In Your Head

Slipcovers: stylish and economical

2012-03-15T06:25:00.000-07:00

One of interior designer Alan Collachicco's favorite memories ofhis grandmother comes from the first autumn she didn't remove herslipcovers.

Times were rough, and grandma did not have the money toreupholster the living room furniture.

So she simply left the slipcovers on, over the old upholstery,beyond the time when she would ordinarily have folded them up andstored them away.

"Oh, dear," she would say to her visitors, "I simply can't findthe time to take off those bloody baggies."

Collachicco didn't have the heart to tell his grandmother thathe loved her living room best when the baggy old slipcovers were on."It turned a formal house (a 1900 Big …

NATO to buy 5 US-made reconnaissance drones

2012-03-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

BRUSSELS (AP) — NATO will buy U.S.-made reconnaissance drones and equipment for more than €1 billion ($1.3 billion) after the war in Libya highlighted shortcomings in its surveillance and targeting capabilities.

An alliance official said Wednesday the total included five of Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Global Hawks, ground control stations, analysis equipment, and training for operators. He spoke on condition of anonymity following NATO rules.

The official said the order, which coincides with sharp defense cuts across the alliance, is expected to be signed in spring. Deliveries will take place between 2015 and 2017.

He said 13 NATO nations will band together to buy the …

Student from Kenya dies in US plane crash

2012-03-15T01:38:00.000-07:00

A student from Kenya who hoped to become a missionary pilot in Africa after his studies at a U.S. was piloting a rented single-engine plane that crashed in a snowy corn field, killing him and a student passenger, the school said Monday.

Hope College students David Otai, 23, of Nairobi, Kenya, and Emma Biagioni, 20, of Illinois, were aboard the single engine Cessna 172 that crashed Sunday afternoon, said Hope spokesman Tom Renner.

Otai's mother helped run Africa Inland Missions, an air service to missions in central Africa. His goal was to qualify for a commercial pilot's license so he could fly for the service, Renner said.

"He wanted to …

SAY WHAT?

2012-03-14T23:15:00.000-07:00

"(Gwyneth Paltrow) is very young and lives in a rarefied airthat's very thin . . . like she's not getting enough oxygen."

- Sharon Stone "We have Happy Meals on Daddy."

- Tammy Cain, of Brandon, Fla., who …

One United: largest black-owned bank

2012-03-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

The Boston Bank of Commerce merged with Los Angeles-based Family Savings Bank recently, forming the largest black-owned bank in the country.

The new entity, dubbed OneUnited Bank, boasts $500 million in assets and operates branches in Massachusetts, California, and Florida.

OneUnited Senior Counsel Robert Cooper said the bank will use its increased capital and the loan expertise of the former Family employees to offer larger loans to inner-city customers.

Family offered a variety of loans, including mortgages to lower- and moderate-income families.

"We expanded to be able to make larger loans so people can expand their businesses and employ people," said …

Saturday's Olympic Beach Volleyball Results

2012-03-14T18:34:00.000-07:00

Reinder Nummerdor and Richard Schuil, Netherlands, def. Martin Laciga and Jan Schnider, Switzerland, 21-14, 21-15.

Ricardo Santos and Emanuel Rego, Brazil, def. Morais Santos Abreu and Emanuel de Jesus R da Cos Fernandes, Angola, 21-8, 21-13.

Andrew Schacht and Joshua Slack, Australia, def. Renato Gomes and Jorge Terceiro, Georgia, 21-17, 21-19.

Martins Plavins and Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia, def. Philip Dalhausser, Ventura, Calif., and Todd Rogers, Solvang, Calif., 21-19, 21-18.

Sascha Heyer and Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, def. Mariano Joaquin Baracetti and Martin Alejo Conde, Argentina, 21-13, 21-17.

Eric Koreng and …

Clerk accused of taking store's money

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

Deputies say a clerk at a Fayette County tavern stole money fromthe register and then made up a story about a robbery to cover upher crime.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched Saturday morning to Bond'sTavern, located on W.Va. 61 in the Robson area, after a robbery wasreported, according to a press release from Sheriff Steve Kessler.

The clerk, identified as Deloris Jensen, told officers that a manwearing a ski mask came into the business, threw hot coffee on …

Soy engine oil gets high marks

2012-03-14T13:54:00.000-07:00

INDUSTRY NEWS

Terresolve Technologies, Ltd. from Eastlake, Ohio makes environmentally safe lubrication fluids. The company manufactures EnviroLogic 440,a soy-based two-cycle engine oil that is designed for air-cooled engines, which just received high ratings for lubricity and detergency. It also received "good" ratings for …

Somalia's new president being sworn in

2012-03-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

A moderate Islamist leader was being sworn in as the country's new president Saturday after parliament elected him to stabilize a country wracked by violence and anarchy for nearly 20 years.

Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed was elected in neighboring Djibouti early Saturday after the last president _ a former soldier, rebel and warlord named Abdullahi Yusuf _ resigned in December after failing to pacify the country during his four-years as president.

More than 1,200 people, including the new Somali parliament, attended Saturday's swearing-in at a hotel in Djibouti.

Ahmed was chairman of the Islamic Courts Union that ran Mogadishu for six months in 2006 …

Edmonds helps Leo toss DLS for a loss

2012-03-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

"Confident and comfortable" Deon Edmonds converted a free throwwith three seconds left to give Leo a 49-48 victory at De La SalleFriday night.

The victory kept the defending Catholic League champion (6-1,3-0) in a three-way tie for first place with Fenwick and St. Francisde Sales.

