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2012-07-03T06:40:00.001-07:00

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Popular NYC Eatery Shut Down for Rodents

2012-03-15T07:04:00.000-07:00

While serendipity may be the art of finding pleasant things by chance, what health inspectors found at celebrated eatery Serendipity 3 was not very agreeable.

Officials closed the restaurant Wednesday night after it failed its second inspection in a month. An inspector spotted a live mouse and mouse droppings, fruit flies, house flies and more than 100 live cockroaches.

"Both inspections revealed rodent and fly infestation and conditions conducive to pest …

Colombo, Pierre

2012-03-15T04:39:00.000-07:00

Colombo, Pierre

Colombo, Pierre, Swiss conductor; b. La Tour-de-Peilz, May 22, 1914. He received training in piano, voice, and flute, and also pursued studies in science at the Univ. of Lausanne. He studied conducting at the Basel Cons, (diploma, 1942), his principal mentors being Scherchen and H. Munch; he also studied …

Solar Powerful

2012-03-15T02:18:00.000-07:00

Even though the company is only a few years old, Alteris Renewables, based in Wilton, Conn. with an office in Springfield, is proving that the sky is the limit with solar installations.

Alteris charted on the Inc. 5000 Index as the fastest-growing renewable-energy company in the Northeast, with tenfold growth since 2005, and the company projects a similar trajectory for the years ahead.

Ron French is the company president, and he told Business West recently that he's optimistic about the prospects for the solar industry in Massachusetts, especially with the coming of a new incentive market that will position the state as a national leader in solar. "With the experience …

Pierce says 'great chance' he'll play in Game 2

2012-03-14T23:54:00.000-07:00

Paul Pierce, whose dramatic return from a knee injury lifted Boston to a win in over Los Angeles in the opener of the NBA finals, said Friday there's a "great chance" he'll play in Game 2 on Sunday.

Pierce was carried from the floor by teammates and carted to the locker room in a wheelchair in the third quarter Thursday night. However, he returned moments later despite a sprained right knee. After coming back, Pierce made two 3-pointers to give the Celtics the lead for good and finished with 22 points as the Celtics beat the Lakers 98-88.

Pierce said his knee was stiff and swollen. He will not practice over the next two days to get treatments.

…

EU: Pressure mounting for end of Gaza blockade

2012-03-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

EU officials said Monday there were indications Israel may agree to relax its blockade of Gaza by opening at least one border crossing to large-scale commercial traffic.

EU diplomats also said Israel would likely drop its restrictive list of goods permitted into the region, which has left the territory's 1.5 million Palestinians mired in poverty.

Instead, there would be a short, agreed list of items banned because of Israeli security concerns, the diplomats said on the condition that they not be named because of the sensitivity of the talks.

One diplomat said that while no final decisions had been made, there were positive indications that Israel …

Man Held in Death Of Mother-in-Law

2012-03-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

A North Side man was charged Tuesday night with the murder of hisformer mother-in-law during a dispute of the whereabouts of the man'sex-wife, police said.

Mitsuko Griffith, 52, of the 600 block of West Grace, wasstabbed to death Tuesday at about 12:30 p.m. by Koki Nishiyama,investigators said. Nishiyama, 33, of the 4000 block of West Barry,was charged with first degree murder, they said.

Griffith, who had been living with her …

Rambis shows up at Timberwolves workout

2012-03-14T16:53:00.000-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Kurt Rambis sat in the Minnesota Timberwolves practice facility on Monday, wearing a Timberwolves polo shirt and watching several draft prospects work out in front of a host of coaches, scouts and executives from around the league.

He sat several feet away from Minnesota president David Kahn, a scene that wouldn't have been quite so awkward if Rambis knew whether he was returning for a third season as Timberwolves coach.

Rambis made a surprise appearance on Monday as the Wolves hosted draft prospects and league officials for the second day of a three-day minicamp. Neither Rambis nor Kahn were made available for interviews, but Kahn said through a team …

Greece awaiting EU 'solidarity' after deeper cuts

2012-03-14T14:32:00.000-07:00

Prime Minister George Papandreou said Wednesday that Greece was now awaiting strong support from the European Union after ordering even more painful budget measures officials say will save the country an euro4.8 billion ($6.5 billion).

Papandreou said he was "awaiting European solidarity" as he briefed Greece's president ahead of the formal announcement of renewed measures to defuse a government debt crisis that has shaken the entire EU and undermined the euro currency.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Papandreou said the measures were "necessary for the survival of our country and our economy."

Papandreou will meet German …

Bela Fleck keeping audience on its toes

2012-03-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Maceo Parker, Umphrey's McGee 7 p.m.Sunday

Star Plaza Theatre, I-65 and U.S. 30,

Merrillville, Ind.

Tickets, $30.25

(219) 769-6600 or (312) 559-1212

There are not many artists who ink multi-album deals with a majorlabel, and even fewer whose contracts allow them to record differentprojects for the label's various genre-specific imprints.

However, when the artist in question is Bela Fleck, the rules arebound to change.

