TGIF Edition 22 May 09

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Wanganui locals say ‘Whno’

Obama’s Dems in revolt

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ISSN 1172-4153 | Volume 2 | Issue 36 |

Millionaires took family too Wellington, May 22 – The Blenheim mother of a woman who has fled New Zealand with her boyfriend after they received a multimillion dollar bank credit is pleading with her to come home.

Police said today they believed a couple they Wellington, May 22 – Heavy snow, rain and severe gales are predicted to top off a week of icy weather this weekend.

The MetService has issued a severe weather warning for southerly gales, heavy snow and heavy rain around the country.

A strong cold southerly airstream was expected to bring snow to the central North Island overnight, with heavy falls of 15 to 25cm predicted to fall on Saturday afternoon and evening.

The Desert Road, State Highway 49 through Ohakune and SH4 through Tongariro National Park were likely to be affected.

A spell of heavy rain was expected on Saturday evening for Canterbury to the Kaikoura Coast, southeast of Blenheim, the MetService said.

Severe southerly gales were expected on Saturday for Banks Peninsula, east of Christchurch, to the Wairarapa, the MetService said.

Gusts could reach 120kmh at times.

The MetService has also issued a severe weather watch for heavy rain in Wellington and the Wairarapa on Saturday and Sunday.

A low was expected to bring heavy rain in the coastal hills of the Wairarapa, southern and eastern slopes of the Tararua Ranges, and Wellington.

Because of the threat of severe weather, people were

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EDITION

Dunedin

were seeking over the taking of $3.8 million mistakenly credited by Westpac to a bank account were in Hong Kong. They have not named the couple, widely believed to be Rotorua service station owner Leo Gao and his girlfriend Kara Yang.

TV3’s Campbell Live said tonight Ms Yang’s daughter Leena and sister Aroha were with her.

MsYang’s mother, Sue Hurring, told the channel it was hard to believe what had happened, describing her daughter as “beautiful and honest”.

| 22 May 2009

on the

INSIDE MELISSA LEE Under siege

Continue reading

Page 3

Batten down for cold weekend A WOMAN’S PLACE Still seeking equality Page 7

advised to keep up to date with weather forecasts, and travellers were advised to reconsider some routes.

People should also be wary of rising streams and rivers.

The MetService has also issued road snowfall warn-

DANICA VS SCOTT

ings for Lindis Pass, in Central Otago; Porters Pass, in Canterbury; Rimutaka Hill Road, near Wairarapa; and the Desert Road.

The Indy clash Page 12

– NZPA

Pakistani nuclear program bigger, riskier

By Jonathan S. Landay McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Additional evidence has emerged that Pakistan is “greatly expanding” its nuclear weapons program even as Islamic insurgents have been advancing toward the country’s heartland from its border with Afghanistan.

Commercial satellite photographs published by the private Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security show the construction of new facilities at sites that produce components for Pakistan’s nuclear warheads.

The new buildings appear to include a second

plant near the military headquarters city of Rawalpindi for separating plutonium for nuclear weapons from spent reactor fuel.

“Commercial satellite imagery supports the conclusion that Pakistan,over the last several years,has concentrated on greatly expanding its nuclear weapons production complex,”said one of two ISIS reports publishedTuesday on the group’sWeb site.“The reasons for this expansion are undoubtedly related to Pakistani decisions to upgrade its nuclear arsenal.”

The Pakistani military is likely seeking warheads that are more powerful, compact and easier to deliver than those in its current arsenal, which is believed to comprise 60-100 highly enriched ura-

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nium weapons, said the report on the expansion of a chemical complex at Dera Ghazi Khan.

Pakistan and archrival India conducted tit-for-tat underground nuclear tests in 1998,and some experts think Pakistan’s efforts to expand its nuclear program may be a response to a 2007 U.S.-India agreement that critics charge could enable India to produce more plutonium for its nuclear arsenal.

“Activities at Dera Ghazi Khan related to nuclear weapons production are unnecessary, as Pakistan currently has more than enough nuclear weapons,” said the ISIS report.“In the current climate, with Pakistan’s leadership under duress from daily acts Continue reading

NEW ZEALAND

off BEAT SEX MOTORIST PINGED ON SEATBELT OFFENCE Sydney (dpa) – Australia’s far-north burnished its reputation for outrageous behaviour Friday when a Darwin court fined Brad Milne for driving while having sex with his girlfriend.

The 33-year-old builder was also convicted of drink driving and not wearing a seatbelt.

A fellow motorist witnessed erratic driving and called police after Milne drew level with him at a traffic light, and he observed the amorous behavior.

22 May 2009

“This was the crazy thing, she has never pinched a thing in her life – probably as a little girl, yes – but she is so honest, so honest.”

She said it was “overwhelming”and just wanted her girls home.