"That was the biggest free throw of my life," said Edmonds, a6-4 senior center. "The pressure brings out the ballplayer. I'm gladto know what kind of ballplayer I am now."

No. 4 De La Salle (6-1, 2-1) tied at 48 with 20 seconds left onTim Geers' three-point field goal. No. 9 Leo inbounded the ball,despite having a timeout left, and put up a hurried jumper with fiveseconds to …

Reports Due, the Market Remains a Gamble

2012-03-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK - With a raft of key economic reports scheduled this week, the stock market's direction remains a complete gamble. Wall Street caught a brief whiff of optimism last week when Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a congressional panel that economic activity was abating and inflation was so far contained - a sign of a possible end to the central bank's interest rate hikes.

However, he maintained the troubling stance that high energy costs, while putting the squeeze on consumer spending, could also drive up prices elsewhere. He also acknowledged the difficulty of balancing growth and inflation, and that under- or overshooting on interest rates will have serious …

Mukasey vows to use all tools against terrorists _ including what critics call profiling

2012-03-14T04:32:00.000-07:00

Attorney General Michael Mukasey says the Bush administration will do everything it can to make sure the government has what it needs to fight terrorists before a new president takes over in January.

But civil liberties advocates say, however, that should not include letting the FBI use terrorist profiles that potentially single out Muslims, Arabs and other racial and ethnic groups instead of relying on evidence of wrongdoing as the basis for investigating Americans.

Mukasey was to appear Wednesday morning at a Senate Judiciary Committee oversight hearing. Senators are expected to ask President George W. Bush's third attorney general about the proposed …

Merck feeling no pain

2012-03-14T01:46:00.000-07:00

Merck & Co. Inc. shares rose $3.85 to $50.21 on higher-than-expected first-quarter earnings. The drugmaker said it earned asmuch as 34 percent more than its forecasts. Also, the company wondismissal of lawsuits charging it defrauded investors beforewithdrawing Vioxx painkiller from the market in 2004.

Demands for quicker cotton market reforms

2012-03-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

The economic benefits of stateowned cotton textile enterprises have declined sharply this year. Some cotton textile manufacturers say that profits from exports during the first half of this year dropped by 50% compared to a year ago. The poor situation of cotton mills has directly affected the entire textile industry in China, experts point out.

In January-April 2001, China's textile exports fell 37.6% on a yearon-year basis to US$15.76 billion. Of this, 100% cotton garments declined by 12.34% to US$2.53 billion. Meanwhile, imports of pure cotton yam sharply increased, 2.54 times higher than the country's total exports of cotton yarn.

The unfavorable economic condition of the textile sector has attracted the attention of many experts. Cotton is the key reason worsening the textile industry, according to experts concerned. The following three factors have seriously impaired normal production at state-owned textile enterprises and further expansion of foreign trade.

(1) Cotton prices in China are inconsistent with the international market. Needless to say, high costs have brought pressure to bear on most cotton mills in China. The cotton textile industry totally used 390,000 tons of cotton and spun 586,000 tons of yarn in March this year. However, the per-ton production cost of 32s cotton yarn was 2,560 yuan (US$307.2) higher than the same yarn spun in Pakistan.

As a result, the competitiveness of cotton spinning mills has been weakening. The profits gained by the cotton textile sector from main products decreased 530 million yuan (US$63.6 million) in first quarter of this year due to a reduction in the world's market share and a sharper decrease in economic benefits.

Moreover, the difference in regional cotton prices has also influenced the sales prices of domestic cotton mills to a great extent. For instance, cotton buying prices were at 440-560 yuan/50 kg (US$52.8-67.2) in Shandong Province, 420-520 yuan (US$50.462.4) in Anhui Province, and 400460 yuan (US$48-55.2) in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

(2) The home cotton market is still monopolized by state supply & marketing cooperatives. Textile enterprises and cotton & flax companies are, in fact, on an unequal basis in the enjoyment of governmental policies.

Since 1999, the central government has opened the domestic cotton market to allow textile enterprises to directly purchase cotton. However, textile enterprises can only use the nation's commercial loans with much risk when purchasing cotton. The supply & marketing cooperatives can obtain loans from the China Agricultural Bank to purchase cotton without any assumption of responsibility for losses.

(3) The country needs supervision and laws & regulations in the cotton markets at home. There is no denying the fact that because of artificial factors, the cotton quality is very poor, as a lot of cotton contains impurities.

Germany investigates passport in Hamas slaying

2012-03-13T20:02:00.000-07:00

Germany's federal prosecutor's office is investigating a possible connection to a foreign intelligence agency after the use of a German passport in the slaying of a top Hamas operative in Dubai last month.

The federal prosecutor's office, Germany's top investigating unit, deals with all cases affecting internal or external security, including terrorism or espionage.

Federal prosecutors have begun a probe on "the suspicion of foreign espionage in order to check a possible intelligence background of the passport's acquisition," a spokesman for the prosecutor's office told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

He refused to elaborate and spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.

Independently, Cologne authorities have also started investigations on the issuing of the passport to a man calling himself Michael Bodenheimer. A man using that name was among the assassins who killed Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, according to Dubai police.

Cologne prosecutor Rainer Wolf confirmed the probe but also refused to give details.

The German news weekly Der Spiegel reported, without citing sources, that a man calling himself Michael Bodenheimer and identifying himself as an Israeli citizen applied for a German passport in Cologne in June 2009.

He reportedly claimed his parents were Germans who fled from the Nazis, presenting both an Israeli passport issued in 2008 and his parents' marriage certificate, Der Spiegel wrote.