Fleck, in conjunction with his band the Flecktones (bassist VictorWooten, percussionist/vocalist Future Man, and saxophonist JeffCoffin), has built a reputation upon seamlessly uniting …

Horton, Bergeron lead Bruins to 9-0 rout of Flames

2012-03-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

BOSTON (AP) — Nathan Horton and Patrice Bergeron each had two goals and an assist, Tuukka Rask earned his third shutout in four starts and the rampaging Boston Bruins cruised to a 9-0 blowout of the road-weary Calgary Flames on Thursday night.

The win was the ninth in 10 games for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who have outscored the opposition …

England 71-1, chasing 118 vs. Pakistan

2012-03-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

England has reached 71-1 at lunch on day four of the second test with Pakistan on Monday, closing in on a target of 118 for victory.

Andrew Strauss is unbeaten on 37 and Jonathan Trott is 26 not out, while Mohammad Aamer has taken …

Caption for pic on 1D

2012-03-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

Mark Scarpelli, at left on keyboard, broke out his new band,Rubber Soul, last weekend at Chef Dan's. The group performs thisweekend at Coonskin Park. …

UK jobless rate eases to 5.3 pc in 3 months ending in November

2012-03-14T02:34:00.000-07:00

The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom eased to 5.3 percent in the September-November period, down a tenth of a point from the previous quarter, the government said.

The Office for National Statistics said the number of people in jobs increased, the number of unemployed people decreased and the total number of those claiming unemployment benefits also fell.

The number of vacancies rose by 12,200 to 681,100, the agency said.

___

On the Net: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0108.pdf

Britain: Time to Press Iran to Free 15

2012-03-13T23:42:00.000-07:00

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair said Wednesday it was time to increase the pressure on Iran to free 15 Royal Navy crew members, and the British military released what it said was proof that their boats were within Iraqi territorial waters when they were seized.

"There was no justification whatever ... for their detention, it was completely unacceptable, wrong and illegal," Blair told the House of Commons, shortly after the Ministry of Defense released satellite data that it said proved the crew was in Iraqi waters.

"We had hoped to see their immediate release; this has not happened. It is now time to ratchet up the diplomatic and international pressure in order to make sure the Iranian government understands its total isolation on this issue," Blair said.

Katrina survivor's trek illustrates industry efforts

2012-03-13T20:50:00.000-07:00

LAS VEGAS-The odyssey of master painter Gerard Connor and his family as they tried to avoid the destruction of hurricanes Katrina and Rita symbolizes the effects of those disasters on millions of Americans and it provides a sharp image of those effects on technicians in the collision repair industry.

The reaction of the Collision Industry Relief Foundation to the plight of the Connors-and the thousands of other collision repair industry workers thrown out of work by those hurricanes-represents what can be done when a group of people join forces to help their friends and colleagues.

Several representatives of the hundreds of collision repair industry professionals who volunteered their time, services and money to aid people whose livelihoods were lost due to the disasters took the stage to acknowledge the efforts of the Collision Industry Foundation, during the Nov. 1 "Night of Achievement" awards ceremony at Mandalay Bay. Connor and his wife, Lisa, joined them to put a human face on the successful efforts to find employment, tools, housing and more for Katrina and Rita survivors.

Connor explained that he worked in an independent collision repair shop in New Orleans and that on Sunday at 2 a.m., when Katrina was approaching and the evacuation order came through, he loaded his family into two cars and took off for Houston and safety. He left behind several cars he was restoring, most of his family's belongings and a job at Custom Body Shop. That shop, according to Connor who saw it shortly after the storm hit, was destroyed. "It was under 20 feet of water. Only the sign was visible," says Connor.

The family briefly settled in Houston when Connor heard about the Collision Industry Relief Foundation's effort to match displaced workers with jobs in the industry. Unfortunately, his efforts to take advantage of that were disrupted by Hurricane Rita, which forced him and his family-and some 2.5 million Houston residents-to seek shelter from the storm.

Oklahoma City was the destination Connor had selected because there were rooms available there, but John Junk, an industry volunteer, and Connor's "advisor" suggested Connor head to Shreveport, La., where shelter and a possible job awaited. Hurricane Rita made a turn toward Shreveport and dashed those plans.

It also made it difficult for Junk to continue his aid. "I was calling them for four hours trying to find them and the phones were hit and miss," says Junk. That led to some difficult times for him and the Connors, but as the storm subsided, so did the problems.

Connor returned to Houston and started to put things back together. "I hit the pavement, looking for a job. It was a very scary time, a very emotionally draining time," says Connor.

Junk and the foundation soon put Connor in touch with Mossy Nissan in Houston, which gave him a job, and with Tom Moreland of Akzo Nobel, who put tools in his hands so he could do the job. "It's been a godsend. I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, but I filled out 20 applications and there was nothing until John called," says Connor.

The difficulties Junk had in connecting with Connor were similar to those of other collision industry volunteers. "These people were scattered all over the place. You had no idea where anyone was or how to get in touch with them," says Junk.

The wide range of volunteers helped to spread the word and speed the aid. The experience also helped the foundation establish the means to deal with other disasters.

"Now if there's an earthquake, a flood or some other major disaster, we're prepared," says Chuck Sulkala, executive director of the National Auto Body Council, and one of the leaders of the relief effort.

