilian prisoners quicker escape
Brazil will offer inmates in its crowded federal penitentiary system a novel way to shorten their sentences: four days less for every book they read.
Inmates in four federal prisons holding some of Brazil's most notorious criminals will be able to read up to 12 works of literature, philosophy, science or classics to trim a maximum 48 days off their sentence each year, the government announced.
Prisoners will have up to four weeks to read each book and write an essay which must "make correct use of paragraphs, be free of corrections, use margins and legible joined-up writing," said the notice published on Monday in the official gazette.
A special panel will decide which inmates are eligible to participate in the program dubbed "Redemption through Reading".
"A person can leave prison more enlightened and with a enlarged vision of the world," said Sao Paulo lawyer Andre Kehdi, who heads a book donation project for prisons.
"Without doubt they will leave a better person," he said.
Inmates in four federal prisons holding some of Brazil's most notorious criminals will be able to read up to 12 works of literature, philosophy, science or classics to trim a maximum 48 days off their sentence each year, the government announced.
Prisoners will have up to four weeks to read each book and write an essay which must "make correct use of paragraphs, be free of corrections, use margins and legible joined-up writing," said the notice published on Monday in the official gazette.
A special panel will decide which inmates are eligible to participate in the program dubbed "Redemption through Reading".
"A person can leave prison more enlightened and with a enlarged vision of the world," said Sao Paulo lawyer Andre Kehdi, who heads a book donation project for prisons.
"Without doubt they will leave a better person," he said.
Spaniards stomp their heels at bailed-out bankers
A flamenco troupe bursts into a bank branch in Seville in southern Spain, lampooning bankers in dance and song. Further north, in Galicia, 50 men dressed in prison garb march into a bank shouting slogans against costly state bailouts for lenders.
In Barcelona and Madrid, a growing organization of elderly protesters stage regular "occupations" of bank branches, wearing reflective vests and carrying signs decrying the bailouts.
The deepening economic crisis has prompted creative protests among Spaniards frustrated at budget cuts in schools and hospitals at the same time as banks that lent recklessly during a building boom line up for 100 billion euros ($126.06 billion)in European aid.
YouTube videos of the flamenco protests are all the rage and Spaniards circulate a growing flow of e-mail jokes and spoofs to try to alleviate grim expectations that they will be the next European country to need a full international rescue package.
The most frequent protest target is Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks, which was taken over by the state in May in the most costly bank bailout in Spanish history, estimated at some 23.5 billion euros.
Meanwhile the government has cut 45 billion euros out of its budget this year, hiking taxes, slashing public spending and forcing cuts in the treasured public health and education system.
"The workers are going to have to pay for this bailout since the banks are clearly not going to. It's pillaging, is what it is," said Anxo Noceda, a local union head in the town of Vigo who helped organize the "prison-break" protest at a Bankia branch in the northern region of Galicia.
During the protest the "prisoners" chanted "it's not a lack of money but an excess of thieves." Spain's banks, many run by politicians, ended up with 300 billion euros in exposure to the over-heated real estate sector, much of which has soured.
With the economy in its second recession since 2009 and one in four Spanish workers out of a job, mostly peaceful marches and mass demonstrations in cities have become common.
Bankia and its former executives and board members - including politicians from the ruling People's Party - are now the target of a judicial investigation into allegations of fraud around its launch last year on the stock exchange.
GRANDPARENTS ON THE MARCH
"We want to add a bit of color to Spanish politics," said Ovidio Bustillo, an activist with the over-60s protest group called "yayoflautas," a name combining an affectionate word for grandfather and a derogatory term for street people.
"Democracy in Spain needs a deep clean," said Bustillo. The yayoflautas, with about 300 members in their base in Catalonia and more around the country, some of them veterans of protests against the 1939 to 1975 Franco dictatorship, began occupying banks in October.
On Friday the yayoflautas, who have 14,000 followers on Twitter, occupied branches of Deutsche Bank across Spain and the German consulate in Barcelona to protest what they see as Germany's imposition of austerity measures in southern Europe.
"Today all the yayoflautas have occupied part of German land, the bankers' bit," the group said on Twitter.
The protesters, whose oldest member is 84, benefit from a lighter hand from the police when they take to the streets.
"We're usually surrounded by media and it's different if the police get a bit rough with a 20-year-old lad and if they do that to someone with white hair," said Maria Dulce Alonso, a yayoflauta from Madrid.
Celestino Sanchez, 62, one of the original 17 yayoflautas, said the group is not afraid of the authorities."What can they do? Send us to jail? I've already been, many of us have been in jail," he said, referring to the history of protests in the Franco era.
FOOT-STOMPING LAMPOONS
"You've changed, my friend, since you came in to money. I need two jobs to pay my mortgage," wails a middle-aged flamenco cantaor in jeans and sunglasses to an audience of bemused clients and staff in a Bankia branch in Seville.
A video of the protest (http://link.reuters.com/jex88s) shows a growing group of flamenco dancers join the singer. Dressed in long black dresses they stomp out their frustrations on the bank's stone floor.
"You get in trouble and I get thrown out in the street," the singer continues, referring to rising numbers of evictions of mortgage defaulters in Spain.
The protest was staged by the FLO6x8 flamenco group, whose slogan is "body vs capital."
Bankia may be a favorite protest target, but it is by no means the only one.
Other videos show the Rumba Rave, a seemingly spontaneous dance number by more than two dozen people in a branch of Santander bank, or "Ninja Girl," who tears open a purse full of pennies over her head and struts defiantly in the faces of confused-looking bank clerks.
As middle-class and less-well-off Spaniards see their quality of life declining, the government has struggled to get across its argument that aid for banks is being done through loans or temporary equity stakes and will be returned.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, has seen its sovereign borrowing costs soar as investors shy away from a growing perceived risk of non-payment.
With news bulletins on all channels leading with talk of debt spreads and other once-obscure corners of the financial sector, another viral video pokes fun at the growing national obsession with the bond market.
The short film (http://link.reuters.com/pex88s) shows three Andalusian housewives debating derivative trades and monetary mass.
"What we need is quantitative easing to mitigate the recession," one of the women's neighbors adds to the debate from her rooftop terrace as she adjusts her apron.
Her friend gives a Spanish shrug of derision and waggles a bread stick in the air. "You're mad!" she snorts. "The inflation process is sky rocketing. What do I do with my savings? Eat them?"
($1=0.7873 euros)
In Barcelona and Madrid, a growing organization of elderly protesters stage regular "occupations" of bank branches, wearing reflective vests and carrying signs decrying the bailouts.
The deepening economic crisis has prompted creative protests among Spaniards frustrated at budget cuts in schools and hospitals at the same time as banks that lent recklessly during a building boom line up for 100 billion euros ($126.06 billion)in European aid.
YouTube videos of the flamenco protests are all the rage and Spaniards circulate a growing flow of e-mail jokes and spoofs to try to alleviate grim expectations that they will be the next European country to need a full international rescue package.
The most frequent protest target is Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks, which was taken over by the state in May in the most costly bank bailout in Spanish history, estimated at some 23.5 billion euros.
Meanwhile the government has cut 45 billion euros out of its budget this year, hiking taxes, slashing public spending and forcing cuts in the treasured public health and education system.
"The workers are going to have to pay for this bailout since the banks are clearly not going to. It's pillaging, is what it is," said Anxo Noceda, a local union head in the town of Vigo who helped organize the "prison-break" protest at a Bankia branch in the northern region of Galicia.
During the protest the "prisoners" chanted "it's not a lack of money but an excess of thieves." Spain's banks, many run by politicians, ended up with 300 billion euros in exposure to the over-heated real estate sector, much of which has soured.
With the economy in its second recession since 2009 and one in four Spanish workers out of a job, mostly peaceful marches and mass demonstrations in cities have become common.
Bankia and its former executives and board members - including politicians from the ruling People's Party - are now the target of a judicial investigation into allegations of fraud around its launch last year on the stock exchange.
GRANDPARENTS ON THE MARCH
"We want to add a bit of color to Spanish politics," said Ovidio Bustillo, an activist with the over-60s protest group called "yayoflautas," a name combining an affectionate word for grandfather and a derogatory term for street people.
"Democracy in Spain needs a deep clean," said Bustillo. The yayoflautas, with about 300 members in their base in Catalonia and more around the country, some of them veterans of protests against the 1939 to 1975 Franco dictatorship, began occupying banks in October.
On Friday the yayoflautas, who have 14,000 followers on Twitter, occupied branches of Deutsche Bank across Spain and the German consulate in Barcelona to protest what they see as Germany's imposition of austerity measures in southern Europe.
"Today all the yayoflautas have occupied part of German land, the bankers' bit," the group said on Twitter.
The protesters, whose oldest member is 84, benefit from a lighter hand from the police when they take to the streets.
"We're usually surrounded by media and it's different if the police get a bit rough with a 20-year-old lad and if they do that to someone with white hair," said Maria Dulce Alonso, a yayoflauta from Madrid.
Celestino Sanchez, 62, one of the original 17 yayoflautas, said the group is not afraid of the authorities."What can they do? Send us to jail? I've already been, many of us have been in jail," he said, referring to the history of protests in the Franco era.
FOOT-STOMPING LAMPOONS
"You've changed, my friend, since you came in to money. I need two jobs to pay my mortgage," wails a middle-aged flamenco cantaor in jeans and sunglasses to an audience of bemused clients and staff in a Bankia branch in Seville.
A video of the protest (http://link.reuters.com/jex88s) shows a growing group of flamenco dancers join the singer. Dressed in long black dresses they stomp out their frustrations on the bank's stone floor.
"You get in trouble and I get thrown out in the street," the singer continues, referring to rising numbers of evictions of mortgage defaulters in Spain.
The protest was staged by the FLO6x8 flamenco group, whose slogan is "body vs capital."
Bankia may be a favorite protest target, but it is by no means the only one.
Other videos show the Rumba Rave, a seemingly spontaneous dance number by more than two dozen people in a branch of Santander bank, or "Ninja Girl," who tears open a purse full of pennies over her head and struts defiantly in the faces of confused-looking bank clerks.
As middle-class and less-well-off Spaniards see their quality of life declining, the government has struggled to get across its argument that aid for banks is being done through loans or temporary equity stakes and will be returned.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, has seen its sovereign borrowing costs soar as investors shy away from a growing perceived risk of non-payment.
With news bulletins on all channels leading with talk of debt spreads and other once-obscure corners of the financial sector, another viral video pokes fun at the growing national obsession with the bond market.
The short film (http://link.reuters.com/pex88s) shows three Andalusian housewives debating derivative trades and monetary mass.
"What we need is quantitative easing to mitigate the recession," one of the women's neighbors adds to the debate from her rooftop terrace as she adjusts her apron.
Her friend gives a Spanish shrug of derision and waggles a bread stick in the air. "You're mad!" she snorts. "The inflation process is sky rocketing. What do I do with my savings? Eat them?"
($1=0.7873 euros)
Pakistan cracks down on pot-bellied police
Pakistan is cracking down on portly policemen after only a quarter of the 19,000 officers in the Punjab province passed a fitness test.
Policemen in the South Asian nation are widely seen as corrupt and ineffective. Now their weight is coming under the spotlight as well.
