Thursday, March 15, 2012
Marty Silverman
Rios' Gift Helps Red Sox End 6-Game Skid
BOSTON - A game finally went Boston's way when Toronto right fielder Alex Rios slapped the ball the wrong way. Rios accidentally swatted Alex Cora's fly ball into the stands from about 10 feet in front of the wall for a two-run homer in the seventh inning that gave the Red Sox a 6-4 win Thursday night and snapped their six-game losing streak.
Rios drifted onto the warning track and tried to catch the ball over his left shoulder. It bounced off his glove and dropped to his waist where he attempted to catch it with his barehand but, instead, pushed it over the three-foot high fence.
"It was a reaction play," he said. "I was in a weird position to catch the ball so it was a …
Analyst raises Gap target on Old Navy performance
An analyst on Friday raised her estimates and price target for Gap Inc. on the retailer's sales performance last month, primarily in its Old Navy segment.
UBS analyst Roxanne Meyer told clients in a note Friday that the company's sales performance beat estimates as it improved on margins and saw growth in Old Navy.
The San Francisco-based retailer said Thursday that its August comparable-store sales fell 3 percent, not as much as the 7 percent drop analysts had anticipated. Old Navy sales at stores open at least a year rose 4 percent, below analyst expectations of 6.4 percent. But comparable sales at namesake chain Gap fell 7 percent, and pricier Banana …
Back to School // `Sir' Sequel Brings Lessons to Chicago
The 69-year-old Oscar winner retains his imposing drive anddignity in Sunday's gritty sequel to "Sir," the hit 1967 film about ayoung teacher from Guyana who inspired a class of unruly Londonteens.In "To Sir With Love II," an upbeat CBS movie airing at 8 p.m.on Channel 2, devoted educator Mark Thackeray leaves London to take ajob teaching history on Chicago's South Side. Former students from'67 (pop singer Lulu as Pegg and Judy Geeson as Pamela) giveThackeray a sentimental …
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Consumers cut back on credit card use once again
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer borrowing fell again in July as households cut back on their credit card use for a 23rd consecutive month, adding more drag on an economy struggling to mount a sustained rebound.
Borrowing dropped at an annual rate of $3.6 billion in July, the Federal Reserve reported Wednesday. That marked the 17th drop in credit in the past 18 months.
Americans did boost borrowing for auto loans in July but this gain was offset by further reductions in the category that includes credit cards.
The latest drop in overall borrowing was slightly higher than economists' expectations and followed a $1.02 billion decline in June, which was revised from an initial …
Police stop Zimbabwe opposition leader's campaign
The opposition said Friday that its rallies had been banned indefinitely three weeks before the presidential runoff, while the U.S. ambassador accused President Robert Mugabe's regime of using food as a weapon to stay in power.
U.S. Ambassador James McGee said the regime is distributing food mostly to its supporters and that those backing the opposition are offered food only if they hand in identification that would allow them to vote.
If the situation continues, "massive, massive starvation" will result, McGee told reporters in Washington by video conference from Harare.
Millions of Zimbabweans depend on international groups for food and …
Film crew adds steroid allegation to Bonds' race for home run title
SAN FRANCISCO -- When documentary film crews began trailing BarryBonds for his new ESPN reality TV show, the idea was to capturebehind-the-scenes moments of the slugger as he chased Hank Aaron'scareer home run record.
But production took a hard turn last month, said Joan Lynch,executive producer of ESPN Original Entertainment. That's when Bonds'alleged steroid use was detailed in the book Game of Shadows, andMajor League Baseball launched an investigation into accusations itstop athletes, including Bonds, used performance-enhancing drugs.
The series "Bonds on Bonds," which premiered Tuesday night, showsa profile far different from the original idea, Lynch said. …
MOVERS & SHAKERS: ANNA GREENBERG
ANNA GREENBERG
Vice President, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQR), a Democratic polling firm in Washington, D.C. Greenberg works on the firm's presidential research for groups like MoveOn.org and the Media Fund, and polls for other organixations such as NARAL Pro-Choice America and the Human Rights Campaign. Greenberg was a professor at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1997 to 2001, where she taught public opinion, survey research methods and data analysis. In college she worked for the campaigns of Connecticut's U.S. senators, Christopher Dodd and Joe Lieberman, and with GQR on the presidential campaigns in 1992 and 2000. Greenberg received her …
NY governor's aide failed to pay taxes for 5 years
Gov. David Paterson's chief of staff, who blamed clinical depression on the more than $200,000 he had to repay in five years of back taxes, has the full confidence of his boss, the governor's spokeswoman said Saturday.
Chief of Staff Charles J. O'Byrne, a former Jesuit priest who officiated at the wedding and funeral of John F. Kennedy Jr., didn't pay state and federal taxes from 2001 to 2005. He was on the state payroll for part of that time. He now is paid $178,500 as the Democratic governor's powerful top aide.
O'Byrne used personal lines of credit, liquidated some assets and received help from friends and relatives to pay off the debt, Paterson …
Ska tour comes to Southend ; On the record
IF ska, rocksteady and blue beat are what gets your toes tapping,get down to the Cliffs Pavilion, Southend this Saturday, March 12.
Some of the top names of the British ska scene will be at theseaside venue for the Ska's …
Bush to Veto Stem Cell Bill
WASHINGTON - President Bush has chosen to use his veto pen three times - twice on the stem cell issue where politics, ethics and science collide.
Pushing back against the Democratic-led Congress, Bush plans to veto a bill Wednesday that would have eased restraints on federally funded embryonic stem cell research, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said.
At the same time, Bush will issue an executive order directing the Health and Human Services Department to promote research into cells that, like human embryonic stem cells, also hold the potential of regenerating into different types of cells that might be used to battle disease.
Democrats made the stem cell …
Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 1
| 92Red Sox 2, Blue Jays 1 |
| Toronto @ Boston @ |
| ab r h bi @ ab r h bi |
| Scutaro ss 4 0 1 0 Ellsury cf 4 0 2 0 |
| A.Hill 2b 4 0 1 0 Pedroia 2b 4 0 1 0 |
| Rios rf 4 0 1 0 D.Ortiz dh 3 0 0 0 |
| V.Wells cf 4 0 0 0 Bay lf 4 0 1 0 |
| Lind lf 4 0 0 0 Lowell 3b 3 1 1 0 |
| Rolen 3b … |
Landlord sues Peoples Gas in battle of bills
A 56-year-old South Side plumber has filed a $1.3 million lawsuitagainst Peoples Gas in a continuing battle with the energy giant.
Obie Pittman, of 2114 E. 83rd, filed suit Tuesday in Cook CountyCircuit Court charging the company illegally disconnected service tofive of his South Side apartment buildings, damaging his businessefforts.
Service was cut off after he failed to pay about $50,000 in gasbills.
Pittman's attorney, Charles Getto, said the company neverproperly read Pittman's meters or informed him of exactly how muchgas was being used, but continued to bill him on its computer.
The trouble began in 1979 when Pittman began renovating the fivebuildings, converting them from central heat to individual heat foreach apartment, thus making tenants responsible for their own bills,Getto said.
Instead of collecting bills from one landlord, the company nowhad to deal with dozens of new customers, some of whom were late withtheir payments, Getto said.
"The gas company does not want other landlords to convert fromcentral heating," Getto said. "They're afraid they'll lose money."
"I think they wanted to put Mr. Pittman out of business," Gettosaid.
A spokesman for Peoples Gas said it hadn't received a copy of thesuit and had no comment.
Swiss to decide on Haitian ex-dictator's money
Millions of dollars frozen in Swiss bank accounts will be given to the government of Haiti if the family of former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier cannot prove by September that the money is legitimate, the Swiss Justice Ministry said Wednesday.
Many in Haiti consider the money was stolen from public funds before Duvalier was ousted in 1986. He has always denied that.
The ministry said it would hand over the 7.6 million Swiss francs ($7.5 million) at the end of September unless the family proves it is entitled to the money. It is in accounts in the names of Duvalier, who is believed to be living in exile in France, and members of his family.
Switzerland has traditionally been a favorite location for dictators' money because of its banking secrecy rules. But reforms over the past two decades have made it harder to hide money in Switzerland, and the country has become a world leader in returning such cash.
Of about $730 million in Swiss accounts linked to the late Nigerian dictator Sani Abacha, virtually all has been returned to the West African country.
In 2003, Switzerland gave the Philippines government hundreds of millions of dollars stashed in Swiss banks by late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
The Swiss government froze the Duvalier money in 2002 because it "wished to prevent the abuse of Switzerland's financial sector as a place of safety for assets acquired by unlawful means," the ministry said in a statement.
Lawyers for victims of the Duvalier regime are trying to prevent his family from gaining access to the money, arguing it should be returned to the Haitian people.
Switzerland's supreme court ruled in 2006 that an indefinite freeze on private funds was unconstitutional. That case involved 8 million francs ($6.6 million) deposited in Swiss banks by the former Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko.