Connor and his family are rebuilding their lives in Houston, and as they told their story at the Night of Achievement, the audience knew that through the collective efforts of people throughout the collision repair industry there were thousands of other happy endings, just like the Connor's.

[Author Affiliation]

By Mark Johnson

Senior Editor

Barcelona plays Villarreal in clash of Copa del Rey favorites

2012-03-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

FC Barcelona and Villarreal meet in the Copa del Rey on Thursday, an attractive matchup that will determine the cup favorite following the exit of league leader Real Madrid and defending champion Sevilla.

Following a slight dip in form, Villarreal has recovered with three straight wins in all competitions, beating Valencia 3-0 in the league on Saturday.

Villarreal, which has never won the Spanish cup, goes into the first leg of the quarterfinals in good form, helped by Turkey striker Nihat Kahveci scoring three goals in his last two league matches.

"We showed that we're upping our play again and that we feel even better against the top level teams," Villarreal midfielder Robert Pires said.

Barcelona, which eliminated Sevilla in the last round, is coming off a 1-0 win over Racing Santander in the league.

Thierry Henry continued his good run with a sixth league goal Sunday but it wasn't until the appearance of Lionel Messi _ who missed over a month with a leg injury _ in the 66th minute that the 24-time cup champions truly threatened.

At least playmaker Ronaldinho, who has missed the last six games to injury, is on the road to return.

The Brazil star trained alongside teammates on Monday, when midfielder Edmilson also returned after recovering from a foot injury on Jan. 9.

Although Atletico Madrid lost the city derby to Real Madrid on Sunday, it can rebound at Valencia on Wednesday.

Atletico, a nine-time cup winner, isn't panicking following the 2-0 loss despite a tired squad with the club also involved in the UEFA Cup.

"We always said that we wanted to be between third or fourth (in the league) and in the fight for the Copa del Rey and now some important games are coming up," Atletico captain Maxi Rodriguez said.

Thiago Motta was effective in his return Sunday, which was only the Brazilian midfielder's fourth game since his transfer from Barcelona because of various injuries.

Valencia hasn't got past the quarterfinals in the last two years _ and isn't playing like a trophy-winning side.

The club has managed only six of a possible 27 points since Ronald Koeman took over, the 18th-worst total in the league over that period.

However, it has been strong in Copa del Rey, though victories over 16th-placed Real Betis and third-flight side Real Union won't compare to a fourth-place Atletico.

Also Wednesday, Getafe comes into its match against 2003 champion Mallorca following a 3-2 victory Saturday against Sevilla _ the club that beat it in the final last year.

Getafe will pay special attention to Mallorca striker Daniel Guiza, who has scored 11 league goals, including three in his last two games.

Mallorca knocked Madrid out of the competition 1-0 in the Spanish league champion's only home defeat this season.

In Thursday's other first-leg match, Racing hosts Athletic Bilbao.

Carter's new book focuses on faith

2012-03-13T15:05:00.000-07:00

ATLANTA - Jimmy Carter may never have been president if he didn'tgo square dancing.

The Georgia Democrat credits a rural square dance club he joinedin 1953 with helping him win a state Senate seat by a scant 66votes.

"If I hadn't received support from our square-dancing friends, Iwould have lost and never become a state senator," he wrote in hislatest book, "Through the Years with Jimmy Carter." "And if that hadoccurred, I never would have run for office again."

Carter has penned 26 different books, including childhoodmemoirs, treatises on the Middle East and accounts of hispresidency. But none are like his latest, which offers 366devotionals, each with a biblical passage, a personal story and anoriginal prayer.

The one-page items are sprinkled with lessons Carter gleaned frommore than 30 years of teaching Sunday school classes and anecdotesfrom his country upbringing to his ascent to the White House andbeyond.

"The totality of my teaching presents a view of a lay person. I'mnot a theologian," he said in an interview. "I'm extracting realmessages from the Bible or from Christian faith that apply to dailyexistence and that's applicable whether you're a farmer, ajournalist, a lawyer, a teacher or a political office holder."

In the book, Carter is open about struggles over his own faith.He writes that he felt "despondent and alienated from God" afterlosing his first bid for Georgia's governor in 1966, and said hiswife Rosalynn went through a rough patch when he lost to RonaldReagan in 1980. But he said he retrenched during those dark timesand worked to remind himself of the role religion has played in hislife.

"If there is no basis for our faith ... then how do we accountfor the presence of Jesus Christ in hundreds of millions of livesacross the globe?" he wrote in the book. "How could Jesus still bealive to me? How could so many hearts be touched and mindsstimulated by Jesus to seek ultimate truths about life and the worldaround us?"

His book casts some political debates with religious overtones.He condemns the Patriot Act and waterboarding, writing thatChristians "cannot keep silent just because the injustice doesn'taffect our own families or friends." And he said it would be"foolish" for the devout to deny global warming.

"While we may disagree on the causes or rate of global warming,shouldn't we all agree that we have a responsibility to take care ofthe Earth?"

Carter is also candid about some of his shortcomings, such as hislack of patience, his penchant for jealousy and his fights with hiswife over trivial issues. One year, when he forgot her birthday, hehastily scrawled out a note to give to her, and it turned out to beone of her favorite gifts. It read: "I promise that I will nevermake another unfavorable comment about tardiness."

