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UN: Nepal must address victims of insurgency

2012-03-15T07:17:00.000-07:00

Nepal's peace process still faces major challenges, including resolving the disappearance of hundreds of people during the decade-long communist insurgency in the Himalayan nation, a U.N. official said Monday.

Maoist guerrillas took up arms in 1996, launching an insurgency that killed about 13,000 people before a cease-fire was established in 2006. Some 800 people are still missing after being detained by government troops or captured by the rebels, according to family members.

"There is a need to address the victims of the conflict," envoy Ian Martin told reporters in Katmandu.

The former rebels, now formally called United Communist …

Automotive repair shifting toward technical complexity

2012-03-15T04:52:00.000-07:00

The road to a successful automotive career doesn't go in thesame direction it used to.

Once, it was easy to turn a part-time hobby of tinkering withcars into a full-time career. Now, devices such as self-diagnosticcomputers have made self-repair much more difficult.

Technical or vocational schools, however, can offer thenecessary automotive training.

ITT Technical Institute in Chicago offers these …

Tigers Close in on World Series Dream

2012-03-15T02:31:00.000-07:00

DETROIT - From the very first day of spring training, Jim Leyland demanded that his Detroit Tigers walk with the swagger of World Series champions. One more win, and this once-lost franchise will get a chance to play for that golden trophy.

Kenny Rogers pitched the game of his life for the second straight week while the Tigers backed him with their bats, gloves and legs, beating the Oakland Athletics 3-0 on a frosty Friday to take a 3-0 lead in the AL championship series.

Pushing aside two decades of frustration and failure, plus a late-season collapse that threatened to wreck their year, the wild-card Tigers made it look easy - just like the 1984 club that stormed to the …

US stocks rebound after market's bad week

2012-03-15T00:07:00.000-07:00

The stock market is advancing after the market's worst week since early July.

A rise was to be expected Monday after the stock market's latest rally stalled in response to disappointing housing and manufacturing data. Investors are trying to decide whether it's wise to commit much money to the market while the economic recovery looks more tentative.

Investors …

Mousse can begin or end meal lightly

2012-03-14T21:47:00.000-07:00

The word mousse is French for foam. However, in culinary terms,mousse refers to a large category of dishes that have a foamlike,light, smooth texture usually made with a gelatin, egg white orwhipped cream base, and can be served chilled or frozen.

The mousse category of dishes is so vast and varied, it issometimes hard to tell what is or is not a mousse. You can mistake acold souffle, a pate and a mousseline for mousse and be partlycorrect. They all have the distinguishing textural features of themousse but are categorized differently because of a specific dish,method of cooking or usage particular to them.

But never mind about all that. All you need to remember …

Recharging the Imagination

2012-03-14T19:26:00.000-07:00

When most people think about museums, they envision places to view history, art, science, or significant memorabilia. But the Springfield Museums on the Quadrangle offer far more than impressive collections and a plethora of educational programs.

What sets them apart from similar institutions is their ability to host business meetings, conventions, weddings, holiday parties, and other gatherings in unusual settings on their five-building campus.

"Businesses come here because the environment is stimulating the spaces we have recharge their imagination," said Special Events Coordinator Mary Morisi.

President Holly Smith-Bove agrees. "There is really no limit to the …

Postseason NBA Schedule

2012-03-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

Boston 104, Atlanta 81, Boston leads series 1-0

Atlanta at Boston, 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, April 23

Boston 96, Atlanta 77

Saturday, April 26

Atlanta 102, Boston 93

Monday, April 28

Atlanta 97, Boston 92

Wednesday, April 30

Boston 110, Atlanta 85

Friday, May 2

Atlanta 103, Boston 100

Sunday, May 4

Boston 99, Atlanta 65, Boston wins series 4-3

___

Cleveland vs. Washington

Saturday, April 19

Cleveland 93, Washington 86, Cleveland leads series 1-0

Washington at Cleveland, 12:30 p.m.

…

Dems warned not to block Goss for CIA It's 'the wrong fight,' says party's top Intel panel member in House

2012-03-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON -- The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committeewarned fellow Democrats in the Senate on Sunday against trying toblock the nomination of Rep. Porter Goss as CIA director, saying thatwould be picking the wrong fight in this election year.

Democrats should ask tough questions of Goss (R-Fla.) at Senateconfirmation hearings next month, but "my view is this is the wrongfight," Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.) said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"To get stuck in a fight about Porter Goss after tough questionsare asked of Porter Goss is not where we ought to be this fall," saidHarman, who has no vote on the matter because the Senate confirmspresidential …

Phil Jackson hits school commencement circuit

2012-03-14T12:25:00.000-07:00

Phil Jackson hits school commencement circuit

Former Chicago Housing Authority chief Phillip Jackson is taking to the commencement circuit this spring in his new job as Chief for Education of Chicago Public Schools.

On Tuesday, Jackson appeared at the lectern as featured speaker in ceremonies for 19 Robert S. Abbott School graduates, one of five public school graduating classes before whom he will speak this year.

