Stereo Hearts

Wert

2012-03-15T06:41:00.000-07:00

BRETTON WOODS: It's a phrase that has the ring of a fairy tale, but of course it's simply the name of the New Hampshire town where, in 1944, delegates from the Allied nations came together to decide how the world economy should work. Nevertheless, for most of us, the global monetary system that evolved from the Bretton Woods agreements is as darkly mysterious as anything imagined by the Brothers Grimm. In Wert (the term is German for "value") a special project for Artforum related to his new film, untitled at press time, Glasgow-based artist DUNCAN CAMPBELL relates the tale of one of this system's most influential adepts: Hans (born Johannes) Tietmeyer, renowned German economist and …

Venus Williams into Wimbledon quarters

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

Defending champion Venus Williams has advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alisa Kleybanova.

Bidding for a fifth Wimbledon title, the No. 7-seeded Williams broke in the eighth game of the first set on …

Pay raises could aid teacher recruiting: ; Kanawha board candidates say incentive pay needs to go

2012-03-15T01:54:00.000-07:00

A majority of Kanawha County school board candidates said theysupport teacher pay raises as a way to recruit more teachers.District 1 candidate Bobby Johnson, District 3 candidate BillFerrell and District 4 candidate Pamela Minimah spoke in favor ofteacher pay raises during a Thursday evening debate. If you dontthink its about money, then somebody has you fooled, Johnson said.They come up with money for Teach First, you should have money togive people pay raises. You have to pay these people what they areworth to keep them. District 4 candidates Robin Rector and PamelaMinimah also agreed the board should start looking outsidetraditional career routes for teachers. Traditionally …

ROCCI JOHNSON BAND

2012-03-14T23:31:00.000-07:00

Back in the day, Hannah's was the place to go to get your drink on, get your groove on and get your hook-up on. And it still is. Well, the drink and groove part anyway (I'm well beyond the hook-up stage of my life). Wednesday nights at Hannah's are about as fun as you're going to find in this town. This last Wednesday night, some of the Boise Weekly staff joined the throng of After Alive After Fivers whooping it up at Hannah's. The Rocci Johnson Band played danceable tunes and played them well. Rocci really got the crowd going with songs like The Black Eyed Peas' "Don't Phunk With My Heart" (for the young) and Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music, White Boy" (for the …

Dodgers 7, Rangers 6

2012-03-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

…

Texas			Los Angeles
ab r h bi		ab r h bi
Borbon cf	4 1 2 1		Furcal ss	4 0 1 0
J.Hoying cf	1 0 0 0		A.Ellis c	1 0 0 0
Andrus ss	4 0 2 0		I.De Jesus 2b	3 2 2 1
German ss	1 0 0 0

Paraguay gets 1-0 WCup warmup win over North Korea

2012-03-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Roque Santa Cruz converted a penalty kick in the 86th minute, giving Paraguay a 1-0 win over North Korea on Saturday in a World Cup warmup.

Santa Cruz struck his spot kick high to the left of goalkeeper Ri Myong Guk after substitute Nam Song Chol was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball.

Paraguay hit a post twice in a seven-minute spell midway through the second half.

Choe Kum Chol had North Korea's best chance in the 35th but lifted his shot over the bar.

…

A-B men have battled all season

2012-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

THESE days, Alderson-Broaddus' basketball team functions smoothlyon offense, plays tenaciously on defense and wins and wins and wins.

Which is something that the Battlers' new coach, Greg Zimmerman,never would have envisioned when he first met the small anddysfunctional assemblage of players that he inherited when he arrivedin Philippi last fall.

"The team was in disarray," Zimmerman said.

With good reason.

Not long before Zimmerman's arrival, the Battlers' previous coach,Brett Vincent, abruptly resigned to become the coach at Lewis CountyHigh School.

By the time A-B hired Zimmerman, a former Battler player, only acouple of weeks remained before …

Rubio living up to hype in Minnesota so far

2012-03-14T14:09:00.000-07:00

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The flashy passes between the legs of defenders and behind his back to open teammates on the wing have been dazzling.

The stutter-step drives to the basket have been electrifying and the jump shots swishing through from distance have been downright unexpected.

Ricky Rubio has brought energy, excitement and a little bit of magic to the Minnesota Timberwolves in his rookie season, but his true impact on one of the NBA's struggling franchises can be measured in a subtle moment from a game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Spaniard's sixth in the league, last week.

Timberwolves center Anthony Randolph grabbed a loose ball and dribbled right past Rubio to …

Purcell lifts Lightning past Stars

2012-03-14T11:49:00.000-07:00

DALLAS (AP) — Teddy Purcell scored twice, and Mathieu Garon made 27 saves to help the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Friday night.