Spread throughout the book are history lessons, with insightsover the ancient tensions between Jews and Christians, the roles ofpoliticians and prophets in Biblical times, and the impact ofmartyrs and apostles on Christianity's spread across the globe. Hetells those stories with a healthy dose of jokes he's heard from thepulpit and the White House.

In one passage, he said his brother Billy was on his death bedwhen he told a friend he had carried out a long affair with thefriend's wife.

"His friend's face dropped. The man gulped a couple of times -and then Billy laughed and said, `No, I'm just joking.' That wasBilly.'"

In another passage, Carter mentions a USA Today poll questionthat probes readers on what they would ask if they came face-to-face with God. Carter didn't say what his answer would be in thebook, but in an interview he said he would ask about Christ's rolein the creation of the universe. He said he would not, however,waste a question asking about life after death.

"I'm supposed to have complete faith in life after death as aChristian who has, I would guess, as strong faith in Christ aspossible," he said, adding: "I'd rather be surprised."

Carter said he hopes the book will help send the message that"God calls us to live out our faith." He urges readers to keep theirreligion in mind, reach out to new people and enjoy an expansivelife. After all, he writes, he never would have guessed that squaredancing would have helped him win an election.

"Rosalynn and I enjoyed the square dancing - but we've probablyenjoyed a lot more what's happened since," he wrote. "You just neverknow."

A Foolish Solitude: The Fantasy of the Self-made Man, [Une Folle Solitude : Le Fantasme de l'Homme Auto-construit]

2012-03-13T12:06:00.000-07:00

Rey, Olivier. (2006). A Foolish Solitude: The Fantasy of the Self-made Man, [Une Folle Solitude : Le Fantasme de l'Homme Auto-construit]. Paris : Le Seuil. 329 pages ISBN 9782020863803

Olivier Rey, a professor of mathematics at France's �cole Polytechnique who also teaches philosophy at Sorbonne University, uses a mundane observation as the starting point of a tour de force on education theory: the design of baby strollers changed in the late 1970s, with the new view being to let the infant face the world rather than being confronted by the parent's image, typically the mother's. This sudden modification illustrates what the author sees as the folly of a system dominated by the belief in not only autonomy but also self-construction. References from science-fiction, mythology, art history, psychology, the Bible and other tales are plentiful in Olivier Rey's A Foolish Solitude; the message is developed into an ambitious demonstration of the impossibility of self-building oneself, exactly as Baron Munchausen could not have escaped from a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair (or bootstraps, depending on who tells the story).

The fact that self-construction of the self is impossible does not create a problem in and of itself, but the trouble comes in when social practices seem to ignore this impossibility and even argue that it may be otherwise. God being dead and the world disenchanted, techno-scientific and democratic principles have filled the gap left by disappearing social traditions. In particular, education science is furthering the destruction of what is needed for the little human being to become structured. Left on their own in a consumerist society that is eager to serve their every need, adults are no longer occupied by anything other than their unbridled fantasies.

The extremely well-researched journey starts with an anthropological detour around two themes. First is the necessary departure from an attachment to both oneself and the first "other" (the mother) based on the authority of a third party. The universal prohibition of incest and parricide are thoroughly reviewed as Rey argues that basic interdictions are not meant to constrain man but to provide him with the psycho-cultural support he needs to develop into an adult. The second theme concerns the sense of causality gained from genealogy, the negation of which leads to a potential destruction of reason as the distinguishing characteristic of humans. Through different, complex means, children come to understand that they are caused by their parents, themselves caused by their own parents. The learning process opening up to a deep understanding of the causality principle, and hence to rationality, is, in Rey's argument, based on the discovery of the genealogical sequence. Pretend that there is no link between generations and you will end like the mythic Uroboros, the circular self-devouring snake.

The author then uses science fiction as an illustration to reveal archaic passions issuing from the birth trauma and the anxiety of death, fears that science, notably genetic and medically assisted procreation, proposes to address and perhaps solve. James Cameron's Terminator provides the unsurpassed example of a story in which a man selfgenerates through a special envoy into the past, with the father being eliminated in the process. Such stories substitute machines for animals and ogres that appear in traditional tales, and give evidence of unconsciousness-driven quest. In our contemporary psyche, bio-science will free us entirely from the genealogical burden and our shameful sexual origins.

Although science in general happily contributes to this tendency - quite often with an unbridled, market-based enthusiasm - it is education science that attracts its fair share of criticism. Referring to Kant, for whom education cannot be a science but an art because man is free and hence is opaque, Rey insists that human reason cannot be a scientific object, even if, paradoxically, freedom is acquired through education. A large part of contemporary theory, according to the author, aims at freeing educational actions from any form of authority in order to promote children's self-construction. The structuring power of educational institutions is set aside and replaced by methods that favor a spontaneous development based on the child's autonomous confrontation with the objective reality of the world. The teacher as a coach, a facilitator, must do what mothers are doing with baby strollers: not get in the way.