“Just come home now, it will be OK,”Ms Hurring pleaded.

As for Mr Gao, she said he was an “OK guy”, but she would “like to wring his blimmin’ neck”.

Westpac said today it was“vigorously”attempting to get back the $3.8 million.

The bank has not identified the account holder,but said the person had in place a temporary overdraft facility with a limit up to $100,000, but because of a staff error the limit became $10 million.The customer then attempted to transfer amounts totalling around $6.7m, but the bank has managed to recover $2.8m.

“Westpac is continuing to vigorously pursue the outstanding amount of $3.8m,”it said today.

Records list Mr Gao, along with Huan Di Zhang, as the owners of the service station known as BP Barnett. It was placed in receivership this month.

The money was believed to be in the account on or about May 5 but it was only on Wednesday this week that police publicly said they were investigating.

Police, who are refusing to confirm speculation over the case, said today those being sought were believed to have travelled to Hong Kong.

International police liaison organisation Interpol had been called to help find them. Inquiries to find those involved were continuing through Interpol and official channels in Beijing, police said.

The New Zealand Herald reported that Westpac had hired a private investigator, Mike Dingwall, to conduct inquiries.

Mr Dingwall reportedly told staff of a nearby business he had proof Mr Gao had left the country and that records showed MsYang had used his credit card in Auckland on May 6.

“That’s the reason they thought she was involved ... because she had tried to use Leo’s credit card,”said Chevi Lambert, manager of Andy’s Cellar.

Westpac said the blunder was put down to human error and did not directly involve its Rotorua branch.

It said it had “taken and continues to take all necessary steps to prevent a mistake such as this happening again”.

TV3 said Mr Gao had not paid a Rotorua building company he owed $30,000, while other creditors also remained unpaid.

– NZPA Back to the front page

OBAMA FORGETS NAME WASHINGTON, May 22 (UPI) – U.S. President Barack Obama, often chided for using a Teleprompter, erred today in delivering his address on national security, misidentifying Robert Gates.

Before dipping into the prepared text of his speech, Obama said he wanted to acknowledge the presence of some of my outstanding Cabinet members.

“We’ve got our secretary of state, Hillary Clinton. We have our CIA director, Leon Panetta. We have our secretary of defense, William Gates,” Obama said, apparently forgetting his defense secretary’s name is Robert.

Gates, a CIA veteran, is a holdover from the Bush administration THAI GIRLS PREFER BRIT BOYS Bangkok (dpa) – A recent survey of marriage preferences among women in Thailand’s impoverished north-east region found that more than three-fifths want to marry foreigners with British husbands topping the wish list, media reports said Friday.

Of 488 single women living in Thailand’s 19 northeastern provinces surveyed from March to April, 61 per cent said they deemed foreign men attractive matches because they are rich, and 53 per cent said they thought foreign men respected women more than their Thai counterparts, the Nation Daily Express reported.

When asked their marital preferences among foreigners, 32 per cent of the respondents cited British husbands as their top choice, 21 per cent opted for US nationals and 8 per cent for Germans.

The north-east, also called Isaan, has witnessed a proliferation of mixed marriages between Thai women and Western men in recent years, driven primarily by the Thais’ desire for financial security and a better lifestyle, past social surveys have found.

Isaan, where half of Thailand’s population resides, is deemed the poorest region in the country in terms of per-capita income.

BRANSON SACRIFICES WOMEN TO VIRGIN Sydney (dpa) – British tycoon Sir Richard Branson said Friday that having scantily clad women at product launches ensured media coverage.

The head of the airlines-to-banking Virgin Group Ltd wrote to Australia’s Adelaide Advertiser in answer to the charge from columnist Amber Petty that it was sexist to have women in bikinis trailing behind him.

“The problem with her argument is that if I promote a product and I line up with three male models, the photo won’t get into your paper and the new business won’t get talked about,” the 59-year-old said.

Petty described Branson as “about as sexy as a pair of those socks you get on international flights” and said the only pay he could get in a photograph with beautiful women was to pay for the privilege.

Whanganui? Locals say Whno Wellington, May 22 – Wanganui name change supporters were hit by an H-bomb today, when three-quarters of votes in a public referendum opposed a switch to Whanganui.

Wanganui City Council last month voted to hold a referendum on the spelling, after the New Zealand Geographic Board found it should be Whanganui.

Local iwi committee Te Runanga O Tupoho had petitioned the change to an“h”, a move Mayor Michael Laws vehemently opposed.

When the votes were counted,Wanganui was the preferred option of 14,410 (77.32 percent), while 4153 (22.28 percent) went for Whanganui.

There were 29 votes disallowed.

Mr Laws today hailed the vote as“a fantastic and decisive exercise in democracy”.

“That over 19,000 people voted – 61 percent of the electoral roll – represents a huge turnout in the context of local government.

