Grammar coach Mike O'Donovan has vowed to rally is side, althoughtheir hopes of promotion are dashed.
Despite plunging to mid-table O'Donovan has stayed loyal to hisout-of-touch side for tomorrow's clash with third placed Biggar inthe hope they can turn their fortunes around.
He said: "There is still much to play for. Although we are out ofthe promotion race, we could have a say on who goes up.
"We still have both Biggar and Selkirk …
Clinton's disgrace
President Bill Clinton has betrayed his marriage, lied to his fellow citizens, and displayed an arrogance and foolhardiness in thinking he could get away with his ignominious conduct with Monica Lewinsky.
We elect the officials we deserve, and ultimately their conduct reflects on us. But condemning Bill Clinton for his conduct does not mean that we can not feel for his very human predicament.
We were embarrassed as individuals watching a man publicly confess behavior that the rest of us would be allowed to keep private. It took just over four minutes, but it was a painful few minutes for viewers and listeners as well as it was, we believe, for the …
Peering through the North Korean political mist, lately thickened by Kim Jong Il's reported illness and a resurgent nuclear crisis, analysts have begun looking at the North Korean leader's brother-in-law as part of a possible succession.
But if Jang Song Taek were to emerge on top, it would likely be as the head of a collective leadership, rather than as an absolute ruler like Kim Jong Il or his father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, experts in Seoul say.
They say no single person in the communist dictatorship is poised to take over as smoothly as Kim _ groomed for 20 years _ did after his father died in 1994. But the 62-year-old Jang, husband of Kim's …
BATH SATURDAY Just five matches beat the weather in the RoperRhodes Bathrooms Bath Saturday League as frozen pitches again playedhavoc with the fixture schedule.
Three of them were in Division 2, where Bath Spa Universitydefeated Stothert & Pitt 3-1 and FC World XI won at Freshford Sportsby the same scoreline. …
BEIJING - China reported a new human case of bird flu on Thursday, and the World Health Organization disputed Indonesia's claim that the two were close to resolving a dispute over sharing virus samples that could be used to develop a commercial vaccine.
Also Thursday, officials in Myanmar said the United Nations has pledged assistance in coping with an outbreak discovered on a poultry farm on the outskirts of its largest city, Yangon.
The human infection in China occurred in the coastal province of Fujian, where a 44-year-old farmer surnamed Li was diagnosed on Feb. 18 after he developed a fever and began coughing, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
It was the …
OTEPAA, Estonia (AP) — Dario Cologna of Switzerland and Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland won classical style events at a cross-country skiing World Cup meet.
The duo scored victories in Sunday's men's 15-kilometer and women's 10K race, becoming double winners at Otepaa in southern Estonia following victories in sprint races a day earlier.
Cologna easily won the men's race in 40 minutes, …
AMERICAN LEAGUE
BATTING_Hamilton, Texas, .359; MiCabrera, Detroit, .342; Mauer, Minnesota, .327; ABeltre, Boston, .323; Cano, New York, .322; Konerko, Chicago, .319; Podsednik, Kansas City, .310.
RUNS_Teixeira, New York, 95; MiCabrera, Detroit, 94; Crawford, Tampa Bay, 92; Hamilton, Texas, 92; Jeter, New York, 90; Cano, New York, 89; JBautista, Toronto, 88.
RBI_MiCabrera, Detroit, 107; JBautista, Toronto, 99; ARodriguez, New York, 97; Guerrero, Texas, 96; Hamilton, Texas, 95; Konerko, Chicago, 92; Teixeira, New York, 91; DelmYoung, Minnesota, 91.
HITS_Hamilton, Texas, 177; ISuzuki, Seattle, 165; Cano, New York, 161; MiCabrera, Detroit, …
Don't feel too badly for those Academy Award nominees on Oscar night. They're not leaving empty handed. They have plenty of swag - gift baskets worth thousands of dollars-to comfort them. For a company, it's a prime product placement opportunity.
A NH company has been invited to contribute to swag baskets for two high-profile awards. Liv'n Out Loud! Clothing Company (www.livnoutloud.com) in Hampstead was invited in December to include their clothing in the gift baskets given at The Sundance Film Festival (held last month) as well as the gift baskets that will be given to acting and directing nominees at the Academy Awards being held Feb. 25.
The invitations came within weeks …
Malik Hairston tied his career high with 29 points and Oregon shot 56 percent from the field Saturday to beat Arizona at home for the second year in a row, 84-74.
The Ducks (10-4, 1-1 Pac-10) led by as many as 19 in the first half and the No. 21 Wildcats (10-4, 1-1 Pac-10) never got closer than five in the second.
Chase Budinger scored 30, two shy of his career best, for the Wildcats, who were without leading scorer and point guard Jerryd Bayless for the third straight game because of a sprained right knee.
Hairston, one of the Ducks' four returning starters, was 11-for-17 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Overall, Oregon was 10-of-21 on 3s, …
Lumbar spinal stenosis SEMINAR
What: Learn about treatment options for degenerative lumbar spinal stenosis, including non-surgical therapy and a new minimally invasive procedure.
Where: Northwestern Memorial Hospital, 251 E. Huron
When: 11 a.m. to noon.
Cost: Free
Info: Call …
The information highway is becoming inundated with billboards.
As everyone from schoolkids to retirees jumps on the online bandwagon, businesses are recognizing the new advertising medium now available through web sites.
While some businesses use web sites primarily to provide information to vendors, others, like the massive on-line bookstore Amazon.com, have used the Internet as a new way of doing business with the consumer.
No one expects all business to be conducted over the Internet anytime soon. But many business owners have recognized technology as a way to gain an edge over their competitors.
Bill Gladstone, a broker for C.I.R./New America Network, has …
IN THE HEADLINES
Obama to give speech Monday on patriotism in Independence, Missouri ... McCain meets with evangelist Billy Graham and son, Franklin, at mountaintop retreat in NC ... Clark says McCain military service does not automatically qualify him for commander in chief
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Obama to speak about patriotism
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Barack Obama is traveling to the aptly named town of Independence to give speech about patriotism.
The Democratic presidential candidate's campaign says he will talk about "what patriotism means to him and what it requires of all Americans who loves this country and want to see it do …
WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior U.S. defense official says all six reported killed in the crash of a helicopter in Afghanistan were U.S. Marines.
The helicopter crashed Thursday in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.
The defense official spoke on condition of anonymity because the U.S. command in Afghanistan had not yet publicly released details, including the nationalities of the dead.
The official says there is no indication that the helicopter was hit by enemy fire.
Former world No. 7 Nicole Vaidisova began her comeback from an injury-affected 2008 with a first-round win at the ASB Classic women's tennis tournament Monday.
Vaidisova, the sixth seed on her current ranking of 41, took 2 hours, 27 minutes to beat Alla Kudryavtseva of Russia 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-5.
The 19-year-old Czech player, winner of six WTA singles titles, led 4-0 in the third set before briefly losing her way against the 71st-ranked Kudryavtseva.
She squandered two match points at 5-3 but converted her third match point against serve in the 11th game of the set.
"It's hard when you know you've had two match points on your serve," said Vaidisova, who injured her right wrist last year. "But I tried to hang in there, especially mentally.
"It's the first week and I don't think you pay as much attention to how (your opponent) plays as what you're trying to do. You try to do things that you practiced for two months."
Fourth-seeded Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada beat Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 on a day on which all four seeded players progressed to the second round of the singles.