With the game even at 1, Purcell carried the puck from the right circle into the slot and backhanded a shot past goalie Kari Lehtonen at 3:36 of the …

Ed Ruscha

2012-03-14T09:28:00.000-07:00

1000 WORDS

TALKS ABOUT HIS MOST RECENT PAINTINGS

PERHAPS THEY WOULD PREFER to forget the past and enjoy the present (whose transience they are so much more aware of than younger colleagues), but circumstances conspire to make successful artists of a certain age dwell on their history: retrospective exhibitions, monographs, compilations of writings and interviews, the queries of art historians for whom each speck of memory might be the one that yields a dissertation chapter-such things make it inevitable that, willy-nilly, the artist finds his own past increasingly occupying his attention. I DONT WANT NO RETRO SPECTIVE, an Ed Ruscha drawing once complained. But of course the …

Griffey hits career homer No. 594, Volquez solid as Reds beat Phillies 8-2

2012-03-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Ken Griffey Jr. hit his 594th career homer, a two-run shot that powered the Cincinnati Reds over the Philadelphia Phillies 8-2 in the National League on Sunday.

Griffey's first homer of the season, a drive off Brett Myers (0-1), left him six shy of becoming the sixth player in major league history to reach 600 homers. He would join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Sammy Sosa.

Jeff Keppinger homered and drove in three runs for the Reds, and Edinson Volquez (1-0) struck out eight in 5 1-3 innings.

Brewers 7, Giants 0

At Milwaukee, Ben Sheets (1-0) struck out eight, walked none and pitched a five-hitter for his second …

Cigarette maker Lorillard 2Q profit falls

2012-03-14T04:48:00.000-07:00

Cigarette maker Lorillard says lower volumes and higher promotional costs drove its net income down 8 percent in the second quarter.

The maker of Newport, Maverick and True cigarettes says its cigarette volume fell less than a percent to 9.78 billion cigarettes but it still increased market share.

Last week, rivals Reynolds American and Altria Group reported declines in cigarette sales.

…

Turkey Threatens Repercussions for U.S.

2012-03-14T02:05:00.000-07:00

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey, which is a key supply route to U.S. troops in Iraq, recalled its ambassador to Washington on Thursday and warned of serious repercussions if Congress labels the killing of Armenians by Turks a century ago as genocide.

Ordered after a House committee endorsed the genocide measure, the summons of the ambassador for consultations was a further sign of the deteriorating relations between two longtime allies and the potential for new turmoil in an already troubled region.

Egeman Bagis, an aide to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told Turkish media that Turkey - a conduit for many of the supplies shipped to American bases in both Iraq and Afghanistan - might have to "cut logistical support to the U.S."

Analysts also have speculated the resolution could make Turkey more inclined to send troops into northern Iraq to hunt Turkish Kurd rebels, a move opposed by the U.S. because it would disrupt one of the few relatively stable and peaceful Iraqi areas.

"There are steps that we will take," Turkey's prime minister told reporters, but without elaboration. It also wasn't clear if he meant his government would act immediately or wait to see what happens to the resolution in Congress.

He declined to answer questions about whether Turkey might shut down Incirlik air base in southern Turkey, a major cargo hub for U.S. and allied military forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. Turkey's Mediterranean port of Iskenderun is also used to ferry goods to American troops.

"You don't talk about such things, you just do them," Erdogan said.

The measure before Congress is just a nonbinding resolution without the force of law, but the debate has incensed Turkey's government.

The relationship between the two NATO allies, whose troops fought together in the Korean War in 1950-53, have stumbled in the past. They hit a low in 2003, when Turkey's parliament refused to allow U.S. forces use their country as a staging ground for the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

But while the threat of repercussions against the U.S. is appealing for many Turks, the country's leaders know such a move could hurt Turkey's standing as a reliable ally of the West and its ambitions to be a mediator on the international stage.

The Turks did suspend military ties with France last year after parliament's lower house approved a bill that would have made it a crime to deny the mass killings of Armenians in Turkey amounted to genocide. But Turkey has much more to lose from cutting ties to the U.S.

The United States is one of its major business partners, with $11 billion in trade last year, and the U.S. defense industry provides much of the Turkish military's equipment.

Turkey's ambassador in Washington, Nabi Sensoy, was ordered home for discussions with the Turkish leadership about what is happening in Congress, Foreign Minister spokesman Levent Bilman said. He said Sensoy would go back after seven to 10 days.

"We are not withdrawing our ambassador. We have asked him to come to Turkey for some consultations," Bilman said. "The ambassador was given instructions to return and will come at his earliest convenience."

The Bush administration, which is lobbying strongly in hopes of persuading Congress to reject the resolution, stressed the need for good relations with Turkey.