The tone of his address, a stirring speech urging graduates to face the possibility of failure along their path toward success, was typical of the former housing official's enthusiasm. He insinuated no irony into the speech, whose theme closely parallels …

AMERICAS NEWS AT 0500 GMT

2012-03-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Cefnogaeth Banc Lloyds TSB i [...]

2012-03-14T07:44:00.000-07:00

Cefnogaeth Banc Lloyds TSB i Eisteddfod Llandyfaelog Cynhaliwydswper arbennig yn Y Llew Coch Llandyfaelog yn ddiweddar i godi ariantuag at Eisteddfod Gadeiriol Llandyfaelog 2011. Codwyd swm sylweddolo arian tuag at yr eisteddfod. Gwnaethpwyd hynny trwy gefnogaetharbennig cynllun punt-am-bunt Banc Lloyds TSB yn cefnogi achosion dayn y gymuned. Yn y llun fe welir Alan Rees o Fanc Lloyds TSB yncyflwyno siec i swyddogion pwyllgor Eisteddfod Llandyfaelog, RayanEvans, Meinir James a Rhiannon Roberts. Hefyd yn y llun mae DavidThomas o'r …

Oracle 3Q Profit Up 35 Percent on Growth

2012-03-14T05:24:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO - Oracle Corp.'s fiscal third-quarter profit climbed 35 percent amid surprisingly strong sales growth that provided the business software maker with an additional boost as it heads into its busiest time of the year.

The Redwood Shores-based company said Tuesday that it earned $1.03 billion, or 20 cents per share, for the three months ended in February. That compared with net income of $765 million, or 14 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for certain expenses unrelated to its ongoing operations, Oracle said it would have earned 25 cents per share. That was 2 cents above the average estimate among analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.

…

2 Iraqi Police Die in Suicide Bombing

2012-03-14T02:50:00.000-07:00

BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber exploded a tanker truck near a police checkpoint outside a market west of Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least two police officers and injuring nine others, police said.

The attack occurred about 10 a.m. in a town just outside of the turbulent city of Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, police said.

Police grew suspicious of the truck as it approached the checkpoint and opened fire when it was still 200 meters away, but the bomber still managed to detonate the explosives, police said. Police said they suspected chlorine gas was used in the attack. The U.S. military said it had no reports that chlorine was used in the bomb.

Later Sunday, a bomb planted under a parked car exploded in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Bab al-Sharji, near the Zahraa Shiite mosque, police said. The blast killed one civilian and wounded five others and damaged nearby houses and the mosque, police said.

Meanwhile, President Jalal Talabani left Iraq on Sunday for a trip to the United States that was expected to include a medical checkup. The trip came four months after Talabani was rushed to a Jordanian hospital where doctors said he was suffering from exhaustion and dehydration caused by lung and sinus infections.

"I will go to the U.S.A and stay nearly three weeks to lose weight and have some rest and relaxation ... away from meetings and work," Talabani, a 73-year-old Sunni Kurd, said before boarding a plane in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah, 160 miles northeast of Baghdad.

A senior Kurdish politician close to the Iraqi leader said Talabani was going for a checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that had been scheduled for weeks. The politician spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the president's plans.

Azad Jindyani, spokesman of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, denied the president had health problems.

"Talabani's health is very good, but he felt tired recently ... because of the work and meetings," he said.

Talabani was the second top Iraqi politician to fly to the United States for medical reasons in four days.

Senior Shiite politician Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim flew there aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday for further tests to determine if he is suffering from lung cancer, according to members of his staff.

South of Baghdad, thousands of U.S. soldiers continued in their search for three missing comrades, more than a week after they were abducted.

At least one U.S. soldier was killed Saturday and four others wounded as insurgents attacked the searchers with guns, mortars and bombs. The military reported a dozen other U.S. troop deaths in Iraq since Thursday.

The search for the missing soldiers involves some 4,000 troops who "will not stop searching until we find our soldiers," said Lt. Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad. "We're using all available assets and continuing to assault the al-Qaida in Iraq network," he said.

An al-Qaida front group has claimed responsibility for the May 12 attack in Quarghuli, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, that resulted in the kidnapping and the deaths of four American soldiers and an Iraqi aide.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, the senior American commander in Iraq, told the Army Times newspaper in an interview Friday night that U.S. forces were focusing on an insurgent who is "sort of an affiliate of al-Qaida."

He said an informant provided U.S. forces with names of those who took part in the raid and kidnapping but they were still at large. "We've had all kinds of tips down there. We just tragically haven't found the individuals," he said.

Petraeus said he did not know whether the three missing soldiers, from the Army's 10th Mountain Division, were alive. But "as of this morning, we thought there were at least two that were probably still alive," he said.

"At one point in time there was a sense that one of them might have died, but again, we just don't know."