In a cruel comparison, Rey confronts Piaget's prescriptions with The Lord of the Flies' author, Golding. The latter explains that it took him half a lifetime, two world wars and years with children to write a tale of teenagers stranded on a deserted Pacific island. After the initial satisfaction from an unexpected liberty, the small society quickly sinks into chaos, violence, and fear. The general bloodshed is only avoided by the arrival of an adult. Arguing that the pre-teenagers had been corrupted by their early years in civilization would be misleading, Rey argues: remembrance of former rules is one of the only sources of salvation or at least of the temporary delay of carnage. "After all, we are not savages we are English and the English are good at everything" (Golding 1954, quoted at page 259). Without even commenting, Rey throws Piaget's thought against the fictional tale and quotes the father of developmental psychology: "Only a social life among the students themselves - that is self-government taken as far as possible and parallel to the intellectual work carried out in common - will lead to this double development of personalities, masters of themselves and based on mutual respect" (Piaget 1972, quoted at page 264).

Overall, many debates on education, authority or the weakening of the social link boil down to a quarrel between two schools of thought. For one, the individual is ready at birth: the goal is to free him from those things that constrain self-expression. The normative prescription is to escape the past and the oppressive authority of past generations. This is what Rey calls the fantasy of the self-made man: the transmission of knowledge is seen as a potentially dangerous activity that risks damaging the child's selfesteem and violating the child's nature. The clearest manifestation of this is that the verb teaching is seldom allowed, and replaced by learning. This theory almost completely dominates most modern teaching methods and is increasingly called 'best practice'.

The other approach assumes that the individual is to be made, cultivated and educated: individuals are not born free, they are destined to freedom. Olivier Rey offers a welcome and authoritative argument for the second approach in line with Illich's and Arendt's philosophy of education. He posits that authority has (or must have) a special place in human societies. Rey approvingly quotes Illich's perspective: "Contemporary man...attempts to create a world in his image, to build a totally man-made environment, and then discovers that he can do so only on the condition of constantly remaking himself to fit it. We must face the fact that man himself is a stake" (Illich 1971, quoted at page 219). Similarly, he agrees with Arendt who argues that "the problem of education in the modern world lies in the fact that by its very nature it cannot forgo either authority or tradition, and yet must proceed in a world that is neither structured by authority nor held together by tradition" (Arendt 1954, quoted at page 281).

Pre-empting accusations of conservatism, reactionism, or even pass�ism, the young author affirms that he does understand that the past has never succeeded, that "before" was no better; but this in itself makes it necessary for individuals and societies to keep tradition in mind. To forget the past would lead to hitting the same wall and the reproduction of what did not work before.

The book may not be groundbreaking for an anthropologist who would have a solid background in philosophy, mythical symbolism and education theory, as well as a decent knowledge of modern popular culture but, for the rest of us, it is definitely a valuable source of ideas and references. Olivier Rey manages to entertain his reader through a myriad of anecdotes while providing an in-depth presentation of the intellectual pitfalls and practical failures of modern student-centered theories.

[Reference]

Reference

Arendt H, 1954, "The Crisis in Education," in Between Past and Future. reprint, New York: Penguin Books, 1977

Golding W. 1954. Lord of the Flies. London, UK: Faber & Faber

Illich I. 1971. Deschooling Society. London: Calder & Boyers

Piaget J. 1972. O� va l'�ducation. Paris: Deno�l

[Author Affiliation]

Olivier Renard, Special Advisor to the Secretary General Research Council, Sultanate of Oman

NY teen gets 15 to life for girl's shooting death

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

A teenager has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for murdering a 10-year-old girl by shooting at a group of people down a city street in upstate New York.

Jermayne Timmons admits he fired a gun on the Albany street. But the 16-year-old says he didn't fire the shot that killed Kathina Thomas as she played outside her home last May.

Timmons claimed the gun he fired had a different caliber from the bullet that killed the girl. The weapon was never found.

Judge Stephen Harrick called Timmons' account "wholly unbelievable" Friday and handed him the maximum sentence for second-degree murder and weapons possession. Timmons was prosecuted as an adult but sentenced as a juvenile. The maximum term for adults is 25 years to life.

Doctors Insist MSG Doesn't Sicken Eaters

2012-03-13T05:16:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON Some doctors say they've debunked the theory that theflavor enhancer MSG makes people sick, but they can't find anotherculprit because their patients don't believe them.

"They're never going to get the proper treatment if they hangtheir hat on MSG," said Dr. Daryl Altman of Allergy InformationServices in Lynbrook, N.Y.

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, has been used in Oriental cookingfor nearly 2,000 years but also is commonly found in everything fromtomato sauce to snack chips. It is a version of glutamic acid, oneof 20 amino acids naturally present in nearly all protein.

In 1968, a doctor who experienced temporary numbness andweakness after eating Chinese food labeled the symptoms "Chineserestaurant syndrome" and speculated that MSG, cooking wine or excesssalt could be to blame.

Early studies said MSG was the culprit, but in 1980 scientistsbegan reversing that opinion. Now the largest study of the issuesays MSG is innocent.

An Australian chemist, Dr. Len Tarasoff of the University ofWestern Sydney, randomly fed 71 people various doses of MSG and aplacebo for five days. He told participants he was studyingingredients in a new soft drink, and fed them either capsules or agrapefruit-like drink before a standardized breakfast.

Fifteen percent reported some symptoms after ingesting the MSG -but so did 14 percent after taking the placebo, said his report inthe British journal Food and Chemical Toxicology.