The plump police, responsible for safeguarding the most populous province, were warned in letters to trim their waist-lines to the regulation 38 inches by the end of the month, local newspapers said on Friday.
Those who fail may be removed from field duties, The News reported.
This week local television channels have been repeatedly screening footage of overweight officers. They were shown snoozing in chairs, talking on phones and standing belly to belly, buckles straining.
The coverage made Punjab's Inspector General of Police Habib ur-Rehman even more determined to get his officers fit to fight crime, said a policeman from headquarters in Lahore.
The News reported that several policemen objected to the tests because senior officers had been exempted, and the men conducting them were overweight themselves.
Official police spokesmen were not available for comment, and it was unclear whether the problem affected other Pakistani provinces to the same extent.
Pakistan is fighting the Taliban in the northwest of the country, and criminal gangs in its major port city of Karachi.
Policemen in the South Asian nation are widely seen as corrupt and ineffective. Now their weight is coming under the spotlight as well.
The plump police, responsible for safeguarding the most populous province, were warned in letters to trim their waist-lines to the regulation 38 inches by the end of the month, local newspapers said on Friday.
Those who fail may be removed from field duties, The News reported.
This week local television channels have been repeatedly screening footage of overweight officers. They were shown snoozing in chairs, talking on phones and standing belly to belly, buckles straining.
The coverage made Punjab's Inspector General of Police Habib ur-Rehman even more determined to get his officers fit to fight crime, said a policeman from headquarters in Lahore.
The News reported that several policemen objected to the tests because senior officers had been exempted, and the men conducting them were overweight themselves.
Official police spokesmen were not available for comment, and it was unclear whether the problem affected other Pakistani provinces to the same extent.
Pakistan is fighting the Taliban in the northwest of the country, and criminal gangs in its major port city of Karachi.
Zimbabwe MPs surrender to scalpel in AIDS fight
Forty-four members of Zimbabwe's parliament were circumcised on Friday as part of a national HIV/AIDS awareness campaign.
In a rare show of political unity, the MPs from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's rival MDC camp chatted calmly with reporters as they queued at a clinic set up inside the parliament complex.
"When I went in there I was a bit scared but after they had explained the process I felt at ease," 53-year-old Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Blessing Chebundo told Reuters within minutes of the operation.
"Now I don't feel any pain. I can even go and play a match of football."
Research cited by the World Health Organization has shown that male circumcision - removing all or part of the foreskin - can reduce a man's risk of getting HIV by up to 60 percent.
The procedure has become a central pillar of the southern African nation's fight against AIDS, and one MP even allowed photographers to take pictures of him lying on a bed with his recently bandaged penis on display.
Zimbabwe had one of the world's highest HIV infection rates in the late 1990s, but that more than halved to an estimated 13.7 percent of the adult population in 2009.
In a rare show of political unity, the MPs from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's rival MDC camp chatted calmly with reporters as they queued at a clinic set up inside the parliament complex.
"When I went in there I was a bit scared but after they had explained the process I felt at ease," 53-year-old Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) MP Blessing Chebundo told Reuters within minutes of the operation.
"Now I don't feel any pain. I can even go and play a match of football."
Research cited by the World Health Organization has shown that male circumcision - removing all or part of the foreskin - can reduce a man's risk of getting HIV by up to 60 percent.
The procedure has become a central pillar of the southern African nation's fight against AIDS, and one MP even allowed photographers to take pictures of him lying on a bed with his recently bandaged penis on display.
Zimbabwe had one of the world's highest HIV infection rates in the late 1990s, but that more than halved to an estimated 13.7 percent of the adult population in 2009.
Breast cancer survivor wins right to swim topless in Seattle
A woman who survived a double mastectomy and says wearing a bathing suit covering her chest causes searing pain has won a battle to swim topless at Seattle's public pools.
Jodi Jaecks, a 47-year-old fitness buff who had surgery to remove both breasts last year to treat cancer, was initially denied permission this year to swim topless by staff at Seattle's Medgar Evers pool.
According to city spokesperson Dewey Potter, a sign at the pool stated, "This is a family recreation facility. Please dress and act accordingly." Other city employees at the pool blamed an unwritten city policy that required "gender-appropriate" bathing suits, Jaecks told Reuters.
But acting Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Christopher Williams told her on Wednesday that due to her physical therapy, she would be granted a narrow exception to swim topless at all public pools during adult lap swims.
Jaecks, whose self-described "androgynous" thin physique now resembles that of a young man's, said that swimming in a bathing suit covering her chest, left with two thin scars and no nipples following surgery, caused searing pain.
"I had a lot of chest pains and I was told that the feeling of warm water on the pain would be cathartic," said Jaecks, who finished chemotherapy in November and is now cancer-free.
Seattle weekly newspaper "The Stranger" published a photo of her, poolside and topless, on Wednesday.
Williams announced the city's policy reversal in a news release: "Our original concern stems from our responsibility to accommodate the needs of all of our patrons. In this case I see nothing that might alarm the public."
City recreation officials requested a meeting next week with Jaecks, and plan to hammer out a new pool attire policy with other cancer survivors and experts, Potter said.
Jaecks opted against reconstructive surgery. "I don't see a need to fake having breasts," she said.
"My ultimate goal is to change policy at beaches and pools, to increase people's awareness of cancer and the realities of the human condition," Jaecks told Reuters.
Jodi Jaecks, a 47-year-old fitness buff who had surgery to remove both breasts last year to treat cancer, was initially denied permission this year to swim topless by staff at Seattle's Medgar Evers pool.
According to city spokesperson Dewey Potter, a sign at the pool stated, "This is a family recreation facility. Please dress and act accordingly." Other city employees at the pool blamed an unwritten city policy that required "gender-appropriate" bathing suits, Jaecks told Reuters.
But acting Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Christopher Williams told her on Wednesday that due to her physical therapy, she would be granted a narrow exception to swim topless at all public pools during adult lap swims.
Jaecks, whose self-described "androgynous" thin physique now resembles that of a young man's, said that swimming in a bathing suit covering her chest, left with two thin scars and no nipples following surgery, caused searing pain.
"I had a lot of chest pains and I was told that the feeling of warm water on the pain would be cathartic," said Jaecks, who finished chemotherapy in November and is now cancer-free.
Seattle weekly newspaper "The Stranger" published a photo of her, poolside and topless, on Wednesday.
Williams announced the city's policy reversal in a news release: "Our original concern stems from our responsibility to accommodate the needs of all of our patrons. In this case I see nothing that might alarm the public."
City recreation officials requested a meeting next week with Jaecks, and plan to hammer out a new pool attire policy with other cancer survivors and experts, Potter said.
Jaecks opted against reconstructive surgery. "I don't see a need to fake having breasts," she said.
"My ultimate goal is to change policy at beaches and pools, to increase people's awareness of cancer and the realities of the human condition," Jaecks told Reuters.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
POP QUIZ (Sound of the symphony)
The Philadelphia Orchestra has been celebrating the 100thanniversary of Leopold Stokowski's becoming music director.
See what you know about him, his career, and the Fabulous Philadelphians.
1. In what year did the orchestra first perform at the Academy of Music?
a) 1912
b) 1900
c) 1890
d) 1887
2. Name the first music director:
a) Carl Pohlig
b) Leopold Stokowski
c) Eugene Ormandy
d) Fritz Scheel
3. Who will become music director in September?
a) Charles Dutoit
b) Wolfgang Sawallisch
c) Yannick Nezet-Seguin
d) Christoph Eschenbach
4. Where was Stokowski born?
a) London
b) Warsaw
c) Krakow
d) Prague
5. Stokowski and the orchestra presented the American premiere of this Mahler symphony in 1916:
a) Second
b) Fifth
c) Eight
d) Eleventh
6. The orchestra's first sound recording (a 78 r.p.m.) was made here in 1917:
a) Philadelphia
b) Camden
c) New York City
d) Norristown
7. This orchestra tradition did not begin on Stokowski's watch:
a) Concerts for children
b) Annual student music competition
c) Outdoor summer concerts at Robin Hood Dell
d) Summer residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8. Stokowski made his film debut in ?
a) The Big Broadcast of 1937
b) Fantasia
c) 100 Men and a Girl
d) Long-Haired Hare
9. During his long career, Stokowski founded several orchestras. Spot the one he did not help start:
a) Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra
b) Montreal Symphony
c) All-American Youth Orchestra
d) New York City Symphony
10. Stokowski stepped down as music director after the 1940-41 season, and returned to Philadelphia for his first guest appearance in this year:
a) 1945
b) 1952
c) 1960
d) 1972
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. d (1900-07) ; 3. c ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. b ; 7. d (started in 1966, under Eugene Ormandy) ; 8. a ; 9. b ; 10. c
See what you know about him, his career, and the Fabulous Philadelphians.
1. In what year did the orchestra first perform at the Academy of Music?
a) 1912
b) 1900
c) 1890
d) 1887
2. Name the first music director:
a) Carl Pohlig
b) Leopold Stokowski
c) Eugene Ormandy
d) Fritz Scheel
3. Who will become music director in September?
a) Charles Dutoit
b) Wolfgang Sawallisch
c) Yannick Nezet-Seguin
d) Christoph Eschenbach
4. Where was Stokowski born?
a) London
b) Warsaw
c) Krakow
d) Prague
5. Stokowski and the orchestra presented the American premiere of this Mahler symphony in 1916:
a) Second
b) Fifth
c) Eight
d) Eleventh
6. The orchestra's first sound recording (a 78 r.p.m.) was made here in 1917:
a) Philadelphia
b) Camden
c) New York City
d) Norristown
7. This orchestra tradition did not begin on Stokowski's watch:
a) Concerts for children
b) Annual student music competition
c) Outdoor summer concerts at Robin Hood Dell
d) Summer residency at Saratoga Performing Arts Center
8. Stokowski made his film debut in ?
a) The Big Broadcast of 1937
b) Fantasia
c) 100 Men and a Girl
d) Long-Haired Hare
9. During his long career, Stokowski founded several orchestras. Spot the one he did not help start:
a) Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra
b) Montreal Symphony
c) All-American Youth Orchestra
d) New York City Symphony
10. Stokowski stepped down as music director after the 1940-41 season, and returned to Philadelphia for his first guest appearance in this year:
a) 1945
b) 1952
c) 1960
d) 1972
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. d (1900-07) ; 3. c ; 4. a ; 5. c ; 6. b ; 7. d (started in 1966, under Eugene Ormandy) ; 8. a ; 9. b ; 10. c
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Meet Illustrator Erin Stead
This year, National Library Week is April 10-16. The theme is : "Create your own story @ your library."
In celebration of this week, The newspaper talked with this year's winners of the Caldecott and Newbery book awards.
Getting started
Erin Stead remembers : "In school, art class was my favorite class. I picked the high school I attended because it had a really nice art room."
She said her parents were very encouraging. She also has an older sister and an older brother. "I had a lot of people who believed in me more than I did."
While she was in college studying art, she worked at a bookstore in New York City. She later was an assistant at a children's book publishing company, learning to become a designer.
Her husband, Philip Stead, is also a children's book illustrator and writer. When he got a book deal, she quit her job to illustrate full-time.
Her workspace
Erin and Philip work in the same room. They used to be in such a small space that their desks were right next to eaach other. they have recently moved to a larger apartment, so now they have bigger desks, and there is space between them. They talk to each other constantly, she said.