Cologne authorities issued the German passport within days on June 18, the magazine said.

Farmer pioneers green energy practices in Ohio

2012-03-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

When he was laid up in the hospital recovering from knee surgery, farmer Ralph Dull picked up a thick notebook dropped off by a friend that detailed how wind generators produce electricity.

"I had plenty of time to read it," Dull recalled. "And I said, 'That's something we could do.'"

The 79-year-old Dull has since become an Ohio pioneer in green farming and renewable energy, jumping into it in hopes of increasing energy efficiency, cutting costs and protecting the environment.

There are six wind generators on his 2,800-acre farm in western Ohio. In one building sits a machine that produces hydrogen, made from electricity and water. Dull hopes it will soon replace the gas in his forklifts and supplant the propane that heats his pig barn.

Dull's office is geothermal heated and cooled. He dries his seed corn by burning rejected corn instead of propane, and he grinds corn cobs to sell as horse bedding and mulch.

Dull's practices have drawn such visitors as Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown and Ohio Agriculture Director Robert Boggs. Strickland came away impressed by the farm and what it could mean for agriculture's role in environmental protection.

"He is demonstrating through his farming practices that you can have a profitable farming operation while caring for the Earth," Strickland said.

The governor and GOP legislative leaders want the state to rely more on alternative energy and are pushing a stimulus package that would earmark $150 million for advanced energy sources such as solar power, wind and clean coal.

Experts say that while Dull is still the exception, more farmers are expressing interest in green farming and in using renewable energy sources. Beyond environmental concerns, cost-conscious farmers are seeing economic benefits as fuel and fuel-based fertilizer prices soar.

"It's moving from the early adopters and true believers; now it's mainstream," said Geoff Greenfield, president of Third Sun Solar and Wind Power, which sells and installs wind generators and solar equipment for commercial and residential users.

But uncertainty remains about whether wind generators can pay for themselves, whether there is a market for hydrogen, if there is interest among neighboring farmers in sharing expenses and labor, and whether there can be an adequate supply of rejected corn to fuel the dryers.

Steve Fugate, a renewable energy expert in Iowa City, Iowa, said farmers must adopt some of these new technologies to survive.

"If they don't, they're done," he said. "This run-up in fuel prices has really put the branding iron to their backsides."

The national average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline hit a record $3.62 a gallon last week, according to a survey of stations. Diesel prices were $4.24 a gallon.

U.S. prices for natural gas, a major component in the production of the nitrogen fertilizer anhydrous ammonia, have nearly doubled since late August.

Dale Arnold, director of energy services for the Ohio Farm Bureau, said more operators of small and medium-sized farms of about 600 acres or smaller _ not just the larger farms _ are crunching numbers and trying to decide whether it makes financial sense to invest in alternative energy.

"This is not what you would call an impulse buy," Arnold said. "You're talking about spending the same amount of money as you would on a new combine or major piece of equipment on their farm."

Dull spent $210,000 on his 120-foot-high windmills, 25 percent of which was bankrolled by a state grant. The windmills account for about 15 percent of the $40,000 worth of electricity required to run the farm each year. Dull spent about $100,000 on his corn-drying furnace; at current propane prices, it has saved him about $150,000.

"Five or six years ago, Ralph would have been considered a voice crying out in the wilderness," said Arnold. "Now, other farmers are lining up behind him."

___

On the Net:

Dull: http://www.daytonpeacemuseum.org/FutureEnergyCenter.htm

Readers Answer The Casting Call

2012-03-13T14:18:00.000-07:00

If they make a movie based on the Heidi Fleiss "Hollywood Madam"scandal, it's clear Sun-Times readers agreed with the mythical "cast"proposed in Sunday's column.

Of 200-plus callers, more than half wanted Sherilyn Fenn toplay the lead, with Drew Barrymore as Heidi pal Victoria Sellers andEd Asner as producer Ivan Nagy.

Many thought Shannen Doherty, Marisa Tomei, Rebecca DeMornay orWynona Ryder should be the star.

But the most creative bit of casting came from the man whosuggested Marilyn Quayle as Heidi, Dr. Ruth Westheimer as Victoriaand Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf as Nagy.

`Wild Thing' an act? Hitters aren't certain

2012-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

With a nickname like Wild Thing, your reputation goes far andwide.

When your name is Mitch Williams, your pitching matches yourreputation.

When Williams throws the ball, hitters are throwing caution tothe wind. The pitch might go far, or it might go wide. It might goto the screen, or it might even go for a strike.

Williams is from the pitch-and-duck school of pitching. Hittersare forced to duck or swing in luck. It's a real hit-or-misssituation.

"With Mitch," Cubs first baseman Mark Grace said, "you prettymuch think safety first. I don't think he ever tries to hit anybody.But that's what makes him tough."

Former teammates and still friends, Williams and Grace meetagain starting tonight when the Phillies visit Wrigley Field for afour-game series.

"I'm not going to hit Gracie," Williams said. "He knows that."

He does? Williams does?

"Well, if I hit him, it won't be intentional," Williams said.

There is open debate about whether Williams knows where the ballis going. Pirates star Barry Bonds thinks he does.

And he said so while issuing a verbal warning after beingplunked by Williams in the ninth inning of the Pirates' 9-2 victorySaturday.

What does Williams think?

"I have an idea what I'm doing," Williams said coyly.

If he has an idea where the ball is going, why did he lead theNorthwest League in wild pitches (14) in 1983? And why did he hiteight batters in 88 innings last season, despite a 12-5 record?

Is he really the Guy Who Couldn't Shoot Straight?

No one seems quite sure whether Williams has control problems orcontrolled wildness.