Third-seeded Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain beat Italy's Mara Santangelo 7-5, 6-0 and No. 5 Shahar Peer of Israel beat Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 7-6 (4), 6-2.
In a match between unseeded veterans, American Jill Craybas, 34, beat Japanese wild card Kimiko Date Krumm 6-3, 6-4.
The 38-year-old Date Krumm, formerly ranked No. 4 and now 189, was playing her first professional tournament outside Japan since ending a 12-year retirement in May.
Investors who want some say in how corporate executives are paid will know the next president supports their cause _ but there are differences in how to get there.
Sen. Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic nominee, has proposed writing the concept, known as "say on pay," into law. Republican Sen. John McCain wants to encourage companies to give shareholders a say but without legislating the idea.
The McCain approach is similar to what President Bush has done _ jawboning corporate America over extravagant pay packages but opposing "say on pay" legislation.
Both candidates recognize the public dismay over lavish CEO pay, which often soars even when performance measures such as share price and earnings do not. Executive pay rings a strong populist tone on Capitol Hill and the campaign trail, especially when the economy is stumbling and stocks are falling.
"It becomes a way of making the income-inequality argument and the corporate-greed argument," said Kathleen Hall Jamieson, an expert on political communication at the University of Pennsylvania.
In March, the head of Countrywide Financial Corp. and the former heads of Merrill Lynch & Co. and Citigroup Inc. were called in for a public shaming before a House committee for pocketing hundreds of millions while the subprime mortgage crisis hammered their companies with losses.
Weeks later, while campaigning, McCain told a crowd: "Americans are also right to be offended when the extravagant salaries and severance deals of CEOs _ in some cases, the very same CEOs who helped to bring on these market troubles _ bear no relation to the success of the company or the wishes of shareholders."
Obama has also taken a tough stance, talking about how the average CEO in the United States earned 262 times the pay of the average worker in 2005. "Put another way, a CEO earned more in one workday than an average worker earned in a year," he has said.
"Say on pay" is gaining traction in this year's shareholder meetings. At more than 90 companies, investors and public pension funds that control more than $1 trillion in shares have filed proposals calling for a nonbinding vote for shareholders on CEO pay, according to corporate-governance tracker Walden Asset Management.
So far this proxy season, those resolutions have won majority votes at eight companies: Apple Inc., Alaska Air Group Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Co., Lexmark International Group Inc., PG&E Corp. (parent of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.), Motorola Inc., South Financial Group Inc. and Tech Data Corp.
Not all those companies' boards have adopted the shareholder vote. At Ingersoll-Rand, the CEO said in a statement the company was "disappointed about the outcome."
But other boards have. In May, shareholders of insurer Aflac Inc. gave a nonbinding thumbs-up to nearly $15 million in compensation for Chairman and CEO Dan Amos, in the first stockholder vote on executive pay by a major U.S. company.
At Tech Data, shareholders get a nonbinding vote on pay starting next year.
"Say on pay" legislation cleared the House last year by a 2-to-1 margin but has gone nowhere in the Senate. It has been opposed by the White House and most Republicans.
Obama last year introduced a bill in the Senate that would require companies to allow nonbinding shareholder votes on executive compensation packages, though his proposal wouldn't cap or limit CEO pay.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who recently suspended her campaign for the Democratic nomination, also has introduced a bill that would give shareholders a nonbinding vote on executives' pay packages.
In addition, the Clinton bill would require top executives who collect large performance-based pay packages to return the money if financial irregularities are discovered and companies are forced to restate their earnings. It also would cap the amount that top executives can earn tax-free through deferred compensation.
The legislation won't necessarily become law, though. Populist rhetoric and bold legislative proposals play well, but enacting laws to change corporate governance is another matter.
In Washington lawmakers often hold out the prospect, or threat, of legislation as a cudgel to spur government agencies, companies or other institutions to voluntary action.
The say-on-pay legislation "could be a catalyst," said Amy Borrus, deputy director of the Council of Institutional Investors, a group representing public pension funds. If the Senate Banking Committee were to take up a proposal, that could "get more companies to take the issue seriously and act on it," she said.
Nigeria official says 4,000 people forced from their homes as troops battle Islamist militants.
Clever new 'smart' electronic suspension control systems from Cadillac and DaimlerChrysler give great ride and handling using very different approaches. Here's how they compare.
Chassis innovations by Cadillac and DaimlerChrysler are finally winning the war against bumps and jolts. Throughout this century engineers have struggled with one of the most vexing trade-offs in car design-whether to sacrifice a smooth ride for agile, confident handling, or vice versa New electronically controlled suspensions introduced by the two automakers for 2000 are highly ingenious solutions to this age-old riddle. Cadillac's DTS (DeVille touring sedan) and the Mercedes CL coupe plot ride/handling data points in a previously unexplored region of the performance map.
Except for their use of electronics to control chassis variables, the two new approaches couldn't be more different Cadillac's sixth-generation Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension (CV-RSS) efficiently resolves some of the handling limitations inherent to all large, front-wheel-drive sedans. Mercedes' Active Body Control (ABC) gives the sporting CL ride poise to match its handling prowess. To compare the benefits offered, let's first examine each system in detail.
Cadillac's CV-RSS
Suspension refinement has been an evolutionary process at GM's prestige division. The progression began with speed-sensitive shock absorbers in 1989, continued with the first Road Sensing Suspension (RSS) in 1993, and advanced to Continuously Variable Road Sensing Suspension (CV-RS) in 1996. The latter system selects from an infinite number of settings over twice the dynamic range provided by RSS.
Though CV-RSS hardware is little changed for the 2000 model year, there are some highly creative software advancements. While investigating new control strategies for the Corvette's Active Handling stability system, Delphi engineers found that anticipation was the key to improved performance. Instead of waiting for the body to pitch or roll and then reacting to the disturbance, Delphi engineers formulated 16 distinct strategies that use an early prompt, such as a steering input, to initiate a damper-setting change. As a result of this approach, seemingly simple shock absorber adjustments can have a profound influence over car dynamics. Four of those strategies informally dubbed the WOLF (Wide Open List of Functions) algorithms - have been implemented in the 2000 Cadillac DTS. Patent applications also have been made for 21 original concepts.
The CV-RSS system's major components are shown in the schematic at right Data is exchanged by means of the DeVille's 10.4-kbytes-per-second bus and by a few dedicated wires that deliver critical information at a higher rate of speed. The damper controller recalculates individual damper settings every millisecond.
On the system's mechanical side are Delphi triple-tube dampers, located at each corner of the car. Response time varies from eight to 30 milliseconds depending on piston velocity. At 65 mph, a damper needs only nine inches of travel to shift from full soft to full firm.
One performance upgrade engineered for the 2000 model year applies not only to the DTS but also to DeVilles and DHS models equipped with the StabiliTrak 2.0 option. Until this year, StabiliTrak intervention was triggered by watching for any inconsistency between steeringwheel position and the vehicle's yaw rate. According to Delphi engineer Scott Badenoch, computing the rate of change of the vehicle's side-slip angle and using that parameter to trigger StabiliTrak is a superior approach. "Now StabiliTrak performance is more responsive and usually transparent to the driver," he says. Sideslip is calculated from data supplied by the sensor array.