"We look forward to his quick return and will continue to work to maintain strong U.S.-Turkish relations," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security Council. "We remain opposed to House Resolution 106 because of the grave harm it could bring to the national security of the United States."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the measure is damaging relations at a time when U.S. forces in Iraq rely heavily on Turkish permission to use their airspace for cargo flights.

About 70 percent of U.S. air cargo headed for Iraq goes through Turkey as does about one-third of the fuel used by the U.S. military there. U.S. bases also get water and other supplies carried in overland by Turkish truckers who cross into Iraq's northern Kurdish region.

In addition, C-17 cargo planes fly military supplies to U.S. soldiers in remote areas of Iraq from Incirlik, avoiding the use of Iraqi roads vulnerable to bomb attacks. U.S. officials say the arrangement helps reduce American casualties.

U.S.-Turkish ties already had been strained by Turkey's complaint the U.S. hasn't done enough to stop Turkish Kurd rebels from using bases in northern Iraq to stage attacks in southeastern Turkey, a predominantly Kurdish region where tens of thousands have died in fighting since 1984.

Turkish warplanes and helicopter gunships attacked suspected positions of Kurdish rebels on the border this week and Turkey's parliament was expected to vote next week on a proposal to allow the military to pursue a large-scale offensive in northern Iraq.

The U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, was invited to the Foreign Ministry, where officials conveyed their "unease" over the resolution in Congress and asked the Bush administration do all in its power to stop passage by the full House, a Foreign Ministry official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to make press statements.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks around the time of World War I. Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, saying the killings didn't come from a coordinated campaign but rather during unrest accompanying the Ottoman Empire's collapse.

The House Foreign Affairs Committee passed the resolution Wednesday despite intense lobbying by Turkish officials and the opposition from President Bush. The vote was a triumph for well-organized Armenian-American interest groups that have lobbied Congress for decades to pass a resolution.

The administration will now try to pressure Democratic leaders in Congress not to schedule a vote, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicated they were committed to going forward.

"Why do it now? Because there's never a good time and all of us in the Democratic leadership have supported" it, she said.

Turkish officials said the House had no business to get involved in writing history.

"It is not possible to accept such an accusation of a crime which was never committed by the Turkish nation," Turkey's government said after the committee adopted the measure.

---

Associated Press writers C. Onur Ant in Istanbul and Suzan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

(This version CORRECTS SUBS 24th graf, `The House ...' to correct time to Wednesday sted Thursday)

Swedish Riksbank cuts interest rate by 1 points

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

Sweden's central bank surprised the market Wednesday by cutting its key interest rate a full percentage point to 1 percent to offset a plunge in production and employment triggered by the global financial meltdown.

The Riksbank also warned of more trouble in 2009, saying the economic downturn "now looks as if it will be even worse than was thought in December."

"The economic prospects are unusually uncertain at the moment," it said.

Exports and orders have fallen substantially, it said, and job losses continue to stay at a high level. The lower oil price has also led to a lower inflation rate, it said, a development that gives central bankers a freer hand to cut rates without worrying about worsening inflation.

Nordea chief economist Annika Winsth said the cut was more aggressive than expected, but that the Riksbank is reacting to the same bad numbers economists are currently forecasting.

"But it was a little bit more than thought, and so that's why it's a little chaotic at the moment," she said. "But I think they're going to cut it by 0.5 percentage points in April, and so this is still not the end of it."

The rate cut follows December's record slashing of 1.75 percentage points, the largest ever since the Riksbank started using the repo rate as its key interest rate in June 1994.

The face of FB India ; Kirthiga Reddy was drawn to India from the US.

2012-03-13T20:21:00.000-07:00

How does Kirthiga Reddy stay in touch with her friends and familyback in the United States? She, like millions others, relies onFacebook. Reddy, however, would know a thing or two more about thesocial networking website than most common folk. She is, after all,Director of Online Operations and Head of Office India at Facebook.

Kirthiga Reddy Head of Office India, Facebook

Previous employer: Phoenix Technologies, US

Why i came back : After frequent workrelated visits to India, onecould clearly sense the change happening in India and how it was theplace to be professionally and personally

If I was not in India: Unlikely since India is where I want tobe. If not then still be in a global leadership role in the US

High point in India: Joining Facebook and having an opportunityto build Facebook India from the ground up

Low point in India: Despite India being a happening place, thereis still a great deal of room for improvement on issues likeaccountability and transparency"When I chose to move back to Indiain January 2008, I became an active user of Facebook to keep myhusband - then still in the US (now back in India) - connected aboutthings related with our two daughters. Also, having lived in the USfor 14 years, Facebook allows me to connect with my friends there,"says Reddy.

In July this year, Reddy became the first Facebook Indiaemployee. Her mandate: set up the office - in Hyderabad - and ateam. Today, Facebook India is in a hiring mode but would not shareits India headcount numbers. Its India outpost, apparently, has avital role to play.