An Iraqi army intelligence officer, who said he helped interrogate two suspects detained in recent days in Mahmoudiya, said they confessed to participating in the raid. Mahmoudiya is the largest town in the search area.

They said 13 insurgents conducted the surprise attack and then escaped in two groups. The leader of the group, along with some gunmen, took the kidnapped soldiers to an unknown destination, he said.

He added that the two detainees gave interrogators the hiding place for weapons used in the ambush and U.S. troops confiscated them.

In other violence, men in Iraqi army uniforms rousted Kurdish villagers from their homes in Hamid Shifi, 60 miles northeast of Baghdad, separated out the able-bodied men, and shot dead 15, according to an Iraqi general and a Kurdish political party. It was the latest incident in months of sectarian killings in lawless Diyala province and officials said Saturday that the government fired the local army commander.

"Public Service Announcement"

2012-03-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

BEIJING

"Public Service Announcement"

ARROW FACTORY

A traveler arriving in Beijing in search of art is sure to be struck first by the size of the city's enormous squares, temples, galleries, and museums - which corresponds in contemporary art to the prevalence of roomfilling installations, large-format pictures, and, until recently, high prices paid for works of art. "Small Is the New Big" is the title curator Pauline J. Yao gave in 2009 to an article in which she differentiated the work of the Arrow Factory - a noncommercial exhibition space she has been running with artist colleagues Rania Ho and Wang Wei since 2008 - from the hype of contemporary Chinese art. Situated in a modest storefront in a residential quarter in the northeast of the city center - and far from the art ghettos on the outskirts of Beijing - the Arrow Factory stands out from the chic art spaces of the periphery in ways that are not just spatial and geographic. Its program of local and international shows aims to interact with social, economic, and political life in its immediate neighborhood as well as in China as a whole - and so it also stands for a model of a public-minded art independent of commercial interests and government influence.

Here, both Chinese and Western artists have developed their own forms of interaction with the audience, whether by turning the exhibition space into a simulacrum of a clothing store with dresses made of industrial fabric remnants on the model of an Herm�s dress (Ni Haifeng); studying the dynamics between collective and personal narratives on the basis of the stories of Chinese artists living abroad after leaving China in the 1990s (Lin Yilin); setting up a temporary TV studio in which visitors could sign up to make their own shows that were then "broadcast" live in the Arrow Factory's window (Nie Mu); pointing out social and demographic changes in Beijing's hutongs with a photograph in the style of the ubiquitous Beijing real estate billboards (Ken Lum); or staging an imaginary dialogue with the local police, who at first reacted with suspicion to the Arrow Factory's activities (Wang Wei).

"Public Service Announcement: The Art of the Scam" continued the tradition of these eailiet presentations: It too raised questions concerning the use of public space. And yet it also staked out its own territory. The objects on display were not "art" in the strictest sense; the curatorial transfer, the show itself, was the work of art. Two monitors placed in the window facing the street showed video clips about cases of fraud - the sale of counterfeit gold watches and fake ginseng, involving ATM cards and real estate. These videos, produced by the Beijing City Public Secutity Bureau, were provided for the show by the local police station - by, that is, the very officials who at first looked askance at the Arrow Factory's activities. Presented in this publicly accessible space in the middle of a heavily frequented alleyway, the videos found their ideal audience from the perspective of their producers. For the Arrow Factory, they are part of a strategy of artistic appropriation that blends the desire to maintain control over urban space with the public nature of an art institution; the gesture of incorporating official government material takes up and underscores questions of art's public identity and its autonomy as an institution. "Public Service Announcement" performed an interesting balancing act that wittiiV played with structures of public life in China. In presenting its particftkr instances of counterfeits and deceptions, it slyly offered an astute political commentary.

- Astrid Wege

Translated from German by Oliver E. Dry fuss.

Obama and veep choice to campaign on Saturday

2012-03-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama's newly minted running mate will join the Democratic hopeful onstage Saturday at a rally in this capital city where Obama launched his White House bid, a campaign official said.

A senior Obama adviser told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Tuesday that Obama and his vice presidential choice will appear in front of the former state Capitol where Abraham Lincoln once served. The last time Obama appeared there, he announced he was running for president.

The disclosure narrowed the window Obama has to reveal his running mate. The list of possibilities is widely believed to be down to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine, who planned to campaign with Obama Thursday in his home state.

Obama's major rival for the nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, was seen by some Democrats as a long-shot.

As he drew closer to naming a running mate in the final days before the Democratic convention, Obama issued a blunt counterattack against what he contends is Republican John McCain's habit of questioning his "character and patriotism."

Vice presidential picks have seldom been as important as this year. Obama was thought to be looking for a running mate who adds heft to the Democratic ticket, given the Illinois senator's brief tenure on the national political scene.

The choice is equally vital for McCain, who turns 72 on Aug. 29 and would be the oldest first-term American president.