Some favorites
Color: green or blue, depending on the day
Music: Motown, although she listens to many types of music
Books for kids: all the Roald Dahl books, and "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Advice for kids
"I read as many books as I could, and I looked around as much as I could. I advise kids to do the same. Go outside and take a walk."
Loving her work
"A Sick Day for Amos McGee" is the first book Erin has illustrated. Heer husband wrote the text. She is working on two others.
She says: "I never grew out of picture books. I have a really nice godmother who was a teacher, and she still gives me picture books every year."
In celebration of this week, The newspaper talked with this year's winners of the Caldecott and Newbery book awards.
Getting started
Erin Stead remembers : "In school, art class was my favorite class. I picked the high school I attended because it had a really nice art room."
She said her parents were very encouraging. She also has an older sister and an older brother. "I had a lot of people who believed in me more than I did."
While she was in college studying art, she worked at a bookstore in New York City. She later was an assistant at a children's book publishing company, learning to become a designer.
Her husband, Philip Stead, is also a children's book illustrator and writer. When he got a book deal, she quit her job to illustrate full-time.
Her workspace
Erin and Philip work in the same room. They used to be in such a small space that their desks were right next to eaach other. they have recently moved to a larger apartment, so now they have bigger desks, and there is space between them. They talk to each other constantly, she said.
Some favorites
Color: green or blue, depending on the day
Music: Motown, although she listens to many types of music
Books for kids: all the Roald Dahl books, and "Maniac Magee" by Jerry Spinelli
Advice for kids
"I read as many books as I could, and I looked around as much as I could. I advise kids to do the same. Go outside and take a walk."
Loving her work
"A Sick Day for Amos McGee" is the first book Erin has illustrated. Heer husband wrote the text. She is working on two others.
She says: "I never grew out of picture books. I have a really nice godmother who was a teacher, and she still gives me picture books every year."
Coretta Scott King Winners
Illustrator Award
Bryan Collier won this year's Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award and a Caldecott Honor Book award for "Dave the Potter: Artist, Poet, Slave."
Bryan has illustrated more than 20 books and won several awards.
He began painting when he was 15. Now he directs kids in programs in New York City for painting murals, or large paintings on walls.
Author Award
Rita Williams-Garcia won the 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award and a Newbery Honor Book award for "One Crazy Summer."
Rita began sending stories to publishers when she was 12. When she was 14, she got her first story published in Highlights magazine.
Illustrator Honor Book
Javaka Steptoe won an Honor Book award for "Jimi: Sounds Like a Rainbow: A Story of the Young Jimi Hendrix." Javaka also won the King Illustrator Award in 1998.
Author Honor Books
G. Neri is an artist and filmmaker who teaches animation to inner-city teens in Los Angeles.
"Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty" is a graphic novel about a boy trying to cope with gang violence.
Walter Dean Myers has won many awards for his books.
In "Lockdown," a boy in trouble gets a second chance while working at a senior citizens home.
Jewell Parker Rhodes teaches writing and has written several books.
In "Ninth Ward," a girl relies on help from the spirit world totry to survive Hurricane Katrina.
Meet Author Clare Vanderpool
Writing background
Clare Vanderpool graduated with a college degree in English and elemdntary education. But, she said, although she did a lot of reading for those majors, she didn't do much writing.
Her best writing education, she said, "has come from reading, listening to family stories and looking out the car window on the road."
She always enjoyed creative writing assignments in school, she said. "It's always special when your writing gets picked to be read in school."
A new career
When she was in college, Clare began working at a job in youth ministry. She worked with high school youth camps and sports, staying in that job for more than 10 years after college.
She had always dreamed of being an author, she said. "But the job I was doing required a lot of creativity, and I didn't have a lot left over to do any writing."
She quit that job when she had her first baby. She joined a writing group. She went to conferences on children's literature to learn about writing.
Her writing
Clare started writing her first book, "Moon Over Manifest," in 2001. She snatched writing time in between taking care of heer family, such as when her kids were taking naps or on Saturdays when her husband could be home.
Now heer kids are all in school, so she gets in at least four hours a day of writing. She shares the main computer with heer family, but is able to go to quiet places with her laptop.
Some favorite things
Color: green
Music: bluegrass music. "If I listen to music while I write, it can't have words, and it kind of has to serve the story."
Books for kids: "A Wrinkle in Time," by Madeleine L'Engle, "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell, the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the "Anne of Green Gables" books by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Sport: swimming
Advice to kids
"Read and write. Play. It's important for kids and adults to have a playful mind and a playful spirit. That comes through in a person's writing and allows for a certain sense of creativity. Any time the TV and computer go off, it's probably a good thing."
Clare Vanderpool graduated with a college degree in English and elemdntary education. But, she said, although she did a lot of reading for those majors, she didn't do much writing.
Her best writing education, she said, "has come from reading, listening to family stories and looking out the car window on the road."
She always enjoyed creative writing assignments in school, she said. "It's always special when your writing gets picked to be read in school."
A new career
When she was in college, Clare began working at a job in youth ministry. She worked with high school youth camps and sports, staying in that job for more than 10 years after college.
She had always dreamed of being an author, she said. "But the job I was doing required a lot of creativity, and I didn't have a lot left over to do any writing."
She quit that job when she had her first baby. She joined a writing group. She went to conferences on children's literature to learn about writing.
Her writing
Clare started writing her first book, "Moon Over Manifest," in 2001. She snatched writing time in between taking care of heer family, such as when her kids were taking naps or on Saturdays when her husband could be home.
Now heer kids are all in school, so she gets in at least four hours a day of writing. She shares the main computer with heer family, but is able to go to quiet places with her laptop.
Some favorite things
Color: green
Music: bluegrass music. "If I listen to music while I write, it can't have words, and it kind of has to serve the story."
Books for kids: "A Wrinkle in Time," by Madeleine L'Engle, "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell, the "Little House" books by Laura Ingalls Wilder and the "Anne of Green Gables" books by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Sport: swimming
Advice to kids
"Read and write. Play. It's important for kids and adults to have a playful mind and a playful spirit. That comes through in a person's writing and allows for a certain sense of creativity. Any time the TV and computer go off, it's probably a good thing."
Friday, June 22, 2012
Hummingbirds Spark the Skies
Hummingbirds were called "glittering fragments of the rainbow" by the famous bird artist John Audubon. They are the only birds in the world with so many super-bright, shiny colors.
To learn more about this tiny superstar, the newspaper talked with the founder of The Hummingbird Society, H. Ross Hawkins.
Some colored feathers
Hummingbirds get some of their colors from pigments, or chemical colors, just like most birds do. These pigments always show the same color.
For example, a blue jay is always blue, no matter how the light hits its feathers.
Feathers rainbows
But the hummingbird's brightest colors come from the way its feathers are made. Tiny layers of feathers cells break the light into brilliant colors, just as water breaks light into a rainbow.
Unless the light hits the bird just right, you can't see the bright colors at all. The bird just looks dark.
A colorful strategy
The ability to display colors when they want is a great help to hummingbirds. A male flashes his bright colors to attract a female or scare off an enemy. Even a hawk can be scared off if it sees a sudden burst of color.
Many females have white tips on their tail feathers. Althoughmost females are not as brightly colored as males, they often flash their white-tipped tail feathers to scare off enemies.
To learn more about this tiny superstar, the newspaper talked with the founder of The Hummingbird Society, H. Ross Hawkins.
Some colored feathers
Hummingbirds get some of their colors from pigments, or chemical colors, just like most birds do. These pigments always show the same color.
For example, a blue jay is always blue, no matter how the light hits its feathers.
Feathers rainbows
But the hummingbird's brightest colors come from the way its feathers are made. Tiny layers of feathers cells break the light into brilliant colors, just as water breaks light into a rainbow.
Unless the light hits the bird just right, you can't see the bright colors at all. The bird just looks dark.
A colorful strategy
The ability to display colors when they want is a great help to hummingbirds. A male flashes his bright colors to attract a female or scare off an enemy. Even a hawk can be scared off if it sees a sudden burst of color.
Many females have white tips on their tail feathers. Althoughmost females are not as brightly colored as males, they often flash their white-tipped tail feathers to scare off enemies.
The Tiniest Birds
Record-breaker
Hummingbirds are so tiny that one of their enemies is an insect, the praying mantis. The smallest bird on Earth is the Cuban bee hummingbird.
It is less than 2 inches long from the tip of itss beak to the tip of its tail. It weighs about 6/100ths of an ounce. You could mail 16 of these birds with one stamp!
American beauties
Hummingbirds are found only on the American continents and Caribbean islands. The areas near the equator have the most species, or types. Colombia has 153 species, the most of any country. Sixteen species nest regularly in the United States.
There are 331 known species. About one-tenth of these are endangered.
Nesting
The mother binds plants together with spiderwebs to make a tiny nest about as big as a golf ball. Spiderwebs can stretch a lot without breaking, so the nest can stretch out as the chicks get bigger.
The mother sticks bits of leaves and other matter around the nest for camouflage. She also lines the nest with plant material from her area, such as frayed cattails, dandelion fluff or cotton.
Hummingbirds are so tiny that one of their enemies is an insect, the praying mantis. The smallest bird on Earth is the Cuban bee hummingbird.
It is less than 2 inches long from the tip of itss beak to the tip of its tail. It weighs about 6/100ths of an ounce. You could mail 16 of these birds with one stamp!
American beauties
Hummingbirds are found only on the American continents and Caribbean islands. The areas near the equator have the most species, or types. Colombia has 153 species, the most of any country. Sixteen species nest regularly in the United States.
There are 331 known species. About one-tenth of these are endangered.
Nesting
The mother binds plants together with spiderwebs to make a tiny nest about as big as a golf ball. Spiderwebs can stretch a lot without breaking, so the nest can stretch out as the chicks get bigger.
The mother sticks bits of leaves and other matter around the nest for camouflage. She also lines the nest with plant material from her area, such as frayed cattails, dandelion fluff or cotton.
Bird Champions
Fantastic fliers
Hummingbirds get their name from the hum coming from the superfast beat of their wings. The smallest ones beat their wings the fastest, up to 80 times per second. Even the slower beat of bigger birds, 20 times per second, is so fast that people see only a blur.
A hummingbird's flight muscles make up about one-third of its weight, a bigger amount than in any other bird. They are ;the only birds that can fly backward, upside down or sideways for more than a few seconds.
They are so good at flying that most don't ever walk. They use their feet only to perch. Even when they are just changing position on a branch, they fly.
Finding food
Hummingbirds are so active that they need to eat at least every 30 minutes when they're not sleeping.
They eat some insects, but their main food is nectar from flowers or trees. Water makes upabout three-fourths of nectar. Sucrose, or ordinary table sugar, makes up the rest.
They need to eat twice their body weight in nectar every day. To get enough nectar, they must feed from hundreds of flowers.
During the night, or when there is not enough food, they can go into a kind of hibernation.
If humans moved as much as hummingbirds, an 85-pound child would need to eat 1,481 Oreo cookies, or drink 538 12-ounce non-diet soft drinks, every single day.
Attracting hummingbirds
You can help hummingbirds and give yourselves a treat by putting out feeders or planting the right flowers.