But an unknown number of Americans still blame MSG for symptomsranging from headaches and flushing to numbness and dizziness.

A group of patients asked the Food and Drug Administration torequire more stringent labeling of MSG in foods. An FDA advisorycommittee considering their complaints was supposed to decide theissue this month, but has postponed its report until May.

Among other things, it is looking at the new Australian study.

Researchers, meanwhile, are having trouble finding out what elsecould be causing these people's complaints.

"It's frustrating," said Dr. Steve Taylor, head of food scienceat the University of Nebraska. "You can't make them. . .gettested.

Democrats misstepped in handling Burris matter

2012-03-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

Senate Democrats who thought they could push away Roland Burris misjudged the racial fallout, underestimated public reaction and wound up on shaky legal ground.

The blunders began when the Democrats, including President-elect Barack Obama, insisted they would not seat Burris as the Senate's only black member because the appointment came from a governor accused of trying to sell Obama' former seat.

On Wednesday, they all but admitted being outflanked by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, praising Burris and suggesting he soon will be a senator.

Eight days ago, Obama and Senate Democratic leaders saw Blagojevich as so politically damaged that they announced they would reject anyone he appointed to finish Obama's term. Every Democratic senator signed a letter to the same effect.

Privately, key Democrats now admit they miscalculated from the start. They spent this week trying to backtrack and save face.

They had overstated their legal powers to block Burris's appointment, they said, and failed to foresee the ability of Burris _ a little-known Democrat with no apparent ties to Blagojevich's misdeeds _ to make himself a sympathetic figure in the national media.

Race complicated the matter, with many people asking how Democrats could prevent Burris from replacing Obama as the only black senator.

Underlying the Democrats' initial response to Blagojevich's appointment was a cold political calculation. Many felt that Burris, who unsuccessfully sought his party's nomination for governor three times, would be a weak nominee when the Senate seat comes up for election in 2010. Knowing an incumbent senator can be hard to beat in a party primary, Senate Democrats had hoped to postpone acting on Blagojevich's choice until if and when the governor was replaced, making it possible to put a more potent campaigner in the Senate seat.

Now, however, Democratic senators and strategists are reconciling themselves to the possibility of being stuck with Burris.

When Blagojevich, himself a Democrat, announced his choice of Burris on Dec. 30, Obama and Senate Democrats were fixated on the lurid accusations against the governor, according to interviews with several Democratic aides and lawmakers. Federal officials had arrested Blagojevich on Dec. 9, saying wiretaps caught him talking crudely of trying to sell the Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Top Democrats' response was quick and nearly unanimous: Burris would never be seated because of the governors' misdeeds.

"Anyone appointed by Gov. Blagojevich cannot be an effective representative" and "will not be seated by the Democratic caucus," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and his top deputy, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Obama said, "Senate Democrats made it clear weeks ago that they cannot accept an appointment made by a governor who is accused of selling this very Senate seat."

Obama, Reid and Durbin are lawyers and among the nation's highest-achieving politicians. Now, however, their initial comments seem unusually tone-deaf.

The ground shifted quickly beneath the Democrats, in several ways. Most importantly, the public's focus moved from Blagojevich, who was easily vilified, to Burris, a likable if obscure politician whose highest office had been Illinois attorney general.

The more people learned about Burris, the more they saw him not fitting the story line of sleazy Chicago politics. From the start, Obama, Reid and others acknowledged that he apparently played no role in the governor's bid for favors. As news accounts focused more on Burris than Blagojevich, the arguments against the appointment made less sense.

Meanwhile, the legal basis for opposing Burris came under greater scrutiny. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had signed the letter opposing Burris's appointment, but on Tuesday, the day Burris got turned away from the Capitol into a cold rain, she had a new view.

"Does the governor have the power, under law, to make the appointment?" she asked rhetorically. Yes, she answered, no matter how many accusations are lodged against him.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, phoned Reid last week to express concerns about the legal basis for barring Burris, and warned that the Democratic solidarity was crumbling.

On Monday, Obama and Reid spoke. Obama "conveyed the sense that if Burris has the legal standing to be seated, he should be, sooner rather than later," said a transition official who could speak only on background because the conversation was private.

The Congressional Black Caucus was preparing to vote unanimously to support seating Burris.

On Wednesday, everything seemed changed. Reid warmly received Burris in his Capitol office, then told reporters he was waiting for the Illinois Supreme Court to decide whether the Illinois secretary of state had to sign off on Blagojevich's appointment.

"I think it's a pretty easy hurdle to get over," Reid said of the remaining impediments to seating Burris.

A reporter asked whether Blagojevich had outmaneuvered him.

No, Reid said, recounting the governor's arrest, vulgar language and wiretapped descriptions of the empty Senate seat as a gold mine to be sold.

"How are we supposed to react?" Reid asked, a bit plaintively. "We've acted in a very reasonable way."

___

Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn, Ben Evans, Erica Werner and Ann Sanner contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS to Monday the day that Barack Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke.))

Mopping Up Dirty Data ; Direct marketers have long reckoned with cleaning dirty databases loaded with duplicate names, misspelled addresses and other shortcomings.