“In addition, the results are decisive and overwhelming.They express unequivocal choices that no individual or organisation can possibly ignore.

“They provide both myself and my council with an exceptional mandate.”

A paper by historian Diana Beaglehole, commissioned by the Wanganui District Council, this week concluded that Wanganui was the correct version.

The paper found that early histories made mistakes by adding the “h”to the name Wanganui.

In the paper, Ms Beaglehole found that Wanganui first began appearing in written form in the late 1830s.

Te Runanga O Tupoho spokesman Ken Mair was unfazed about the referendum outcome.

“It’s not about numbers, it is about correcting a wrong, in regard to spelling our name correctly,” he told NZPA. A previous royal commission had said that referenda should not be used against minorities“because they are a crude and blunt mechanism and this is a clear example,”Mr Mair said.

He said Ms Beaglehole’s paper lacked Maori documentation.

The Geographic Board was the proper body to decide the issue, Mr Mair said.

The board is taking public submissions on the proposal until August 17.

Road goon speeds with kid Wellington, May 22 – A 19-year-old Auckland man was stopped by police today after driving at 179kmh with a two-year-old child unrestrained in the car.

The man was stopped at 4.50pm on Tar Hill, south of Tokoroa, and the officer also discovered he was a disqualified driver.

The “stupid and inconsiderate”behaviour of the driver could easily have lead to further deaths of innocent road users, Senior Sergeant Fane Troy of the Taupo area road police said.

They man was charged with dangerous driving and driving while disqualified.

He would be appearing in Tokoroa District Court.

– NZPA

– NZPA

NEW ZEALAND

22 May 2009

Cops hide Brash file, release Veitch’s Wellington, May 22 – Tony Veitch has stopped a High Court injunction preventing disclosure of a police file obtained by news media under the Official Information Act (OIA).

However, his lawyers, Chapman Tripp, are critical of the police decision to release the file and say they are disappointed the released information went to media before going to them.

The release comes in the same week police released a highly censored file on the theft of Don Brash’s emails, and after a series of outright refusals to release files at all under the Act. On Wednesday,Veitch’s lawyers blocked publication of the file, which relates to the recent prosecution of the former broadcaster.

Chapman Tripp said today Veitch had decided

to stop court proceedings preventing publication of the file.

Veitch, 35, was last month sentenced to nine months’supervision, 300 hours community service, fined $10,000 and ordered to attend a Preventing Violence course, after admitting injuring his former girlfriend, Kristin Dunne-Powell.

Six charges of male assaults female were dropped by the Crown.

Veitch’s lawyer, Stuart Grieve QC, today called the police actions “totally irresponsible”.

Police had told him they had received an OIA application from news media, and once they had decided on what would be released they would contact him again, he said.

However, he was not contacted and did not have

an opportunity to oppose the release.

That was “totally irresponsible”, Mr Grieve said in a statement.

He said he believed police had never acceded to similar OIA requests by releasing material of the type in question.

“In my opinion the police responsible for condoning or approving the release, have disregarded the position of the courts.”

The law firm said in a letter to Veitch that exploring litigation over the matter would involve complex and untested issues and could end up going to the country’s highest court.

The cost would be high and there would be no guarantee of a successful outcome.

– NZPA

Lee now says she wants to win

NZPA/Wayne Drought

Wellington, May 22 NZPA – National Party candidate for Mt Albert Melissa Lee says she does want to win the by-election, despite earlier saying she was hoping and expecting to come second.

Ms Lee has had a dire campaign after a verbal slip saw her painted a racist when she told a public meeting a new motorway would divert South Auckland criminals past the area.

She was also mired in allegations, which she has now been cleared of, that she wrongly used public funding to make a National Party video.

The latest controversy was sparked by comments on Radio New Zealand this morning when she said she did not expect to win the by-election.

Asked directly if she expected to come second she answered:“yes”.

Ms Lee later said she was talking about the media expectation, not her own.

“I think it was a case of I am expecting to come second, at least,”Ms Lee said.

“I am not putting in all these hours and putting

up with media trying to come second, I am not. I am trying to win this damn thing.”

Asked about Ms Lee’s comments a spokesman for Prime Minister John Key said:“We’ve always said it would be a tough ask but in the end it’s for the Mt Albert voters decide.”

ACT candidate John Boscawen said she had“no credibility whatsoever”.

“She quite unequivocally said `I never expected to win, I’m trying to come second’ and then to go out and say that’s the media’s expectations is absolutely rubbish.”

He said she had made other mistakes, but today was the “ultimate”.

“She just keeps digging; she stuffed it up, now she’s turning around and saying `I didn’t really mean what I said’.”

Mr Boscawen said he was now the only centreright candidate.

Green Party candidate Russel Norman said his party was probably more of an underdog than

National but he was keen to win the seat.