Hummingbirds favorite flowers are red, red-orange or pink. Feeders often have red decorations, because hummingbirds know red means food.
Do not put red ;food coloring in the feeder nectar because this could harm the birds.
Nectar recipe
To make nectar, all you need are four parts of water and one part of white table sugar. For example, mix 4 cups water with 1 cup sugar.
Never put anything else in the nectar. Do NOT put honey in it. Honey can cause a hummingbird's tongue to swell, so the bird can't eat.
Hummingbirds get their name from the hum coming from the superfast beat of their wings. The smallest ones beat their wings the fastest, up to 80 times per second. Even the slower beat of bigger birds, 20 times per second, is so fast that people see only a blur.
A hummingbird's flight muscles make up about one-third of its weight, a bigger amount than in any other bird. They are ;the only birds that can fly backward, upside down or sideways for more than a few seconds.
They are so good at flying that most don't ever walk. They use their feet only to perch. Even when they are just changing position on a branch, they fly.
Finding food
Hummingbirds are so active that they need to eat at least every 30 minutes when they're not sleeping.
They eat some insects, but their main food is nectar from flowers or trees. Water makes upabout three-fourths of nectar. Sucrose, or ordinary table sugar, makes up the rest.
They need to eat twice their body weight in nectar every day. To get enough nectar, they must feed from hundreds of flowers.
During the night, or when there is not enough food, they can go into a kind of hibernation.
If humans moved as much as hummingbirds, an 85-pound child would need to eat 1,481 Oreo cookies, or drink 538 12-ounce non-diet soft drinks, every single day.
Attracting hummingbirds
You can help hummingbirds and give yourselves a treat by putting out feeders or planting the right flowers.
Hummingbirds favorite flowers are red, red-orange or pink. Feeders often have red decorations, because hummingbirds know red means food.
Do not put red ;food coloring in the feeder nectar because this could harm the birds.
Nectar recipe
To make nectar, all you need are four parts of water and one part of white table sugar. For example, mix 4 cups water with 1 cup sugar.
Never put anything else in the nectar. Do NOT put honey in it. Honey can cause a hummingbird's tongue to swell, so the bird can't eat.
A New Memorial
Have you ever visited the Mall in Washington, D.C.? This famous area in our nation's capital is home to many museums of the Smithsonian Institution, the Capitol building, and monuments and memorials to our country's founding fathers and veterans of our wars.
On Sunday, Aug. 28, a new memorial will be dedicated and opened to the public. It will honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the values that he showed when leading our country in the fight for civil, or citizens, rights.
This week, the newspaper learns more about Dr. King and the new tribute to him.
Monument or memorial?
What's the difference between a monument and a memorial? According to one expert, a monument is a remembrance of someone or something important. A memorial honors a person or subject by helping people today and in the future learn more about it.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is intended to be a living memorial that shares his ideas with many geneerations to come.
From idea to final product, memorials take time
There are many steps involved in building a new memorial in Washington. Work to build Dr. King's memorial began 15 years ago.
The U.S. House and Senate passed resolutions in 1996 authorizing a memorial to Dr.King. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the resolution.
Next, a site had to be found and secured for the memorial. Finally, a competition was held for the memorial design. More than 900 entries were received from 52 countries.
On Sunday, Aug. 28, a new memorial will be dedicated and opened to the public. It will honor Martin Luther King Jr. and the values that he showed when leading our country in the fight for civil, or citizens, rights.
This week, the newspaper learns more about Dr. King and the new tribute to him.
Monument or memorial?
What's the difference between a monument and a memorial? According to one expert, a monument is a remembrance of someone or something important. A memorial honors a person or subject by helping people today and in the future learn more about it.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial is intended to be a living memorial that shares his ideas with many geneerations to come.
From idea to final product, memorials take time
There are many steps involved in building a new memorial in Washington. Work to build Dr. King's memorial began 15 years ago.
The U.S. House and Senate passed resolutions in 1996 authorizing a memorial to Dr.King. In 1998, President Bill Clinton signed the resolution.
Next, a site had to be found and secured for the memorial. Finally, a competition was held for the memorial design. More than 900 entries were received from 52 countries.
Who was Dr. King?
A civil rights leader
Martin Luther King Jr. led America's struggle for equal rights for people of allraces during the 1950s and 60s.
Across the country, black people were joining in the fight for their civil rights. Dr. King, a prominent preacher, started a group to help organize and support protests against discrimination, or unfairness. Dr. King wanted the protests to be peaceful, but that was not always possible. He was known for his strong belief in non-violence.
Dr. King was assassinated, or murdered, on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. He was only 39 years old when he died.
A famous speech
After some large and sometimes violent events in Southern cities, President John F. Kennedy presented a bill to Congress that would make discrimination illegal. Dr. King and his supporters organized a March on Washington in August 1963, hoping to convince Congress to pass the bill.
The act made it illegal to discriminate against people in public places based on their race. It also called for equal chances for jobs and education.
At the March on Washington, more than 250,000 people gathered to support civil rights and listen to Dr. King speak.
Martin Luther King Jr. led America's struggle for equal rights for people of allraces during the 1950s and 60s.
Across the country, black people were joining in the fight for their civil rights. Dr. King, a prominent preacher, started a group to help organize and support protests against discrimination, or unfairness. Dr. King wanted the protests to be peaceful, but that was not always possible. He was known for his strong belief in non-violence.
Dr. King was assassinated, or murdered, on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. He was only 39 years old when he died.
A famous speech
After some large and sometimes violent events in Southern cities, President John F. Kennedy presented a bill to Congress that would make discrimination illegal. Dr. King and his supporters organized a March on Washington in August 1963, hoping to convince Congress to pass the bill.
The act made it illegal to discriminate against people in public places based on their race. It also called for equal chances for jobs and education.
At the March on Washington, more than 250,000 people gathered to support civil rights and listen to Dr. King speak.
Building a Memorial
The winning design
The architect of the memorial told the newspaper that the design was very important. "The design had to give us the opportunity to capture the words of Dr. King on a vertical, flat surface," he said.
The builders used granite (GRAN-it) to make the memorial. This design and strong stone will last many years.
The design also includes water and plants, including blossoming cherry and American elm trees. Vistors will hear and see a waterfall next to the long wall with Dr. King's quotations. The wall is made of green granite, which blends with the natural landscape.
Four themes
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial highlights four themes from Dr. King's massages: democracy, justice, hope and love. We have included a few of Dr. King's quotes from the memorial that talk about these values.
From despair, hope
One of the main elements of the design is the Mountain of Despair, a large stone cut in half with space to walk through. This part of the design symbolizes the struggle of the civil rights movement.
The centerpiece of the memorial is the Stone of Hope, which features a 30-foot-tall carving of Dr. King.
A place in History
On Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He was also a great admirer of President Thomas Jefferson. His new memorial lies in a straight line between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.
Dedicating the site
Before the official dedication of the new memorial on Sunday, Aug. 28, other events will honor leaders from the civil rights movement, some of whom were victims of violence during the struggle for equality for African-Americans. Kids will be able to participate in events in Washington to learn more about the memorial.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech to open the memorial.
How did Kids help?
The kids for King Education Initative is a program that took place in schools all over the country. Kids could write an essay, create a piece of art or produce a short video about Dr. King's ideals. Winners visited Washington and the memorial site.
Kids and families also raised money through ice cream socials and coin drives. These funds helped build the memorial.
The architect of the memorial told the newspaper that the design was very important. "The design had to give us the opportunity to capture the words of Dr. King on a vertical, flat surface," he said.
The builders used granite (GRAN-it) to make the memorial. This design and strong stone will last many years.
The design also includes water and plants, including blossoming cherry and American elm trees. Vistors will hear and see a waterfall next to the long wall with Dr. King's quotations. The wall is made of green granite, which blends with the natural landscape.
Four themes
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial highlights four themes from Dr. King's massages: democracy, justice, hope and love. We have included a few of Dr. King's quotes from the memorial that talk about these values.
From despair, hope
One of the main elements of the design is the Mountain of Despair, a large stone cut in half with space to walk through. This part of the design symbolizes the struggle of the civil rights movement.
The centerpiece of the memorial is the Stone of Hope, which features a 30-foot-tall carving of Dr. King.
A place in History
On Aug. 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He was also a great admirer of President Thomas Jefferson. His new memorial lies in a straight line between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial.
Dedicating the site
Before the official dedication of the new memorial on Sunday, Aug. 28, other events will honor leaders from the civil rights movement, some of whom were victims of violence during the struggle for equality for African-Americans. Kids will be able to participate in events in Washington to learn more about the memorial.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to deliver a speech to open the memorial.
How did Kids help?
The kids for King Education Initative is a program that took place in schools all over the country. Kids could write an essay, create a piece of art or produce a short video about Dr. King's ideals. Winners visited Washington and the memorial site.
Kids and families also raised money through ice cream socials and coin drives. These funds helped build the memorial.
Spaniards stomp their heels at bailed-out bankers
A flamenco troupe bursts into a bank branch in Seville in southern Spain, lampooning bankers in dance and song. Further north, in Galicia, 50 men dressed in prison garb march into a bank shouting slogans against costly state bailouts for lenders.
In Barcelona and Madrid, a growing organization of elderly protesters stage regular "occupations" of bank branches, wearing reflective vests and carrying signs decrying the bailouts.
The deepening economic crisis has prompted creative protests among Spaniards frustrated at budget cuts in schools and hospitals at the same time as banks that lent recklessly during a building boom line up for 100 billion euros ($126.06 billion)in European aid.
YouTube videos of the flamenco protests are all the rage and Spaniards circulate a growing flow of e-mail jokes and spoofs to try to alleviate grim expectations that they will be the next European country to need a full international rescue package.
The most frequent protest target is Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks, which was taken over by the state in May in the most costly bank bailout in Spanish history, estimated at some 23.5 billion euros.
Meanwhile the government has cut 45 billion euros out of its budget this year, hiking taxes, slashing public spending and forcing cuts in the treasured public health and education system.
"The workers are going to have to pay for this bailout since the banks are clearly not going to. It's pillaging, is what it is," said Anxo Noceda, a local union head in the town of Vigo who helped organize the "prison-break" protest at a Bankia branch in the northern region of Galicia.
During the protest the "prisoners" chanted "it's not a lack of money but an excess of thieves." Spain's banks, many run by politicians, ended up with 300 billion euros in exposure to the over-heated real estate sector, much of which has soured.
With the economy in its second recession since 2009 and one in four Spanish workers out of a job, mostly peaceful marches and mass demonstrations in cities have become common.
Bankia and its former executives and board members - including politicians from the ruling People's Party - are now the target of a judicial investigation into allegations of fraud around its launch last year on the stock exchange.
GRANDPARENTS ON THE MARCH
"We want to add a bit of color to Spanish politics," said Ovidio Bustillo, an activist with the over-60s protest group called "yayoflautas," a name combining an affectionate word for grandfather and a derogatory term for street people.
"Democracy in Spain needs a deep clean," said Bustillo. The yayoflautas, with about 300 members in their base in Catalonia and more around the country, some of them veterans of protests against the 1939 to 1975 Franco dictatorship, began occupying banks in October.