The new WOLF algorithms apply only to the DTS model that has CV-RSS as standard equipment. In response to a major steering input, the damper controller now commands revised damper settings to enhance cornering response. The second strategy manages transient body roll after the steering input. In the third algorithm, StabiliTrak activity triggers new damper settings to minimize corner "dip" when just one brake is applied, and to avoid "bobbing up" when that brake is released (see driving impression, p. 14).
The most ambitious strategy of all is damper-setting changes capable of influencing understeer and oversteer characteristics. Delphi engineers call this suspension-based yaw control because it keeps the car responding to the driver's steering commands longer, diminishing the need for StabiliTrak (brake-based yaw control) intervention.
DaimlerChrysler's Active Body Control
Engineers at Daimler-Benz began advanced suspension-system research during the 1970s under a project codenamed Aktakon. Top line production models had used air springs beginning in 1964 and combinations of hydraulics and pneumatics beginning in 1977. But pursuit of what finally became Active Body Control (ABC) was stymied by insufficient computing speed and memory capacity.
Tests with a 1987 prototype demonstrated that a full-active suspension one combining hydraulics, electronics and mechanical elements to handle both lowfrequency body motions and high-frequency suspension movements -- consumed too much energy and rode poorly. Experiments with a Group C endurance race car a few years later proved the merits of a partially active system - one that focused on controlling body motions.
The ABC system now entering production for the 2000 S-Class CL coupe integrates three subsystems: a fairly conventional spring, damper and mechanical locating linkage for each wheel; high-pressure hydraulic equipment, and the electronic sensors and computerized controllers needed to make the mechanical components behave. A LuK radial-piston pump driven in tandem with the power-steering pump supplies 2,900 psi (200 bar) of energy through half-inch-diameter steel lines to hydraulic plungers located at each wheel position (see illustration)
Two Siemens 16-bit, 20MHz microprocessors monitor signals from 13 sensors to calculate hydraulic control commands every 10 milliseconds. Servo valves add or release hydraulic pressure to each plunger according to those commands. For example, adding pressure to outboard plungers and releasing it from inboard units helps keep the body on an even keel during hard cornering. ABC's weight penalty is 93 pounds over a conventional suspension and 77 pounds over the S-Class sedan's Airmatic suspension. Mercedes claims a fueleconomy penalty of only about 0.3 mpg in combined city/highway driving.
ABC operates up to 5Hz. That's more than enough to manage undesirable body motions such as pitch and roll. (Fully active suspensions capable of controlling wheel motion operate at 30Hz or greater.)
Demonstration tests at the automaker's new Papenburg, Germany, proving grounds comparing pre-production prototypes with a 1999 CL reference car showed dramatic benefits. Softer than normal spring rates and passive damping calibrations yield substantially less vertical shake over rough road surfaces. The lack of anti-roll bars on the vehicle allows one wheel to roll through a pot hole with a greater degree of independence.
Body roll in tight bends is reduced by two-thirds and pitch during hard braking is down by some 80%. Stabilization after an accident-avoidance maneuver is one-third quicker, according to factory test data. The driver is offered some control in the system's operation. A switch selects between sport and comfort control algorithms. A second button raises ride height by one or two inches for lowspeed travel over rough terrain. At highway speeds the body is automatically lowered by 0.4-inches in the interests of stability and fuel efficiency.
Mercedes makes no claim that ABC improves common handling indices such as maximum cornering grip. AI's timed runs through slalom and double-lanechange courses confirmed the better manners - less body roll and minimal tail wag -without revealing any measurable increase in speed.
The Conclusion
Cadillac's shrewd-software approach is a highly efficient means of teaching a traditional large, luxury front-drive sedan new tricks. With no apparent sacrifice in ride quality, transient-maneuver stability and agility are greatly improved. Intelligent interaction between major chassis systems - powertrain, brakes, steering and suspension -- allows conventional components to deliver benefits that were once exclusive to exotic, fully-active suspension systems. CV-RSS consumes no extra fuel and has minimal impact on system cost and mass. Look for it on Cadillac's upcoming Sigma-platform rear-drive cars.
DaimlerChrysler's ABC strategy takes a premium-priced, impeccably balanced sport coupe to the next level of sophistication. Major gains in ride quality are achieved with no loss of handling dexterity. Over pavement riddled with bomb-cratersized potholes, the car rides like it's gliding on whipped cream The major downside is system cost that is undoubtedly higher than the Cadillac/Delphi approach.
Whats next? Combining DaimlerChrysler's advanced hardware with Cadillac's inter-system networking. Amo Rohringer, Mercedes' head of spring and shock absorber development, acknowledges that such an approach has merit That suggests we've just taken the first couple of steps toward a prosperous new era of ride and handling advancement.
NEW YORK (AP) — A multimillion-dollar New York court fight between Brunei's Prince Jefri Bolkiah and two British lawyers is wrapping up.
Lawyers for attorneys Faith Zaman Derbyshire and Thomas Derbyshire made closing arguments Monday. The prince's lawyers are set to sum up Tuesday in the five-week-long civil trial.
The prince is a brother of the sultan of oil-rich Brunei. He says the husband-and-wife British barristers exploited their access to his business affairs to steal about $7 million.
They say he owes them $12 million or more in promised fees and authorized everything they did.
Faith Derbyshire's attorney told jurors the prince was trying to play by his own rules, not "the rules that require you to tell the truth and comply with your agreements."
By now, quite a few million people have tasted orange roughy andfound the fish to their liking. But it first surfaced only about adozen years ago and didn't appear on many restaurant menus forseveral years.
Tom Mazzetta, a city planner by education, just might be the manresponsible for the current popularity of orange roughy.
"We are the largest single importer of seafood from NewZealand," he says.
And orange roughy comes from New Zealand. In fact, Mazzettasays, "orange roughy really built my company."
By that he means that the Mazzetta Co., with headquarters inHighland Park, got started in 1987 as an importer of frozen lobstertails and quickly found a market for orange roughy. Early on, itappeared on restaurant menus as "Poor Man's Lobster." Like lobster,the meat is white and tender. Unlike lobster, it was inexpensive.
Mazzetta's timing was right.
"Ten or 12 years ago, the Midwest ate beef," he says. "Now withtravel and increasing interest in a healthful diet, the market forfish is big. Of course, America loves fish as long as it doesn'ttaste like fish, and orange roughy is one of the fishes with a verymild taste."
The fish comes by that strange name naturally. It is a paleorange color and has a very rough skin instead of scales.
"It is a relatively small fish," Massetta says. "It wasn'tfound until very recent years because it lives at great depths offNew Zealand. It is caught a mile or so below the ocean surface inhuge, electronically monitored nets. Perhaps because of the depthsand the cold, it grows very slowly. A two-foot fish may be 25 yearsold."
Supply is the critical factor for seafood, increasingly popularand now sold not only in restaurants and fish markets but also insupermarkets, fresh and frozen and packaged.
A half-dozen years ago, Mazzetta says, when "white cod" from NewEngland waters was in tight supply and before orange roughy wasprominent, some of the fish houses "almost had to shut down" for lackof supplies.
Surprisingly enough, the Mazzetta Co. is by way of being aglobal company and one standout example of the transformation of theMidwest economy from manufaturing to service."We buy dover sole fromHolland, shrimp from Southeast Asia, China and Mexico, scallops fromAustralia, lobster tail from Brazil, and of course orange roughy fromNew Zealand," says Mazzetta, now a seasoned chief executive officerat age 41.