“The issues facing Mt Albert are core Green issues that also affect greater Auckland all of New Zealand.

“The people of Mt Albert need a serious candidate and I’m serious about representing Mt Albert.”

Dr Norman said the people of Mt Albert could send a message to the Government by voting for him.

“I am the candidate to protect democracy in Auckland, because it’s definitely under threat (from the changes to local government structure).”

Labour candidate David Shearer said he was focused on the by-election.

“I’m working hard to win every vote I can on June 13 by listening and focusing on the issues that matter to the community.”

He said he was not taking anything for granted.

“I have spent the last month putting 100 percent into my campaign to win Mt Albert for Labour and that will continue.”

– NZPA

Youth prosecutions double Some like it hot…

a community-based sentence and 20.4 percent received a fine.

The Government wants to widen the powers of the Youth Court with a range of new sentencing options including sending the worst repeat offenders to military-style camps run by the army.

Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft said boot camps were “arguably the least successful sentence in the Western world”. New Zealand’s corrective training camps of the past made young people,“healthier, fitter, faster, but they were still burglars, just harder to catch”.

He said the drop in apprehension rates was“good news” but the increase in violent offending could not be ignored.

National’s Chester Borrows said last month the military-style camps were getting a bad rap from the opposition and the media.

He said people’s concept of what the programmes would be was not what was envisioned.

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Wellington, May 22 – While politicians, lawyers and social workers battle about sending youth offenders to military style boot camps, new statistics show child and youth offending has decreased.

A Ministry of Justice report shows child (aged 10-13) and youth (aged 14-16) apprehension rates in 2006 and 2007 were the lowest since 1995, though violent offending rates increased.

The rates are based on the number of alleged offences, not the number of individuals as one person might be accused of multiple crimes.

Property offences, which have the largest proportion of apprehensions, dropped from 79.3 percent in 1995 to 69.6 percent (children), and from 68.2 percent to 60.2 percent (youths).

But while overall offending decreased, violent apprehensions rose.

The rate of youth violent apprehensions was 194 per 10,000 population in 2007 compared with 167 in 1995.

The rate of male children and youth apprehended decreased over the period while the number of females remained steady.

Maori children remain five times more likely to be apprehended than their Pacific or Pakeha counterparts. Maori youth were three times more likely.

Youth prosecutions -- rather than a warning or referral to family conferences -- rose, up to 28.1 percent of apprehensions in 2007 from 13.2 in 1995.

Supervision with residence or activity are the severest penalties imposed by the Youth Court. In 2007, supervision with residence was imposed in 13.4 percent of proven cases and supervision with activity in 4.5 percent.

Supervision alone was imposed in 20.5 percent and 14.9 percent were fined or ordered to pay reparation.

Of young people convicted in adult courts, 23 percent were imprisoned, 29.4 percent received

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NEW ZEALAND

22 May 2009

Remember democratic principles, agency told Auckland, May 22 – Local Government New Zealand says the newly-appointed Auckland transition agency must ensure it doesn’t override decisions from democratically-elected councils.

Five people, headed by former Watercare chief executive Mark Ford, were today announced as the people on the agency which will oversee Auckland’s transition to a single unitary council next year.

The agency has power to stop expenditure in Auckland’s current seven city or district councils and its regional council that go past November 2010, when the super city is due to be set up.

Local Government New Zealand president LawrenceYule said the five-person agency,which was not elected by Aucklanders, needed to realise it was not there to re-litigate democratically-made decisions.

“We realise the agency needs to have a close working relationship with the existing councils to work through transition arrangements and to sign off long-term financial commitments over $20,000,” he said.

“However,it will be wasteful for the Government if appointed people with no democratic responsibility are remaking decisions which councils have made.

“There is too much riding on Auckland to get it wrong.”

Mr Yule said Mr Ford had “more implied powers than the Minister of Local Government”and it was

crucial he and his team managed the transition process well.

“We expect the agency to take advantage of the existing knowledge and skills of elected members and staff in the current councils.”

Labour Party leader Phil Goff said the establishment of the agency meant Auckland would be run by a non-democratically elected body.

He said the five people appointed appeared to be competent, though Labour thought the region’s mayors should have been consulted about the agency’s make-up.

“The agency has the responsibility of approving almost every decision now taken by Auckland’s councils,right down to the purchasing of toilet paper.

The bottlenecking of decisions is a significant risk,” Mr Goff said.

“We expect full transparency around any undertakings given to Mr Ford,who has given up his present positions as a result, around future positions on the management structure of the Auckland council.”

Green Party local government spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said the agency had too much power,especially as it could make decisions with a quorum of just two.

“The group is very well qualified to make rapid change happen, it’s just too bad that Aucklanders don’t approve of many of those changes,” Ms Kedgley said.