The Arizona senator was considering a vice presidential announcement right after next week's Democratic convention ends on Aug. 28, gunning to diminish Obama's post-convention glow as party delegates leave Denver, Colorado. McCain has a three-day window before his Republicans assemble Sept. 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

With Obama expected to name his No. 2 as early as Wednesday, he and his campaign were refusing any clues. In a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, however, Obama praised Biden, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman for proposing an additional $1 billion of reconstruction projects in the Republic of Georgia after the Russian invasion.

At the VFW meeting, an unsmiling, steely eyed Obama struck back at McCain, who told the same audience a day earlier that his Democratic opponent had "tried to legislate failure" in the Iraq war and was putting his presidential ambitions above American interests.

"One of the things that we have to change in this country is the idea that people can't disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism," Obama told the assembled veterans. "I have never suggested that Sen. McCain picks his positions on national security based on politics or personal ambition. I have not suggested it because I believe that he genuinely wants to serve America's national interest. Now, it's time for him to acknowledge that I want to do the same.

"Let me be clear: I will let no one question my love of this country. I love America, so do you, and so does John McCain."

McCain's revival of the candidates' conflict over the Iraq war appeared designed to shift the debate away from the struggling American economy, which polls show is the top concern of voters. McCain is viewed as less likely to shepherd the country out of its financial crisis.

The Vietnam veteran's top contenders for the vice presidency are said to include Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Less traditional choices include former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, an abortion-rights supporter, and Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, the Democratic vice presidential pick in 2000 who now is an independent.

Underscoring how seriously McCain may be considering Ridge or Lieberman, Republican officials say top McCain advisers have been reaching out to big donors and high-profile delegates in key states to gauge the impact of putting an abortion-rights supporter on the Republican ticket.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh warned Tuesday that the Republican base "will totally turn on McCain" if he picks a pro-choice running mate and predicted such a move "will ensure his defeat."

McCain spokesman Brian Rogers responded to Limbaugh's latest volley by saying, "John McCain is pro-life, always has been, and his administration will be pro-life. Anyone picked as his vice president will respect those views."

Lieberman has been traveling with McCain recently. Pawlenty was gearing up for a weekend campaign swing in Ohio and Pennsylvania on McCain's behalf, and said he might travel to Denver next week as a McCain surrogate during the Democratic National Convention.

McCain, meanwhile, visited an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico and called for increased offshore drilling that he claims would lower the cost of food and heating homes.

McCain traveled 130 miles (209 kilometers) by helicopter to tour the massive facility, which produces 10,000 barrels of oil each day, and criticized Obama for not supporting such a plan.

"He says it won't solve our problem and that it's, quote, not real. He's wrong and the American people know it," McCain told reporters.

Obama's campaign, meanwhile, called the four-hour excursion nothing more than a stunt.

Obama strategist Anita Dunn wouldn't respond directly when asked if the Springfield event would be Obama's first appearance with his choice, but she suggested the two wouldn't necessarily be related. The campaign has said it will announce the choice in a cell phone text message to supporters.

"We could pick up the V.P. any time," Dunn said in an interview.

The campaign's announcement said only that the Illinois senator would begin his trip to the party's national convention at Saturday's event. The Democratic National Convention begins Monday in Denver.

At a town-hall meeting in Raleigh, North Carolina., Obama repeatedly said "he" when discussing the qualities he sought in a potential running mate, even as campaign officials cautioned not to read much into his choice of pronouns.

"Let me tell you first what I won't do: I won't hand over my energy policy to my vice president and not know necessarily what he's doing," Obama told the audience. "My vice president ... will be a member of the executive branch. He won't be one of these fourth branches of government where he thinks he's above the law," an apparent reference to Vice President Dick Cheney's handling of his office.

A combative Obama said that McCain "doesn't know what he's up against" in this election.

Obama, campaigning in a state where he hopes to become the first Democratic presidential candidate to win in more than three decades, implored his supporters to fight for the presidency.

Those believed to be on Obama's short list for vice president stayed mum.

Biden coyly told reporters staking out his home in Delaware, "I'm not the guy," as he drove by. Sebelius, in an interview with the AP before she stumped for Obama in Michigan, professed no inside knowledge of when word would come.

Only Obama, his wife, Michelle, a handful of his most senior advisers and his two-member search committee know for certain who has been vetted and discussed. Staffers were already in place to support Obama's pick, including more than a dozen seasoned operatives who have set up shop in the campaign's Chicago headquarters.

___

Associated Press Writers Christopher Wills in Springfield, Illinois; Beth Fouhy in Raleigh, North Carolina; and Nedra Pickler in Chicago contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com

Obama: http://www.barackobama.com

Painful memory QB Roethlisberger hopes first pro hit doesn't ring a bell

2012-03-13T18:15:00.000-07:00

LATROBE, Pa. -- Before his first college game, in Michigan, BenRoethlisberger made a statement he repeated Thursday, two days beforehis first pro game -- which also will be played in Michigan.

He likes to get that first hit out of the way.

"I know I said that in college," said the Pittsburgh Steelersrookie quarterback. "Well, the first hit broke my nose, so thatwasn't such a good thing to say."