On Friday the yayoflautas, who have 14,000 followers on Twitter, occupied branches of Deutsche Bank across Spain and the German consulate in Barcelona to protest what they see as Germany's imposition of austerity measures in southern Europe.
"Today all the yayoflautas have occupied part of German land, the bankers' bit," the group said on Twitter.
The protesters, whose oldest member is 84, benefit from a lighter hand from the police when they take to the streets.
"We're usually surrounded by media and it's different if the police get a bit rough with a 20-year-old lad and if they do that to someone with white hair," said Maria Dulce Alonso, a yayoflauta from Madrid.
Celestino Sanchez, 62, one of the original 17 yayoflautas, said the group is not afraid of the authorities."What can they do? Send us to jail? I've already been, many of us have been in jail," he said, referring to the history of protests in the Franco era.
FOOT-STOMPING LAMPOONS
"You've changed, my friend, since you came in to money. I need two jobs to pay my mortgage," wails a middle-aged flamenco cantaor in jeans and sunglasses to an audience of bemused clients and staff in a Bankia branch in Seville.
A video of the protest (http://link.reuters.com/jex88s) shows a growing group of flamenco dancers join the singer. Dressed in long black dresses they stomp out their frustrations on the bank's stone floor.
"You get in trouble and I get thrown out in the street," the singer continues, referring to rising numbers of evictions of mortgage defaulters in Spain.
The protest was staged by the FLO6x8 flamenco group, whose slogan is "body vs capital."
Bankia may be a favorite protest target, but it is by no means the only one.
Other videos show the Rumba Rave, a seemingly spontaneous dance number by more than two dozen people in a branch of Santander bank, or "Ninja Girl," who tears open a purse full of pennies over her head and struts defiantly in the faces of confused-looking bank clerks.
As middle-class and less-well-off Spaniards see their quality of life declining, the government has struggled to get across its argument that aid for banks is being done through loans or temporary equity stakes and will be returned.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, has seen its sovereign borrowing costs soar as investors shy away from a growing perceived risk of non-payment.
With news bulletins on all channels leading with talk of debt spreads and other once-obscure corners of the financial sector, another viral video pokes fun at the growing national obsession with the bond market.
The short film (http://link.reuters.com/pex88s) shows three Andalusian housewives debating derivative trades and monetary mass.
"What we need is quantitative easing to mitigate the recession," one of the women's neighbors adds to the debate from her rooftop terrace as she adjusts her apron.
Her friend gives a Spanish shrug of derision and waggles a bread stick in the air. "You're mad!" she snorts. "The inflation process is sky rocketing. What do I do with my savings? Eat them?" ($1 = 0.7873 euros)
In Barcelona and Madrid, a growing organization of elderly protesters stage regular "occupations" of bank branches, wearing reflective vests and carrying signs decrying the bailouts.
The deepening economic crisis has prompted creative protests among Spaniards frustrated at budget cuts in schools and hospitals at the same time as banks that lent recklessly during a building boom line up for 100 billion euros ($126.06 billion)in European aid.
YouTube videos of the flamenco protests are all the rage and Spaniards circulate a growing flow of e-mail jokes and spoofs to try to alleviate grim expectations that they will be the next European country to need a full international rescue package.
The most frequent protest target is Bankia, one of Spain's biggest banks, which was taken over by the state in May in the most costly bank bailout in Spanish history, estimated at some 23.5 billion euros.
Meanwhile the government has cut 45 billion euros out of its budget this year, hiking taxes, slashing public spending and forcing cuts in the treasured public health and education system.
"The workers are going to have to pay for this bailout since the banks are clearly not going to. It's pillaging, is what it is," said Anxo Noceda, a local union head in the town of Vigo who helped organize the "prison-break" protest at a Bankia branch in the northern region of Galicia.
During the protest the "prisoners" chanted "it's not a lack of money but an excess of thieves." Spain's banks, many run by politicians, ended up with 300 billion euros in exposure to the over-heated real estate sector, much of which has soured.
With the economy in its second recession since 2009 and one in four Spanish workers out of a job, mostly peaceful marches and mass demonstrations in cities have become common.
Bankia and its former executives and board members - including politicians from the ruling People's Party - are now the target of a judicial investigation into allegations of fraud around its launch last year on the stock exchange.
GRANDPARENTS ON THE MARCH
"We want to add a bit of color to Spanish politics," said Ovidio Bustillo, an activist with the over-60s protest group called "yayoflautas," a name combining an affectionate word for grandfather and a derogatory term for street people.
"Democracy in Spain needs a deep clean," said Bustillo. The yayoflautas, with about 300 members in their base in Catalonia and more around the country, some of them veterans of protests against the 1939 to 1975 Franco dictatorship, began occupying banks in October.
On Friday the yayoflautas, who have 14,000 followers on Twitter, occupied branches of Deutsche Bank across Spain and the German consulate in Barcelona to protest what they see as Germany's imposition of austerity measures in southern Europe.
"Today all the yayoflautas have occupied part of German land, the bankers' bit," the group said on Twitter.
The protesters, whose oldest member is 84, benefit from a lighter hand from the police when they take to the streets.
"We're usually surrounded by media and it's different if the police get a bit rough with a 20-year-old lad and if they do that to someone with white hair," said Maria Dulce Alonso, a yayoflauta from Madrid.
Celestino Sanchez, 62, one of the original 17 yayoflautas, said the group is not afraid of the authorities."What can they do? Send us to jail? I've already been, many of us have been in jail," he said, referring to the history of protests in the Franco era.
FOOT-STOMPING LAMPOONS
"You've changed, my friend, since you came in to money. I need two jobs to pay my mortgage," wails a middle-aged flamenco cantaor in jeans and sunglasses to an audience of bemused clients and staff in a Bankia branch in Seville.
A video of the protest (http://link.reuters.com/jex88s) shows a growing group of flamenco dancers join the singer. Dressed in long black dresses they stomp out their frustrations on the bank's stone floor.
"You get in trouble and I get thrown out in the street," the singer continues, referring to rising numbers of evictions of mortgage defaulters in Spain.
The protest was staged by the FLO6x8 flamenco group, whose slogan is "body vs capital."
Bankia may be a favorite protest target, but it is by no means the only one.
Other videos show the Rumba Rave, a seemingly spontaneous dance number by more than two dozen people in a branch of Santander bank, or "Ninja Girl," who tears open a purse full of pennies over her head and struts defiantly in the faces of confused-looking bank clerks.
As middle-class and less-well-off Spaniards see their quality of life declining, the government has struggled to get across its argument that aid for banks is being done through loans or temporary equity stakes and will be returned.
Spain, the euro zone's fourth largest economy, has seen its sovereign borrowing costs soar as investors shy away from a growing perceived risk of non-payment.
With news bulletins on all channels leading with talk of debt spreads and other once-obscure corners of the financial sector, another viral video pokes fun at the growing national obsession with the bond market.
The short film (http://link.reuters.com/pex88s) shows three Andalusian housewives debating derivative trades and monetary mass.
"What we need is quantitative easing to mitigate the recession," one of the women's neighbors adds to the debate from her rooftop terrace as she adjusts her apron.
Her friend gives a Spanish shrug of derision and waggles a bread stick in the air. "You're mad!" she snorts. "The inflation process is sky rocketing. What do I do with my savings? Eat them?" ($1 = 0.7873 euros)
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Working for the American Dream
Have you worked with family, friends or neighbors for a common goal? Americans in the 1800s worked together to make their dreams of freedom and equality succeed.
By the 1820s, Americans had defeated the powerful British empire in two wars. They were just beginning to realize how rich in resources their new country was. Everything seemed possible.
They believed it was their duty to work for the American dream. Art and invention blossomed. Even the terrible things, such as the Civil War, came about because people believed in the right to be free.
To learn more about this can-do spirit, The newspaper talked with the curator, or person in charge, of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, "The Great American Hall of Wonders." It will be at this museum in Washington, D.C., until Jan. 8, 2012.
Working for democracy
People in the United States believed knowledge was the key to keeping democracy strong. Most people could read. This was very unusual. In the rest of the world, few people could read.
Americans threw themselves into learning ----- reading and going to classes and lectures. They also made their own discoveries, art and inventions.
Exciting Ideas
In the 1800s, American imagination was sparked by six big things. Three of these stirred up people's belief that America's natural resources were nearly without end. These were:
By the 1820s, Americans had defeated the powerful British empire in two wars. They were just beginning to realize how rich in resources their new country was. Everything seemed possible.
They believed it was their duty to work for the American dream. Art and invention blossomed. Even the terrible things, such as the Civil War, came about because people believed in the right to be free.
To learn more about this can-do spirit, The newspaper talked with the curator, or person in charge, of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, "The Great American Hall of Wonders." It will be at this museum in Washington, D.C., until Jan. 8, 2012.
Working for democracy
People in the United States believed knowledge was the key to keeping democracy strong. Most people could read. This was very unusual. In the rest of the world, few people could read.
Americans threw themselves into learning ----- reading and going to classes and lectures. They also made their own discoveries, art and inventions.
Exciting Ideas
In the 1800s, American imagination was sparked by six big things. Three of these stirred up people's belief that America's natural resources were nearly without end. These were:
- the buffalo
- Niagara Falls
- the giant sequoia (si-KWO-uh) tree
- the clock
- the gun
- the railroad
Seeds of Imagination
The Buffalo
Europeans claimed that Americn wildlife was sparse compared to what was on other continents. Americans thought the bison was proof that America was a great land. Buffalo herds covered the land for miles and miles.
Many people thought it was good to wipe out or remove the buffalo so new Americans could have the land. A hunter might kill 150 to 200 buffalo in a week. When he sold their hides, he would earn $10 to $20 a day, which was more than most people earned at regular jobs.
The railroad companies set up buffalo hunts where sports hunters could shoot from the trains.
People began to protest the killing of the buffalo. But they were too late. Within about 60 years, Americans had wiped out the giant herds. Only a few hundred buffalo were left.
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls was seen as a symbol of power and beauty. It was also a symbol of freedom.
Escaping slaves had to cross a dangerous bridge across the falls to reach Canada. Sometimes the bridge seemed scarier than staying in the United States. Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman is said to have made people cross by pointing a pistol at them.
The Giant Sequoia
In 1850, a gold prospector discovered a forest of giant redwood trees in California. A tree trunk was wider than a steamship, and the trees rose about 300 feet to the sky.
At first, no one believed the tales of these trees. But in 1862, a photographer brought pictures of them to New York. People were amazed.
The huge forests were seen as another sign that America's wealth was for all the people. In Europe, only the rich and royalty had forests.
Europeans claimed that Americn wildlife was sparse compared to what was on other continents. Americans thought the bison was proof that America was a great land. Buffalo herds covered the land for miles and miles.
Many people thought it was good to wipe out or remove the buffalo so new Americans could have the land. A hunter might kill 150 to 200 buffalo in a week. When he sold their hides, he would earn $10 to $20 a day, which was more than most people earned at regular jobs.
The railroad companies set up buffalo hunts where sports hunters could shoot from the trains.
People began to protest the killing of the buffalo. But they were too late. Within about 60 years, Americans had wiped out the giant herds. Only a few hundred buffalo were left.
Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls was seen as a symbol of power and beauty. It was also a symbol of freedom.