"We have a new fish coming in now. It is called Tilatia. It isanother mild-tasting fish and, like shrimp in Eucador and mussels in New Zealand, it is farm raised. It iscultivated in Thailand and the Singapore area so it is available 52weeks a year."
Farm-raised seafood sounds easy and inexpensive. But there's atleast one emerging problem, Mazzetta says. Land prices are gettingso expensive in appropriate areas of Thailand that costs forfarm-raised fish are increasing.
Mazzetta says he got into the fish business by accident. Whathe means is that by the time he graduated from the University ofIllinois with a degree in city planning he knew he didn't want to bea city planner. The summer he graduated his father, Oswald, sort ofhad the idea his son should do something more than continue to caddyat the Bob-O-Link golf club.
"I guess you'd call it economics," Mazzetta says of his father'seffort to push him out of the house and into some kind of job.Something turned out to be a job in a wholesale seafood company,newly established by a friend of his father's.
It could be said that Mazzetta took to the business like a fishto water. This was 1976.
Ten years later, after switching companies and jobs a fewtimes, Mazzetta knew the business, particularly the import business,and was ready to start his own company, concentrarting on imports.
"My first year we did $25 million in sales," Mazzetta says. "Westarted with restaurants. Now we work with the chains and with foodcompanies selling to the supermarkets. Last year our sales topped$88 million and 28 million pounds. Our goal is an increase everyyear and so far this year we are on track to hit $100 million."
The John Buck Co. hopes to begin demolition early next year on a$500 million project to remake five square blocks near North MichiganAvenue, after a city panel's endorsement Monday.
The Chicago Plan Commission voted 7-1 to recommend the project,which would bring such notable names as Nordstrom and VirginEntertainment Megastore, more than 900 hotel rooms and 1,200 parkingspaces to an area tagged North Bridge. It is expected to generateannual tax revenue of $44.8 million and 2,400 permanent jobs.
"This will become a real anchor on North Michigan Avenue," saiddeveloper John Buck, who has worked the last 10 years to lureNordstrom to the Magnificent Mile.Developing the area roughly bordered by Ohio, Illinois, Stateand North Michigan is expected to act as a bridge linking River Northand the Magnificent Mile. Additional retail-hotel-office projectsthat others have proposed east of North Michigan could create abooming commercial corridor stretching to Navy Pier.Increased pedestrian and street traffic, and downright gridlock,is likely to occur at key intersections."All of these developments are in the same east-west corridor,"said Sally Park, president of the Streeterville Organization ofActive Residents, a community group that represents 20,000 residents."We think no one project should go forward until the city has in handa careful transportation plan. When people purchase homes or rentapartments in the Streeterville area, it's because of the vitality ofthe area. But the character has to be maintained, and whendevelopment comes, it should enhance."Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd), who supports the project in hisward, acknowledged that some architects and preservationists "dreadthis move" despite the compromises made."I believe the overall impact of this development will be goodfor the city of Chicago," Natarus said. "This whole project is goingto cause an economic and aesthetic effect like nobody's seen."At least 100 retailers are looking for space along NorthMichigan Avenue, said Russ Salzman, chairman of the Greater NorthMichigan Avenue Association. "The capacity of this business districtis growing with this development," Salzman said. "We anticipate theeconomic strength of this project will support existing economicdevelopment as well as bring new business to the neighborhood."To get his project approved, Buck agreed to form a nonprofitcorporation to design and operate a shuttle and remote parking systemfor the area. He'll also improve the pedestrian corridors alongGrand and Illinois and build an enclosed staircase and elevatorlinking lower Grand to upper North Michigan through a shopping atriumat 520 N. Michigan. The subway entrance on the northeast corner ofGrand and State will be moved into the arcade of a Hilton hotelplanned for the corner.The Nordstrom store, which will open Sept. 22, 2000, is thedevelopment's centerpiece. The chain will open a260,000-square-foot, five-story store in the block bordered by Grand,Illinois, Wabash and Rush, connected to North Michigan Avenue by a98-foot-wide public atrium over Rush Street. The building would beable to accommodate a sixth foor for future expansion, and a garagebelow would hold 202 cars.The most controversial facet is also the most complicated. Afour-level shopping mall and a 310-room, 12-story hotel will beconstructed on the block that contains the McGraw-Hill building at520 N. Michigan. Because the art-deco McGraw-Hill was designated acity landmark after a protracted fight with Buck, Buck will dismantlepart of the building's facade, piece by piece, and reconstruct it onthe new building.First, a mold will be taken of the building, because Buckanticipates some of the aged limestone will crumble. The finaldesign is likely to be a combination of original and replica pieces,Buck said.Buck already has begun interior renovation of the Marriott tocreate 3,500 square feet of retail space for Virgin at Ohio and NorthMichigan and another retailer at Grand and North Michigan. Inaddition, green stone will replace the windowless exterior concretewalls on the first two floors.Just west of the Marriott will be Disney Quest, a Walt DisneyCo. theme park, a 278-room extended-stay hotel and more retail andoffice space.Grand Avenue between State and Wabash will be home to a 357-roomHilton Gardens Hotel and a 965-space parking garage.Another 900 parking spaces will be developed in the area byanother company.Following months of negotiation between the city and Buck, theplan is expected to receive the blessing of the city's zoningcommittee Thursday and the City Council Dec. 10. The price of airrights over Rush Street that Buck needs to acquire from the city willbe not decided until next year, a Planning Department spokesman said.
College credit used to be a way of counting class hours. Now it'sbecome a way of counting students' personal debt. Almost everystudent has a credit card--78 percent of all college students carryat least one card, and the average amount owed is $2,748 according toLowerMyBills.com, a Web site that helps compare the best credit carddeals.
But are students learning the most important lesson: Not onlydoesn't money grow on trees, it doesn't grow on credit cards, either.
With parents and students pending a lot of money on schoolsupplies and clothes in this season, it's a perfect time to teachyour kids some lessons about spending and credit.
And there's a great way to get started.
Visa has come up with a new type of credit card--the Visa BUXXcard--that solves kids' needs for a way to carry their money safelyand parents' needs to control where the teens do their spending.
Reloadable debit card
The Visa BUXX card is a reloadable debit card. That is, parentsdeposit money into an account, and the teen card user can charge upto the amount that's available in the account. Parents can add moremoney on a regular basis for an allowance or whenever the money runslow. That's easily done by transferring money from the parents'checking account or their own regular credit card. And it's a greatway for grandparents to send birthday money instead of a check. Theycan also add to the account balance online.
The student gets the convenience of credit with an automaticspending limit. The card can be used anywhere a Visa card isaccepted. And it can be used to withdraw cash from an ATM.
But the best part is the fact that students and parents can trackspending from this account online, using a secure PersonalIdentification Number. That means Mom and Dad know exactly where themoney is going.
If the college student calls home complaining about the cost ofbooks and supplies, but the parent sees money spent on clothes or atthe campus bar and grill, you can be sure there'll be aconfrontation.
Parents can cancel or suspend the card at any time. And parentscan sign up for an e-mail alert when the card is used at a merchantthat might sell inappropriate materials for teens. That gives somereal control over these independent teens.
There's an educational component to this Visa BUXX card: aworkbook and online quiz that parents can use to teach their childrenabout spending and credit. It's a perfect tool to start teachingteens about tracking spending, setting priorities, and managing moneyusing spending limits. Plus, it's a lot safer for them to carry acredit card than cash.