“If we had an open and transparent process, where the people had been consulted, this team would be lauded. Instead, we’ll be marching in the streets on Monday.”

She said the six Green MPs would march in Monday’s Auckland Hikoi to protest the Government’s abandoning of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance’s recommendation that three seats on the new council be reserved for Maori.

Waitakere Mayor Bob Harvey, a supporter of Maori seats and an opponent of the Government’s plan for 20-30 local boards under the council, said he supported Mr Ford’s appointment.

“Auckland’s transition has always needed someone with the street-knowledge of a London taxi driver and the executive clarity of a powerful local government leader, and Mark Ford is the man for that job.”

He was also pleased to see former Rodney Mayor John Law on the agency, as was Manukau Mayor Len Brown.

Mr Brown was unhappy it had taken so long for the agency members to be announced, and that the Government did not talk to Auckland councils about it.

“However, that said, the appointment of the board will at last allow the councils to get on with the business of making the transition happen.”

The Public Service Association, the union for

many of Auckland’s local government workers, said it wanted to meet the agency members.

PSA national secretary Richard Wagstaff said staff were fearful for their jobs after Auckland Mayor John Banks said 40 percent of Auckland’s 6800 staff could lose their jobs.

Mr Banks later backtracked on the figure but Mr Ford today said there would definitely be redundancies.

“We want to meet with the transition agency and ensure that it’s aware of the need to retain Auckland’s local government workforce to ensure Aucklanders continue to receive the essential services that they provide,”Mr Wagstaff said.

Council for Infrastructure Development chief executive Stephen Selwood said keeping the business of the councils going needed to be a priority for the transition agency.

He said councils had been reluctant to commit to work programmes and new infrastructure investment pending the appointment of the agency given that councils can’t spend more than $20,000 without its authorisation.

“The priority is for the transition agency to set up a process which allows councils and their service providers to get on with business as usual,”he said.

“The last thing we can afford at this time is inertia.”

– NZPA

NZ dollar rises against weakening greenback BizFact

A slow recovery

Analysts expect the global economy to shrink by 1.3 percent this year, then slowly rebound. Projected percent change in GDP, for selected nations/regions: +2.5

Source: International Monetary Fund

+2.5 +0.5

Graphic: Pat Carr, Paul Trap

+1.0

0.0 -0.4

-0.4

-2.8

Mr Judd said he was on business in Christchurch on May 21 when POAL rang to say it had received a letter from ARH removing him as a director.

“I have had no personal communication from ARH advising me of its decision to remove me as a director.”

ARH said its chair Judith Bassett and deputy chair Joce Jesson visited Mr Judd’s chambers yesterday to give him the information personally, but he was absent.

POAL’s deputy chairman John Lindsay will be act-

United Kingdom

-4.1

Middle East

Japan

-6.2

Mexico

-3.7

-4.2

Managing director Jens Madsen said he was disappointed by the strike notice, which was unnecessary and union had since agreed to a meeting on the collective employment agreement.

On May 1 he received a letter from ARH requiring his resignation by May 31.

The reason given was that “the ARH board has found your approach unhelpful and you have not sufficiently understood the needs of ARH as a shareholder/investor”.

Mr Judd said he replied on May 6 that he would not be resigning.

“I asked for an explanation of what ARH meant by the reasons given by ARH. No explanation has been received.”

+3.5

2009 2010

-2.5

– NZPA

Chairman removed, port to strike

Wellington, May 22 – Ports of Auckland Ltd’s (POAL) chairman Gary Judd, QC, has been ousted in messy circumstances and the port has been slapped with a strike notice.

Mr Judd went public today with the circumstances of his removal by the port’s 100 percent owner, Auckland Regional Holdings (ARH), the commercial arm of Auckland Regional Council (ARC).

“Yesterday I ceased to be a director and chairman of Ports of Auckland Ltd,”Mr Judd said.

© 2009 MCT

United States

The US dollar plunged to its lowest level this year against a currency basket, while the euro pulled back from near a fivemonth high above $US1.39

Euro area

on worries that US may be next.

Any country whose government debt burden is approaching 100 percent of gross domestic product was seen as at risk.

BNZ Capital currency strategist Danica Hampton said the sentiment for a weaker US dollar continued to dominate foreign exchange markets.

“The NZ dollar and Australian dollar batted on strongly today as the US dollar got thumped,”ANZ said.

The NZ dollar was buying 0.4415 euros at 5pm, little changed from 0.4416 yesterday, and rose to 57.90 yen from 57.50.

Against the Australian dollar, the NZ dollar rose to A78.95c from A78.43c yesterday, while the trade weighted index rose to 58.52 from 58.21.

Canada

Wellington, May 22 – The New Zealand dollar rose today as the US dollar fell on worries about the US government’s credit worthiness.

By 5pm the NZ dollar was buying US61.48c, up from US60.85c at the same time yesterday, and up from US60.20c on Thursday night.