What everyone is sure of is that Williams is a man living as aboy, unable to fully adjust to life in the serious world ofprofessional baseball.

Serious for Williams usually lasts about an inning. The rest ofthe time is spent in silliness.

Asked about left fielder Wes Chamberlain, who has averaged 10.3errors per professional season, Williams said, "He plays left fieldlike I pitch."

While there are those who doubt Chamberlain can play theoutfield, there are few who doubt Williams can pitch. Yet you mightnot know it from baseball's marketplace.

During the offseason, Williams tested free agency. He wanted afour-year contract; the Phillies offered three. No one else offeredmuch of anything.

"I'd like to sign him," one general manager said, "but mymanager would be in the hospital before the season's over if I did."

The winter could have sent Williams into a mental hospital.Even though he got three years at $9.3 million - more than anyPhillies player ever, including Mike Schmidt - Williams wasdisappointed in his Wild Thing reputation, which obviously had spreadfar and wide.

"I was the only closer on the market," he said. "I saved 30games twice in the last three years and couldn't get any offers.Something is wrong there.

"They said they don't like the way I pitch. I don't care whatthe other teams think. All I care about is how my coaches andteammates think of me. . . . I have nothing to prove to anybody butthe Phillies. My job is to make them look smart for giving me athree-year deal."

Whether the Cubs looked smart trading him at the beginning oflast season has been debated. Truth is, the Cubs might have won by alarge margin if Williams could have saved 20 of their 27 blown saves.

Though he was booed in 1990, his distinctive peek-a-boo pitchingstyle and cocky character nonetheless endeared him to fans.

Williams forever will live in the Cubs' Hall of Folklore, alovable-laughable winner-loser. Even with 36 saves in 1989, hecouldn't save the Cubs from failing in another chance at the WorldSeries.

After knee problems, a run-in with then-manager Don Zimmer, aprofessed hate of general manager Jim Frey and a 1-8 record with 16saves in 1990, Williams' time as Wrigley Wild Thing turned to MildThing.

"They can trade me away, but they can't change the way I feelabout the place and the fans," he said. "The bad things thathappened could never overshadow the good."

So Williams, who saved 30 games for the Phillies last season,gets to throw at old teammates tonight.

The old teammates include left-handed-hitting Dwight Smith.

"Mitch is the scariest pitcher you have to face," Smith said."For two reasons - because I played with him and I played againsthim."

Smith knows two other things - that Williams could hit you andthat "if he does knock you upside the head, he doesn't mean to."

US lawmaker: too much dispersant used in oil spill

2012-03-13T08:05:00.000-07:00

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — As BP inched closer to permanently sealing the blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico, congressional investigators railed the company and U.S. Coast Guard for part of the cleanup effort, saying too much toxic chemical dispersant was used.

The investigators said the Coast Guard routinely approved BP requests to use thousands of gallons of chemical a day to break up the oil in the Gulf, despite a federal directive to use the dispersant rarely. The Coast Guard approved 74 waivers over a 48-day period after the Environmental Protection Agency order, according to documents reviewed by the investigators. Only in a small number of cases did the government scale back BP's request.

Rep. Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, released a letter Saturday that said instead of complying with the EPA restriction, "BP often carpet bombed the ocean with these chemicals and the Coast Guard allowed them to do it."

BP did not immediately return a phone call, and a spokesman for the Unified Command Center in New Orleans did not have an immediate comment.

While the chemical dispersant was effective at breaking up the oil into small droplets to more easily be consumed by bacteria, the long-term effects to aquatic life are unknown. That environmental uncertainty has led to several spats between BP and the government over the use of dispersants on the water's surface and deep underwater when oil was spewing out of the well.

A temporary cap has held the gusher in check for more than two weeks, and engineers were planning to start as early as Monday on an effort to help plug the well for good. The procedure, dubbed the static kill, involves pumping mud and possibly cement into the blown-out well through the temporary cap. If it works, it will take less time to complete a similar procedure using a relief well that is nearly complete. That effort, known as a bottom kill, should be the last step to sealing the well.

Before the static kill can take place, however, debris needs to be cleared from one of the relief wells. The debris fell in the bottom of the relief well when crews had to evacuate the site last week because of Tropical Storm Bonnie.

Companies working to plug the disaster for good are also engaged in a billion-dollar blame game. But the workers for BP, Halliburton and Transocean say the companies' adversarial relationship before Congress isn't a distraction at the site of the April 20 rig explosion, where Transocean equipment rented by BP is drilling relief wells that Halliburton will pump cement through to permanently choke the oil well.

"Simply, we are all too professional to allow disagreements between BP and any other organization to affect our behaviors," Ryan Urik, a BP well safety adviser working on the Development Driller II, which is drilling a backup relief well, said in an e-mail last week.

The roles of the three companies in the kill efforts are much the same as they were on the Deepwater Horizon, the exploratory rig that blew up, killing 11 workers. The U.S. Justice Department has opened civil and criminal investigations into the incident, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed and congressional investigators are probing the incident and aftermath.

Kenneth Green, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, said the investigations may have stifled communications between the government and companies — and between the companies themselves.

"The problem is you've chilled communications with the very people you need to solve the problem," he said. "Once the Justice Department got involved, the lawyers were basically immediately in charge of the show."

BP is trying to move forward from the disaster that sent anywhere from 94 million gallons (356 million liters) to 184 million gallons (697 million liters) of oil spewing into the Gulf, announcing once the cap was finally in place that its vilified chief executive, Tony Hayward, will be leaving in October.