Online tracking of expenditures
The key to this program is online tracking of spending. You haveto sign up for the card online at www.visabuxx.com. That Web sitewill answer all your questions, as well as giving you direct links toeach of the five national banks that offer these cards. Most chargeonly about $15 per year for the card. It will only take a minute toapply. No credit check is necessary because parents are putting upthe money to fund the account.
We live in an unusual world where kids are granted credit evenbefore they have earnings to justify their ability to repay. Collegestudents are an obvious target, because marketers figure they'll goon to get good jobs. Or their parents will bail them out.
If you don't want to face that prospect in the future, startteaching your children about the wise use of credit right now.
This is the perfect way to get started on a lesson that will lasta lifetime.
And that's The Savage Truth.
Terry Savage is a registered investment adviser and is on theboard of directors of McDonald's Corp. and Pennzoil-Quaker State Co.Send questions via e-mail to savage@suntimes.com. She appears weeklyon WMAQ-Channel 5's 4:30 p.m. newscast.
Health insurer Centene Corp. said Monday that it has completed the sale of the Medicaid assets of its New Jersey subsidiary, University Health Plans, to Amerigroup New Jersey Inc.
The sale was announced in November 2008, but Amerigroup sought to scuttle the deal a month later, citing a "material change" in the subsidiary's business.
Centene sued Amerigroup in January 2009, arguing the company didn't have cause to stop the sale. The two companies settled the dispute in October.
St. Louis-based Centene, which mostly enrolls members in Medicaid programs, said last month that its fourth-quarter profit rose 11 percent.
The company's shares rose 26 cents to $18.13 in afternoon trading.
DUBLIN (AP) — Poet, rights activist Michael D. Higgins wins Ireland's presidency with 56.8 percent of votes.
Three U.S.-based dissidents involved in 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing's Tiananmen Square have been denied visas to discuss the demonstrations at a Hong Kong conference, an organizer said Monday.
The student protests, which the Chinese military crushed, killing at least hundreds of people, remain a taboo in mainland China, where the government still considers them a "counterrevolutionary" riot. Beijing has never given a full accounting of the military crackdown.
Wang Dan and Wang Juntao were denied visas when they applied at Chinese consular offices, Hong Kong political scientist Joseph Cheng told The Associated Press in a phone interview. A third, Yang Jianli, was denied entry when he arrived at the Hong Kong airport three weeks ago, Cheng said.
A fourth dissident, Beijing-based Chen Ziming, also said he was unable to attend the conference but it wasn't clear why, Cheng said.
Wang Dan, one of the student leaders of the 1989 protests, was jailed after the crackdown and went into exile in the U.S. in 1998. Wang Juntao and fellow scholar Chen were founders of a private think tank on social issues and advised students during the protests. Both intellectuals were sentenced to 13 years in jail and freed on medical parole in 1993. Chen was rearrested in 1995 and released in 1996.
Yang, a U.S. permanent resident, also took part in the protests and later served a five-year jail term in China on charges of spying for China's rival Taiwan and entering China illegally.
Wang Dan and Yang had previously been denied permission to visit Hong Kong, although Chen was allowed to visit in April 2007 for research.
Wang Dan said last year Chinese officials have refused to renew his Chinese passport, which expired in 2003, and has been traveling on travel documents issued by the U.S. government.
Cheng said he had invited the four dissidents to attend a panel discussion on the Tiananmen protests as part of an academic conference scheduled to be held at the City University of Hong Kong on June 2 and June 3 _ just ahead of the 20th anniversary of the military crackdown on June 4. The overall conference is about changes in China since the Tiananmen protests, Cheng said.
While the Tiananmen movement remains a sensitive topic in mainland China, it is openly discussed and commemorated in Hong Kong, a Beijing-ruled former British colony that's promised Western-style civil liberties. Tens of thousands of people usually attend an annual candlelight vigil honoring victims of the Tiananmen crackdown.
The Chinese foreign ministry didn't immediately return a reporter's call seeking comment on the visa denials. Calls and e-mails to the dissidents weren't immediately answered.
Hong Kong's Immigration Department said in statement it won't comment on Yang's case.
Edmonton, Alta.
Vic Thiessen in a suit and tie? Yes, it really was Vic up front at Holyrood Mennonite Church here on July 14, with his wife, Kathy, and daughters Janelle and Katrina. They were being commissioned to serve at the London Mennonite Centre in England.
Keith Funk-Froese, pastor-in-waiting at Holyrood, presented vignettes of the Thiessens' interests and, more specifically, their individual gifts to the Holyrood congregation over the past five years.
Colleagues, members of their small group, and close friends gathered around the Thiessens in the commissioning and the congregation's pledge of support for their mission. Marvin Baergen, representing the Christian Witness Council of Mennonite Church Canada, conveyed blessing and support from the larger body.
The Thiessen family came to Edmonton from New Brunswick in 1997 to begin the Welcome Home Community, whose mission was to "establish a community which would help distressed children and parents move toward wholeness and wellbeing." A committed staff successfully created community with the participating families until the government funding pot boiled dry, thus terminating the program.
[Graph Not Transcribed]
While still grieving that loss, Vic and Kathy became aware of the ad for director at the London Mennonite Centre. The centre "provides a forum for church leaders and congregations from many denominations to explore how the early Anabaptist model can shape and revitalize the broader Christian church in England." Its programs include a book service, library, teaching program, and conflict transformation training. At the present time, the centre has 10 staff.
After attending a July 19-24 missions seminar in Kansas, the Thiessens boarded a plane from Edmonton on July 31, and jetted their way to their new assignment.
Vic is generally not a suit-and-tie kind of person, but with his commitment to the Anabaptist way of life he seems well-suited to the job and should tie in well with the goals of the London Mennonite Centre.
A right-wing lawmaker called on Dutch voters worried about immigration to pick his party Thursday in European Parliament elections expected to bring successes for fringe and extremist groups.
Geert Wilders, creator of a short film that criticizes the Quran as a "fascist book," urged voters to reject EU involvement in immigration policy and said Turkey should not join the 27-nation bloc.
"Turkey as (an) Islamic country should never be in the EU, not in 10 years, not in a million years," Wilders said.
Voting was underway in Britain as well, where the far-right British National Party, which bars nonwhite members, was slated to win its first seat. The anti-European United Kingdom Independence Party was also expected to benefit from voter anger at the economic crisis and recent revelations that lawmakers sought public reimbursement for items ranging from horse manure to swimming-pool repairs.
Ivano Chiesa, a 49-year-old hotel proprietor in London, said that he'd voted for the UKIP.
"I don't think our laws should be from Brussels, it's worse than the Parliament here. They really abuse the system," Chiesa said, leaving a polling station in central London's Bloomsbury district.
About 375 million voters across the 27-nation European Union are voting Thursday through Sunday, appointing candidates to 736 seats on the assembly in the second-largest election in the world after India's.
Wilders has won support from Protestant and Catholic voters disenchanted with what's perceived as the growing influence of the nation's 800,000 Muslims, many of them immigrants from Morocco and Turkey.
Voting at City Hall in The Hague, Wilders said the Netherlands should not cede control over immigration to Brussels. Once ratified by all member states, the EU's reform treaty, known as the Treaty of Lisbon, will abolish EU states' right to veto European legislation on immigration matters.
"We want to decide who will enter Holland, not bureaucrats in Brussels," Wilders said.