Escaping slaves had to cross a dangerous bridge across the falls to reach Canada. Sometimes the bridge seemed scarier than staying in the United States. Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman is said to have made people cross by pointing a pistol at them.
The Giant Sequoia
In 1850, a gold prospector discovered a forest of giant redwood trees in California. A tree trunk was wider than a steamship, and the trees rose about 300 feet to the sky.
At first, no one believed the tales of these trees. But in 1862, a photographer brought pictures of them to New York. People were amazed.
The huge forests were seen as another sign that America's wealth was for all the people. In Europe, only the rich and royalty had forests.
Seeds of Invention
Making a better life
In Europe, the ordinary person had no way to gain a better life. Peasants would always be peasants, and their kids would always be peasants.
Regular people did not even think they had a right to take the place of their "betters".
America changed this. For the first time, ordinary people had a chance to make better lives for themselves and their children. They believed they could become anything they wanted to be ---- an artist, a landowner, an inventor.
The Clock
The clock became a symbol of the new country. Most citizens worked hsard many hours of the day to improve the country and their lives.
Clockmakers in the early 1800s made every clock by hand. They were expensive. But then, a group of Connecticut clockmakers began making the same, or standard, parts for every clock.
In the early 19th century, U.S. weapons makers had begun using standard parts to make guns, a process called mass production. When the clockmakers borrowed this idea, they were able to make clocks affordable for everyone.
The Gun
The gun became a symbol of many victories: winning independence, hunting wildlife and taming the Wild West. But many people in the 1800s worried about growing gun violence.
Because of the new mass production techniques, arms manufacturers were able to make record numbers of guns during the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, they were making about 30,000 small arms a year. By the end of the war, they were making more than 700,000 a year.
The Train
Although the steam locomotive was invented in England, American inventors improved on it. They made trains that could travel up mountains and reach record speeds of 60 to 80 miles per hour.
Railroads
In the middle of the Civil War, the U.S. Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act to help railroad companies link the country by train.
In 1869, a track from Omaha, Neb., going west was joined with a track going east from California. The ease of traveling across the great distances of the U.S. changed the country.
Before trains, even travel between cities was hard. Carriages had to cross 2-foot-deep ruts. They got stuck in the mud. Many roads were so rough that passengers were tossed around the carriage for days. Many threw up or suffered broken bones.
Solving Problems
We have inherited the 19th-century experiments that worked and those that didn't. But one of the best things we can learn from the people of the 1800s is that everything is possible withwork and creativity.
People in the 1800s faced big problems, just as we do today. But they saw this as a challenge. Americans worked together to solve problems.
In Europe, the ordinary person had no way to gain a better life. Peasants would always be peasants, and their kids would always be peasants.
Regular people did not even think they had a right to take the place of their "betters".
America changed this. For the first time, ordinary people had a chance to make better lives for themselves and their children. They believed they could become anything they wanted to be ---- an artist, a landowner, an inventor.
The Clock
The clock became a symbol of the new country. Most citizens worked hsard many hours of the day to improve the country and their lives.
Clockmakers in the early 1800s made every clock by hand. They were expensive. But then, a group of Connecticut clockmakers began making the same, or standard, parts for every clock.
In the early 19th century, U.S. weapons makers had begun using standard parts to make guns, a process called mass production. When the clockmakers borrowed this idea, they were able to make clocks affordable for everyone.
The Gun
The gun became a symbol of many victories: winning independence, hunting wildlife and taming the Wild West. But many people in the 1800s worried about growing gun violence.
Because of the new mass production techniques, arms manufacturers were able to make record numbers of guns during the Civil War. At the beginning of the war, they were making about 30,000 small arms a year. By the end of the war, they were making more than 700,000 a year.
The Train
Although the steam locomotive was invented in England, American inventors improved on it. They made trains that could travel up mountains and reach record speeds of 60 to 80 miles per hour.
Railroads
In the middle of the Civil War, the U.S. Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act to help railroad companies link the country by train.
In 1869, a track from Omaha, Neb., going west was joined with a track going east from California. The ease of traveling across the great distances of the U.S. changed the country.
Before trains, even travel between cities was hard. Carriages had to cross 2-foot-deep ruts. They got stuck in the mud. Many roads were so rough that passengers were tossed around the carriage for days. Many threw up or suffered broken bones.
Solving Problems
We have inherited the 19th-century experiments that worked and those that didn't. But one of the best things we can learn from the people of the 1800s is that everything is possible withwork and creativity.
People in the 1800s faced big problems, just as we do today. But they saw this as a challenge. Americans worked together to solve problems.
Same-sex couple wed to mark comic book superhero marriage
A same-sex couple tied the knot at a comic-book store in New York on Wednesday to celebrate the first gay nuptials in the superhero world in a new edition from Marvel Comics.
Midtown Comics delayed the opening of its downtown store for the wedding of Scott Everhart, a healthcare site manager from Columbus, Ohio, and 33-year-old architect Jason Welker.
The real-life nuptials, complete with a band, balloons and decorations, coincided with the comic-book union of Jean-Paul Beaubier, aka Northstar, who can move and fly at superhuman speed, and his long-term partner, Kyle, in the series Astonishing X-Men #51.
The comic-book characters have been a couple since 2009.
"For us, just personally, this was a fun way to do it," said Everhart, 39, who added that comic books have played a large part in his relationship with Welker.
"I have read comics since I was 18," he explained. "When Jason and I met, one of our first dates was to one of our local comic-book shops to see what he thought of that world, since I am invested in reading and collecting comics."
The real and comic-book marriages mark the one-year anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage in New York. They also follow President Barack Obama's announcement pledging support for gay marriage.
An estimated 63,000 gay and lesbian couples are expected to marry in New York within the first three years of the law passing.
Everhart and Welker had talked about marriage for some time and decided to take the plunge after seeing a post online looking for couples to take part in the event with Marvel Comics.
The couple also wanted to send a message to gay and lesbian young people across the United States.
"To me it showed the youth that there are people out there like them, maybe in a small town, that those kids could identify with, not only us but with the comic-book characters," said Everhart during his first visit to New York.
"The X-Men world, that universe that Marvel has created, shows all types, whether they are gay, straight or bisexual, whatever their color or their orientation."
Earlier this year, for the first time, two same-sex couples were married on Valentine's Day on the top of the Empire State Building.
Everhart and Welker celebrated after the ceremony at a New York hotel. Same-sex marriages are expected to generate an estimated $284 million annually for the state economy, according to an Independent Democratic Conference report.
Midtown Comics delayed the opening of its downtown store for the wedding of Scott Everhart, a healthcare site manager from Columbus, Ohio, and 33-year-old architect Jason Welker.
The real-life nuptials, complete with a band, balloons and decorations, coincided with the comic-book union of Jean-Paul Beaubier, aka Northstar, who can move and fly at superhuman speed, and his long-term partner, Kyle, in the series Astonishing X-Men #51.
The comic-book characters have been a couple since 2009.
"For us, just personally, this was a fun way to do it," said Everhart, 39, who added that comic books have played a large part in his relationship with Welker.
"I have read comics since I was 18," he explained. "When Jason and I met, one of our first dates was to one of our local comic-book shops to see what he thought of that world, since I am invested in reading and collecting comics."
The real and comic-book marriages mark the one-year anniversary of the legalization of gay marriage in New York. They also follow President Barack Obama's announcement pledging support for gay marriage.
An estimated 63,000 gay and lesbian couples are expected to marry in New York within the first three years of the law passing.
Everhart and Welker had talked about marriage for some time and decided to take the plunge after seeing a post online looking for couples to take part in the event with Marvel Comics.
The couple also wanted to send a message to gay and lesbian young people across the United States.
"To me it showed the youth that there are people out there like them, maybe in a small town, that those kids could identify with, not only us but with the comic-book characters," said Everhart during his first visit to New York.
"The X-Men world, that universe that Marvel has created, shows all types, whether they are gay, straight or bisexual, whatever their color or their orientation."
Earlier this year, for the first time, two same-sex couples were married on Valentine's Day on the top of the Empire State Building.
Everhart and Welker celebrated after the ceremony at a New York hotel. Same-sex marriages are expected to generate an estimated $284 million annually for the state economy, according to an Independent Democratic Conference report.
Norway men asked to don condoms for "Sex Hour"
A Norwegian sexual health charity has asked the men of the country to don condoms for a "sex hour" on Thursday evening to raise public awareness about safe-sex.
Non-profit sex education organization RFSU would like Norwegian men to tear themselves away from the television coverage of the Euro 2012 soccer quarter final game between Czech Republic and Portugal for an hour of prophylactic-protected pleasure with a willing partner starting at 1900 GMT.
The campaign is a result of a study which found that Norwegians were the most sexually active Scandinavians, while at the same time using the least protection, exposing themselves to sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia in particular.
"Our motto is sex is good, sex improves your health," RFSU sexologist Sidsel Kloeew said. "This is meant to be this year's most pleasant hour in Norway."
According to the study, 62 percent of Norwegians between the age of 20-35 years did not use a condom the last time they had casual sex. Norway has 20,000 cases of chlamydia every year.
Kloeew said it was important to always be prepared on the longest day of the year, when the sun was shining and casual sex encounters were more likely.
"The guys should take this as a challenge."
Non-profit sex education organization RFSU would like Norwegian men to tear themselves away from the television coverage of the Euro 2012 soccer quarter final game between Czech Republic and Portugal for an hour of prophylactic-protected pleasure with a willing partner starting at 1900 GMT.
The campaign is a result of a study which found that Norwegians were the most sexually active Scandinavians, while at the same time using the least protection, exposing themselves to sexually transmitted diseases, Chlamydia in particular.
"Our motto is sex is good, sex improves your health," RFSU sexologist Sidsel Kloeew said. "This is meant to be this year's most pleasant hour in Norway."
According to the study, 62 percent of Norwegians between the age of 20-35 years did not use a condom the last time they had casual sex. Norway has 20,000 cases of chlamydia every year.
Kloeew said it was important to always be prepared on the longest day of the year, when the sun was shining and casual sex encounters were more likely.
"The guys should take this as a challenge."
World's largest lasagne marks Italy visit
A Polish restaurant in Krakow has set a Guinness World Record for cooking the biggest ever lasagne in honor of the Italy soccer team staying nearby.
Italy are in Poland for the 2012 European soccer Championship and have reached the quarter-finals.
The lasagne weighed in at more than 4.8 metric tons (5.29 tons) and took 10 hours to bake before being sliced into 10,000 portions.
"I don't know about the players or if they will try the lasagne because they are on a diet, but they can try just a little bit," Trattoria Giancarlo executive chef Giancarlo Russo told reporters.
Italy are in Poland for the 2012 European soccer Championship and have reached the quarter-finals.
The lasagne weighed in at more than 4.8 metric tons (5.29 tons) and took 10 hours to bake before being sliced into 10,000 portions.
"I don't know about the players or if they will try the lasagne because they are on a diet, but they can try just a little bit," Trattoria Giancarlo executive chef Giancarlo Russo told reporters.
U.S. close to seizing disputed dinosaur skeleton
U.S. authorities said they expect this week to seize a 70-million-year-old dinosaur skeleton that was discovered in Mongolia more 65 years ago and now is stored in New York and at the center of an international legal dispute.