If the government decides to hand over the funds to the Haitian authorities, the account holders can appeal the decision to Switzerland's Federal Criminal Tribunal.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Marlins gifted win by Dodger errors
MIAMI (AP) — The Florida Marlins were gifted a 5-4 win over Los Angeles in the National League on Monday when the Dodgers committed two errors with two outs in the ninth.
The comeback was helped along by shortstop Hanley Ramirez, who was mired in a 2-for-27 slump and was left out of the starting lineup. He came in as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth and Florida trailing 4-3, and his single put runners at first and third.
Scott Cousins grounder off Jonathan Broxton (1-1) scooted under the glove of shortstop Jamey Carroll for an error to score the tying run.
Chris Coghlan was then intentionally walked to load the bases, and Omar Infante lined a pitch. L.A. left fielder Jerry Sands started in, braked and leaped, and the ball sailed over his glove.
Florida's Brian Sanches (3-0) extended his scoreless streak to start the season to 13 2-3 innings with a perfect ninth.
| Rockies 5, Cubs 3 |
|---|
In Chicago, the home team's shortstop Starlin Castro committed three errors in the second inning alone as Colorado notched a win.
Pitcher Matt Garza's errant throw to first on a bunt was the Cubs' fourth error of the game and opened the door to two more runs.
Dexter Fowler had a triple, walk and scored a run for Colorado.
Rockies starter Esmil Rogers (3-1) gave up three runs in 5 1-3 innings. Huston Street pitched the ninth for his eighth save from as many chances.
Only one of the five runs scored against Garza (0-3) were earned.
| Diamondbacks 4, Phillies 0 |
|---|
In Phoenix, new father Ian Kennedy threw a complete game shutout, outpitching Cliff Lee and steering Arizona past Philadelphia.
Kennedy (3-1) struck out 10 and walked none.
Chris Young and Gerardo Parra homered off Lee, both on the first pitch of an at-bat. Lee (2-2) gave up four runs in seven innings, matching his season high with 12 strikeouts, one shy of his career high.
The Diamondbacks snapped a four-game skid as they opened a 10-game home stand.
| Reds 9, Brewers 5 |
|---|
In Milwaukee, Cincinnati piled on six runs in the third inning to overwhelm Milwaukee.
Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer for the Reds, who sent 11 batters to the plate in the third, prematurely ending the night for Brewers starter Chris Narveson (1-1), who had the shortest start of his career.
Bruce homered and Brandon Phillips, Jonny Gomes, Ryan Hanigan and even pitcher Bronson Arroyo drove in a run each to give Cincinnati a 7-0 lead. Phillips added a two-run single in the ninth.
Arroyo (3-2) pitched effectively into the seventh.
| Pirates 4, Nationals 2 |
|---|
In Pittsburgh, Brandon Wood's two-run double in his first game for Pittsburgh was part of a four-run fourth inning that helped the Pirates defeat Washington.
Wood, picked up on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, gave the Pirates their first lead.
Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (1-3) retired the final 13 batters he faced in seven strong innings.
Joel Hanrahan struck out that last batter with runners on first and third to finish his sixth save.
Washington starter John Lannan (2-2) allowed four runs in 5 2-3 innings.
| Padres 5, Braves 3, 13 innings |
|---|
In San Diego, Ryan Ludwick's second homer of the night, a 2-run shot with one out in the 13th inning, lifted San Diego over Atlanta.
Ludwick's winning shot, his fourth of the year, came off Cristhian Martinez (0-2). It was the fourth game-winning homer of his career.
Nick Hundley, who tied the game with an RBI double in the seventh, was aboard.
Padres reliever Cory Luebke (1-1) pitched two innings to take the win.
A textbook example of disputed facts
Do you know what your children are reading tonight?
We're not talking about dirty lyrics or comics. We're talkingtextbooks. We're talking historical information. Facts.
The special-interest groups will cheat your children if youdon't watch out.
Some of the more ambitious publishers have gotten the word thatit's time to put religion back in the texts - religion, not faith,the history of different religions. They're also trying to expandand deepen historical content.
Critics of proposed new textbooks for children in kindergartenthrough the eighth grade in California, a leader of public-schoolreform, created a new tower of Babel with their angry criticism, aspontaneous theater of the absurd.
Atheists complained that their point of view was excluded. Theywant religion treated as superstition. California Moslems want toerase references to any historical account of religious persecutionof "infidels."
Homosexuals, a new lobby in the world of textbooks, want tocelebrate the imagined homosexuality of an eclectic group ofhistorical figures, including Julius Caesar, Erasmus, Michelangelo,Alexander Hamilton, Willa Cather and even Eleanor Roosevelt.
Gilbert T. Sewall, the scholarly editor of Social StudiesReview, who evaluates textbooks and who attended the Californiahearings, doesn't find gratuitous attacks on the new textbooks, whichare considerably richer and more informative than the old ones, alaughing matter.
"The many wonderful advances in these recommended textbooks wentunmentioned," he says. "Institutional prejudice, conspiratorialomission and victimization were the watchwords of the day."
Some of the more obvious "slights" raised by certain Jews,Christians and Moslems will probably be corrected. Mr. Sewall isalso concerned about the increasing pressure of "Afro-centrists."Unlike historians who have invited debate on their conclusions, hesays, some Afro-centrists offer "half-baked facts, speciousscholarship, overblown contentions and take this to be deliveredtruth."
The melting-pot ideal, so long venerated in our nation ofimmigrants, is being pushed aside by "Afro-centrism." Said oneAfro-centrist to the New Republic: Multicultural means "mentalgenocide."
One California textbook hearing became so violent that policehad to be called to restore an intellectual atmosphere. "Pressurefrom the right was considerable 10 years ago," says Mr. Sewall, "butin social studies the right is overshadowed now by pressures from theleft."
Irene Trivas, an artist for children's readers, told the NewYork Times how she had to quit the textbook business when herpublishers tried to "be everything to everybody." One publisher sent10 pages of instructions on how to draw the fictional characters:"The hero was a Hispanic boy. There were black twins, one boy, onegirl; an overweight Oriental boy, and an American Indian girl. Thatleaves the Caucasian. Since we mustn't forget the physicallyhandicapped, (the white girl) was born with a congenitalmalformation."
A salad a mom and dad were making together (presumably in a bowllarge enough to accommodate four hands) could not include iceberglettuce, but "something nice" and upscale like endive.
Well, why not? Isn't lettuce entitled to a proper role model?
SARS is likely to spread Mystery illness probably won't be totally wiped out
Can severe acute respiratory syndrome be stopped?
As hard as health officials work to stamp out the virus, manyexperts conclude it's likely if not inevitable to eventually spreadeverywhere.
The highly contagious disease has already sickened more than 2,000people, and new cases appear daily in Hong Kong, despite an all-outeffort to isolate victims and quarantine those at risk.
Experts say the eventual course of any new disease is almostimpossible to predict. Some frightening new infections have burnedthemselves out, while others, like AIDS, have become globaldisasters.
However, several features of SARS make epidemiologists,virologists and infectious disease experts fear total victory isunlikely.
"Will it explode into a major epidemic that will propagate overthe years? Or will it fizzle out or be contained at a low rate?That's unknown," said Dr. Lee Harrison of the University ofPittsburgh. "I suspect we will see this disease for at least the nextseveral years. It's hard to imagine it will be over soon."
Perhaps the most ominous sign is the steep climb in new cases,especially in Hong Kong, which has seen a nearly fourfold increase injust two weeks.
The outbreak spurred the University of Illinois to call back fourstudents in Hong Kong. In the Chicago area, there are eight suspectedcases among residents who traveled to Hong Kong, Singapore or China.No one is hospitalized.
People who get the illness can spread the infection to othersbefore they even know they have it. While many are infected throughface-to-face contact, evidence is mounting that the virus might alsospread through the air or be picked up from contaminated surfaces.
On Friday, President Bush gave federal health officials the optionof quarantining Americans with SARS, although there is no plan to usethat power now. There are more than 100 suspected cases in the UnitedStates, but no one has died.
"Most people are hesitant to say it will just go away," said Dr.Ruth Berkelman, head of Emory University's Center for Public HealthPreparedness and Research. "Too many people are infected to think wewon't see it for a long time to come."
Besides quarantining the sick, health officials have tried tominimize the spread of the disease by urging people with suspicioussymptoms not to fly on airplanes.
However, some experts worry that those who are clearly sick maynot be the biggest concern. People catch bad colds from friends whohave mild ones. And the same may be true for this illness. Those whohave slight symptoms or even seem perfectly well still could spreadthe disease. In such a scenario, isolating the sick and quarantiningtheir contacts would not work.
"We may be able to slow transmission, but we won't be able to stopit if there are many other cases of milder disease out there," saidDr. Arnold Monto, a University of Michigan epidemiologist.
The cause of the outbreak is unknown, but investigators say mostevidence points to a previously unknown version of the coronavirus,the bug that causes about a third of all colds. Some who study thisfamily of viruses say that because it spreads through coughs andsneezes, they cannot imagine totally wiping it out.