"We are working with users, developers and advertisers - ourthree crucial constituents - on a global basis. We have to ensurethe operations are safe and trusted for users; we have to foster anecosystem for developers; and we have to help advertisers leveragethe platform of Facebook to reach out and engage with users," saysReddy.

The years ahead promise to be exciting as Reddy attempts to buildan organisation in India that is rooted in, what she says, "theglobal Facebook culture and values".

Personally, it is going to be about "fostering the nextgeneration of women leaders in India; driving children's causes liketheir safety and access to education; and making an impact at anational level". India is where she wants to be, and with so manygoals, Reddy is going to be a very busy woman in the years ahead.You could keep track of her on Facebook.

Thomas makes 34 saves, Bruins beat Rangers 3-2

2012-03-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Tim Thomas made 15 of his 34 saves in the third period, turning away three shots when Boston was down two men in the third and lifting the Bruins to a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

Milan Lucic, Tyler Seguin and Mark Recchi scored three consecutive goals as Boston won its second straight in improving to 7-1 on the road. The Bruins have scored 21 goals in its past five road games.

Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik scored for New York, but the Rangers had their three-game winning streak snapped. They lost in regulation for the first time in seven games (5-1-1) against a Northeast Division opponent.

Henrik Lundqvist made 17 saves in dropping to 14-5-2 all-time against Boston.

Olazabal opens 9-shot lead in World Series

2012-03-13T14:37:00.000-07:00

Jose Maria Olazabal continued his record-breaking assault on oneof America's most difficult courses and threatened to run away fromthe winners-only field in the World Series of Golf at Akron, Ohio.

The 24-year-old Spaniard added a 3-under-par 67 to his opening61 and reached the tournament halfway point Friday with a 128 totaland a 9-stroke lead.

The huge 36-hole lead may be the largest in the history of thePGA Tour.

"I know everyone else is saying it is now mine to lose," saidOlazabal, the brightest young star on the European circuit but aninfrequent competitor in this country.

His closest pursuers, U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin and LarryMize, agreed that Olazabal must back away for anyone else to have achance.

Olazabal's total is 12 under par and - by three strokes - therecord for two rounds at Firestone. The 36-hole score also is - bytwo strokes - the best of any of the 34 PGA Tour events this season.

Irwin and Mize shared second at 137, Irwin with a solid,3-under-par 67 and Mize with a scrambling 71.

CHATTANOOGA: Peter Persons holed a 60-foot chip shot for aneagle-3 on the 17th hole, vaulting him ahead of the field for a2-stroke lead at 128 in the $500,000 PGA Chattanooga (Tenn.) Classic.

Persons turned in his second straight round of 6-under-par 64 tomove ahead of Mitch Adcock, who also began the day at 6-under 64, andfirst-round leader Steve Lowery at 10-under 130.

George Burns shot a 4-under 66 and is tied for third place withRobert Zokol, Jeff Wilson and Billy Tuten at 9-under 131.

LPGA: Barb Bunkowsky matched her career-low round with a7-under-par 65 to lead by one stroke after the first round of the$375,000 Northgate Classic in Brooklyn Park, Minn.

Beth Daniel, Cindy Rarick and Chris Johnson shared second placeat 66. Nina Foust and Vicki Fergon were three shots behind at 68.

SENIORS: Bob Brue had seven birdies and shot a 6-under-par 66for a 1-stroke lead in the $350,000 GTE Northwest Classic in Kenmore,Wash.

Don Bies shot a 67. Tied at 68 were Tom Shaw, Chi Chi Rodriguezand Harold Henning, while George Archer and Walt Zembriski were at69.

Bruce Crampton, winner of the inaugural GTE Northwest Classic in1986 and a repeat winner in 1988, came in with a 70. A 10-way tie at71 included defending champion Al Geiberger.

U.S. AMATEUR: Two-time NCAA champion Phil Mickelson advanced tothe quarterfinals in Denver, overtaking Mike Swingle with a birdie onthe par-5 17th hole - the same hole that eliminated Jay Sigel earlierin the day.

Mickelson, 20, of Arizona State, is the lone favorite still inthe field. Defending champion Chris Patton bowed out in the openinground Thursday, and Sigel lost to former tour pro Mike Brannan in thesecond round.

Mickelson, who edged Swingle 1 up, will meet Bob May today. Mayhad to go 22 holes to get by Bill Edwards 1 up in the third round.

Property firm makes splash

2012-03-13T11:37:00.000-07:00

Property company Urban Splash, which has an office in Bristol, hasannounced a 52 per cent rise in profits.

The company saw profits rise to GBP6.3 million in the 16 monthsending March 31 and its net assets rise by 68 per cent to GBP30.4million.