Polls show the Freedom Party has the same level of support as the Christian Democrats and Labor. All three parties are projected to claim about 14 percent of the Dutch vote.
But Dutch IT manager Olivier van der Post, 40, rejected Wilders' vision.
"I didn't vote for Wilders ... History has shown that if you want prosperity you must open your borders, not close them," he said after voting in Voorburg, a leafy village on the outskirts of The Hague.
Matters directly controlled by the European Parliament were taking a back seat to national politics in many countries, where the economic downturn, cynicism over the union's eastward expansion and worries about relations between Muslims and non-Muslims were expected to fuel a voter backlash against mainstream politicians.
Record low turnout was also expected.
In Britain, few people arrived to cast early votes at polling stations in London. The country was also holding elections for about 2,300 of the country's 18,000 seats on local councils in towns and cities.
The 736-seat European Parliament has evolved over the past 50 years from a consultative legislature to one with the right to vote on or amend two-thirds of all EU laws including on immigration, the environment, transport, consumer protection and trade.
The parliament can amend the EU budget _ euro120 billion ($170 billion) this year _ and has a role in appointing the European Commission, the EU administration, and the board of the European Central Bank in Frankfurt, Germany.
But polls continent-wide consistently show that voters consider their MEPs to be overpaid, remote and irrelevant in their daily lives. Such voter disinterest typically fuels low turnouts and stronger-than-usual showings for protest candidates from the hard left and right of the political spectrum.
Official results from the European Parliament elections will be announced starting Sunday.
___
Associated Press Writers David Stringer and Nardine Saad in London contributed to this report.
WASHINGTON - His party divided and his polls sagging, President Bush prodded rebellious Senate Republicans on Tuesday to help resurrect legislation that could provide eventual citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants.
"It's a highly emotional issue," said Bush after a session in which several lawmakers bluntly told him their constituents do not trust the government to secure the nation's borders or weed out illegal workers at job sites.
To alleviate the concerns, the president said he was receptive to an emergency spending bill as a way to emphasize his administration's commitment to accelerated enforcement. One congressional official put the price tag at up to $15 billion.
"I don't think he changed any minds," conceded Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., a supporter of the legislation. But Martinez added that the president's appearance had helped nudge "people on the fence" to be more favorably inclined.
One Republican widely viewed as a potential convert, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee, said he was not yet persuaded. "At the end of the day, I've got to be able to sit down and know myself that we are going to secure our border," he said. "Today, I do not feel that way."
Bush's trip to the Capitol marked only the second time since he became president that he attended the weekly closed-door senators lunch, a gesture that underscored the importance he places on passage of comprehensive immigration legislation.
Despite the president's commitment, many conservatives in his own party have criticized the measure as an amnesty for millions of lawbreakers. Additionally, job approval ratings in the 30-percent range make it difficult for the president to bend even Republican lawmakers to his will.
Compounding the challenge is a stream of statements from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that it is up to Bush and the Republicans to produce enough votes to revive a measure that was sidetracked on the Senate floor last week. "We'll move on to immigration when they have their own act together," he told reporters during the day.
"Fourteen percent of the Republicans supporting the president's bill won't do the trick," he said, referring to the fact that only seven GOP senators supported a move to free the bill from limbo last week.
Several participants in the Republican meeting described the session as friendly and rancor-free, and said Bush had even made a joke at one point when addressing Sen. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama Republican who is one of the bill's fiercest critics.
One senator quoted Bush as telling Sessions: "Don't worry, I'll still go to your fundraiser. We disagree about this, but we are friends."
Sessions was among the senators to question the president, pointing to polls showing widespread opposition to the legislation. Bush responded that there are other polls that show support, according to participants. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing confidentiality rules covering the closed-door meeting.
These officials said numerous senators told Bush the public lacks confidence that the government would carry out the enforcement measures in the bill.
One, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., told Bush that he and fellow Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson had sent the president a letter outlining the concerns.
"The message from a majority of Georgians is that they have no trust that the United States government will enforce the laws contained in this new legislation and secure the border first," it said.
"This lack of trust is rooted in the mistakes made in 1986, and the continued chaos surrounding our immigration laws. Understandably, the lack of credibility the federal government has on this issue gives merit to the skepticism of many about future immigration reform."
The letter asked Bush to support a spending bill to secure the border before other elements of the immigration measure go into effect. It did not specify how much money would be needed, but one congressional official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the advance costs could reach $10 billion to $15 billion.
"The administration should request the emergency funds, and the Senate should vote to provide them before resuming debate on the broader immigration measure," Chambliss said in an interview.
Apart from the additional funds, Republican and Democratic supporters of the bill hoped to complete work on an agreement that could free it for final passage by month's end.
Discussions center on a plan to allow votes on about a dozen Republican-sponsored amendments as well as several proposals by Democrats. In exchange, GOP holdouts would then support a move to end debate and advance the bill to a final vote.
Among the amendments was one by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, to require all illegal immigrant household heads to return to their countries of origin before obtaining legal status. Under the legislation, only those seeking green cards - permanent legal residency - would be required to return home first.
After an early evening negotiating session between Republican and Democratic senators, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said the group is trying to craft an amendment to assure Americans that the bill will include ample funding for tighter border security and tougher workplace enforcement. The plan could involve "pre-funding" the effort with billions of dollars eventually to be repaid through fines and fees, he said, or through a more traditional supplemental spending bill, such as those recently used to pay for the Iraq war.
Graham said the bipartisan negotiators also are looking at harsher penalties for immigrants who overstay their visas or re-enter the country illegally. "If you had mandatory jail time" for such offenses, he said, "I think it would create a deterrent."
Another possible amendment, Graham said, would ban employers from participating in a new temporary worker program if they repeatedly break the law by hiring illegal workers.
"I'm looking for ways to break the cycle of skepticism" among those who feel a new immigration law would be as poorly enforced as the 1986 law, he said.
The administration pushed back against Republican critics of the bill later Tuesday. In a letter to nine conservative senators who bitterly oppose the measure, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the administration has committed manpower and money to improving border security and enforcement, and needs the immigration bill to step up its efforts.
"Failure to act on this legislation will deny the country the safety and security provided by these enhanced enforcement measures," Chertoff wrote.
---
Associated Press writer Julie Hirschfeld Davis contributed to this story.
Ronnie McDonald is to represent Inchmarlo on the Seniors Tour.
"I'm delighted I've been given the opportunity to representInchmarlo and a chance to use their facilities," said Ronnie, 54, who has left his position as professional at Kemnay.
"I've come to that age when I've got to move on. I still have theability to compete with the guys on the Seniors Tour.
"We've only one chance in life and I'm going to try my best beforeold age catches up with me."
Ronnie missed qualifying for the British Seniors Open at Muirfieldby two shots at North Berwick.
Birdies at the eighth, 14th and 16th gave Ronnie real hope ofqualifying but he dropped a shot at the 17th after he three-putted.
He drove through the green at the par 4 18th but failed to takeadvantage and could only make par.
Ronnie is relishing playing in the PGA Seniors Championship,which was won by former Ryder Cup captain Sam Torrance last year, atThe Stoke by Nayland Club near Colchester.
"I can't wait to get back competing because I need all thecompetitive action I can get."
While the recession has certainly taken its toll on the Top Private 100 list, there are also companies that continue to grow Between 2007 and 2008, 44 percent of the Private 100 companies saw revenues decline. The good news is, when looking at growth during the past three years, 67 percent of the Private 100 saw revenues increase.