AP
Gonzales Rapped as President's 'Yes Man'
WASHINGTON - Attorney General Alberto Gonzales says his long friendship with President Bush makes it easier to say "no" to him on sticky legal issues. His critics, however, say Gonzales is far more likely to say "yes" - leaving the Justice Department vulnerable to a politically determined White House.
Probably not since Watergate has an attorney general been so closely bound to the White House's bidding. In pushing counterterror programs that courts found unconstitutional and in stacking the ranks of federal prosecutors with Republican loyalists, Gonzales has put Bush's stamp on an institution that is supposed to operate largely free of the White House and beyond the reach of politics.
"This intertwining of the political with the running of the Justice Department has gone on in other administrations, both Republican and Democrat," said Paul Rothstein, a professor at Georgetown Law School. "But I think it's being carried to a fine art by this president. They leave no stone unturned to politicize where they think the law will permit it. And they push the line very far."
Gonzales, a friend and adviser to Bush since their days in Texas, calls their close relationship "a good thing."
"Being able to go and having a very candid conversation and telling the president: 'Mr. President, this cannot be done. You can't do this,' - I think you want that," Gonzales told reporters this week. "And I think having a personal relationship makes that, quite frankly, much easier always to deliver bad news."
"Do you recall a time when you (were) in there and said, 'Mr. President, we can't do this'?" Gonzales was asked.
"Oh, yeah," the attorney general responded.
"Can you share it with us?" a reporter asked.
"No," Gonzales said.
Gonzales, facing a no-confidence vote in the Senate, is resisting lawmakers' demands to resign and says he will remain as attorney general until he no longer has the president's support. The White House is steadfastly backing its man.
"It's important for any public official to have as much confidence as he can garner, and it will ebb and flow," White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Friday. "But it will not ebb and flow with this president and this attorney general."
An ever-growing cadre of critics says Gonzales has repeatedly sought to shape the normally independent Justice Department to the White House's ends. The department has long resisted political influences that could threaten its ability to fairly and impartially uphold the law.
Among examples they cite of White House meddling at the Justice Department:
-A dramatic 2004 confrontation between Gonzales, then serving as White House counsel, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft over whether to reauthorize a secret program to let the government spy on suspected terrorists without court approval.
At the time, Ashcroft was hospitalized in intensive care and not seeing any visitors. His former deputy, Jim Comey, told the Senate this week that Gonzales and then-White House chief of staff Andy Card came to Ashcroft's hospital room to get his approval in what Comey described as an "effort to take advantage of a very sick man."
Ashcroft refused to sign off on the program. The next day, the White House reauthorized the program without the Justice Department's approval. Ultimately, Bush ordered changes to the program to help the Justice Department defend its legality.
Less than a year later, in February 2005, Gonzales took Ashcroft's place as attorney general. The program was branded unconstitutional by a federal judge and has since been changed to require court approval before surveillance can be conducted.
-Allegations that Monica Goodling, the Justice Department's liaison to the White House and Gonzales' former counsel, aimed to only hire career prosecutors who were Republicans. Making hiring decisions based on political affiliation is illegal.
Goodling quit the Justice Department last month and is set to testify next week before a House panel investigating whether politics played a part in the firings last year of eight U.S. attorneys.
-Justice Department documents show that shortly after the 2004 elections, Bush political adviser Karl Rove questioned whether all 93 of the nation's top federal prosecutors should be ordered to resign. He also helped coach Justice aide William Moschella's planned testimony before the House Judiciary Committee. Rove also was included in e-mail traffic about the firings between the White House and the Justice Department.
As presidential appointees, U.S. attorneys serve at the president's pleasure, and the White House is properly involved in discussions about their employment. But Rove used an unofficial e-mail address, registered to the Republican National Committee, to correspond about the firings - raising the specter that politics was behind the ousters.
-The administration changed policy to allow more Justice Department officials to be in touch with the White House about some of the government's most sensitive criminal and civil cases. During the tenure of Democrat Bill Clinton, such discussions were restricted to six people - two at Justice and four at the White House.
In 2002, a year after Bush took office, the number of people was greatly expanded. By Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's estimates, 417 White House staff members and 42 Justice Department employees can discuss sensitive cases.
"It creates a partisan atmosphere, and that creates issues of confidence in the administering of justice," said Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat who previously served as U.S. attorney there.
Some Republicans, too, doubt Gonzales can keep the White House's influence from improperly seeping into the Justice Department.
"The problem here is that it appears the attorney general, when he moved from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to the Department of Justice, he didn't realize he'd changed jobs," said Arnold I. Burns, a deputy attorney general during the Reagan administration.
Burns himself is a reminder that close ties between Justice and the White House have posed problems before. He resigned in 1988 in protest of charges of improper behavior by then-Attorney General Edwin Meese III, a longtime friend of President Reagan. Meese was later cleared but resigned before the end of the term.
Former Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, too, had obvious close ties to President John F. Kennedy, his brother. But critics say Gonzales' relationship with Bush rivals that between former Attorney General John Mitchell and his former law partner, President Nixon.
Mitchell left the Justice Department in 1972 to run Nixon's re-election campaign. He served 19 months in prison after conviction on conspiracy, perjury and obstruction of justice charges for his role in the Watergate break-in of Democratic headquarters.
Reacting to Watergate abuses, Carter administration Attorney General Griffin Bell instituted reforms to help maintain the department's independence. Among the changes: a ban on lawmakers and the White House directly contacting prosecutors about specific investigations.
That ban was violated last year when New Mexico GOP Sen. Pete Domenici and Rep. Heather Wilson called former U.S. attorney David Iglesias in Albuquerque to ask about the status of public corruption cases. Iglesias later said they wanted to know whether he was going to indict Democrats before the looming election. The incident is cited by Democrats who argue the U.S. attorney firings were politically motivated.
No one has accused Gonzales, personally, of breaking the law to put Bush's stamp on the Justice Department. The attorney general maintains he is working to not only fix mistakes that his aides made in hiring and firing prosecutors, but also to secure the public's confidence in the beleaguered department.
Whether he can salvage his own reputation remains to be seen.
Philip Heymann, a Harvard law professor who worked at the Justice Department under several Democratic presidents, said the White House is using the law "almost exclusively as a form of protection and a form of armor, if you can get the Justice Department to say it's fine."
"I think they wanted a loyal attorney general, not somebody who would say 'no' when they very badly wanted them to say 'yes,'" Heymann said. "And now they've got that."
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On the Net:
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov/
BLACK HAWKS BITS
ST. LOUIS Hawks coach Bob Murdoch said he has decided on hisgoaltender for the opening game, but will not disclose it until today. BobMason and Darren Pang said they didn't know who was starting. Masonplayed seven games against St. Louis, with a 3-3-1 record and 3.93goals-against average. Pang started one game, a 5-4 loss at theStadium. The Blues virtually are certain to start veteran Greg Millen eachgame. Millen was 3-1-1 against the Hawks and had a 3.74 average.Rookie Darrell May was 0-3-0 with a 6.00 average after veteran RickWamsley was traded to Calgary.
The Blues were 15-for-56 (26.7 percent) against the Hawks on thepower play in the season series, won by the Blues 4-3-1. The Hawkswere 10-for-47 (21.2 percent) on the power play. The Blues outscoredthe Hawks 33-28 in the series, with the five power play goals makingthe difference. The Blues' Bernie Federko led the series in scoring with 18 points(6-12--18). Doug Gilmour (5-7--12) also hit double figures for theBlues. Denis Savard led the Hawks (6-6--12). Only Jimmy Carson and Luc Robitaille of the Los Angeles Kings hadmore points than Federko against the team they will meet in theplayoffs. Carson had 21 points (10-11 - 21) and Robitaille had 19points (8-11 - 19) against the Calgary Flames.BATTERY OPERATED
Metallica tribute band on following in some of metal's biggest bootsteps
Imagine you and your buddies have been playing in a band for a while playing mostly Metallica covers and a few originals. Imagine Lars Ulrich, the drummer for Metallica, calls and asks your band to open for the most popular metal band on earth. Can you even imagine? The guys in Battery, a Metallica tribute band, can because it happened to them.
Battery is Laurence Langley on drums, Jason Taylor on vocals, Jason Shrodek on lead guitar and Phil MacLachlan on bass. BW spoke with Langley over the phone about the history of Battery, how to write a setlist for the ladies, and of course, which Metallica album is really the best.
BW: You guys do have a relationship with Metallica, right?
Langley: Yes. Back in '98, we did the Garage, Inc. tour with them. They'd released a CD of cover songs and they wanted to promote that CD with a small tour. They thought 'If we do a small tour, everyone's going to want to hear all of our Metallica songs: "Enter Sandman," "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Seek and Destroy" and those songs. So they come up with the idea for us to open for them and we would play only Metallica original songs and then they would cover all their favorites. So, we covered all their songs and they covered everybody else. We did a five-city tour of Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia, New York City and Detroit. They were all at 5,000-seat theaters and all sold out shows. [Everyone] were hard-core Metallica fans. Every night was unbelievable. We had great response from the crowds.