The Manchester company's developments include apartments at theRoyal William Yard in Plymouth and at Altrincham in Cheshire.

It opened its first regional subsidiary Urban Splash (South West),headed by managing director Jason Collard, in Bristol during theperiod.

Chairman Tony Bloxham said: "This is another solid set of resultsthat demonstrate that commitment to great architecture and brownfield regeneration can be combined, resulting in impressive financialperformance."

POWERED access hire and sales firm The Platform Company has movedits Bristol branch to a new upgraded site at Almondsbury.

The new premises have a training area and state-of-the-artworkshops.

Lee Perry, The Platform Company's sales director, says: "Obtainingnew premises with the right facilities has meant that we are furtherable to fulfil our customers' requirements."

A KEY conference and exhibition on energy and environmentalmanagement is to be held in Weston-super-Mare next month.

The Energy and Environmental Exhibition and Conference will beheld at the Winter Gardens Pavilion on October 6. To find out more,visit www.oursouthwest.com/envec.

NEW legislation governing the way businesses deal with employeedisputes will be the subject of a seminar to be held in Bristol onThursday.

Employment and health and safety consultancy First BusinessSupport will run the workshop, to be held at the Highcliffe Hotel,Clevedon, examining the implications for businesses of the newStatutory Dispute Resolution Procedures. Call First Business Supporton 01706 233750.

Aaron, a greater hero than Ruth

2012-03-13T08:27:00.000-07:00

In 1964, 8-year-old Sandy Tolan "met" the baseball player whowould be his lifelong hero when his older sister Kath introduced him,magnanimously, to an American institution. "`Here,' Kath said,holding out a gift, `You got Henry Aaron in your first pack ofbaseball cards."'

Nine years later, 17-year-old Sandy, startled to read that hishero was receiving racist hate mail as he zeroed in on Babe Ruth'srecord of 714 home runs, wrote Aaron a simple letter: "Don't listento them, Mr. Aaron. We're in your corner. You're my hero. I believein you."

Several weeks later, to his astonishment, he received thefollowing reply: "Dear Sandy: I want you to know how very much Iappreciate the concern and best wishes of people like yourself. Ifyou will excuse my sentimentality, your letter of support andencouragement meant much more to me than I can adequately express inwords. Most sincerely, Hank Aaron."

Now 42-year-old Tolan, a respected reporter and documentary makerfor National Public Radio, has produced Me and Hank: A Boy and HisHero, Twenty-Five Years Later (Free Press, $24) an alternatelycharming and troubling book. We should all be glad he did.

Far more than just a book on baseball, Me and Hank is Tolan'searnest (at times almost too earnest) attempt to figure out why BabeRuth still seems to outrank Hank Aaron on baseball's Mount Olympus.Tolan's reluctant conclusion? That other national pastime, racism.

According to Charlie Danrick, baseball memorializer extraordinaireand just one of the scores of fascinating people the authorinterviewed in dozens of communities (and bars and ballparks) largeand small across the country, "I think it's racism. It is racism. Whywould an achievement like that-breaking Babe Ruth's record-not berecognized, not be sought by baseball fans all over the world? Andthe only thing I would think of was that the record was broken by ablack man. That's all. That is all."

In the end, Tolan is comforted by the comment of Dusty Baker: "`Think of all the people Hank motivated. You're an example, I'm anexample. There are tons of us running around that Hank had a directinfluence on,' the manager of the San Francisco Giants said. `Whetherhe knew it or not.' "

Amen to that.

While researching Flying Cloud: The True Story of America's MostFamous Clipper Ship and the Woman Who Guided Her (Morrow, $26), DavidW. Shaw consulted the journals of the captain, his wife (who waschief navigator) and several passengers, as well as such otheroriginal sources as the ship's log. He relates, most engagingly, howin 1851 the Flying Cloud, a brand-new clipper, set a world speedrecord on its maiden voyage by sailing from New York and around CapeHorn to San Francisco in 89 days.

Several things make this interesting story even more compelling.One is that the ship's weather deck, or center stage, was shared bythe captain's wife, Ellen Cressy, a skilled navigator who believed inmodern scientific principles far earlier than her male counterpartsand operated with her husband's full support, though he was notexactly a proto-feminist. The second is that the author has takengreat license and framed the book as if it were historical fiction.

Finally, there's all the fascinating information you pick up alongthe way, from geography to animal husbandry to what life was like onboard a 235-foot ship for literally months at a stretch. A greatyarn, "Flying Cloud" made me want to read Longitude all over again.

Don't have your sea legs? Then stay on terra firma with How to Winat Golf Without Actually Playing Well, by Jon Winokur (Pantheon,$21), as witty a book as you're apt to find on any sport. Winokur,whose many books include The Rich Are Different and Advice toWriters, is not just funny, he's devilishly funny. His goal is notfair play, but winning, and to that end he offers to teach us what hecalls "gamesmanship."