The high today around US61.76c was the highest since October last year.

The US dollar plunged to its lowest level this year against a currency basket, while the euro pulled back from near a five-month high above $US1.39.

Markets are beginning to anticipate the possibility of a downgrade of the US’s AAA credit rating after Standard and Poor’s said the UK may lose its AAA rating.

The statement initially hit the pound but sparked broad selling of US stocks, bonds and the currency

ing chairman until the board elects a new chairman.

Mr Judd said he could only speculate that he had given the shareholder information and advice it did not wish to receive.

Mr Judd declined to discuss publicly any issues the board had debated. Ports of Auckland runs New Zealand’s largest container port, which will again be severely disrupted when members of the Maritime Union – Local 13 branch stop work for 4.5 hours from midday on June 5.

Managing director Jens Madsen said he was disappointed by the strike notice, which was unnecessary and union had since agreed to a meeting on the collective employment agreement.

The port is restructuring its container terminals and was already in dispute with staff over changes to the collective.

The port is the largest asset of ARH and the Government has not said what will happen to ARH when eight councils merge to form one in Auckland. The members of a transition agency were named today.

ARH values Ports of Auckland at $495.7m, and has $97.7m of cash, $256.9m of financial assets and $176m of property.

An agenda to an ARC finance committee meeting said ARH’s latest ten year plan envisages $591.8m less income than previously expected over the next ten years because of the economic downturn.

ARH was set up in 2004.

– NZPA

EDITORIAL

22 May 2009

Editorial

Family Matters

Money talks It’s hard to know exactly what went through the minds of two Rotorua service station owners when they looked at their bank balance a fortnight ago and found ten million dollars sitting in their account.

Well, in truth, it’s not really that hard to know: “Cor blimey, guvnor, take a gander at all this bleedin’ loot!”, said not in a Cockney accent but in this case from Beijing’s lower west side.

Bank error in your favour, says the Monopoly board game card. Evidently our two antiheroes didn’t read the follow-up card which advises “Go directly to jail, do not pass Go…” Because as sure as night follows day, few people get between a bank and its money without suffering long term pain. I remember, when researching the death of computer dealer Paul White in the

By Bob McCoskrie

Citibank case in 1992, discovering that when word of his dispute with Citibank got around the traps, other banks refused to accept his deposits and closed his accounts.

If the missing tycoons are ever found, they’ll never operate so much as a piggy bank ever again in their lives. They won’t be permitted to borrow money for lunch, let alone a house. And of all the banks to pick a fight with, Westpac would be the worst.This is a bank that hits its customers with $25 dishonour fees just for carrying out transactions on days of the week ending in ‘y’.

Still, you have to wonder what they were smoking in Westpac’s transactional banking division when the request came in on the telephone helpline to wire ten million dollars overseas. For the rest of us in the real world, international multi-currency

banking is an arcane fireswamp involving the filling in of multiple forms and red tape for Africa, and that’s just for balances under $500.When we want to go the whole hog and send $11,000 to a company in Australia, we get calls from money laundering investigation units.

Maybe it’s just us, or it’s the banking equivalent of airline travel’s peasant-class.These Rotorua loons evidently found money talks when it comes to moving it:“Ten million dollars sir? Why didn’t you say so? Of course, we can do that immediately and, hey, what the heck, we’ll throw in another $100K as a goodwill gesture to a valued client!”.

Sigh.As Leighton Smith commented on Newstalk ZB, maybe we should all be applying for overdrafts with Westpac. It could be the new Lotto.

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Comment

Should media reveal sources?

John Campbell medals subpoena has US match

By Josh Richman The Oakland Tribune

OAKLAND, Calif. – A California journalism student’s potential invocation of California’s “shield law”to avoid providing information in a homicide case is sparking a debate over that law’s purpose.

Several free-press experts say the 22-year-old San Francisco State University photojournalism student – whose name isn’t being published out of concern for his safety – may have a right to invoke the shield law, but question whether it’s ethical for him to do so.

The law protects journalists engaged in newsgathering from being compelled to disclose the source of any information, whether or not there was an expectation of confidentiality; any unpublished information including notes, outlines, photos, tapes or other data; or the journalist’s own eyewitness observations in a public place.

Police believe the student, who had been working on a long-term project about San Francisco’s Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood, may have information about the fatal shooting of Norris Bennett, 21, on April 17.

“My understanding is that the police have not taken a position that my guy saw the murder,”said Jim Wagstaffe, an attorney and San Francisco State journalism lecturer representing the student.“I have been told by police that they do not believe he was a witness to the crime.”

Wagstaffe wouldn’t say whether his client actually did see the killing or take photos as it occurred, but acknowledged the student knew Bennett and photographed the scene soon after the shooting.