How long has Battery been together?
We started in the mid '90s. We started Battery as a vehicle to promote our original band. We were doing original music under [our band] Disaster Area. Our music was kind of like Metallica back in the '80s and '90s, like the Master of Puppets stuff. So we came up with the idea of a tribute band to promote our original stuff. So we would have Battery with special guest Disaster Area. We would come out and play our original stuff and then sell our T-shirts and CDs and then we would change our drum heads, change our backdrop and come out all in black and then do the Metallica stuff. We were two bands in one essentially.
When was the last time Disaster Area did a show?
Probably 2000.
When you met Lars, did you have a moment of hero worship or was it just two guys who play drums?
(Laughs) The very first time that I met Lars was in Buffalo, New York. They came out to one of our shows there and at the end of the night, Lars and James [Hetfield, Metallica singer] came back up on stage. I had met James before in Toronto, Canada at one of their shows on the ...And Justice For All tour. When I met Lars he jumped on my drum kit and just played for a minute and we talked a bit about drums and he talked about every where they went they heard great things about the band from everybody. They would say, "Oh my god, have you heard Battery? You have to see Battery!"
When you listen to Metallica's new stuff, what do you think of it?
Some of us like St. Anger. Our bass player is rooted in hardcore punk and deathmetal and he likes St. Anger. I like it because it's fast, it's quick, there's some cool riffs. The songs are cool. They were just trying to do something different. It had been a long time since they'd recorded anything and James had just come out of rehab so they thought they would try a fresh and totally different approach to writing songs. In the past, they would go into the studio and everything was pre-planned: every riff, everything was already written and done. For St. Anger they just went in and started jamming and just tried to come up with new ideas. It has good qualities to it. We played two songs off St. Anger for the first six months after it was out. Some people liked it and some people would boo. But we like the songs. Some of the stuff off Load and Reload is a little light, a little fluffy but some of it's good. The songs we play off the newer albums is the cooler stuff. We play a little bit, but not much.
Our favorite stuff is the older stuff which is why we call ourselves "Battery": so people know we're into that era of Metallica. But we do try and cover all ends of the spectrum. If we have a large female crowd, they're not going to want to hear "Fight Fire With Fire," "Disposable Heroes" or "Whiplash." They're going to want to hear more of the radio songs. Some nights it's all guys and they want to mosh and they don't want to hear "Nothing Else Matters" or "Unforgiven."
So, what's the best Metallica album?
For me, it's Master of Puppets. The first album, Kill 'Em All, was fast and heavy and wasn't very melodic. On Ride the Lightning they started to get more melodic and Cliff Burton [Metallica's original bass player] had more input. Then on Master of Puppets, it all came to a pinnacle as far as songwriting. "Master of Puppets" is brilliant lyrically and musically. "Battery" is one of the most brutal guitar riffs I've ever heard joined with one of the coolest classical guitar intros you'll ever hear. So, Master of Puppets is the best. ...And Justice For All was good, but the songs are too overdone: too many guitar riffs and the songs are too long. Even Metallica said, "We went overboard when we did Justice."
If I was to play someone one song, I could pick "Master of Puppets" and say, "Listen to this song. It's absolutely brilliant. You have clean guitar, dirty guitar, beautiful lead, dual harmony guitars and the chunky downpicking that Metallica created. In that one song you have everything."
You guys keep your real names. Does that mean you're more serious than other tribute bands?
We've met KISS tribute bands. I'll walk up and say, "I'm Laurence, the drummer for Battery," and [they'll] say, "I'm Peter Criss" or, "I'm Paul Stanley." We saw a Van Halen tribute band once and the David Lee Roth guy said, "I want to introduce the band. Over here we have Eddie Van Halen on lead guitar." And we looked at that and were like "You're not Eddie Van Halen. You're not Peter Criss. You're not Paul Stanley. If you were, you wouldn't be standing here in this little club talking to me." That's how we look at it. I'm not Lars.
If you were, you'd have a much bigger house.
(Laughs) And much better financial status. But we're not those people. All we're trying to do is take their music, take their show, take their energy and bring it to people in Nebraska and Idaho and places where Metallica can't go. You're not going to see them in Spokane or Boise. Or Ohio for that matter. So we just try and take a Metallica show and present it the best way we can.
You guys play note for note, right? You don't change it up, you don't make it your own ... you're true to the original?
Right. The only thing we do is we'll take a few live things they do during a show and incorporate it. That's what separates us from other bands. We play the songs as perfectly as we can. We want people to walk away saying, "Man, those guys are almost as good as Metallica." And that's all we hope we can accomplish.
Friday, August 18, 8 p.m., $10, The Big Easy, 416 S. 9th St., 367-1212.
Questions? Comments? E-mail music@boiseweekly.com.
Political Play: Obama dances for Ellen DeGeneres
They really will do anything to get elected.
At the end of a long campaign day Tuesday in Florida, Democrat Barack Obama had one more stop: "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
DeGeneres got right down to business.
"Let's talk about dancing," she said. "Your wife, Michelle, was on the show and she was talking some smack about your moves."
DeGeneres played music and gave Obama 20 seconds to prove his spouse wrong. He complied, albeit in a decidedly awkward set of circumstances _ standing alone on a patch of concrete and looking into cameras that were to beam him into the studio, as supporters and reporters watched.
He gamely grooved a little, though mostly with his arms, before calling off the operation with a smile.
"Michelle may be a better dancer, but I am convinced I am a better dancer than John McCain," Obama said of his Republican rival.
During the brief appearance, Obama revealed the Halloween costumes his two daughters have planned. Ten-year-old Malia will be a fairy and 7-year-old Sasha has chosen to go trick-or-treating as a "corpse bride," he said.
Obama also offered to help DeGeneres with her campaign to lure George Clooney onto her show, agreeing it would be one of the new president's most important priorities. If elected, he said he would appoint Clooney "ambassador to the Ellen show."
"We would have you and him sit down without preconditions and solve any differences that you may have," Obama said. "Just don't talk about my dancing anymore."
The interview is scheduled to air Wednesday.
___
Compiled by Jennifer Loven
Monday, March 12, 2012
Public buses among most appalling polluters
On my way to work this morning on April 8 at 6:43 going south on York Road approaching 22nd Street in Oak Brook, I noticed a Pace bus spewing black smoke from the pipe atop of the bus. I was appalled at the pollution that this bus was causing. Being a government agency, one would hope that this type of blatant disregard for the air pollution laws would be taken care of. Wrong. I have seen countless buses from both Pace and the CTA that have black smoke coming out of their pipes.
But nothing was to prepare me for what I saw on the way home from work driving the Eisenhower Expy. at 3:15 pm. A truck from Salvino Hauling emitted the blackest of smoke from the pipe on the right side of its cab.
It was the thickest, darkest smoke I have ever seen from a vehicle. Every time this man stepped on the gas, the smoke filled the air. Even with your windows closed, it came through your vent.
What I don't understand is that with the entire world aware of what's going on with global warming and the devastating effects of air pollution, how is it that government agencies and companies can get away with disregarding the law? What else I don't understand is how come Illinois is not doing any more testing on cars for air pollution? I haven't had my car tested for over three years. How is it that cars that I see (and smell) can get away with polluting the air by not having clean air filters or catalytic converters that work?
This is an outrage that everyone should be concerned about. With glaciers melting at an alarming rate, with the ozone layer becoming ever wider, with people developing breathing problems on a daily basis due to pollution, when are our elected officials going to take this threat seriously and go after these polluters?
Marie Perkins,
Oak Park
Photo: Dave Bartman, Post-Tribune / Exhaust emissions spew from the tailpipe of a pickup truck in January. ;
Informant to skip Family Secrets trial; Insider lawyer says feds got it wrong this time
Over the years, the court testimony of former Chicago mob lawyerRobert Cooley has put away mobsters, lawyers and judges.
But the prized federal informant won't be testifying at whatcould be the biggest mob trial in Chicago history -- the OperationFamily Secrets trial.
A host of informants, "stool pigeons" and ex-mobsters will betaking the stand starting in mid-May to tell jurors about theOutfit's structure and deadly doings.
Some of Chicago's top mobsters are standing trial, includingreputed mob leader James "Little Jimmy" Marcello and Joseph "Joeythe Clown" Lombardo.
Cooley has testified in several previous mob trials, and hisability on the stand has met with praise. But this time, he won't bepart of the trial.
In an interview late last week, Cooley, who these days lives outof state under a different name, said he clashed with federalprosecutors when he was debriefed more than a year ago.
'A FLUNKY'
Cooley said he disagrees with the prosecution's theory over howthe Chicago mob was structured since the 1970s, and he isdisappointed that another top mobster wasn't charged in the case fortwo murders that Cooley said he has told the feds about.