He writes, "This book is intended to serve as both a sword and ashield. A sword to attack superior players, a shield to protectagainst other gamesmen. But if your idea of golf is a few clubs in acanvas bag and the glory of a golden afternoon, if you consider golfa sacrament to be played for the sheer uplift, you won't need it. If,on the other hand, you venture an occasional wager on the game, youhave a healthy will to win, and you aren't averse to psychologicalcombat, this book will show you how. . . . And, if your idea ofgamesmanship is jangling your pocket change or ripping Velcro on yourglove to distract your opponent, you really need this book."

Yet another advantage of this delightful book is that it fits inyour golf bag, so if you should be reading it and burst out laughingin the middle of your opponent's backspin, you could hardly beblamed. But I'm afraid the author would find that gambit, if legal,far too obvious; his tactics are far more subtle.

Baseball P.M.

2012-03-13T04:34:00.000-07:00

AMERICAN LEAGUE

East Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Boston 15 10 .600 - z-6-4 L-4 8-3 7-7 0-0

New York 14 11 .560 1 6-4 W-6 9-5 5-6 0-0

Baltimore 12 11 .522 2 z-4-6 L-3 7-7 5-4 0-0

Tampa Bay 8 16 .333 61/2 2-8 L-1 6-7 2-9 0-0

Toronto 8 18 .308 71/2 z-4-6 L-2 1-9 7-9 0-0

Central Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Chicago 16 9 .640 - z-7-3 W-2 10-5 6-4 0-0

Minnesota 15 9 .625 1/2 z-6-4 L-2 10-5 5-4 0-0

Detroit 13 13 .500 31/2 z-4-6 L-2 7-8 6-5 0-0

Cleveland 11 13 .458 41/2 6-4 W-3 7-5 4-8 0-0

Kansas City 8 16 .333 71/2 3-7 W-1 6-6 2-10 0-0

West Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Texas 17 9 .654 - z-9-1 W-5 11-3 6-6 0-0

Anaheim 16 10 .615 1 z-8-2 W-3 5-5 11-5 0-0

Oakland 12 13 .480 41/2 z-3-7 L-1 4-5 8-8 0-0

Seattle 9 16 .360 71/2 3-7 W-1 4-6 5-10 0-0

NATIONAL LEAGUE

East Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Florida 15 10 .600 - 4-6 L-3 6-3 9-7 0-0

Atlanta 12 12 .500 21/2 4-6 L-1 6-3 6-9 0-0

Philadelphia 11 12 .478 3 6-4 W-1 6-5 5-7 0-0

New York 10 15 .400 5 z-4-6 W-1 4-6 6-9 0-0

Montreal 6 20 .231 91/2 2-8 W-1 2-7 4-13 0-0

Central Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Chicago 15 10 .600 - z-6-4 W-1 7-3 8-7 0-0

Houston 15 10 .600 - 6-4 L-1 7-7 8-3 0-0

Pittsburgh 12 11 .522 2 5-5 W-3 4-7 8-4 0-0

Cincinnati 13 12 .520 2 z-4-6 W-1 6-3 7-9 0-0

St. Louis 13 13 .500 21/2 4-6 L-1 6-11 7-2 0-0

Milwaukee 12 13 .480 3 z-5-5 L-3 7-7 5-6 0-0

West Division

W L Pct GB L10 Str Home Away Intr

Los Angeles 15 9 .625 - 5-5 L-1 9-6 6-3 0-0

San Diego 16 10 .615 - 7-3 L-1 11-5 5-5 0-0

San Francisco 12 14 .462 4 6-4 W-3 8-9 4-5 0-0

Colorado 11 13 .458 4 z-5-5 W-1 8-7 3-6 0-0

Arizona 10 14 .417 5 z-6-4 L-1 6-6 4-8 0-0

z-first game was a win

Monday's games

Cleveland 2, Boston 1

Kansas City 3, Toronto 2, 10 innings

Chicago White Sox 5, Baltimore 4

Texas 9, Tampa Bay 0

Anaheim 11, Detroit 9

Today's games

Boston (Lowe 3-1) at Cleveland (Ja.Davis 0-2), 7:05 p.m.

Kansas City (May 0-3) at Toronto (Hentgen 0-2), 7:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox (Loaiza 4-0) at Baltimore (DuBose 3-2), 7:05p.m.

Tampa Bay (Zambrano 3-2) at Texas (Park 1-3), 8:05 p.m.

Minnesota (Lohse 1-2) at Seattle (Moyer 1-2), 10:05 p.m.

Detroit (Robertson 1-1) at Anaheim (Washburn 4-1), 10:05 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (Contreras 1-2) at Oakland (Mulder 2-2), 10:05 p.m.