2012-03-12T22:54:00.000-07:00

Direct marketers have long reckoned with cleaning dirty databases loaded with duplicate names, misspelled addresses and other shortcomings. Today, companies in more diverse industries - from technology to manufacturing - are jumping on the information- quality bandwagon to get the most out of managing customer relations and other projects relying on lots of data.

RSA Security, like countless other companies, found out the hard way about the perils of dirty data. The security-software firm had just installed customer-relationship-management software from Siebel Systems in 2001 to make it easier for its 300-person sales force to sell authentication products to enterprise and electronic-commerce customers.

Problem was, the Siebel application was fed by several incompatible systems, each with its own way of identifying customers. And RSA had no way - short of manually going through every record - of being sure salespeople were being given complete and correct information on all customers. If, for example, the company's order-entry system reported information on a customer named James Smith, and the Web server had information on a Jim Smith, the Siebel system probably wouldn't catch on that the two Mr. Smiths were really one customer.

"We had no way of filtering all the nonsense data out, so we ended up with a lot of duplicate and just-plain-wrong data in the application," says John Ma, manager of information-system applications at RSA. "It was quite confusing to the sales folks."

So Ma's team tried data-quality software to scan the Siebel database for duplicates and errors and automatically correct them. RSA selected the Data Quality Connector for Siebel, a program from Group 1 Software specifically designed to work with Siebel customer- relationship management software. The Group 1 software identified a whopping 40,000 of the 160,000 customer records in the Siebel database as duplicates or errors and eliminated them. Once the data was cleaned up, says Ma, 95% of RSA's salespeople started using Siebel applications.

That's helped the company do a better job of turning prospects into customers, Ma says. And it's showing. In the third quarter, 700 of RSA's 4,000 customers were new. The project may have benefited the company's bottom line, too. For the three months ended Sept. 30, the company reported earnings of $3.65 million compared to a loss of $8.22 million for the same period in 2002.

In addition to Group 1, companies such as Harte-Hanks' Trillium, Ascential and Firstlogic offer software that uses complicated matching algorithms to comb through databases and spot problems in records based on a set of user-defined criteria.

The strength, particularly of products like Group 1's DataSight suite and Firstlogic's IQ Suite, is correcting name and address records. But software packages can also fix other, unrelated problems, such as making sure that customer e-mail addresses are right or that customer-contact histories are complete. Most data- quality software can also append records with missing or relevant information such as four-digit ZIP code extensions or data for geographic location. And most packages can be set up to operate in real time - catching errors as, say, customers enter contact information into Web-based applications - as well as in batch mode.

The Data Warehousing Institute, an industry trade group, last year estimated that poor data cost U.S. businesses $600 billion annually in wasted postage and marketing costs as well as lost customer credibility. In contrast, the market for data-quality software is estimated to reach $600 million this year, according to the Giga Information Group, a division of Forrester Research.

Analysts expect spending to increase. Companies, they say, want to maximize their investments in software that handles customer interactions and data warehousing.

On top of that, federal laws are forcing organizations to clean up. The Data Quality Act, which took effect in 2002, requires, among other things, that federal agencies disseminate correct information. Other measures, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act established by Congress to address corporate fraud, put the burden of maintaining and protecting accurate data on companies and public agencies. Meta Group estimates that, over the next five years, the number of companies deploying data-quality software will grow by 20% to 30% each year.

Newcomers to data-quality technology admit that software packages are expensive - with entry prices ranging from $75,000 to $200,000 - and can be complicated to use and deploy. Nonetheless, the software delivers the expected payoff.

Online travel site Travelocity, for example, has saved "a huge amount of money - many, many thousands of dollars," says software developer Carl Nicol. Travelocity implemented the real-time version of Firstlogic's IQ Suite to determine whether customers requesting physical tickets have entered valid addresses to which overnight deliveries can be made by FedEx. "Before, the only way we knew an address was bad was when FedEx bounced the package back. Then we had to resend it, paying FedEx twice."

Executives at Diversified Business Communications using Group 1's data-quality software were able to cut outsourcing expenses. Until recently, says data services manager Pauline McNeil, Diversified used an outsourcer to organize and cleanse customer data - derived from subscription lists and trade-show sign-ups - before sending out direct-marketing mailings. "But every time we wanted to tweak the list, we had to pay the outsourcer up to $3,000 to re-run it and clean it," she says. "Considering that we do 15 or so mailings a year, that adds up." By cutting outsourcing costs, McNeil says, the Group 1 software will pay for itself in a couple of years.

But cost-cutting isn't the only benefit. Avoiding duplicate direct-marketing mailings not only saves money, it also improves customer confidence and satisfaction. That's important to Save the Children, a non-profit relief organization using Ascential QualityStage software to clean up its million-record donor database. Sergio Bouscoulet, manager of operations, says the software has already spotted and corrected errors or duplications in 15% to 20% of the organization's donor records.

"Before, those would have resulted in duplicate mailings that carried non-tangible costs," says Bouscoulet. "Donors might get the perception that we weren't making the best use of their money if they received two letters saying exactly the same thing. We certainly couldn't afford that."

Group Dynamics: Data Quality

Category: Data-quality software

What It Is: Products for profiling, cleaning, enhancing and consolidating databases.