Cooley calls Marcello -- who the feds says is the top mob leader -- "a flunky."
"He was never more of a mob boss than I was," Cooley scoffs.
In his years as an informant, Cooley was never known to bereluctant to tell federal agents and prosecutors where he believedthey were falling short or screwing up.
While Cooley says he won't be helping the feds this time around,he won't be helping the defense team, either.
"I would not do anything to hurt the case," Cooley said. "I wouldnever do anything to help the bad guys."
Cooley is best known for his seminal work in taking apart theOutfit's political power structure in the 1st Ward, which he saw asmarking the true end of the Chicago mob.
"They're just cleaning up our scraps," Cooley said of the currentcase.
Federal prosecutors had no comment on Cooley's statements.
swarmbir@suntimes.com
Tiny Group Takes on Ark. Agency
With the Republicans taking over both houses of Congress, youcan bet there will be many investigations of business activity (legaland illegal) in Arkansas.
And eventually, as the wheels of justice spin closer to the1996 presidential election, there should be many interestingrevelations.
But an odd little group of over-achievers based at theUniversity of Arkansas in Fayetteville seems to have gotten a headstart on Congress by looking into whether a state agency did anythingimproper in borrowing funds for housing development.
It is also looking into whether that state agency lent money tocompanies that might have been politically connected withoutexpecting repayment.
A little over a week ago, the group - called simply theArkansas Committee - was allowed to peruse a bunch of documentsrelated to the Arkansas Development Finance Authority.
ADFA was a state agency that raised money for housingdevelopment in Arkansas. It was reorganized in the mid-1980s -during the reign of Gov. Bill Clinton - so it was empowered to raisemassive amounts of cash through the sale of bonds for variousdevelopment projects.
Mark Swaney, a 40-year-old engineer who started looking intoADFA while a graduate student at the University of Arkansas a fewyears ago, is the force behind the Arkansas Committee. But admittingthat he is in over his head when it comes to double-checking audits,Swaney has enlisted the services of a former Arkansas state comptroller.
"They could move massive amounts of cash into the stategovernment," Swaney says of ADFA. Swaney wants to audit ADFA todetermine the comings and goings of that money.
Swaney's group first started seeking ADFA documents in Marchthrough state Freedom of Information Act requests. Swaney said thoserequests were turned down by ADFA, so he went to court.
When Swaney showed up at the offices of ADFA's lawyer inLittle Rock on Dec. 2, he didn't get exactly what he was after."They pulled a fast one," he told me.
ADFA allowed him to look at the documents he sought but not -as Swaney claims they promised - copy them. Instead, Swaney said hewas told to mark the pages he was interested in and ADFA would copythem and send them to him.
Right now this is a David vs. Goliath story. But if anythingis amiss once the ADFA books become available, some of the biggorillas in Congress are likely to make this an even match.
Confidence game: Were you impressed by the big jump in consumerconfidence in November that was reported by the Conference Board?
Well, take a closer look at the numbers. First of all, thesurvey conducted by the Conference Board just didn't jibe with theresults pollsters were getting during the November election, whenvoters were expressing fears about the economy.
That fear - along with crime and a few other things - was the reason voters gave control of Congress to Republicans forthe first time in decades.
What else was wrong with the board's numbers?
The group has recorded big gains in November for the last threeyears. So there may be a seasonal quirk in its numbers rather thanany real gain in confidence.
Albert Sindlinger, who I believe does a superior job surveyingconsumer confidence, says he isn't seeing an increase in confidencein his polling results. His survey shows a peak in annual consumerconfidence last April, with a moderate decline since then.
That would be more in sync with the November election results.
"What the Conference Board is measuring is the economy throughthe consumer," says Sindlinger. "We don't do that - in no way. Weare measuring household liquidity."
Sindlinger says that no matter what people are led to believeabout the economy, their spending habits (and ultimately theeconomy's health) will depend on how much money they have in theirpockets.
"Household liquidity has been on a steady, slow deteriorationsince April. Particularly among stock owners who do over 50 percentof the discretionary buying and 75 percent of the luxury buying,"says Sindlinger.
And he says that consumers' expectation of their income levelsin the future are also declining.
If you believe consumers are so darned optimistic, you have tofind another reason why they were so vengeful during the election.
Happy, prosperous voters don't throw out the people who broughtthem that prosperity.
8 men planned to down airliners bound for US, Canada with bombs, prosecutor tells trial
Eight British men planned to detonate bombs aboard airliners bound for the U.S. and Canada, hoping to kill hundreds of passengers in a major terrorist attack, a prosecutor said Thursday as he opened a trial into the case.
Prosecutor Peter Wright said the men hoped to strike passenger jets flying out of London at the height of the summer vacation season in 2006.
"The plan was designed to bring about what would have been a civilian death toll on an almost unprecedented scale," Wright said.
He said the plot was intended to be a "violent and deadly statement of intent" in the name of Islam, that would have repercussions across the world.
Wright told jurors that the suspects hoped to smuggle liquid explosives _ concealed in containers disguised to resemble soft drinks bottles _ on planes leaving London. The explosives would then be assembled and detonated in mid-flight.
Airlines imposed tough new limits on the amount of liquids and gels passengers can carry on to flights as a result of the alleged plot.
"The attack they contemplated was not long off," when police rounded up the men on Aug. 9-10, 2006, Wright said.
The alleged plot caused major disruption to British airports and hundreds of flights were grounded when police arrested the suspects.
All eight men, each of whom has family ties to Pakistan, are accused of conspiracy to murder and a charge of planning an act of violence likely to endanger the safety of an aircraft. Both charges carry maximum sentences of life imprisonment.
The men are: Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27; Assad Sarwar, 27; Tanvir Hussain, 27; Mohammed Gulzar, 26; Ibrahim Savant, 27; Arafat Waheed Khan, 26; Waheed Zaman, 23 and Umar Islam, 29.
Ali is also known as Ahmed Ali Khan and Islam is also known as Brian Young, according to court records.
IRS: More people filing returns electronically
More taxpayers are avoiding that April 15 dash to the post office by filing their returns electronically, the Internal Revenue Service said Wednesday.
The tax agency said that as of May 16 it had received more than 86 million individual tax returns filed electronically. That compared with under 80 million for all of 2007 and made up 60 percent of all returns filed so far this year.
"The increase in e-file, particularly in the final weeks of the filing season, shows that taxpayers are continuing to recognize the benefits of filing electronically," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman.
The agency noted that a small percentage of the growth in e-files could be attributed to those people who normally aren't required to file returns but did so this year to claim their federal economic stimulus payment.
The IRS has received 143 million individual income tax returns this year, up more than 10 percent from 129 million at the same time last year. As of April 18, it had issued almost 90 million refunds worth $214 billion.
Some 60 million e-files were prepared by tax professionals, while 26 million were self-prepared.
The agency said it had received about 4.6 million Free File returns, an increase of 21 percent over last year. Free File is a partnership between private tax software companies and the IRS that provides free software to taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $54,000 or less.
___
On the Net:
IRS: http://www.irs.gov
DISCOVERING TORAH
IN MY PREVIOUS COLUMN, I DISCUSSED THE idea of counting within the Jewish tradition. I focussed on the lessons of the Omer count (sefirat haOmer), the day-byday enumeration in which Jews are involved for 49 days, from the second night of Passover to the holiday of Shavuot.
Counting, I noted, is a humdrum act but not one lacking in significance.
But what about the numbers themselves in Jewish tradition?
Next Shabbat (May 31) we begin reading the Book of Numbers, which begins with a census of the Jewish people. Why, one might ask, does Judaism seem so obsessed with the quantitative at the expense of the qualitative?
You've got to light eight candles on Chanukah; drink four cups of wine on Passover; a baby is circumcised on the eighth day (health permitting); 10 men are needed for a minyan (prayer quorum) - the list goes on and on.
Why does everything in Judaism seem to revolve around sterile numbers? Doesn't it take the whole spirit out of Judaism, when we always have to focus on quantity instead of quality?
LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE concept of a minyan. I've often heard people say that they don't understand why they have to pray with a minyan, since they feel that it limits their ability to go at their own pace and truly connect in their own unique way - something which can be very difficult to do when forced to pray with others in a way and at a pace which is not necessarily comfortable or conducive to the feeling of the moment. Let me share two statements of our Sages that will shed light on what some see as an obsession with numbers.
The first is by one of the great Kabbalists, Rabbi Chaim Yosef David Azoulay, known after the initials of his name as the CHIDA, who was born in Jerusalem and 1724 and died in 1807 in Italy.
The CHIDA explained that the Hebrew word for community, tzibur, mas, is an acronym for tzaddik (righteous), beinoni (intermediate), and rasha (wicked).
Thus, explains the CHIDA, a true community (in the case of prayer, a minyan) is made up of all types of people from different backgrounds and current beliefs and standards.
It is specifically through the coming together of these different types of people, that we become a tzibur, a community.