Wednesday's games

Boston (Kim 1-0) at Cleveland (C.Lee 3-0), 7:05 p.m.

Kansas City (B.Anderson 1-2) at Toronto (Halladay 2-3), 7:05 p.m.

Chicago White Sox (Buehrle 1-1) at Baltimore (Ponson 2-2), 7:05p.m.

Tampa Bay (Waechter 1-1) at Texas (Drese 1-0), 8:05 p.m.

Minnesota (Silva 4-0) at Seattle (Pineiro 1-3), 10:05 p.m.

Detroit (Johnson 1-4) at Anaheim (Ra.Ortiz 1-3), 10:05 p.m.

N.Y. Yankees (K.Brown 4-0) at Oakland (Zito 2-3), 10:05 p.m.

Monday's games

Chicago Cubs 7, St. Louis 3

Cincinnati 7, Houston 5

Today's games

Colorado (Jennings 1-3) at Montreal (Vargas 1-1), 7:05 p.m.

Los Angeles (Od.Perez 2-1) at Florida (Beckett 2-2), 7:05 p.m.

St. Louis (Carpenter 1-1) at Philadelphia (Myers 0-1), 7:05 p.m.

San Francisco (Tomko 1-1) at N.Y. Mets (Trachsel 2-3), 7:10 p.m.

Milwaukee (Santos 0-0) at Cincinnati (Haynes 0-2), 7:10 p.m.

San Diego (Eaton 1-1) at Atlanta (Ru.Ortiz 2-3), 7:35 p.m.

Arizona (Sparks 1-1) at Chicago Cubs (Mitre 1-1), 8:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh (Fogg 0-3) at Houston (Pettitte 1-1), 8:05 p.m.

Wednesday's games

Colorado (Kennedy 3-0) at Montreal (Day 2-2), 7:05 p.m.

San Diego (D.Wells 1-2) at Atlanta (Wright 2-1), 7:05 p.m.

Los Angeles (Weaver 1-3) at Florida (Penny 2-1), 7:05 p.m.

St. Louis (W.Williams 0-2) at Philadelphia (Millwood 2-2), 7:05p.m.

San Francisco (J.Williams 3-1) at N.Y. Mets (Seo 1-3), 7:10 p.m.

Milwaukee (Sheets 3-2) at Cincinnati (Acevedo 2-2), 7:10 p.m.

Arizona (Daigle 0-1) at Chicago Cubs (Wood 3-1), 8:05 p.m.

Pittsburgh (K.Wells 2-3) at Houston (Clemens 5-0), 8:05 p.m.

Humboldt Park man wins Latin talent search

2012-03-13T01:22:00.000-07:00

A Humboldt Park resident won the Chicago finals of Cuervoton, anational talent search for urban Latin artists, conducted Wednesdaynight at the House of Blues.

Jorge Soto, 24, a k a U-N-I, will go on to the national finals May18 in New York City and a chance to be signed to a major label.

"All four semifinalists were deserving of first place," said CesarOchoa of Chavez Entertainment, one of the local Cuervoton organizers."The A&R reps from [labels] Wu-Latino and Machete Music, who werethere, all agreed the talent in Chicago is here for the taking."

Crooks messed with the wrong guys

2012-03-12T22:24:00.000-07:00

A cook at a Munster, Ind., Arby's chased two armed robbers wearing plastic "Scream" masks out of the fast-food eatery but wasn't fast enough.

The cook was close enough to get a good look at their weapons, which to him looked like fake black 9mm handguns. And he got a peek at the face of one of the robbers who raised his mask after emptying the cash registers Wednesday night, police said.

When the two men raided the cash registers, the cook walked out a back door and got a bat from his car. He caught up with the pair in the parking lot, and they scaled a fence with the cash.

Police dogs tracked their scent for about a block before losing the trail. Both appeared to be white men.

Anyone with information should call police at (219) 836-6600 or leave a message on the anonymous tip line at (219) 836-1010.

Photo: AP / (See microfilm for photo description). ;

Zambrano ready, willing, able; Ace insists extension excuses are thing of the past

2012-03-12T19:32:00.000-07:00

Alfonso Soriano returned Tuesday. Carlos Zambrano plans to do thesame tonight, and that would have an even bigger impact on the Cubs'chances down the stretch.

Zambrano hasn't been the same since contract talks resumed thismonth -- unless you're talking about the same as he was the firsttwo months of the season. The Cubs' pitching ace is winless in fourAugust starts and is 0-3 with an 8.50 ERA in the last three.

He admitted the distraction of renewed talks on an eventual five-year, $91.5 million extension affected his pitching.

"I say no, but a little bit had to," said Zambrano, who addedanother clunker last week in San Francisco in his only officialstart since signing the contract.