Key Players: Ascential Software, DataFlux, Firstlogic, Group 1 Software, Innovative Systems, Harte-Hanks' Trillium

Others: DataMentors, Acxiom, Evoke Software, Similarity Systems

Market Size: $580 million (2002, est.)*

What's Happening: The market is expected to grow because companies want to get the most from their customer data and other information.

Expertise Online: Database Knowledge Base [http:// database.ittoolbox.com/] http://database.ittoolbox.com/ Includes online forums.

*Source: Giga information group, a division of Forrester.

A Clear View

Patrick Wise

Landstar System, Inc.

Vice President, Advanced Technology

Jacksonville, Fla.

[http://www.landstar.com] www.landstar.com

Manager's Profile: Wise is responsible for technology infrastructure and applications at the $1.5-billion transportation- services company. Critical to Wise is creating systems that help Landstar communicate with its 1,000 independent sales agents and the 7,000 affiliates who operate trucks and other transportation gear.

Landstar's Legacy: The company's three major groups operate autonomously, with different systems and different ways of representing customer information such as address and account history. Until recently, Landstar had no way of collecting and viewing customer information in a consistent way. "We decided we needed to eliminate redundancy and get a single, accurate picture of the business," Wise says.

Wise's Technology Challenge: His team built a central data warehouse fed by the three groups' core systems. The company used Ascential's Enterprise Integration Suite, including QualityStage data-quality tools, to integrate and cleanse data before they are funneled into the data warehouse. "We had historical files going back 15 years, all written with different syntax," he says.

The Benefit: Executives now can get consistent, consolidated reports on company financials and operations. Affiliates have access to accurate data in online applications that show, for example, where truckers can pick up loads that are ready for transport and whether payment has been made on the last load that was shipped.

What's Next: Wise's team has begun to test Ascential's Real Time Integration Services feature to correct data as they're entered online by partners.

Jermaine Jackson: `I wish it was me'

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

Jermaine Jackson says he would like to see Neverland Ranch as his brother Michael's final resting place.

In an interview broadcast Thursday on NBC's "Today" show, Jermaine Jackson also said he wishes he had died instead of his younger brother, and that Michael was "a gift from Allah."

"He went too soon. I don't know how people are going to take this, but I wish it was me," Jermaine Jackson said.

When asked why he felt that way, Jermaine Jackson said he always felt that he was Michael's "backbone."

"I wanted to be there for him. I was there and he was sort of like molded. Things he couldn't say, I would say them. During the trials, during everything ..."

Jermaine Jackson said that when he rushed to UCLA Medical Center last Thursday, where the 50-year-old pop singer was pronounced dead, "I wanted to see Michael, and I wanted to see my brother, and see him there lifeless and breathless was very emotional for me, but I held myself together, because I know he's very much alive."

"His spirit is, and that was just a shell, but I kissed him on his forehead and I hugged him, and I touched him and I said, `Michael, I'll never leave you. You'll never leave me.'"

On Wednesday, Jackson family spokesman Ken Sunshine said a public memorial was in the works but it wouldn't be held at Neverland.

A person familiar with the situation told the AP that permits for a burial at the sprawling Santa Barbara, Calif., estate could not be arranged in time. The person was not authorized to speak for the family and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Jackson said Neverland was Michael's home.

"He created this. Why wouldn't he be here? I feel his presence."

Death toll from weekend storm in Philippines rises to 37, 16 injured

2012-03-12T16:02:00.000-07:00

The death toll from a weekend tropical storm that battered the northern Philippines rose Wednesday to 37 while authorities worked to restore power and distribute drinking water in hard-hit areas.

Most of the victims were hit by iron sheeting or falling debris blown off houses after Tropical Storm Halong made landfall Saturday in Pangasinan province, northwest of Manila.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said a total of 37 people died, 16 were injured and one was missing. The death toll previously had been 12, but there were delays in reporting casualties in remote areas.

The storm sliced through the mountainous region with peak winds of up to 75 miles (120 kilometers) per hour, dumping rains and triggering floods. It left the Philippines on Monday.

About 1 million people were affected but only 1,300 were still sheltered in evacuation centers. More than 200,000 were receiving rice and other food supplies, the disaster agency said in a report.

Toppled trees and electricity and telephone poles blocked some roads, and power was cut off in several towns in La Union province. Telecommunications were also down throughout Pangasinan, which bore the brunt of the storm, the agency said.

Elvira Calina, regional disaster coordinating council chief, said that about 80 percent of Pangasinan was without electricity. She said officials were working on restoring power within two weeks.

Potable water was brought in from nearby provinces or was drawn by residents using manual pumps because the local water distribution company could not operate without power, she said.

Chief weather forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said Halong, which reached the strength of a typhoon when it hit Pangasinan, generated small tornadoes, which could partly account for the widespread damage.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz said 74 school buildings were damaged, including 43 in Pangasinan, less than two weeks before the start of the school year.

The storm was the first to hit the Philippines this year and heralded the start of the typhoon season. About 20 typhoons lash the archipelago annually.

The government has stepped up typhoon preparations in a bid to minimize casualties and last year carried out the first mandatory evacuation in the central Bicol region ahead of a typhoon.