The second teaching is by another great Kabbalist, this one of an earlier generation, Rabbi Moshe Cordovero (b. 1522, d. 1570 Tzfat). Like the CHIDA, he is known by an acronym of his name, RAMAK.
The RAMAK teaches that the Hebrew word for number, mispar, has alternate meanings, all stemming from the same root.
One is sippur (story); another is sapir (a sapphire stone, which shines.
THUS NUMBERS - WHICH at first glance appear sterile and banal - are actually the bearers of a story which shines.
In our context, the story is that of our history and our heritage. And it definitely shines.
The numbers tell us a story of spirituality. Each number has within it deep and profound meaning.
For example: the eight lights of Chanukah. This number actually reveals the true nature of the holiday.
How? The number seven, as in the seven days of the week, represents the natural order. One number more - eight - and nature is transcended.
Chanukah, therefore, is a holiday which transcends the natural order, as indicated in its miraculous nature.
In Judaism, we are so taken with numbers specifically because they are sterile.
In that cold and calculating world of numbers, we tell a story that makes them shine.
It is the story of our heritage and of our souls.
[Sidebar]
THE COLD, CALCULATING WORLD OF NUMBERS
What is it with numbers and Judaism? Constantly enumerating, as we see in the Torah reading of Bamidbar (Numbers).
And to what end? Citing the CHIDA and RAMAK, Shaul Wertheimer finds that the numbers do compute: they reveal a story which shines.
[Sidebar]
Numbers tell a story of spirituality
[Sidebar]
Numbers 1:1 - 4:20 Shabbat, May 31
[Author Affiliation]
By SHAUL E. WERTHEIMER
TORAH COLUMNIST
The Victims
DELISIA BROWN, 18
Eighteen-year-old Delisia Brown couldn't wait to go to the prom next month.
The Lane Tech College Prep senior had a date, and her cousin was making her a purple dress.
But a friend of Brown's was still looking for a dress, so the two went shopping Friday.
It was on their way back home from that shopping trip that Brown was struck and killed by a semi-truck that rammed into the Cermak/Chinatown L station Friday afternoon. The friend, identified only as Nicole, was seriously injured, Brown's relatives said.
Brown may have stopped at the Cermak station to get some food before heading home.
"She didn't deserve to die like this," Brown's aunt Nicole Ray said Saturday. "She just wanted to strive for the best."
A member of Lane Tech's cheerleading squad, Brown was a popular student who "loved to dress up and look real pretty," Ray said.
She worked part-time at a gift shop in the Loop. But she always found time to do her schoolwork, and was a straight-A student, her family said.
After her June 6 graduation, Brown was planning to go to either South Carolina State University or Purdue University, to major in psychology, her younger sister NaKeisha Brown said.
On Saturday, dozens of friends and relatives gathered at the Marquette Park home Brown shared with her parents and younger sister to remember "Lee," as she was called by those who knew her best.
Brown's parents, Jerry and Wanda Brown, declined to speak with reporters.
Funeral arrangements were pending.
"I've got to be strong," said Latonya Washington, Brown's older sister. "I know my sister is in a better place."
Though they watched news coverage of the deadly crash Friday, it wasn't until Saturday morning that most of Brown's relatives learned she had been killed, Ray said.
Tunlisha Tobar, the cousin who was making Brown's prom dress, said Brown never got to try it on.
"I thought I would have been seeing her this weekend for a fitting," Tobar said. Now it's a dress "nobody's going to wear," she said.
Photo: Delisia Brown, 18 ;
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Oil Industry May Cut Back Refinery Plans
WASHINGTON - A push from Congress and the White House for huge increases in biofuels such as ethanol, is prompting the oil industry to scale back its plans for refinery expansions - which could keep gasoline prices high, possibly for years to come.
With President Bush calling for a 20 percent drop in gasoline use and the Senate now debating legislation for huge increases in ethanol production, oil companies see growing uncertainty about future gasoline demand and little need to expand refineries or build new ones.
Oil industry executives no longer believe there will be the demand for gasoline over the next decade to warrant the billions of dollars in refinery expansions - as much as 10 percent increase in new refining capacity - they anticipated as recently as a year ago.
Biofuels such as ethanol and efforts to get automakers to build more fuel-efficient cars and SUVs have been portrayed as key to countering high gasoline prices, but it is likely to do little to curb costs at the pump today, or in the years ahead as refiners reduce gasoline production.
A shortage of refineries frequently has been blamed by politicians for the sharp price spikes in gasoline, as was the case last week by Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla. during debate on a Senate energy bill.
"The fact is that Americans are paying more at the pump because we do not have the domestic capacity to refine the fuels consumers demand," Inhofe complained as he tried unsuccessfully to get into the bill a proposal to ease permitting and environmental rules for refineries.
This spring, refiners, hampered by outages, could not keep up with demand and imports were down because of greater fuel demand in Europe and elsewhere. Despite stable - even sometimes declining - oil prices, gasoline prices soared to record levels and remain well above $3 a gallon.
Consumer advocates maintain the oil industry likes it that way.
"By creating a situation of extremely tight supply, the oil companies gain control over price at the wholesale level," said Mark Cooper of the Consumer Federation of America. He argued that a wave of mergers in recent years created a refining industry that "has no interest in creating spare (refining) capacity."
Only last year, the Energy Department was told that refiners, reaping big profits and anticipating growing demand, were looking at boosting their refining capacity by more than 1.6 million barrels a day, a roughly 10 percent increase. That would be enough to produce an additional 37 million gallons of gasoline daily.
But oil companies already have scaled those expansion plans back by nearly 40 percent. More cancelations are expected if Congress passes legislation now before the Sensate calling for 15 billion gallons of ethanol use by 2015 and more than double that by 2022, say industry and government officials.
"These (expansion) decisions are being revisited in boardrooms across the refining sector," said Charlie Drevna, executive vice president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.
With the anticipated growth in biofuels, "your getting down to needing little or no additional gasoline production" above what is being made today, said Joanne Shore, an analyst for the government's Energy Information Administration.
In 2006, motorists used 143 billion gallons of gasoline, of which 136 billion was produced by U.S. refineries, and the rest imported.
Drevna, the industry lobbyist, said annual demand had been expected to grow to about 161 billion gallons by 2017. But Bush's call to cut gasoline demand by 20 percent - through a combination of fuel efficiency improvements and ethanol - would reduce that demand below what U.S. refineries make today, he said.
"We will end up exporting gasoline," said Drevna.
Asked recently whether Chevron Corp. might build a new refinery, vice chairman Peter Robertson replied, "Why would I invest in a refinery when you're trying to make 20 percent of the gasoline supply ethanol."
Valero Corp., the nation's largest refiner producing 3.3 million barrels a day of petroleum product, recently boosted production capacity at its Port Arthur, Tex., refinery by 325,000 barrels a day. But company spokesman Bill Day said some additional expansions have been postponed.
"That's not to say we've change our plans," Day said in an interview. "But it's fair to say we're taking a closer look at what the president is saying and what Congress is saying" about biofuels. He said there's a "mixed message" coming out of Washington, calling for more production but also for reducing gasoline demand.
"It's something that we have to study pretty carefully," said Day.
Ron Lamberty of the American Coalition for Ethanol, said all the talk about biofuels threatening gasoline production is the "latest attempt to blame ethanol or Big Oil's failure to meet our energy needs."
"The ethanol industry continues to grow while oil refiners continue to make excuses for maintaining their profitable status quo," said Lamberly.
Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said consolidation of the oil industry into fewer companies has left them with no incentive to expand refineries.
"It's a perverted system that does not act as a free market system would act," said Dorgan. "If you narrow the neck of refining, you actually provide a greater boost to prices which is a greater boost to profitability."
Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, wants Congress to require refiners to maintain a supply cushion in case of unexpected outages.
"In the 1980s refiner capacity averaged 77.6 percent which allowed for easy increases in production to address shortages," Blumenthal said at a recent hearing. "In the 1990s as the industry closed refineries ... refinery capacity rose to 91.4 percent, leaving little room for expansion to cover supply shortfalls."
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The bill being debated in the Senate is HR 6.
Making an argument for the Cougs And what the other side has to say
PULLMAN _ Somewhere in a smoke-free hotel room in Kansas City,the nine members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee arehuddled over a table trying to determine how to distribute thefinal four or five at-large berths for this year's men's basketballtourney.
Duke athletic director Tom Butters is the chairman of thecommittee.
He and his underlings are undoubtedly fair men. But it is hardto imagine that committee discussions are completely free ofregional bias.
One team trying to earn its way off the bubble and into the
NCAA's field of 64 for the first time in 10 years is WashingtonState.
The Cougars enhanced their chances by beating Stanford 77-71Thursday night to raise their overall record to 19-10 and theirPacific-10 Conference mark to 9-8.
But conventional wisdom suggests WSU must still upset No.16-ranked California this afternoon at 3 and maintain at least ashare of fourth place in the Pac-10 standings to secure an NCAAinvitation.