San Francisco Police got a warrant and searched the student’s apartment May 3, seizing some items; Wagstaffe might now try to get that search’s products deemed inadmissible in court under the shield law. In fact, Wagstaffe said, police conducted the search after he asked to meet with them about the student’s shield law protection.

California First Amendment Coalition Executive Director Peter Scheer said that’s worrisome; he posited some hypothetical future case in which police want a newspaper reporter’s notes.

“Instead of issuing a subpoena, so the newspaper can contest it with a lawyer and have a judge decide, are they simply going to get a search warrant and go rushing into the newsroom at night and go rifling through the reporter’s desk and computer? Is that their new modus operandi? Because if it is, I find that very disturbing.”

San Francisco Deputy Police Chief David Shinn wasn’t available for comment Wednesday, but issued a statement through a spokeswoman.

“As with any ongoing investigation, we do not make statements but we will use any legal means

-Families Commission strengthened by appointments…

The appointment of child advocate Christine Rankin and Parents Inc’s Bruce Pilbrow as Families Commissioners will bring the Commission ‘down to earth’ and rather than being blinded by ideology, it will hopefully start listening to the voice of families and advocating for them in a relevant way.

Unfortunately the Commission isolated itself by ignoring some of its own research and the voice of the overwhelming majority of parents when it supported ramming through the anti-smacking law without considering the concerns and views of parents. Even now it is helping fund and lobby on the upcoming Referendum without consulting the views of parents.

Combined with some low value qualitative research, a complete ideological blockage to the benefits and importance of marriage, and expensive conferences and PR campaigns, the Families Commission has been sidelined as a credible voice.

But the reaction to the appointment of Christine Rankin has been breathtaking.

There are a couple of important points to note on this issue: 1. The role of the Families Commission is to encourage debate – but it appears the debate should only happen if you agree with Peter Dunne and Sue Bradford’s view.

2. They are also to listen to families and organisations, but they have ignored families over the anti-smacking law and listened to a select groups of organisations that have been captured by their ideology e.g. Barnardos, Plunket.

3. The focus on Rankin’s marriage record by Labour and the Greens is breathtaking given their previous ignoring and weakening of the institution of marriage through legislation such as the Civil Unions and Relationships Acts.

4. The Greens said this was a political appointment. Let’s not forget that the previous head of the Families Commission Rajen Prasad was put at no.12 on the Labour party list and is now a list MP – an absolute ‘golden ticket’ into parliament – courtesy of the previous government!

5. Judging by the reaction, it appears that the anti-smacking law is the only issue the Families Commission deals with – an issue they completely ignored public opinion on. Perhaps they could become more relevant by focusing on significant issues such as childcare v stay-home parents, the benefits of marriage, the availability of parenting programmes etc The reaction to Christine’s opposition to the anti-smacking law shows that to be in the public service, you must serve the ideology of the government.

But perhaps Christine and Bruce’s appointment shows that the new government is not afraid of debate – and even welcomes diverse opinion! This can only strengthen the important debates to be had around family issues.

to assist us in solving a crime,”he said.“We always encourage citizens to come forward and assist us in putting violent offenders behind bars and making sure that there is closure for the victims’ families.”

Although Scheer believes the student is entitled to invoke the shield law,“whether or not he should is another question.”

“It doesn’t sound like this reporter was relying on confidential or anonymous sources whose identity would be betrayed if the information were turned over, which is the usual justification for the shield law,”he said, and if the student is invoking the law due only to fear of violent retribution,“then I cer-

tainly can sympathize with his wanting to withhold evidence but I think he should not try to use the shield law for that purpose.”

Terry Francke, founder and general counsel of Californians Aware, questioned whether a judge will even agree the shield law applies to this case:A student engaged in an academic project without plans for mass dissemination probably wouldn’t qualify for the law’s protection, he said.

Wagstaffe disagreed:“Happily, the case law is really clear that you don’t have to have a particular contract to sell your work in order to be protected by the shield law.”

-…But they still won’t represent families Families Commission head Jan Pryor has reaffirmed the Commission’s intention to ignore the voice of families and, perhaps in reaction to Christine Rankin now sitting at the Board table, has reiterated that the Families Commission will continue to support the anti-smacking law.

She wouldn’t have got the job if she didn’t think that!

But she says “The Commission’s reasons for supporting the law have not changed. We based our position on research which shows very clearly that positive parenting strategies (such as rewarding good behaviour and distracting young children and ignoring minor unwanted behaviour) are far more effective and safer than physical punishment. Research also shows that most child abuse cases begin as physical punishment.

There are two major problems with these comments 1. The previous Children’s Commissioner in her Briefing to the incoming Government last year said “Emotional abuse and neglect are consistently the most common categories of substantiated cases in NZ and in comparable countries.”