Despite a national decline in spending, an impressive 23 percent of the Private 100 reported expanding in 2009 and project adding a total of more than 700 jobs by year's end.
Each year, Business NH Magazine invites thousands of companies to participate in our annual survey, which this year ranks businesses by gross revenue for 2008. We profile the five fastest growing companies on the Private 100 list (see page 50), as well as 10 Companies to Watch, which are companies without enough revenues to make the list, but ones experiencing high growth rates. (See page 54).
This year, 13 companies are making their debut, including two from past lists of Companies to Watch: New England Wood Pellet in Jaffrey and Roedel Companies, LLC in Wilton, while two more reclaimed their positions in the Private 100 after an absence. So who's doing well? Of the 20 fastest growing companies on the list, eight are in high tech or manufacturing, four are in construction, three are related to hospitality or entertainment, three are business service providers, one is an equipment financing firm and the fastest growing is a chain of fitness clubs.
Then there are those whose fortunes are faltering. Of the 31 companies reporting a three-year average decline in sales, 12 are retailers, including nine car dealerships; seven are construction companies; four are manufacturers; six offer business services, including an insurance firm and two staffing firms; and two are in the hospitality industry.
Who are the Private 100? Here's a quick statistical look at the Class of 2009:
* 45 percent are family-owned businesses.
* 7 percent have been in business for 10 years or less.
* 32 percent have been in business for 25 years or less.
* 8 percent have been serving customers for more than 100 years.
* Monadnock Paper Mills continues to be the oldest company on the list, celebrating its 190th anniversary. Vette Corp. in Portsmouth is the youngest, celebrating its fifth anniversary. Other companies celebrating milestones this year are Core Medical Group in Salem and Martini Northern in Portsmouth (10th anniversaries); Mosaic Technology Corporation in Salem (15th anniversary); Seacoast Harley-Davidson in North Hampton (20th anniversary); CCA Global in Manchester and Great NH Restaurants (T Bones and Cactus Jack's) in Bedford (25th anniversaries); Cirtronics
Corporation in Milford and Geokon Inc. in Lebanon (30th anniversaries); McDevitt Trucks Inc. in Manchester (35th anniversary); Bournival Group in Portsmouth (40th anniversary); Baybutt Construction Corporation in Keene (45th anniversary); and FCI-Burndy in Manchester, Grappone Automobile Group in Bow and The Sadler Insurance Agency in Nashua (85th anniversaries).
* 19 percent have 50 or fewer employees while 7 percent have 500 or more employees. The largest, C&S Wholesale Grocers in Keene, has 13,500 employees, with 750 in NH.
* 27 percent are manufacturers, 23 percent are in retail or wholesale, 17 percent are in construction or related fields, 9 percent are in hospitality-related fields, 7 percent provide business services, 6 percent are in high-tech (excluding manufacturing), 5 percent are insurance companies, 3 percent are staffing firms and 1 percent each are in energy, fitness and agriculture.
* The bulk of the Private 100 companies are located in the Merrimack Valley (55 percent), with 19 percent in the Seacoast, 8 percent in the Upper Valley, 7 percent in the Monadnock Region, 6 percent in the Lakes Region and 5 percent in the North Country.
If your company belongs on this list, please contact Editor Matt Mowry at 603-626-6354 ext. 214 or e-mail mmowry@businessNHmagazine.com.
Freida Pinto tipped to become director's latest muse after Oscarsuccess
His movie-making has cemented the careers of a host of actresseswho have gone on to claim Oscar success after starring in hiswhimsical comedies. Now, Woody Allen has adopted the Indian actressand star of Slumdog Millionaire, as his latest ingenue.
Allen, who famously uses the same female muses over and overagain, has cast Freida Pinto, 24, alongside established Hollywoodalumni including Naomi Watts, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin,who recently starred in the Coen brothers No Country for Old Men. Hestarts filming for the unnamed comedy in London this summer.
Fresh from her red-carpet triumph at the Oscars ceremony, whereshe wowed the crowds and international media, Pinto appeared on theAmerican morning news programme Today to speak about the role. Yes,its up in July. So thank you, Danny Boyle, for helping me take off,she said.
Boyle is the director of Slumdog Millionaire, which scooped eightOscars at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Penelope Cruzhad thanked Allen for giving her a role in his film Vicky CristinaBarcelona, for which she picked up an Oscar for best supportingactress. She also gave him credit for having written over all theseyears some of the greatest characters for women.
Despite the controversy Allen has stirred with his own tangledlove life he left the actress Mia Farrow after falling in love withher adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1992 the New York-baseddirector has undoubtedly created some of the most memorable femalecharacters in cinema.
The director, a triple Oscar winner himself who has beennominated 17 times over his long career, has propelled numerousactresses on to Oscar glory. Aside from Cruz, Mira Sorvino also wonan Oscar for her role in Mighty Aphrodite. Dianne Wiest received anAcademy Award for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway,while Diane Keaton, who starred in numerous films by Allen, won anOscar for Annie Hall in 1977.
Scarlett Johansson looked likely to become Allens next muse,being cast in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point in 2005. Somein the industry are now speculating that Pinto may just have pippedher to that role, and that this collaboration may well lead toothers for the Mumbai actress.
Just days ago, ahead of the Oscars ceremony, Pinto said she wasincredibly nervous about her sudden fame. Its kind of nerve-wracking to be thinking you are going to be walking down the redcarpet and breathing the same air as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,so Im just breathing and bracing myself for the big moment, shesaid.
She had not starred in a film before Boyle selected her for therole of Latika, a former slum child who falls in love with the leadcharacter, played by Dev Patel. But Pinto has created a stir in LosAngeles, with reports that her acting abilities and striking looksmake her an excellent candidate for breaking into Hollywood.
She started out on Indian television, featuring in adverts forchewing gum, and went on to anchor a travel show on ZeeInternational Asia Pacific. She recently signed up with thecelebrity agent Hylda Queally, who represents Cruz, Kate Winslet,Cate Blanchett and Marion Cotillard.
Leading ladies
Woodys muses
* In 1966, Woody Allen married Louise Lasser. They divorced twoyears later but she still played the leading role in four morefilms.
* In 1970, Allen cast Diane Keaton, right, in his Broadway playPlay It Again, Sam. During this time, they became romanticallyinvolved, and even after it ended he continued to cast her in hismovies. They remain good friends.
* Allen began a 12-year relationship with Mia Farrow from 1980,who he also cast in several leading roles.
* When Allen cast Dianne Wiest in 1986, she won a best supportingactress Academy Award. In 1994, she featured in Bullets OverBroadway.
* In 2005, Scarlett Johansson was cast by Allen in Match Pointand then a year later in Scoop, as well as playing a centralcharacter in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Woody Allen signs up his 'Slumdog' starFreida Pinto tipped to become director's latest muse after Oscarsuccess
His movie-making has cemented the careers of a host of actresseswho have gone on to claim Oscar success after starring in hiswhimsical comedies. Now, Woody Allen has adopted the Indian actressand star of Slumdog Millionaire, as his latest ingenue.
Allen, who famously uses the same female muses over and overagain, has cast Freida Pinto, 24, alongside established Hollywoodalumni including Naomi Watts, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Josh Brolin,who recently starred in the Coen brothers No Country for Old Men. Hestarts filming for the unnamed comedy in London this summer.