Roethlisberger missed a play in his college debut againstMichigan, came back and didn't come out again for the next threeyears at Miami of Ohio. It led to his selection in the first round ofthe draft by the Steelers in April.

His next step is to take the field Saturday against the Lions atFord Field in Detroit in the Steelers' preseason opener.

Roethlisberger will play more than he expected earlier in the weekbecause of an injury to Charlie Batch.

Batch, a backup quarterback, underwent an MRI exam that revealed"a loose body in his knee," according to coach Bill Cowher. Batch isexpected to miss two to three weeks.

Cowher said Tommy Maddox would start and play the first quarter,with "Ben and Brian [St. Pierre of Boston College] playing the rest,and probably in that order," Cowher said.

So Roethlisberger will play in Detroit, near Ann Arbor, where hemade his college football debut and learned early just how rough thegame could be.

"First series, first game," he said of his broken nose. "Hehappened to hit me, my helmet came down and next thing you know bloodwas running down my face, so I missed a play."

Family and friends from Findlay, Ohio, will make the trek forRoethlisberger's preseason debut at the pro level. They'll watch arookie quarterback who is just beginning to learn the playbook.

"He's not going to get overwhelmed by it," said Cowher. "Ifthere's one thing I like about him, it's the way he approaches thegame. He runs around in practice and improvises and makes plays. Ithink the biggest thing for him is that Kenny [Whisenhunt] is notstanding next to him in the huddle."

Roethlisberger doesn't believe that will be a problem.

"He won't be able to stand next to me, but he'll be in my ear," hesaid of offensive coordinator Whisenhunt. "It's a new offense,something I have to learn. I've been doing a lot of it, and I thinkI've been coming a long way and making a lot of progress with it."

Roethlisberger's greatest asset in camp has been the way hecombines his mobility with his strong arm. He has been able to throwon the run with accuracy, just as he had in college.

Executing the called play, however, will be another story.

"I'm just going to go play football," he said. "That's what got mehere is playing football. That's what I do best, so that's what I'mgoing to have to do -- try not to think too much and just go out andplay."

Cowher said most of the starters will play about a quarter, butthose in the secondary can expect to play longer. The only otherstarter Cowher ruled out is free safety Chris Hope, who injured hisshoulder tackling Jerome Bettis more than a week ago. Hope haspracticed sparingly since but is expected back next week.

EU suggests ban on new deepwater drilling

2012-03-13T15:21:00.000-07:00

The European Union's top energy official is suggesting a ban on any new deepwater oil and gas exploration projects.

The United States already has temporarily banned similar drilling to examine safety concerns in the wake of a massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill from a well operated by BP Plc.

EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told reporters after talks on Wednesday with oil companies that "a moratorium of new drillings would be a good idea."

He also announced an overhaul of drilling safety rules and restricting drilling licenses to companies that can show they have the financial means to cover the costs of potential spills.

(This version CORRECTS Corrects to "Wednesday," instead of "Thursday" in paragraph 3.)

Cubs stayed afloat against Cards on day Titanic sank

2012-03-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

THE MAILBAG

Q. What did the Cubs do the day the Titanic was sunk?

Greg Beuke, Frankfort, Ill.A. The Cubs did not go down with the Titanic on April 15, 1912.Pitcher Larry Cheney, who went on to win 26 games that season, beatthe Cardinals 9-2 at St. Louis' Robison Field.Q. Which Blackhawks scored the most goals in the Stanley CupPlayoffs?Rick Block, ChicagoA. It's almost a three-way tie, with Bobby Hull scoring 62goals, Denis Savard 61 and Stan Mikita 59.Q. I recall a game when Cubs pitchers walked 10 batters in oneinning. Do you have the details?Dick Parker, Elk GroveA. It was only nine. Moe Drabowsky walked four batters, JackieCollum passed three and Jim Brosnan issued two in the fifth inning asthe Cincinnati Reds beat the Cubs 9-5 on April 24, 1957, at CrosleyField.Q. Who was the third baseman who played the national anthem onhis trumpet before a Cubs game?Phil Holdman, ChicagoA. Carmen Fanzone, now a professional musician, hit the highnotes for the Cubs. Fanzone, who backed up Ron Santo at third, hit20 home runs and drove in 129 runs from 1971 to 1974.THE TRIVIAQ-1. Which Andre was a Cubs pitcher? (A) Andre Dawson. (B)Andre Thornton. (C) Andre Rodgers. (D) John Andre.Q-2. Who was a quarterback at Alabama and a pitcher for theWhite Sox? (A) Bama Rowell. (B) Dixie Howell. (C) Jake Powell. (D)Mel Nowell.Q-3. Which boxer held the middleweight, light-heavyweight andheavyweight titles? (A) Bob Fitzsimmons. (B) Gene Tunney. (C) ArchieMoore. (D) Chuck Wepner.Q-4. Who is the only batter with more than 2,000 strikeouts?(A) Sammy Sosa. (B) Bobby Bonds. (C) Reggie Jackson. (D) DaveKingman.Q-5. Who was the first Bear to gain 1,000 yards rushing in oneseason? (A) Red Grange. (B) Bronko Nagurski. (C) Rick Casares. (D)Beattie Feathers.DID YOU KNOW? Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants hit 11homers as a leadoff batter in 1973? . . . Rickey Henderson has hit64 leadoff homers in his career?GOLD MINE: Who pitched 12 one-hitters?ANSWERS: Q-1 (D). Q-2 (B). Q-3 (A). Q-4 (C). Q-5 (D).GOLD MINE ANSWER: Bob Feller, Cleveland Indians, 1936-1956.CORRECTION: Thanks to many alert readers who pointed out thatthe 1939 NCAA basketball tournament was held at Northwestern's PattenGym, and not McGaw Hall.Do you have a sports question? Ask Eddie Gold of the Sun-Times,401 N. Wabash Ave., Chicago, Ill., 60611.