Following is a candid look into that Kansas City hotel room,where fictitious committee members Packy Tennison and Iggy Eastmanare trying _ albeit unsuccessfully _ to put their regional biasesaside and determine WSU's postseason tourna- ment future over asecond martini:
Tennison: "So, how about them Cougs?"
Eastman: "I say let 'em in. With all those Mormons watching,our tournament could make the Winter Olympics look like `The ChevyChase Show' as far as TV ratings are concerned.
"It's just too bad Shawn Bradley left school early."
Tennison: "No, I mean the other Cougs."
Eastman: "There are other Cougs?"
Tennison: "Yeah, the ones from Washington State, you know,Pullman, Pac-10 Conference, all of that. Nice little town, nice
little part of the country. Nice little team."
Eastman: "What team?"
Tennison: "The Washington State Cougars. These guys are 19-10and 9-8 in the Pac-10 Conference. They can play."
Eastman: "Oh, you mean those guys who beat Pittsburg State andAlaska-Anchorage and then lost to Oregon?"
Tennison: "No, I mean the guys who beat Coppin State, MichiganState, Marquette and Alabama and lost to UCLA on a couple of boguscalls in the final minutes."
Eastman: "Hey, they weren't the first team to get jobbedagainst UCLA. And all those `big wins' you mentioned came early inthe year, didn't they?
"Let's not forget this is strictly a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately decision on our part."
Tennison: "But they've won three of their last four and have achance to make it five of their last six if they can upset
California at home this afternoon."
Eastman: "Or you could say they've lost four of their lasteight, right? And if they lose to Cal, that'll make 'em 4-5 downthe stretch."
Tennison: "When, exactly, does `the stretch' start?"
Eastman: "Whenever we need it to. It's starting for George-town today when they meet Boston College in the Big EastTournament. Let's hope the old Hoyas finish strong."
Tennison: "Georgetown? C'mon, they've only got 14 Division Iwins."
Eastman: "Can you say Patrick Ewing? How about AlonzoMourning?"
Tennison: "Sure, but what has that got to do with anything?
Those guys are both in the NBA now. Georgetown is average.
The Big East is down this year. The Pac-10 is up."
Eastman: "Georgetown is an NCAA fixture and the Pac-10
hasn't been up since John Wooden retired."
Tennison: "Wait a minute. The Pac-10 had 32 former playerson opening-day NBA rosters this year. That's the same number asthe Big East Conference and eight more than the Big Eight.
Eastman: "And your point is?"
Tennison: "The Big Eight Conference is overrated, too. Vastlyoverrated. It's a bad league with one good team."
Eastman: "So how do you explain the fact that the Big Eighthad six teams in the tournament two years ago and five last
year?"
Tennison: "Guys like us picked 'em."
Eastman: "And with good reason. It was a great league back
then. Kansas is in it."
Tennison: "But five of those teams lost in the first round.Not counting Kansas, the league was 5-9 in the last two NCAATournaments, yet we're thinking about putting five Big Eight teamsin again this year? Who are we trying to kid?"
Eastman: "Why not? The Pac-10's recent track record at theBig Dance hasn't exactly been Fred Astaire-like."
Tennison: "The league has only had seven berths in the last twoyears. It's had five less chances to succeed than the Big Eight.It gets no respect."
Eastman: "Yeah, but look at what's happened to Arizona.
They don't deserve any more chances if their No. 1 team can'tstomach the 15th- and 16th-seeded cream puffs we've been servingthem."
Tennison: "Sure, but UCLA made it to the Great Eight two yearsago and lost to runner-up Michigan by only two points in overtimelast year.
"And don't forget, California made it to the Sweet Sixteen lastyear and beat LSU and Duke along the way."
Eastman: "Listen, pal, remember Santa Clara? Remember EastTennessee State? Arizona does, and believe me, they wish theydidn't."
Tennison: "But should you penalize the Pac-10 just becauseArizona takes gas every March?"
Eastman: "We have in the past. Look what we did to ArizonaState last year. They went 18-9 and tied UCLA for third place inthe Pac-10, and we shuffled 'em off to the NIT. In fact, we'venever put more than four Pac-10 teams in the tournament.
"Come to think of it, I think I remember sticking it to theseCougars you were talking about a couple of years back, when theywent 21-10 and knocked off USC, the sixth-ranked team in thecountry, in their final regular-season game."
Tennison: "That's right. So why didn't we consider them 1-0down the stretch like you're hoping we can consider George- town?Or even 5-2, like they actually finished?"
Eastman: "Because they play in the time zone from hell. Wedidn't get the results of the USC game that year until Sunday
morning, and we had to commit a spot to Iowa State. Remember,they went 20-12 and finished 5-9 in a tough league.
"And besides, in our `down-the-stretch' way of thinking, WSUlost six of its last 11 in 1992."
Tennison: "Even so, what if the Cougars beat California
tonight? Then we have to let them in, right?"
Eastman: "Not necessarily."
Tennison: "How so?"
Eastman: "We simply rationalize accordingly: Two of their 20wins were against non-Division I teams. They were still only 1-5against the three best teams in their league. They won't evenfinish alone in fourth place if Stanford beats Washington.
"And they went a very mediocre 5-4 down our version of `thestretch' _ with a loss to Oregon, yet."
Tennison: "So what, then? We ship them off the NIT again?
Eastman: "Bingo! And maybe they draw Gonzaga in the firstround. Isn't that school out there somewhere, too?"
Making an argument for the Cougs And what the other side has to sayPULLMAN _ Somewhere in a smoke-free hotel room in Kansas City,the nine members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee arehuddled over a table trying to determine how to distribute thefinal four or five at-large berths for this year's men's basketballtourney.
Duke athletic director Tom Butters is the chairman of thecommittee.
He and his underlings are undoubtedly fair men. But it is hardto imagine that committee discussions are completely free ofregional bias.
One team trying to earn its way off the bubble and into the
NCAA's field of 64 for the first time in 10 years is WashingtonState.
The Cougars enhanced their chances by beating Stanford 77-71Thursday night to raise their overall record to 19-10 and theirPacific-10 Conference mark to 9-8.
But conventional wisdom suggests WSU must still upset No.16-ranked California this afternoon at 3 and maintain at least ashare of fourth place in the Pac-10 standings to secure an NCAAinvitation.
Following is a candid look into that Kansas City hotel room,where fictitious committee members Packy Tennison and Iggy Eastmanare trying _ albeit unsuccessfully _ to put their regional biasesaside and determine WSU's postseason tourna- ment future over asecond martini:
Tennison: "So, how about them Cougs?"
Eastman: "I say let 'em in. With all those Mormons watching,our tournament could make the Winter Olympics look like `The ChevyChase Show' as far as TV ratings are concerned.
"It's just too bad Shawn Bradley left school early."
Tennison: "No, I mean the other Cougs."
Eastman: "There are other Cougs?"
Tennison: "Yeah, the ones from Washington State, you know,Pullman, Pac-10 Conference, all of that. Nice little town, nice
little part of the country. Nice little team."
Eastman: "What team?"
Tennison: "The Washington State Cougars. These guys are 19-10and 9-8 in the Pac-10 Conference. They can play."
Eastman: "Oh, you mean those guys who beat Pittsburg State andAlaska-Anchorage and then lost to Oregon?"
Tennison: "No, I mean the guys who beat Coppin State, MichiganState, Marquette and Alabama and lost to UCLA on a couple of boguscalls in the final minutes."
Eastman: "Hey, they weren't the first team to get jobbedagainst UCLA. And all those `big wins' you mentioned came early inthe year, didn't they?
"Let's not forget this is strictly a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately decision on our part."
Tennison: "But they've won three of their last four and have achance to make it five of their last six if they can upset
California at home this afternoon."
Eastman: "Or you could say they've lost four of their lasteight, right? And if they lose to Cal, that'll make 'em 4-5 downthe stretch."
Tennison: "When, exactly, does `the stretch' start?"
Eastman: "Whenever we need it to. It's starting for George-town today when they meet Boston College in the Big EastTournament. Let's hope the old Hoyas finish strong."
Tennison: "Georgetown? C'mon, they've only got 14 Division Iwins."
Eastman: "Can you say Patrick Ewing? How about AlonzoMourning?"
Tennison: "Sure, but what has that got to do with anything?
Those guys are both in the NBA now. Georgetown is average.
The Big East is down this year. The Pac-10 is up."
Eastman: "Georgetown is an NCAA fixture and the Pac-10
hasn't been up since John Wooden retired."
Tennison: "Wait a minute. The Pac-10 had 32 former playerson opening-day NBA rosters this year. That's the same number asthe Big East Conference and eight more than the Big Eight.
Eastman: "And your point is?"
Tennison: "The Big Eight Conference is overrated, too. Vastlyoverrated. It's a bad league with one good team."
Eastman: "So how do you explain the fact that the Big Eighthad six teams in the tournament two years ago and five last
year?"
Tennison: "Guys like us picked 'em."