The are other signs of change in the Gulf. State waters closed by the spill have slowly reopened to fishing, most recently in Florida, where regulators on Saturday reopened a 23-mile area off of Escambia County to harvest saltwater fish. The area was closed June 14 and remains closed to the shrimp and crab harvesting pending additional testing. Oysters, clams and mussels were never included in the closure.

In Alabama, the Department of Public Health lifted all swimming advisories for the Gulf of Mexico.

And Interior Secretary Ken Salazar toured three offshore oil rigs last week, his most extensive trip since the unprecedented shutdown of offshore drilling.

Salazar told The Associated Press, which accompanied him, that he's gathering information to decide whether to revise or even lift the ban, which is scheduled to last until Nov. 30.

Business groups and Gulf Coast political leaders say the shutdown is crippling the oil and gas industry and costing thousands of jobs, even aboard rigs not operated by BP PLC. The freeze "is like punishing the whole class" when a student does something wrong, oil executive John Breed told Salazar during a tour of the Noble Danny Adkins, one of the rigs Salazar visited Wednesday.

Salazar told the AP he believes the industry-wide moratorium imposed after BP's Gulf oil spill was the correct call.

"I think we're in the right direction," he said, adding that the ultimate goal is to allow deepwater operations to resume safely. "We're not there yet," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Daly on the Gulf of Mexico; Harry R. Weber in Port Sulphur, Louisiana; Greg Bluestein in New Orleans and Ray Henry in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Young season, old Ozzie

2012-03-13T04:08:00.000-07:00

And now, Chicago, here's your 2008 White Sox manager, Ozzie Gui--.

Oops. He gone!

Just 16 outs into the first home game of the season, a revved-up, trash-mouthed Ozzie Guillen was sent to the showers by plate umpire Phil Cuzzi.

So where was Ozzie when Joe Crede launched a dramatic grand slam over the left-field fence in the seventh inning to give the Sox a come-from-behind 7-4 win over the visiting Minnesota Twins?

''On the computer,'' he said afterward. ''That's where I was, sending a text message to Major League Baseball.''

No, no, no.

He was just kidding.

''I was watching the game,'' he corrected. ''We have so many TVs in the clubhouse.''

Let's get serious here, Skip. Ever been thrown out of a game this early in the season?

Guillen, walking with son Ozzie Jr. in the tunnel under U.S. Cellular Field, pondered this briefly.

''I don't think I have.''

Never in April?

''I don't know. Don't think so.''

So getting tossed with one out in the third inning was a special and speedy treat for your players and fans, correcto?

''It looked good because we won,'' said Guillen, who is just as profane, just as feisty, just as ditzy, just as ... Ozzie ... as ever. ''But if we lost, it wouldn't have looked so good, would it?''

No, sure wouldn't.

Yet here are the Sox, folks, already the owners of a five-game winning streak after just seven games.

The Sox didn't win five in a row all last year.

Guillen, who has said he thinks he and his team basically took 2007 off, has vowed to be more intensely ... Ozzie than ever this season.

We can debate a long time what that means, but let us start by noting -- if this ejection less than an hour into the first homestand signifies a firestorm in the belly -- that being more Ozzie means a more passionate team.

'I gotta do this for my guys'

The 44-year-old Guillen, whose teams have finished second, first, third and fourth in his four years at the helm, knows he needs to prove something this year.

General manager Ken Williams has spent a fortune on this lineup, putting the Sox in the top five in payroll, ahead of even the hated Cubs, and results are expected.

Guillen started barking at Cuzzi as the umpire was calling strike one and then strike two on Paul Konerko, and you could see the tornado building.

Konerko had struck out in the first, Jim Thome had struck out leading off the third and now Guillen wasn't taking any more of these alleged bad calls against his fellows. Forget the fact Konerko would strike out swinging after one more pitch. Or that arguing balls and strikes this fast, this early, could mean managerial insanity by August.

''I gotta do these things for my guys,'' Guillen said in the tunnel. ''They believe, you know. And I believe. I don't have any doubts in my mind they will show up every day just like this.''

''He's the guy who really makes us feel at ease out there,'' said Crede, whose 2-for-4, four-RBI day was an indication of the tremendous slugging power on this team.

New center fielder and leadoff man Nick Swisher walked out of the shower and into the locker area, his gold and silver neck chains glistening above his left shoulder and arm tattoos, which resemble starter work for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

''We're gonna party?'' he said, seeing the media crowd and hearing ''Crank That (Soulja Boy)'' on the sound system. ''All right!''

Swisher is already an Ozzie believer.

''I loved it,'' he said of Guillen's storm-out-of-the-dugout tirade. ''I've always been on the other side seeing Ozzie going a little crazy, but to be on his team, to see him going out there and fighting for us? I loved that.''

It could get expensive

Guillen is still a young guy. Consider that active players Jamie Moyer and Randy Johnson are older than he is.

But the Oz-man's tactics sometimes seem like those of a crafty old vet. Or, of course, a lunatic.

This ejection marked the 13th of his managerial career. He had two in 2004, two in 2005, five in 2006 and three last year.

Let's say the pair his first season were from rookie timidity, and the pair in '05 were because he didn't need to rage since his team would win the World Series. The five in '06 were perhaps out of frustration. And the trio in '07 likely were from boredom.

Who knows where he's headed this year.

''I told the players they are not here for me, I'm here for them,'' Guillen explained. ''If I have to contribute to Major League Baseball a lot of money [in fines], I have $100,000 on the side.''

Ozzie's war chest.

Will it last?