A federal judge in New York has signed a warrant that allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to seize the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar - an Asian cousin of the North American Tyrannosaurus rex - from Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
"We should have it by the end of the week," said Luis Martinez, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The seizure will be a "major step forward" for the government of Mongolia, which is claiming sovereign ownership and seeking the skeleton's return, said Robert Painter, a Houston attorney who represents Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia.
The skeleton - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 24 feet (7.3m) long - has been stored in crates in New York City since Heritage sold it at auction to an unidentified buyer for more than $1 million on May 20.
At the request of the Mongolian government, a U.S. District judge in Dallas issued a restraining order preventing the skeleton from being moved or the ownership transferred while the dispute is pending.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking the forfeiture of the nearly intact skeleton and its return to the Mongolian government.
In New York, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel on Tuesday issued an order to seize the fossil, ruling there was probable cause it was subject to forfeiture under federal laws.
"From a legal standpoint, the U.S. government's lawsuit shifts the burden of proof from Mongolia to Heritage and others who might make a claim to its ownership," Painter said.
Heritage officials have said they will continue to cooperate with authorities. They say the skeleton was legally obtained and brought to auction by a reputable consignor.
"We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones and bone fragments," Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. "We sincerely hope there is a just and fair outcome for all parties."
Federal officials said smugglers made false statements about the skeleton when it was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010. The skeleton did not originate in Britain nor was its value only $15,000 as claimed, they said.
The skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia's Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Mongolia has had laws in place since 1924 prohibiting the export of dinosaur fossils that are considered national treasures and government property.
Heritage Auctions and the Mongolian government agreed in May to jointly investigate the ownership of the skeleton. Several paleontologists examined the skeleton several weeks ago and determined it was removed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005.
A federal judge in New York has signed a warrant that allows the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to seize the skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar - an Asian cousin of the North American Tyrannosaurus rex - from Dallas-based Heritage Auctions.
"We should have it by the end of the week," said Luis Martinez, a spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The seizure will be a "major step forward" for the government of Mongolia, which is claiming sovereign ownership and seeking the skeleton's return, said Robert Painter, a Houston attorney who represents Mongolian President Elbegdorj Tsakhia.
The skeleton - 8 feet (2.4m) tall and 24 feet (7.3m) long - has been stored in crates in New York City since Heritage sold it at auction to an unidentified buyer for more than $1 million on May 20.
At the request of the Mongolian government, a U.S. District judge in Dallas issued a restraining order preventing the skeleton from being moved or the ownership transferred while the dispute is pending.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara filed a lawsuit on Monday seeking the forfeiture of the nearly intact skeleton and its return to the Mongolian government.
In New York, U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel on Tuesday issued an order to seize the fossil, ruling there was probable cause it was subject to forfeiture under federal laws.
"From a legal standpoint, the U.S. government's lawsuit shifts the burden of proof from Mongolia to Heritage and others who might make a claim to its ownership," Painter said.
Heritage officials have said they will continue to cooperate with authorities. They say the skeleton was legally obtained and brought to auction by a reputable consignor.
"We believe our consignor purchased fossils in good faith, then spent a year of his life and considerable expense identifying, restoring, mounting and preparing what had previously been a much less valuable matrix of unassembled, underlying bones and bone fragments," Jim Halperin, co-chairman of Heritage Auctions, said in a statement. "We sincerely hope there is a just and fair outcome for all parties."
Federal officials said smugglers made false statements about the skeleton when it was imported into the United States from Britain in 2010. The skeleton did not originate in Britain nor was its value only $15,000 as claimed, they said.
The skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia's Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Mongolia has had laws in place since 1924 prohibiting the export of dinosaur fossils that are considered national treasures and government property.
Heritage Auctions and the Mongolian government agreed in May to jointly investigate the ownership of the skeleton. Several paleontologists examined the skeleton several weeks ago and determined it was removed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005.
F. Y. I.
Quotable
by Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer (1936-2008)
"The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy."
State Stats
North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state.
Still on the Books
It is a crime to share your Netflix password in Tennessee.
Table Tidbits
Broccoli is only vegetable that is also a flower.
Bond Behind Bars
Jim Carrey was Tupac Shakur's favorite actor; he wrote to Tupac while he was in prison to make him laugh.
by Yves Saint Laurent, French fashion designer (1936-2008)
"The most beautiful makeup for a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy."
State Stats
North Dakota grows more sunflowers than any other state.
Still on the Books
It is a crime to share your Netflix password in Tennessee.
Table Tidbits
Broccoli is only vegetable that is also a flower.
Bond Behind Bars
Jim Carrey was Tupac Shakur's favorite actor; he wrote to Tupac while he was in prison to make him laugh.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Mexico ruling party candidate floats new vote ploy: sex
Sex sells - at least that's what the ruling party candidate is hoping as she seeks to rescue her fading chances in Mexico's upcoming presidential election.
Sitting well behind the frontrunner, Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN) has appealed to women voters to use their wiles to ensure their husbands vote on July 1.
First she urged them on her Twitter account to withhold "cuchi cuchi", or hanky panky, for a month if the husbands don't vote. Then, challenged by a disgruntled man, she upped the ante on Monday.
"Today a man wrote to me and said: Josefina, why the negative? What's the prize? Why not a month without hanky panky for those who don't come out to vote, and double rations for those who do?" the conservative, usually serious Vazquez Mota told a rally in the city of Atlixco, in the state of Puebla.
"If the woman wants to, that depends on each individual. But the thing here is we all take part (in the vote)," she added.
Support for the conservative PAN has been hurt by a mounting death toll in the government's war on drug cartels, and a failure to create enough jobs for the growing population.
Most polls place Vazquez Mota in third in the race, well over 10 points behind front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
Sitting well behind the frontrunner, Josefina Vazquez Mota of the National Action Party (PAN) has appealed to women voters to use their wiles to ensure their husbands vote on July 1.
First she urged them on her Twitter account to withhold "cuchi cuchi", or hanky panky, for a month if the husbands don't vote. Then, challenged by a disgruntled man, she upped the ante on Monday.
"Today a man wrote to me and said: Josefina, why the negative? What's the prize? Why not a month without hanky panky for those who don't come out to vote, and double rations for those who do?" the conservative, usually serious Vazquez Mota told a rally in the city of Atlixco, in the state of Puebla.
"If the woman wants to, that depends on each individual. But the thing here is we all take part (in the vote)," she added.
Support for the conservative PAN has been hurt by a mounting death toll in the government's war on drug cartels, and a failure to create enough jobs for the growing population.
Most polls place Vazquez Mota in third in the race, well over 10 points behind front-runner Enrique Pena Nieto of the opposition Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
U.S. sues to return Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia
U.S. authorities filed a lawsuit seeking to return to Mongolia a 70-million-year-old piece of its cultural heritage - fangs and all.
The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus bataar - a smaller Asian cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex - has been the subject of a months-long legal battle and is now being sought by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who announced the federal government's lawsuit on Monday.
Bharara seeks the forfeiture of the skeleton from Heritage Auctions of Texas, the auction company that sold it for more than $1 million last month to an undisclosed buyer, Bharara said in a statement. He vowed to return the skeleton to Mongolia, where it was originally "looted from the Gobi Desert."
"A piece of the country's natural history was stolen with it, and we look forward to returning it to its rightful place," Bharara said.
Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj thanked U.S. authorities for stepping into the dispute, saying in a statement "an important piece of the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people" had been recovered.
The dinosaur skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in the Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Since 1924, Mongolia has enacted laws declaring dinosaur fossils to be the property of the government, criminalizing their export.
Last month, Dallas-based Heritage Auctions agreed to help the Mongolian government investigate the ownership of the skeleton, which was auctioned in New York in May. A state district judge in Dallas granted the Mongolian government a temporary restraining order to prevent the transfer of ownership until it was determined whether it was illegally obtained from Mongolia.
On June 5, at the request of Mongolia's president, several paleontologists specializing in the species examined the skeleton and concluded it was a Tyrannosaurus bataar unearthed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005.
The skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus bataar - a smaller Asian cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex - has been the subject of a months-long legal battle and is now being sought by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who announced the federal government's lawsuit on Monday.
Bharara seeks the forfeiture of the skeleton from Heritage Auctions of Texas, the auction company that sold it for more than $1 million last month to an undisclosed buyer, Bharara said in a statement. He vowed to return the skeleton to Mongolia, where it was originally "looted from the Gobi Desert."
"A piece of the country's natural history was stolen with it, and we look forward to returning it to its rightful place," Bharara said.
Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj thanked U.S. authorities for stepping into the dispute, saying in a statement "an important piece of the cultural heritage of the Mongolian people" had been recovered.
The dinosaur skeleton was discovered in 1946 during a joint Soviet-Mongolian expedition to the Gobi Desert in the Omnogovi Province, Bharara said. Since 1924, Mongolia has enacted laws declaring dinosaur fossils to be the property of the government, criminalizing their export.
Last month, Dallas-based Heritage Auctions agreed to help the Mongolian government investigate the ownership of the skeleton, which was auctioned in New York in May. A state district judge in Dallas granted the Mongolian government a temporary restraining order to prevent the transfer of ownership until it was determined whether it was illegally obtained from Mongolia.
On June 5, at the request of Mongolia's president, several paleontologists specializing in the species examined the skeleton and concluded it was a Tyrannosaurus bataar unearthed from the western Gobi Desert in Mongolia between 1995 and 2005.
Wolves kill worker at Swedish wildlife park
A pack of wolves attacked and killed a worker in their enclosure at one of Sweden's most popular wildlife parks on Sunday, said police, who did not know what had triggered the attack on the 30-year-old woman.
"She was so badly hurt in the attack that she died of her injuries," said a police spokesman for the Ostergotland district, where the Kolmarden park is located.
"We do not know why they attacked."
Police remained on the scene to investigate the incident at the biggest wildlife park in the Nordic region, located around 150 km (93 miles) south of Stockholm.
The woman's body was recovered after rescue workers and park staff entered the enclosure, forcing the animals back while an armed park official stood by to shoot the wolves in case they attacked again, the website of Norrkoping Newspaper, the local daily, quoted a rescue official as saying.
News agency TT quoted Kolmarden zoological chief Mats Hoggren as saying there were no eyewitnesses to the attack so it was not clear exactly what had happened.
Kolmarden, founded in 1965, is one of the most popular attractions in Sweden, with more than 500,000 visitors a year.
"She was so badly hurt in the attack that she died of her injuries," said a police spokesman for the Ostergotland district, where the Kolmarden park is located.
"We do not know why they attacked."
Police remained on the scene to investigate the incident at the biggest wildlife park in the Nordic region, located around 150 km (93 miles) south of Stockholm.
The woman's body was recovered after rescue workers and park staff entered the enclosure, forcing the animals back while an armed park official stood by to shoot the wolves in case they attacked again, the website of Norrkoping Newspaper, the local daily, quoted a rescue official as saying.
News agency TT quoted Kolmarden zoological chief Mats Hoggren as saying there were no eyewitnesses to the attack so it was not clear exactly what had happened.
Kolmarden, founded in 1965, is one of the most popular attractions in Sweden, with more than 500,000 visitors a year.
Drinks bet lands Ukraine PM in trouble
It seemed a light-hearted gesture of soccer goodwill at the time, but a drinks bet Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov had with a Swedish fan at Euro 2012 has brought the wrath of the opposition down on him.