Eagles place Hobbs on IR with neck injury

2012-03-13T09:22:00.000-07:00

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Eagles have placed cornerback Ellis Hobbs on injured reserve, ending his season.

Hobbs sustained a neck injury in a helmet-to-helmet collision with New York Giants defensive lineman Dave Tollefson on the second-half kickoff in Sunday's 27-17 win over New York.

Hobbs was down on the field for 11 minutes before leaving on a stretcher. Coach Andy Reid says surgery is uncertain at this point.

Last year, Hobbs missed the final nine games with a neck injury that required surgery. He began this season as the starter but recently lost his job to Dimitri Patterson.

The Eagles signed cornerback Brandon Hughes off the Giants' practice squad to replace Hobbs.

John Travolta arrives for Bahamas extortion trial

2012-03-13T05:36:00.000-07:00

John Travolta appeared Wednesday for a trial for two people accused of trying to extort $25 million from the movie star, arriving at a courthouse surrounded by Bahamas police officers.

Travolta, who is expected to testify for the prosecution, pulled up in an entourage of sport utility vehicles in his first appearance at the trial. Security was noticeably heavier than previous days as Travolta entered a police station across the street from the Nassau courthouse.

The trial began Monday for the two defendants _ a paramedic and a former Bahamas senator _ who allegedly tried to blackmail Travolta with private information following the death of his chronically ill son at a family vacation home on Grand Bahama island.

Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamas senator Pleasant Bridgewater have pleaded innocent to extortion charges.

Police say the alleged scheme involved a document related to the treatment of 16-year-old Jett Travolta, who died Jan. 2. It would have released emergency responders from liability if the family refused an ambulance but police said that did not happen.

A police officer testified Tuesday that Travolta signed the release because he initially wanted his son taken to the airport instead of the hospital.

The nine-person Supreme Court jury was expected to hear from a total of 14 witnesses, including Travolta.

U.S. advisers help Pakistan expand commando group to deal with country's rising threats

2012-03-13T02:10:00.000-07:00

U.S. military advisers are helping the Pakistanis double the size of their elite commando force in a continuing effort to blunt the rising threat of terror groups and anti-government militants operating in Pakistan's unruly tribal areas, a senior Defense Department official said.

The American military presence is fewer than 100 personnel, said Mike Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict, and is focused on what he called "targeted training." That includes assisting Pakistan's Special Service Group and teaching specialized fighting techniques, such as helicopter assaults.

"It's been ongoing for a while," Vickers said during a meeting with reporters Wednesday. "They're expanding their capability substantially; they're essentially doubling their force. So we're helping them with that expansion and trying to improve their capabilities at the same time. There's also some aviation training. It's been ongoing for several years."

The number of U.S. forces in Pakistan is a sensitive issue. Many Pakistanis openly support or sympathize with al-Qaida, the Taliban or other militant groups and would view a sizable American presence in their country as an unwelcome intrusion.

That means the U.S. military will not conduct ground operations on its own inside Pakistan unless President Pervez Musharraf's government requests such direct support.

"We have to be careful conducting operations in a sovereign country, particularly one that's a friend of ours and one that has given us a lot of support," Dell Dailey, the State Department's counterterror chief, said last month. "The blowback would be pretty serious."

U.S. intelligence believes al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden is in the tribal area, a swath of rugged land that runs along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Defense officials told Congress on Wednesday that al-Qaida is operating from havens in "under-governed regions" of Pakistan, which they said poses direct threats to Europe, the United States and the Pakistan government itself. Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, predicted in written testimony that the next attack on the United States probably would be launched by terrorists in that region.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes that Pakistan understands the threat al-Qaida poses to its government, but is sensitive to an American military presence. Gates has said the United States remains ready, willing and able to provide military support and conduct joint operations with the Pakistanis.

Until Pakistan "sort of gets on top of the whole situation and what their needs are, I think we're kind of in a standby mode at this point," he said.