Photo: Tom Cruze, Sun-Times / Ozzie Guillen glances back on his way to the dugout after being ejected from the game. ;

French anti-terror investigators probe threats over cable TV porn visible in North Africa

2012-03-13T01:02:00.000-07:00

Anti-terrorism investigators in Paris are probing threats against a leading French cable TV channel over pornographic films it airs that can be viewed in North Africa, a judicial official said Tuesday.

Canal-Plus, France's first pay-TV channel, received letters from one or more people claiming to be Muslim and threatening to blow up its headquarters if it continues to broadcast once-a-month pornographic films, the official said. The official was not authorized to be named publicly about such matters.

Canal-Plus filed a legal complaint about the threats late last month, which prompted the anti-terrorist probe. No other details about the threats were available.

Canal-Plus officials did not return phone calls Tuesday seeking comment on the threats.

Canal-Plus and its sister channels show a range of programming, much of it family-friendly. It can be viewed via satellite in largely Muslim North Africa, where French is widely spoken but where social standards are vastly more conservative than in France.

As a new broadcaster in 1984, Canal-Plus introduced X-rated films on the first Saturday of the month to build its image as a more exciting alternative to France's traditional channels. Since then Canal-Plus has become a mainstay of French television and provides financial support to French filmmakers.

French regulators and other critics have expressed concern about the channel's pornographic films in the past, saying they upset young people's moral well-being, degrade women and encourage unsafe sex.

Costs of fertilizing citrus groves with compost or chemicals

2012-03-12T22:05:00.000-07:00

SINCE the early 1990s, several thousand acres of commercial citrus groves in Florida have been supplementing their traditional fertilizer applications with composts. The data obtained from these programs provide a basis for cost comparisons.

Today, a typical chemical nutritional program for Florida citrus costs approximately $188/acre/year. This breaks down as follows: Ammonium nitrate $47.76 Triple superphosphate $7.83; Muriate of potash - $25; Magnesium oxide - $13.39. The total for primary and secondary nutrient materials - $93.98. The cost for blending, transportation and taxes for fertilizer adds up to $17.25. The average acre cost for minor elements is $25. Liming due to acidification of soil by chemicals is calculated at $18. Three spreadings cost $8/acre/trip - or $24. Spray application of minor elements is $10. The total for a chemical nutrition program is $188.23/acre/year.

Annual surveys by university agronomists support the above costs involved in maintaining the nutritional health of commercial citrus groves. One of the most important factors not spoken to in the above fertilizer program is the efficiency of uptake of the nutrients by the citrus trees. University studies in the field have shown that the relative efficiency of applied chemical (water soluble) fertilizer under commercial conditions rarely exceeds 50 percent. The primary loss pathways are leaching by rain, runoff due to rain, irrigation and volatilization, and ultraviolet degradation.

An equivalent citrus nutritional program using compost and a fertilizer approach not only adequately nourishes the plants and grows the crop, but also improves the quality of the microenvironment in the grove. Here is how a typical compost/materials program stacks up:

Compost materials at 2.5% nitrogen, 2.5% phosphorus plus minor elements at $30/ton times three tons/acre/ year = $90; Muriate of potash = $25.

Delivery is included in the cost of compost; no taxes apply to the compost; no blending of materials is needed.

Three applications of materials per acre per year (two tons/acre of compost in the spring, one late summer, and a single application of potash in the spring) = 3 trips at $8/trip = $24.

Liming reduced to every third year due to less acidification = $12.

Total cost of compost/materials program/acre/year = $151!

Although less total nutrients are applied per acre per year in the compost program (150 pounds of nitrogen versus 200 pounds of chemical), it has been shown that the slow-release characteristics of compost increase its efficiency to about 80 percent of the applied amount.

So 200 pounds of chemical fertilizer at 50 percent efficiency equals 100 pounds of delivered nutrients; 150 pounds of compost nitrogen at SQ percent efficiency delivers 120 pounds of nitrogen to the trees and soil microfauna.

The supply of good quality compost in the state of Florida is very limited - perhaps 100,000 tons/year are produced. There are more than 850,000 acres of commercial citrus groves, most of which would dearly love to save $37/acre/year in production costs. It can be seen that only 33,000 acres could benefit from the compost materials program - 3.88 percent of the total. - Mike Litvany

[Author Affiliation]

Mike Litvany is with Nutri-Source, Inc., based in Orlando Florida. Nutri-- Source is a compost broker providing compost marketing services for the municipat facility in Sarasota (about 20 DDD cubic yards (cy)/year), Reedy Creek Improvement District - Disney World (40,000 cy/year) and Comp-Lete Food inc. of Nicotee (60,000 cy/year). (Conversion rate from volume to weight for the compost averages 2.5 cubic yards to one ton.)

A schedule of events for Obama's inauguration

2012-03-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

A schedule of some official and unofficial activities surrounding Barack Obama's inauguration on Jan. 20:

___

SATURDAY, JAN. 17

_ President-elect Barack Obama and his family ride the train from Philadelphia to Washington, stopping in Wilmington, Delaware, for Vice President-elect Joe Biden and his family. Train will stop in Baltimore for speech before heading south.

_ BET Honors, an awards ceremony, at the Warner Theater.

_ People's Inaugural Gala Celebration at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

_ Will.i.am "Yes We Did" concert.

_ Concert with Mary J. Blige, Common and Nelly at nightclub Ibiza.

SUNDAY, JAN. 18

_ Obama will kick off inaugural activities with a welcome event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Sunday afternoon. The event begins at 2:30 p.m. Beyonce, U2, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban and James Taylor are among the musicians scheduled to perform.