Eastman: "And with good reason. It was a great league back
then. Kansas is in it."
Tennison: "But five of those teams lost in the first round.Not counting Kansas, the league was 5-9 in the last two NCAATournaments, yet we're thinking about putting five Big Eight teamsin again this year? Who are we trying to kid?"
Eastman: "Why not? The Pac-10's recent track record at theBig Dance hasn't exactly been Fred Astaire-like."
Tennison: "The league has only had seven berths in the last twoyears. It's had five less chances to succeed than the Big Eight.It gets no respect."
Eastman: "Yeah, but look at what's happened to Arizona.
They don't deserve any more chances if their No. 1 team can'tstomach the 15th- and 16th-seeded cream puffs we've been servingthem."
Tennison: "Sure, but UCLA made it to the Great Eight two yearsago and lost to runner-up Michigan by only two points in overtimelast year.
"And don't forget, California made it to the Sweet Sixteen lastyear and beat LSU and Duke along the way."
Eastman: "Listen, pal, remember Santa Clara? Remember EastTennessee State? Arizona does, and believe me, they wish theydidn't."
Tennison: "But should you penalize the Pac-10 just becauseArizona takes gas every March?"
Eastman: "We have in the past. Look what we did to ArizonaState last year. They went 18-9 and tied UCLA for third place inthe Pac-10, and we shuffled 'em off to the NIT. In fact, we'venever put more than four Pac-10 teams in the tournament.
"Come to think of it, I think I remember sticking it to theseCougars you were talking about a couple of years back, when theywent 21-10 and knocked off USC, the sixth-ranked team in thecountry, in their final regular-season game."
Tennison: "That's right. So why didn't we consider them 1-0down the stretch like you're hoping we can consider George- town?Or even 5-2, like they actually finished?"
Eastman: "Because they play in the time zone from hell. Wedidn't get the results of the USC game that year until Sunday
morning, and we had to commit a spot to Iowa State. Remember,they went 20-12 and finished 5-9 in a tough league.
"And besides, in our `down-the-stretch' way of thinking, WSUlost six of its last 11 in 1992."
Tennison: "Even so, what if the Cougars beat California
tonight? Then we have to let them in, right?"
Eastman: "Not necessarily."
Tennison: "How so?"
Eastman: "We simply rationalize accordingly: Two of their 20wins were against non-Division I teams. They were still only 1-5against the three best teams in their league. They won't evenfinish alone in fourth place if Stanford beats Washington.
"And they went a very mediocre 5-4 down our version of `thestretch' _ with a loss to Oregon, yet."
Tennison: "So what, then? We ship them off the NIT again?
Eastman: "Bingo! And maybe they draw Gonzaga in the firstround. Isn't that school out there somewhere, too?"
Making an argument for the Cougs And what the other side has to sayPULLMAN _ Somewhere in a smoke-free hotel room in Kansas City,the nine members of the NCAA Tournament selection committee arehuddled over a table trying to determine how to distribute thefinal four or five at-large berths for this year's men's basketballtourney.
Duke athletic director Tom Butters is the chairman of thecommittee.
He and his underlings are undoubtedly fair men. But it is hardto imagine that committee discussions are completely free ofregional bias.
One team trying to earn its way off the bubble and into the
NCAA's field of 64 for the first time in 10 years is WashingtonState.
The Cougars enhanced their chances by beating Stanford 77-71Thursday night to raise their overall record to 19-10 and theirPacific-10 Conference mark to 9-8.
But conventional wisdom suggests WSU must still upset No.16-ranked California this afternoon at 3 and maintain at least ashare of fourth place in the Pac-10 standings to secure an NCAAinvitation.
Following is a candid look into that Kansas City hotel room,where fictitious committee members Packy Tennison and Iggy Eastmanare trying _ albeit unsuccessfully _ to put their regional biasesaside and determine WSU's postseason tourna- ment future over asecond martini:
Tennison: "So, how about them Cougs?"
Eastman: "I say let 'em in. With all those Mormons watching,our tournament could make the Winter Olympics look like `The ChevyChase Show' as far as TV ratings are concerned.
"It's just too bad Shawn Bradley left school early."
Tennison: "No, I mean the other Cougs."
Eastman: "There are other Cougs?"
Tennison: "Yeah, the ones from Washington State, you know,Pullman, Pac-10 Conference, all of that. Nice little town, nice
little part of the country. Nice little team."
Eastman: "What team?"
Tennison: "The Washington State Cougars. These guys are 19-10and 9-8 in the Pac-10 Conference. They can play."
Eastman: "Oh, you mean those guys who beat Pittsburg State andAlaska-Anchorage and then lost to Oregon?"
Tennison: "No, I mean the guys who beat Coppin State, MichiganState, Marquette and Alabama and lost to UCLA on a couple of boguscalls in the final minutes."
Eastman: "Hey, they weren't the first team to get jobbedagainst UCLA. And all those `big wins' you mentioned came early inthe year, didn't they?
"Let's not forget this is strictly a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately decision on our part."
Tennison: "But they've won three of their last four and have achance to make it five of their last six if they can upset
California at home this afternoon."
Eastman: "Or you could say they've lost four of their lasteight, right? And if they lose to Cal, that'll make 'em 4-5 downthe stretch."
Tennison: "When, exactly, does `the stretch' start?"
Eastman: "Whenever we need it to. It's starting for George-town today when they meet Boston College in the Big EastTournament. Let's hope the old Hoyas finish strong."
Tennison: "Georgetown? C'mon, they've only got 14 Division Iwins."
Eastman: "Can you say Patrick Ewing? How about AlonzoMourning?"
Tennison: "Sure, but what has that got to do with anything?
Those guys are both in the NBA now. Georgetown is average.
The Big East is down this year. The Pac-10 is up."
Eastman: "Georgetown is an NCAA fixture and the Pac-10
hasn't been up since John Wooden retired."
Tennison: "Wait a minute. The Pac-10 had 32 former playerson opening-day NBA rosters this year. That's the same number asthe Big East Conference and eight more than the Big Eight.
Eastman: "And your point is?"
Tennison: "The Big Eight Conference is overrated, too. Vastlyoverrated. It's a bad league with one good team."
Eastman: "So how do you explain the fact that the Big Eighthad six teams in the tournament two years ago and five last
year?"
Tennison: "Guys like us picked 'em."
Eastman: "And with good reason. It was a great league back
then. Kansas is in it."
Tennison: "But five of those teams lost in the first round.Not counting Kansas, the league was 5-9 in the last two NCAATournaments, yet we're thinking about putting five Big Eight teamsin again this year? Who are we trying to kid?"
Eastman: "Why not? The Pac-10's recent track record at theBig Dance hasn't exactly been Fred Astaire-like."
Tennison: "The league has only had seven berths in the last twoyears. It's had five less chances to succeed than the Big Eight.It gets no respect."
Eastman: "Yeah, but look at what's happened to Arizona.
They don't deserve any more chances if their No. 1 team can'tstomach the 15th- and 16th-seeded cream puffs we've been servingthem."
Tennison: "Sure, but UCLA made it to the Great Eight two yearsago and lost to runner-up Michigan by only two points in overtimelast year.
"And don't forget, California made it to the Sweet Sixteen lastyear and beat LSU and Duke along the way."
Eastman: "Listen, pal, remember Santa Clara? Remember EastTennessee State? Arizona does, and believe me, they wish theydidn't."
Tennison: "But should you penalize the Pac-10 just becauseArizona takes gas every March?"
Eastman: "We have in the past. Look what we did to ArizonaState last year. They went 18-9 and tied UCLA for third place inthe Pac-10, and we shuffled 'em off to the NIT. In fact, we'venever put more than four Pac-10 teams in the tournament.
"Come to think of it, I think I remember sticking it to theseCougars you were talking about a couple of years back, when theywent 21-10 and knocked off USC, the sixth-ranked team in thecountry, in their final regular-season game."
Tennison: "That's right. So why didn't we consider them 1-0down the stretch like you're hoping we can consider George- town?Or even 5-2, like they actually finished?"
Eastman: "Because they play in the time zone from hell. Wedidn't get the results of the USC game that year until Sunday
morning, and we had to commit a spot to Iowa State. Remember,they went 20-12 and finished 5-9 in a tough league.
"And besides, in our `down-the-stretch' way of thinking, WSUlost six of its last 11 in 1992."
Tennison: "Even so, what if the Cougars beat California
tonight? Then we have to let them in, right?"
Eastman: "Not necessarily."
Tennison: "How so?"
Eastman: "We simply rationalize accordingly: Two of their 20wins were against non-Division I teams. They were still only 1-5against the three best teams in their league. They won't evenfinish alone in fourth place if Stanford beats Washington.
"And they went a very mediocre 5-4 down our version of `thestretch' _ with a loss to Oregon, yet."
Tennison: "So what, then? We ship them off the NIT again?
Eastman: "Bingo! And maybe they draw Gonzaga in the firstround. Isn't that school out there somewhere, too?"
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