The top American commander in the region, Navy Adm. William J. Fallon, was in Pakistan in January meeting with senior Pakistani officials, including the new army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Kayani. After the meeting, Fallon told reporters that Pakistani officials were more willing to seek U.S. help.

Mullen is to travel to Pakistan this week, Vickers said.

Echoing testimony delivered to Congress on Tuesday by McConnell, Vickers said the unsettled tribal region "remains a source of sanctuary for the al-Qaida senior leadership."

Vickers gave the Pakistani military high marks for keeping al-Qaida in check in Pakistan's cities and other "settled" locations.

"They have been less effective in the tribal areas of western Pakistan, and that's the problem we face right now," Vickers said. "It's getting worse in Pakistan, I think, it's fair to say."

If U.S. forces teamed up with the Pakistanis, their support would be "by, with and through" the Pakistani troops, Vickers said. The phrase refers to a key tenet of unconventional warfare and underscores the disguised approach the United States would take.

"We have certain capabilities that we can do in a low-visibility manner that can enhance the operations of Pakistani forces," Vickers said. Those capabilities could include night vision devices, air transport, and sophisticated gear for gathering intelligence and conducting surveillance.

NJ war monument's Christmas lights draw reprisals

2012-03-12T23:10:00.000-07:00

HIGHTSTOWN, N.J. (AP) — Officials in a New Jersey town have decided to decorate a Civil War monument with Christmas lights and garland despite complaints that it's disrespectful.

The lights will be strung from the monument in Hightstown in the shape of a Christmas tree and will be turned on during a ceremony on Friday evening.

All but one member of the town's Historic Preservation Commission resigned over the plan. The lone holdout had proposed the idea to the town council.

Councilwoman Isabel McGinty told The Times of Trenton (http://bit.ly/syHlSo) that opponents should reserve judgment until they see the completed project.

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Information from: The Times, http://www.nj.com/times

A good state budget is good for business

2012-03-12T20:16:00.000-07:00

Just before midnight June 30, in the waning minutes of the 2010-11 fiscal year, Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law a new budget. The $27.15 billion spending plan is a victory on many levels.

The last eight Pennsylvania budgets weren't decided until after the start of the fiscal year - sometimes long after. An on-time budget was a high priority.

But more historically and importantly for the state's fiscal integrity, the fiscal 2011-12 general fund budget cuts total spending by 4.1 percent. That fact alone makes this a good budget for Pennsylvania's business community.

In March, I wrote in these pages supporting the broad themes outlined by Corbett in his address to a joint session of the General Assembly. I meant every word of that commentary, but I wouldn't have bet the house on getting it passed.

Reporters scrambled to find an example of the state reducing spending over a previous year. Some think it's happened a handful of times in the last 40 years, but others report searches going back through 80 years of records have come up empty in terms of real budget cuts.

In government budgeting, any increase that is less than the rate of inflation is usually called a "cut." This year was historic and important.

The savings amount to roughly $1.2 billion in this year, but more over time as spending is usually compounded.

Through a reduction in the state's workforce, a streamlining of programs, and the appropriations cuts, the cost of administering state government will drop by 10 percent over the next four years, according to the governor's staff. As U.S. Sen. Everett Dirksen said many years ago, "A billion here and a billion there and soon you're talking about real money."

It is also important to note there are no new taxes in the budget, and the phase-out of the capital stock and franchise taxes begins again on schedule. That will save Pennsylvania businesses $70 million in the current year.

The research and development tax credit was increased from $40 million to $55 million, and the film tax credit was maintained. The budget also increases the bonus depreciation deduction to 100 percent for property placed into service before January 2012.

And while not a budget issue per se, meaningful reform of the joint and several liability rules - the Fair Share Act - was passed after a 10-year fight. This step will reduce the cost of legal defense for hospitals, nonprofits, local governments, the commonwealth and the business community.

Saving money is an important signal to those entrepreneurs who might risk their capital to expand or create businesses and jobs in the commonwealth. They need confidence that once they commit themselves to the enterprise, the rules and price of the game won't change.

We're not done. We still have to find a way to cut costs from our unemployment compensation system to forestall federally mandated tax increases to repay the debt to the unemployment compensation fund. And we need to lower the cost of our public pension system so we can tackle unfunded liabilities.

There will be scarce resources for infrastructure for many generations to come, so we need to find ways to do more with less.

Business owners and senior managers have been aggressively driving cost-cutting for a decade now. It's been painful, but the firms that survived are stronger, more productive and better able to compete globally.

Some firms didn't survive. People lost their jobs and are hurting. There is no denying those facts. But the public sector cannot be immune from the same realities. Some government programs will not survive and some public employees will lose their jobs.

The pain, however, doesn't have to be permanent. By making government more efficient and growing private sector jobs, we can re-employ people, grow wages, spread prosperity and - within reason - even spend a little more through government and public programs.