"We need to get him hot and roll off four or five in a row,"manager Lou Piniella said last weekend.

It might take nothing less than that for the Cubs to regainenough forward motion during the final five weeks to outlast therest of the who-wants-it National League Central.

The Cubs were the best team in baseball during Zambrano's 9-2,1.41 ERA run through June and July, but they have lumbered through a10-14 stretch since Aug. 1 as Zambrano got distracted.

Two days after his extension was announced, Zambrano pitched anine-up, nine-down start against the St. Louis Cardinals that waswashed out by rain. Then came a road trip that included a rush ofmedia attention, particularly from reporters traveling from hisnative Venezuela.

But all the pre- and post-contract distractions are gone now, hesaid on the eve of what might be his biggest start of the season.

"It's normal now," he said.

And he's counting on that meaning dominant. He said he relishesthe idea of being the focus -- and the critical player -- in theCubs' drive toward a possible playoff berth.

"That's good," he said. "I like to be challenged. If that willcause us to go to the playoffs, I'll do anything and do the bestpossible to pitch my game and lead this team to the playoffs."

gwittenmyer@suntimes.com

Z'S WILD RIDE

Carlos Zambrano's up-and-down season can be broken into threedistinct segments:

W-L ERA

First 12 starts 5-5 5.62

Next 11 starts 9-2 1.41

4 August starts 0-3 7.04

Season totals 14-10 3.95

WORLD at 1000GMT

2012-03-12T15:28:00.000-07:00

NEW THIS DIGEST:

NIGERIA-ELECTIONS. Court rules on whether Nigeria president's election victory should be re-run.

ISRAEL-KATSAV. High court upholds Katsav plea deal.

UN-VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN. UN campaigns to end attacks on women.

Harts High School preparing football players for the future: Lions will get in two years of football before consolidation occurs

2012-03-12T11:52:00.000-07:00

DAILY MAIL SPORTSWRITER

HARTS - Call him crazy, but Harts High's Randy Adkins thinksbringing football back to this tiny school is a good idea.

"It's going to be a chore, but I'm looking forward to it," saidAdkins, who starts the first practice for Harts varsity football inmore than 40 years at 5 p.m. today.

Adkins, a Lincoln County native who graduated from Duval High in1986, knew what it was like to win with the Yellowjackets, eventhough he didn't play as a freshman during their state championshipseason of 1982.

A decade of work, a degree from Marshall University and a hiringin 2002 at Harts got the ball rolling.

Adkins, who is starting with one assistant coach - KevinHutchinson - officially saw his vacation end Sunday, after a returnfrom the beach.

"We're not just coaching a team; there's been a lot of work and alot more work to do," Adkins said.

Most of the other work includes the field, which sits across thedriveway from the school's main entrance.

Adkins said it's "barely" 120 yards long, but the school is tryingto obtain the property that extends beyond the fence at the oppositeend of the school building.

Light poles have been erected to handle lights and the oldscoreboard also is going to be replaced. Goalposts, as well, have yetto be installed.

Fortunately, the team's first home game isn't until Oct. 8, whenHannan visits, buying the program some time.

Optimism reigns.

"It'll all come together," said Adkins. "Before we went to thebeach we didn't think we'd have a trainer, but now we do.

"We got money for bleachers and the scoreboard, so financially weshould be able to get it going. We got a lot of the labor fromcommunity volunteers."

The football side of the operation includes enough work forAdkins, who hopes he sees all 25 athletes who took physicals lastspring return today.

He's pieced together a 10-game schedule - six against varsityteams and four versus junior varsity squads. His attempts to organizea full schedule against varsity competition fell short.

Then again, the Harts High football experience will be brief,since the school will convert to just grades K-8 when Lincoln CountyHigh opens in 2006.

The new school, located in Hamlin about 30 miles away from Harts,opens in two years as a consolidation of Harts, Duval, Hamlin andGuyan Valley.

Even if his players don't attend Lincoln County High, they'll havethe option of attending Chapmanville High - approximately 12 milesfrom Harts - and may choose to play football there.

"The consolidation is not my motivation, although it will have tobe important for these kids to get some football experience," Adkinssaid. "My motivation is getting the school's first win. During thoseyears when Harts had a football team, the closest they got to winningwas a 0-0 tie."

While Harts will only have seven years of football to discuss -1957-61 and 2004 and '05 - next year's final team will have a legacyall its own.

"That's probably trophy-case worthy," Adkins said.

"In fact, there's been talk of getting the picture of the lastvarsity team and getting a plaque for it.

"I'm not in a trophy case anywhere. I missed my statechampionship. I'm not in the trophy case over at Duval, so I'd liketo be in a trophy case."

Sportswriter Rich Stevens can be reached atrichstevens@dailymail.com or 348-4837