_ Presidential Inaugural Luncheon and Fashion Show at the Ritz-Carlton.

_ EMILY's List Inaugural Luncheon with scheduled guests including Cabinet appointees Hillary Rodham Clinton and Janet Napolitano, Sens. Kay Hagan and Jeanne Shaheen, and North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue.

_ African-American Church Inaugural Ball at the Grand Hyatt Washington.

_ 2009 Latino Inaugural Gala with Marc Anthony at Union Station.

_ Aloha Inaugural Ball, organized by former Obama campaign workers, held at the Wardman Park Marriott Hotel at 7:30 p.m.

MONDAY, JAN. 19

_ National Day of Community Service event: To honor Dr. King's legacy, Obama, Biden and their families, joined by Americans across the country, will participate in activities dedicated to serving others in communities across the Washington, D.C. area.

_ Black Tie & Boots Inaugural Ball, sponsored by the Texas State Society, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

_ Green Inaugural Ball at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. Ball hosted by former Vice President Al Gore.

_ Huffington Post preinaugural ball at the Newseum.

_ Hip-Hop Inaugural Ball at the Harman Center for the Arts. Hosted by the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, Russell Simmons, LL Cool J, among others.

_ A children's evening concert at the Verizon Center honoring military families. Event hosted by Michelle Obama, who will attend. Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers are among the entertainers.

_ Obama to attend three private dinners to honor former secretary of State Colin Powell, Biden and Sen. John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, for their public service. Dinners at the Hilton Washington, National Building Museum and Union Station.

TUESDAY, JAN. 20 (INAUGURATION DAY)

Gates to the Inaugural Ceremony open at 8 a.m. The inaugural festivities are scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. They will include:

_ Musical selections of The United States Marine Band, followed by the San Francisco Boys Chorus and the San Francisco Girls Chorus.

_ Sen. Dianne Feinstein provides call to order and welcoming remarks.

_ Invocation by the Rev. Rick Warren.

_ Musical selection of Aretha Franklin.

_ Biden will be sworn into office by Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.

_ Musical selection of John Williams, composer/arranger with Itzhak Perlman, (violin), Yo-Yo Ma (cello), Gabriela Montero (piano) and Anthony McGill (clarinet).

_ Obama will take the Oath of Office, using President Lincoln's Inaugural Bible, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. Scheduled around noon.

_ Obama gives the inaugural address.

_ Poem by Elizabeth Alexander.

_ Benediction by Rev. Joseph E. Lowery.

_ The National Anthem by The United States Navy Band "Sea Chanters."

After Obama gives inaugural address, he will escort outgoing President George W. Bush to a departure ceremony before attending a luncheon in the Capitol's Statuary Hall.

The 56th Inaugural Parade will then make its way down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House.

Later that day, the Presidential Inaugural Committee will host 10 official inaugural balls:

_ Neighborhood Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Obama Home States (Illinois and Hawaii) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Biden Home States (Pennsylvania and Delaware) Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Midwest Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Mid-Atlantic Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Western Inaugural Ball at the Washington Convention Center.

_ Commander in Chief's Ball at the National Building Museum.

_ Southern Inaugural Ball at the National Guard Armory.

_ Eastern Inaugural Ball at Union Station.

_ Youth Inaugural Ball at the Washington Hilton.

Unofficial balls include:

_ Congressional Black Caucus Inaugural Ball at the Capitol Hilton.

_ Creative Coalition Inaugural Ball at the Harman Center for the Arts.

_ Recording Industry Association of America's ball for Feeding America.

_ BET's Inaugural Ball at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

_ Africa on the Potomac inaugural celebration at Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.

_ American Music Inaugural Ball at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.

_ Inaugural Purple Ball at the Fairmont Hotel.

_ Human Rights Campaign's Equality Ball at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel.

_ Inaugural Peace Ball at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum.

_ Impact Film Fund ball.

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21

_ The president, vice president and their families will participate in a prayer service at the Washington National Cathedral.

Certain relatives may not be covered by some car policies

2012-03-12T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here's a relatively easy question: If your father remarries, hisnew wife is your stepmother. If she has a son from a previousmarriage who now lives with your father and you, is he yourstepbrother?

More importantly, is he insured under your automobile insurancepolicy, which says it insures you and your relatives living with you?The term "relative" is defined in your policy as "a person related toyou or your spouse by blood, marriage or adoption who lives withyou."

Before you answer, let me change the facts a bit. Let's sayyour stepmother doesn't bring her son to live with you and yourfather; she brings her brother. Is he your stepuncle?

More importantly, is he insured under your automobile insurancepolicy?

Before you answer "yes," you should know that the rest of thiscolumn is about a case in which the stepuncle was held not to be arelative insured under his stepnephew's policy.

The real issue in the case was whether the term "relative" asused in the policy was ambiguous. Any ambiguity in an insurancepolicy usually is resolved against the insurance company.Apparently, this was the first time Illinois courts were asked if theterm "relative" as used in insurance policies is ambiguous. After afascinating analysis, the court found no ambiguity at all.

The stepuncle apparently was using the car without thestepnephew's permission, otherwise he would have been covered whetherhe was a relative or not. He was involved in a collision in whichthree people in the other car were killed. The stepnephew'sinsurance company filed a suit for a declaratory judgment, claimingit was not obligated to provide liability coverage for the stepuncleunder the policy.

The trial court's ruling in favor of the insurance company wasaffirmed by the Illinois Appellate Court. It should be an eye-openerto anyone believing that steprelatives living in the same householdare automatically insured as relatives under their auto insurancepolicy.