Azarov bet Swedish fan Ola Sjostedt a beer that Ukraine would beat Sweden in their opening Group D match in the tournament last Monday.
When the home team beat the Swedes 2-1, Azarov duly invited Sjostedt to sup a beer with him at government offices in Kiev.
A widely-distributed photograph showed the usually-dour white-haired prime minister smiling broadly, a Ukrainian football scarf round his neck, as he raised a pint of beer with his Swedish guest.
With political infighting in Ukraine running at a high pitch, the opposition was quick to pounce.
Leading opposition deputy Mykola Tomenko, in a statement on an opposition party website, reminded the 64-year-old Azarov that drinking alcohol - even weak alcohol - was strictly prohibited on official premises.
"It is shameful and inadmissible when the leaders of the country contradict the law and the principles of defending morality by beginning to publicize consumption of strong drink during working hours and on state premises," said Tomenko.
He said Azarov should pay a fine of 85 hryvnias ($10) - the usual level of punishment for an administrative offence - and he called on the Kiev police to take necessary action to see this was done.
Azarov bet Swedish fan Ola Sjostedt a beer that Ukraine would beat Sweden in their opening Group D match in the tournament last Monday.
When the home team beat the Swedes 2-1, Azarov duly invited Sjostedt to sup a beer with him at government offices in Kiev.
A widely-distributed photograph showed the usually-dour white-haired prime minister smiling broadly, a Ukrainian football scarf round his neck, as he raised a pint of beer with his Swedish guest.
With political infighting in Ukraine running at a high pitch, the opposition was quick to pounce.
Leading opposition deputy Mykola Tomenko, in a statement on an opposition party website, reminded the 64-year-old Azarov that drinking alcohol - even weak alcohol - was strictly prohibited on official premises.
"It is shameful and inadmissible when the leaders of the country contradict the law and the principles of defending morality by beginning to publicize consumption of strong drink during working hours and on state premises," said Tomenko.
He said Azarov should pay a fine of 85 hryvnias ($10) - the usual level of punishment for an administrative offence - and he called on the Kiev police to take necessary action to see this was done.
"Forest boy" made up story: German police
A young English-speaking male who showed up in Berlin last year saying he had lived in woods for five years with his father and knew only his first name and age has now acknowledged making up the story, German officials said on Friday.
The case made international headlines and the young male was dubbed "forest boy" when police first released his story.
"When we first saw him he told us he was called Ray and he was 17, but now we know his real name is Robin, that he is 20 and comes from the Dutch city of Hengelo", a police spokeswoman said, without giving any further details about the young male.
"We have never believed his story. He definitely didn't look like a person who had just spent five years in the forest," said the spokeswoman.
The young male turned up at Berlin's town hall on September 5 last year asking for help and telling staff he had wandered through woods with his father using maps and a compass.
He said his father had died and that he had buried him under a heap of stones. His mother had died in a car accident when he was 12, he said.
German authorities tried to find out who he was with DNA tests and by asking the international police agency Interpol if his identity matched that of any known missing person.
On Tuesday, they released a picture of "forest boy" that was published by foreign media.
"On Wednesday, Dutch police told us several people had recognized him there," said the spokeswoman.
The case made international headlines and the young male was dubbed "forest boy" when police first released his story.
"When we first saw him he told us he was called Ray and he was 17, but now we know his real name is Robin, that he is 20 and comes from the Dutch city of Hengelo", a police spokeswoman said, without giving any further details about the young male.
"We have never believed his story. He definitely didn't look like a person who had just spent five years in the forest," said the spokeswoman.
The young male turned up at Berlin's town hall on September 5 last year asking for help and telling staff he had wandered through woods with his father using maps and a compass.
He said his father had died and that he had buried him under a heap of stones. His mother had died in a car accident when he was 12, he said.
German authorities tried to find out who he was with DNA tests and by asking the international police agency Interpol if his identity matched that of any known missing person.
On Tuesday, they released a picture of "forest boy" that was published by foreign media.
"On Wednesday, Dutch police told us several people had recognized him there," said the spokeswoman.
Bulgaria backs battered Brussels with metro stop
The European Union's reputation may be taking a battering from the debt crisis, but Brussels can at least be grateful for a vote of confidence from its newest and poorest member, Bulgaria.
Sofia's city council voted to rename one of the stops on a new metro line through the capital "European Union" in a gesture of thanks for helping with financing the project.
The EU is paying more than 80 percent of the 1 billion levs ($644 million) costs for the second line of the Sofia underground, said Malina Edreva, who heads the ruling GERB party's group on the city council.
"This is the least we can do, because over 200,000 people can use it from September thanks to European solidarity and the money of EU taxpayers," Edreva said.
Councilors changed the initial plan to name the station after St. Naum, a medieval scholar who helped St. Cyril and St. Methodius spread the Cyrillic alphabet used in Bulgaria, Russia and other eastern European countries.
Bulgaria, the most obedient Soviet ally during the Communist era, has a history of renaming streets, factories, schools and even towns - in the 1950s the Black Sea city of Varna was known as Stalin in honor of the Soviet dictator.
It joined the EU in 2007 along with neighboring Romania and Brussels has made billions of euros available for infrastructure and business projects to help them catch up with their richer and more developed neighbors.
But with a Greek election this weekend that could set off more uncertainty over the euro zone's future, another Bulgarian decision echoed Europe's challenge in persuading countries to put the group ahead of national interests.
The city council rejected an attempt to rebrand another metro station "United Europe" - because it would be too hard to persuade people to switch from the old name, National Palace of Culture (NDK).
($1 = 1.5529 Bulgarian levs)
Sofia's city council voted to rename one of the stops on a new metro line through the capital "European Union" in a gesture of thanks for helping with financing the project.
The EU is paying more than 80 percent of the 1 billion levs ($644 million) costs for the second line of the Sofia underground, said Malina Edreva, who heads the ruling GERB party's group on the city council.
"This is the least we can do, because over 200,000 people can use it from September thanks to European solidarity and the money of EU taxpayers," Edreva said.
Councilors changed the initial plan to name the station after St. Naum, a medieval scholar who helped St. Cyril and St. Methodius spread the Cyrillic alphabet used in Bulgaria, Russia and other eastern European countries.
Bulgaria, the most obedient Soviet ally during the Communist era, has a history of renaming streets, factories, schools and even towns - in the 1950s the Black Sea city of Varna was known as Stalin in honor of the Soviet dictator.
It joined the EU in 2007 along with neighboring Romania and Brussels has made billions of euros available for infrastructure and business projects to help them catch up with their richer and more developed neighbors.
But with a Greek election this weekend that could set off more uncertainty over the euro zone's future, another Bulgarian decision echoed Europe's challenge in persuading countries to put the group ahead of national interests.
The city council rejected an attempt to rebrand another metro station "United Europe" - because it would be too hard to persuade people to switch from the old name, National Palace of Culture (NDK).
($1 = 1.5529 Bulgarian levs)
Arizona fights highway dust storms with haiku
Dust storms that turn day into night are a hazard to Arizona drivers. But this year, authorities are throwing down a novel literary challenge to raise awareness of the dangers.
The Arizona Department of Transportation is inviting budding poets to take to Twitter and pen haikus - a concise Japanese literary form consisting of 17 syllables - to highlight the peril from the summer storms, known as haboobs.
Writers are posting their offerings using the hashtag #haboobhaiku, highlighting the danger of attempting to drive through the roiling dust storms which can block out the sun, and cut highway visibility to zero.
"The challenge ... is really designed to raise awareness that this is a problem and that drivers shouldn't expect to sail through a dust storm," Department spokesman Timothy Tait told Reuters.
"They need to think about it when they see that dust forming on the horizon," he added.
Contributions so far range from the literary: 'I don't yet know you - Curious but fearful, haboob - I will break for you' to the slapstick - 'world turns brown with dust / can't see red taillights ahead / until--oh crap! Oops.'
Haboobs frequently occur during the rainy season known as the monsoon southwest United States. Last July, a historic storm measuring more than 40 miles across rolled over the Phoenix valley, disrupting flights and bringing traffic to a standstill.
The department advises drivers who find themselves in the gritty thick of a dust storm to slow down and pull safely off the roadway as soon as possible.
Tait said the department came up with the idea for the novel safety campaign during a brainstorming session about how to use social media to reach out to drivers.
The concise Haiku form was the "perfect fit with Twitter, with it's 140-character limit," he said. The campaign which started Tuesday and runs through Friday has so far received over 100 entries.
"We have just been overwhelmed by haikus over the last few days," Tait said, noting that not all contributions had met the strict prescriptions of the form, which stipulates the 17 syllables be divided into phrases of 5, 7 and 5.
"My wife is an English professor, she would probably say that they are not meeting all the stringent requirements but we're having fun and enjoying the entries, and people are really embracing the challenge," he added.
Among Tait's favorites is a Star Wars inspired haiku -- 'You're not a Jedi / This is not Tatooine, Luke / Pull over now, man.'
Aside from making the roads safer, fleeting Internet fame is the prize for those taking part in the challenge. Eye-catching entries are retweeted by the ADOT.
"There's no cash prizes, but we are offering bragging rights," said Tait.
The Arizona Department of Transportation is inviting budding poets to take to Twitter and pen haikus - a concise Japanese literary form consisting of 17 syllables - to highlight the peril from the summer storms, known as haboobs.
Writers are posting their offerings using the hashtag #haboobhaiku, highlighting the danger of attempting to drive through the roiling dust storms which can block out the sun, and cut highway visibility to zero.
"The challenge ... is really designed to raise awareness that this is a problem and that drivers shouldn't expect to sail through a dust storm," Department spokesman Timothy Tait told Reuters.
"They need to think about it when they see that dust forming on the horizon," he added.
Contributions so far range from the literary: 'I don't yet know you - Curious but fearful, haboob - I will break for you' to the slapstick - 'world turns brown with dust / can't see red taillights ahead / until--oh crap! Oops.'
Haboobs frequently occur during the rainy season known as the monsoon southwest United States. Last July, a historic storm measuring more than 40 miles across rolled over the Phoenix valley, disrupting flights and bringing traffic to a standstill.
The department advises drivers who find themselves in the gritty thick of a dust storm to slow down and pull safely off the roadway as soon as possible.
Tait said the department came up with the idea for the novel safety campaign during a brainstorming session about how to use social media to reach out to drivers.
The concise Haiku form was the "perfect fit with Twitter, with it's 140-character limit," he said. The campaign which started Tuesday and runs through Friday has so far received over 100 entries.
"We have just been overwhelmed by haikus over the last few days," Tait said, noting that not all contributions had met the strict prescriptions of the form, which stipulates the 17 syllables be divided into phrases of 5, 7 and 5.
"My wife is an English professor, she would probably say that they are not meeting all the stringent requirements but we're having fun and enjoying the entries, and people are really embracing the challenge," he added.
Among Tait's favorites is a Star Wars inspired haiku -- 'You're not a Jedi / This is not Tatooine, Luke / Pull over now, man.'
Aside from making the roads safer, fleeting Internet fame is the prize for those taking part in the challenge. Eye-catching entries are retweeted by the ADOT.
"There's no cash prizes, but we are offering bragging rights," said Tait.
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