Some trade-offs were made in this budget process. That's what the political process is all about. Higher education received significantly more money than Corbett proposed in March but still nearly one-fifth less than last year. Spending for K-12 was also cut, albeit less than the governor proposed. Eligibility reforms and better enforcement will seek to save about $500 million in welfare and Medicaid spending.

These debates about priorities and public goals are healthy and necessary.

There is a long-standing fight between those who believe that zero-based budgeting is the only legitimate decision-making course, and those who think incremental budget-making is inevitable. Maybe both sides are right. But certainly, there are times when we have to step back, take a deep breath, reassess priorities and options, and then take the courageous action that puts us back on course.

In all, it will be a very good budget for the commonwealth and sets a strong tone for the coming years.

[Sidebar]

These debates about priorities and public goals are healthy and necessary.

[Author Affiliation]

David W. Patti is the president and chief executive officer of the Pennsylvania Business Council in Harrisburg. Email him at dpatti@pabusinesscouncil.org.

New enforcement tools help fight health care fraud

2012-03-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

The government says it recovered $2.5 billion in overpayments for the Medicare trust fund last year as the Obama administration focused attention on fraud enforcement efforts in the health care industry.

Investigators have new tools this year to help crack down on health care fraud, with the Justice Department and the Health and Human Services Department working cooperatively to police companies. The newly enacted Affordable Care Act is designed to lengthen prison sentences in criminal cases and the new law provides an additional $300 million over the next 10 years for stronger enforcement. It also gives the government new authority to step up oversight of companies participating in Medicare and Medicaid.

Under the Affordable Care Act, providers could be subject to fingerprinting, site visits and criminal background checks before they begin billing Medicare and Medicaid.

To combat fraud, the act allows Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to bar providers from joining the programs and allows her to withhold payment to Medicare or Medicaid providers if an investigation is pending.

In a report being released Thursday, the Justice Department and HHS say they are putting investigative resources in areas where health care fraud is especially widespread, including south Florida; Los Angeles; Houston; Detroit; New York City's Brooklyn borough; Baton Rouge, La.; and Tampa, Fla.

The result is a rising number of criminal prosecutions and the return of more stolen money to the government. At the same time, federal investigators are blocking unscrupulous companies from getting into government health care programs in the first place.

For the fiscal year that ended last Sept. 30, the federal government won or negotiated $1.63 billion in judgments and settlements, and investigators opened 1,014 new criminal health care fraud investigations involving 1,786 defendants.

Most of those figures are up from 2008, when the government won or negotiated $1 billion in judgments and settlements, and investigators opened 957 new criminal health care fraud investigations involving 1,641 potential defendants.

In 2008, the recoveries for the Medicare Trust Fund totaled $1.9 billion.

UK can't guarantee allies don't torture detainees

2012-03-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

Britain's government can't completely rule out that its allies torture detainees while seeking to tackle the threat from terrorism, according to an official report released Wednesday.

An annual report on human rights, issued by Foreign Secretary David Miliband, said Britain must work with intelligence agencies overseas, not all of whom share U.K. standards and laws.

"But we cannot afford the luxury of only dealing with those that do. The intelligence we get from others saves British lives," the report said.

The government said in the report that it does all it can to check that people detained by other nations who are considered intelligence sources aren't badly treated.

But the government acknowledged "there are times when we cannot reduce the risk to zero."

Police are investigating the actions of two British intelligence officers over their alleged complicity in the torture of people held overseas.

A dozen ex-Guantanamo Bay detainees _ 11 of whom now live in Britain _ have begun legal cases against Britain, accusing the government of being involved or condoning their alleged mistreatment overseas.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had repeatedly insisted Britain does not condone torture, or solicit others to torture on its behalf.

Launching the report, Miliband said Britain has a responsibility to cooperate in probes about such cases as terror networks in South Asia and drug trafficking in the Caribbean _ even though "engaging with foreign justice and security organizations may expose us to human rights risks."

The minister had previously acknowledged that Britain has stopped operations with allies to question suspects when officials believed they could not guarantee detainees involved would not be mistreated.

"This is never an easy judgment, and we would be failing in our twin duties to defend the country and uphold human rights if we pretended that there was never a tension between the two," the report said.

Last week, the former head of the country's domestic spy agency MI5, Eliza Manningham-Buller, said U.S. intelligence agencies misled key allies, including Britain, over its treatment of suspected terrorists.

She said the U.S. deliberately suppressed details of its harsh handling of detainees including accused Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

However, a senior British judge _ Master of the Rolls David Neuberger _ said last month that MI5's insistence in a court case that it was unaware of the harsh treatment of some detainees held in CIA custody was unreliable.

In a foreword to the report _ which features on its cover a portrait of Neda Agha-Soltan, a music student shot dead in Tehran during protests over Iran's election _ Miliband warned of emerging challenges to human rights.

"The increasing threat to gay people's rights in some African countries reminds us that tolerance is a dream rather than a reality for much of the world's population," he said.

The study lists 22 countries of concern, including Iran, Pakistan, Russia, China and Myanmar.