Under the terms of the policy, the stepuncle would have to berelated by blood, marriage or adoption to the policyholder: thestepnephew. It was conceded that he was not a relative by blood oradoption. In order to be a relative by marriage, the court said, thestepuncle would have had to marry into the stepnephew's family. Hedid not.

In a somewhat different situation a few years ago, the courtruled on appeal that the wife of the stepgrandson of the policyholderwas not related to the policyholder. That court said the wife wasrelated by marriage only to the blood relatives of her spouse, whichincluded his parents and brother - not his stepgrandmother.

Likewise, a few years ago, the court ruled that the daughter ofa person living with, but not married to the policyholder, did notqualify as a relative under the policy.

The gist of the ruling in this case is that the courtsrecognize a relationship by marriage between a stepchild and astepparent, but have not expanded it to other "step" relations.

So, if you live with a steprelative, before you drive his orher car, be darn sure that you have express permission so you will beinsured under that part of the insurance policy that covers peopleusing the car with the insured's permission. Otherwise, you may notbe covered, because the insurance company may not consider you to be"a relative of the insured living in the same household," even if youconsider yourself to be a relative.

Send legal questions to Leonard Groupe, Chicago Sun-Times, 401 N.Wabash, Chicago 60611. Questions of general interest will beanswered in the column, but letters cannot be answered individually.

Patriots Escape With 24-17 Win Over Jets

2012-03-12T11:30:00.000-07:00

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini met near midfield, exchanged a fleeting, businesslike handshake and again went their separate ways. No warm embrace, and barely a word spoken. That's the way it's been since the student left the teacher's New England Patriots to become the head coach of the New York Jets, adding to an already spicy rivalry. Belichick's Patriots held off a late rally by Mangini's Jets for a 24-17 victory Sunday, sending the rookie head coach to his first loss.

"It was the Patriots against the Jets," Belichick said. "We were just trying to coach against the Jets. I was just trying to do the best I can for my team, and I'm sure he's trying to do the best he can with his team."

In this case, the best Mangini and Jets had to offer wound up just short.

New England (2-0) took a 24-0 lead on touchdown runs by Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, and a TD catch by rookie Chad Jackson.

But the Jets stormed back in the second half. Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles each made brilliant touchdown receptions, Mike Nugent kicked a 42-yard field goal and Jonathan Vilma blocked a late field-goal attempt to give the Jets (1-1) one last chance in their home opener.

"I'm proud of the way these guys fought back," Mangini said. "Down 24-0, we had a chance to tie the game at the end. I'm proud of that fact, but you can't dig yourself into a 24-0 hole."

After getting the ball at his 9 with 1:05 left and the crowd at Giants Stadium on its feet, Chad Pennington led New York to its 45. But a long pass down the right sideline to Justin McCareins was intercepted by Tedy Bruschi, ending the comeback hopes.

"You can't fall behind 24 points and expect to win any game," Vilma said. "Give them credit. They held on. They did a good job."

Mangini was New England's defensive backs coach under Belichick from 2000-04, and served as defensive coordinator last season before becoming head coach of the Jets.

"It was the last thing I was thinking about this week," Mangini said. "I focused on our players and our team. That's it. It's green for me all day, every day."

Mangini, who said he hadn't spoken to Belichick in some time, talked about how much he learned while helping lead the Patriots to three Super Bowl titles. It showed on Sunday as the Jets, looking flat after an opening-week victory at Tennessee, made a game of it in the second half.

Cotchery's 71-yard reception made it 24-7 in the third quarter. Pennington scrambled and his long pass down the right sideline went to Cotchery, who turned, backpedaled and leaped for the ball near the Patriots 30. He was hit hard by Chad Scott and fell on top of Eugene Wilson's back, but hearing no whistle, Cotchery popped up and ran into the end zone.

Belichick challenged the play, but the referees ruled only Cotchery's hand touched the ground.

"Once I caught the ball, I knew I landed on top of the defender," Cotchery said. "So I knew my knee didn't hit the ground and I was just going to get up and run."

On New England's next drive, Tom Brady's deep pass down the middle for Doug Gabriel was intercepted by David Barrett.

From New England's 46, Pennington threw a short pass across the middle to Coles. The veteran made a cut outside, causing Wilson to fall, and then cut inside, eluding a sliding tackle attempt by Ellis Hobbs and leaving a trail of Patriots behind to make it 24-14 with 50 seconds left in the third quarter.

"Chad gave me an opportunity to catch the ball, and I got a lot of downfield blocking," said Coles, who had six catches for 100 yards.

Brady finished 15-of-29 for 220 yards with one TD and an interception, while Pennington was 22-of-37 for 306 yards, two TDs and one interception.

The Jets recovered a fumble by Brady when safety Kerry Rhodes blitzed and hit the quarterback's right arm. Bryan Thomas recovered the ball and Nugent, who missed two field goals and an extra-point in the opener, kicked a 42-yarder to make it 24-17.

New England got the ball back with 9:20 left, and took just over 8 minutes off the clock with a typically efficient Brady-led drive. Despite rookie Stephen Gostkowski's 29-yard attempt being blocked, the Patriots got the job done.

"We know how to close out games," Bruschi said. "That's one thing I can say. We let them back in, but the offense bailed us out at the end."

Notes:@ Bruschi was in the Patriots' starting lineup after missing the season opener last weekend with a broken right wrist. ... Jets guard Pete Kendall was inactive after injuring a hamstring in the season opener. ... Cotchery had six catches for 121 yards. ... Dillon led the Patriots with 80 yards rushing on 20 carries, while Maroney had 65 yards on 16 rushes.