Fresh from her red-carpet triumph at the Oscars ceremony, whereshe wowed the crowds and international media, Pinto appeared on theAmerican morning news programme Today to speak about the role. Yes,its up in July. So thank you, Danny Boyle, for helping me take off,she said.
Boyle is the director of Slumdog Millionaire, which scooped eightOscars at the ceremony in Los Angeles on Sunday night. Penelope Cruzhad thanked Allen for giving her a role in his film Vicky CristinaBarcelona, for which she picked up an Oscar for best supportingactress. She also gave him credit for having written over all theseyears some of the greatest characters for women.
Despite the controversy Allen has stirred with his own tangledlove life he left the actress Mia Farrow after falling in love withher adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn in 1992 the New York-baseddirector has undoubtedly created some of the most memorable femalecharacters in cinema.
The director, a triple Oscar winner himself who has beennominated 17 times over his long career, has propelled numerousactresses on to Oscar glory. Aside from Cruz, Mira Sorvino also wonan Oscar for her role in Mighty Aphrodite. Dianne Wiest received anAcademy Award for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway,while Diane Keaton, who starred in numerous films by Allen, won anOscar for Annie Hall in 1977.
Scarlett Johansson looked likely to become Allens next muse,being cast in Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Match Point in 2005. Somein the industry are now speculating that Pinto may just have pippedher to that role, and that this collaboration may well lead toothers for the Mumbai actress.
Just days ago, ahead of the Oscars ceremony, Pinto said she wasincredibly nervous about her sudden fame. Its kind of nerve-wracking to be thinking you are going to be walking down the redcarpet and breathing the same air as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie,so Im just breathing and bracing myself for the big moment, shesaid.
She had not starred in a film before Boyle selected her for therole of Latika, a former slum child who falls in love with the leadcharacter, played by Dev Patel. But Pinto has created a stir in LosAngeles, with reports that her acting abilities and striking looksmake her an excellent candidate for breaking into Hollywood.
She started out on Indian television, featuring in adverts forchewing gum, and went on to anchor a travel show on ZeeInternational Asia Pacific. She recently signed up with thecelebrity agent Hylda Queally, who represents Cruz, Kate Winslet,Cate Blanchett and Marion Cotillard.
Leading ladies
Woodys muses
* In 1966, Woody Allen married Louise Lasser. They divorced twoyears later but she still played the leading role in four morefilms.
* In 1970, Allen cast Diane Keaton, right, in his Broadway playPlay It Again, Sam. During this time, they became romanticallyinvolved, and even after it ended he continued to cast her in hismovies. They remain good friends.
* Allen began a 12-year relationship with Mia Farrow from 1980,who he also cast in several leading roles.
* When Allen cast Dianne Wiest in 1986, she won a best supportingactress Academy Award. In 1994, she featured in Bullets OverBroadway.
* In 2005, Scarlett Johansson was cast by Allen in Match Pointand then a year later in Scoop, as well as playing a centralcharacter in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Arun Bharat Ram, Chairman of SRF, knows the downside of familybusinesses well. The one he was originally part of, Delhi ClothMills, now called just DCM, has split twice - in 1989 and again in1999. The first time it broke into four: DCM, DCM ShriramIndustries, DCM Shriram Consolidated and Shriram IndustrialEnterprises; the second time, SRF - a DCM subsidiary since 1970 -broke away. Even at 70, he is totally hands on, keeping a strictvigil to ensure conflicts are nipped early.
SRF too has formulated a constitution to guide family members. "Aconstitution does help in reducing conflicts to some extent," saysRam. But he is aware of its limitations. "Even a constitution cannotguarantee protection against splits," he adds.
Size: Rs 3,391 crore
No. of generations in business: 3
Key measures in place: Family constitution
Goal: Ensuring family lives in harmony and continues to serve thebusiness
Mantra for success: Managing the family is as important asmanaging the businessRam acknowledges that in the past Indianbusiness families, including his own, may not have given familyissues the attention they deserved. "Managing the family is asimportant as managing the business," he says. "In India, in thepast, we neglected our families and concentrated on managing thebusiness."
Ram ensures frequent family lunches, outings and even vacationsso that the bonding between family members remains strong. Thoughtheir businesses are now entirely separate, he keeps in close touchwith other members of the DCM parivar as well. "We meet at leasttwice a month and share a great relationship with our cousins," saysKartikeya Bharat Ram, Arun's younger son and Deputy ManagingDirector of SRF.
Values too are changing, albeit slowly. Unlike in the past, theonce arch-conservative SRF family now allows daughters to play anactive role in the business, though daughters-in-law are stillbarred.
-Sunny Sen
Major League Soccer expected today to be a highlight of its fifthregular season-a head-to-head duel on national television between Hristo Stoitchkov of the Fire and Lothar Matthaeus of the New York/New Jersey MetroStars at Soldier Field.
MLS had counted on Matthaeus and Stoitchkov, both legends inEurope, to build its popularity this season, but neither has been asmashing success.
Matthaeus was playing for Germany and Stoitchkov was injured whenthe teams played for the first time, a 4-1 MetroStars victory atGiants Stadium on May 27. Now Matthaeus has an injury, and Stoitchkovis barely recovered from one. Neither has had much impact this season-though their clubs are …
(ADPnews) - Jul 30, 2010 - WestLB maintained on Friday the "add" recommendation and EUR 21 share price target on Gea Group AG (ETR:GEA) after the German technology firm announced its performance for the second quarter.
The company posted unimpressive figures with order intake, revenue and earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) meeting expectations, while pre-tax and net profit clearly falling short of projections, analyst Achim Henke wrote. In addition, the confirmed full-year guidance does not look good in the face of the …
Byline: JACK CURRY New York Times
BOSTON -- Bronson Arroyo, the Boston Red Sox pitcher whom Alex Rodriguez twice referred to as Brandon Arroyo last week, promised that he would pitch inside against the Yankees on Saturday night. He calmly explained why it was a necessity. Do it or be destroyed, Arroyo intimated.
There was no reason for Arroyo to be clandestine about his approach. If he did not push batters off the plate and make them feel uncomfortable, he knew it could be a forgettable night because it would be like operating without one of his pitches. Arroyo was right.
Whether it was Bronson, Brandon or Brendan, it did not matter.
All …
An optical sor in Eppendorf epMotion 5075 workstations monitors labware and liquid levels on the deck. Brinkmann Instruments, Inc., 800-645-3050, …
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A parliament member says Pakistan's powerful army chief has advised the U.S. that it should focus its efforts on stabilizing Afghanistan, not pressuring Islamabad.
Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani spoke Tuesday during a rare briefing to two parliamentary defense committees.
The briefing followed increased U.S. pressure on Pakistan to crack down on the Haqqani militant network …
D ear Carolyn: Right after college, I got involved with a man 20years older than I was. He was very smart and charismatic, but alsoa heavy drinker with a real mean streak. I couldn't put up with hisselfishness and manipulation, so I left him. I have not seen himsince, and don't miss him.
A few days ago, he left a message on voice mail. It really shookme, and there was absolutely no way I was going to call him backbecause I don't want him anywhere near my life. However, my motherchewed me out, saying I shouldn't be so hard on him and that Ishould hear him out. Is she right? She met him only once, and hecharmed her.
Confused About Calling
It's your voice mail, …