2. The Commission needs to explain why they are ignoring New Zealand research. A 2007 Otago University study found that children who were smacked in a reasonable way had similar or slightly better outcomes in terms of aggression, substance abuse, adult convictions and school achievement than those who were not smacked at all. And a study by the Christchurch School of Medicine found there was no difference in outcomes between no smacking and moderate physical punishment. They said, “It is misleading to imply that occasional or mild physical punishment has long term adverse consequences” Sign Up Now to receive FREE regular updates about the issues affecting families in NZ http://www.familyfirst.org.nz/index. cfm/Sign_Up

ANALYSIS

22 May 2009

Crowding in the nuclear neighbourhood

By James Jay Carafano The Heritage Foundation

It is Article One of the Obama Doctrine: America must take the lead in traveling the “road to zero,” eliminating nuclear weapons worldwide.

But that road gets more treacherous every day.

And the administration’s strategy, which focuses myopically on trimming America’s aging nuclear force, makes less and less sense.

One huge warning sign recently popped up.

Mohamed ElBaradei, outgoing director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, reported that the world now stands on the precipice of a second nuclear age. More and more nations are developing nuclear capabilities, he warns, and that only encourages their neighbors to follow suit. ElBaradei is bracing for a snow-ball effect.

His analysis is right, but his remedy is wrong.

Sounding much like President Obama, ElBaradei still argues that the only way to stop the snowball is for the established nuclear powers to eliminate their weapons as rapidly as possible.

There is a huge problem with ElBaradei’s prescription, however.All the evidence of history shows that it won’t work.

When the Cold War ended in the 1980s, the United States stopped modernizing our nuclear arms and began to reduce our inventory. America has been on the road to zero for a generation now.And what has this“leading by example”accomplished? Today more, not fewer, countries possess atomic arms.

Yet, ElBaradei still holds up the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as a model for solving the problem. It is a solution that has been tried and found woefully wanting.

If the United States continues to cut its arms and let its existing inventory become outmoded and unsafe, it will only foster a new nuclear race.

That’s because it will be increasingly easy for other nations to field a credible nuclear force against a rapidly deteriorating U.S. inventory.We’ll wind up back where we started – living in a“MAD”(mutually assured destruction) world once again.

Happily, history offers evidence about what does work. Over the years, countries with nascent nuclear weapons programs – Brazil, Libya, South Africa, South Korea and Taiwan – have abandoned their atomic ambitions. All did so only because they believed their security would be enhanced by not having the weapons.

If Obama is really interested in lowering nuclear risks for the U.S. and the world, the appropriate path to take is to build security – not to disarm.

If the United States had pushed ahead with building missile defenses in the 1990s, North Korea and Iran probably would not be standing at the nuclear threshold today. Instead, they would have dropped their plans to go nuclear, as it would give them no leverage.

Missile defense is a case in point. The capacity to shoot down the ballistic missiles that carry nuclear weapons diminishes the value of both.

Ronald Reagan negotiated the deepest cuts in nuclear weapons inventories in history. He was able to do this only because he refused to abandon his plan to build missile defenses. If the United States had pushed ahead with building missile defenses in the 1990s, North Korea and Iran probably would not be standing at the nuclear threshold today. Instead, they would have dropped their plans to go nuclear, as it would give them no leverage.

Unfortunately, Obama is sending all the wrong signals. He has announced a 15 percent cut in missile defense, hamstringing the program best-calculated

to deter North Korean and Iranian saber rattling.

And he has canceled the Reliable Replacement Warhead program, which aimed to replace deteriorating Cold-War era warheads with safer, more reliable technology that doesn’t have to be tested.

These are wrong turns on the Road to Zero.

A bipartisan commission co-chaired by former Defense Secretaries William Perry and James Schlesinger reported to Congress earlier this month, “The conditions that might make possible the global elimination of nuclear weapons are not present today, and their creation would require a fundamental transformation of the world political order.”

Short-changing missile defense is the wrong road.

It leads to greater vulnerability, greater instability

and wider nuclear proliferation. It’s a route most Americans want to avoid.A recent poll by the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance found that nine of every 10 Americans support building missile defenses.

Americans want to live in a world without nuclear weapons, but we don’t live in a dream world. We need a serious debate over how to make the world – and America’s place in it – safer. Policies that put disarmament before security will put us on the road to ruin.

James Jay Carafano is a senior research fellow for national security at The Heritage Foundation and the co-author of Winning the Long War: Lessons from the Cold War for Defeating Terrorism and Preserving Freedom.

Syria sees sanctions as setback

By Layal Demashqi The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

DAMASCUS, Syria – President Barack Obama’s decision to renew sanctions against Syria has caused disappointment here, dashing hopes that a dialogue might emerge between the two countries.

The sanctions, initially imposed by former President George W. Bush in 2004, prohibit American companies from doing business with Syria. In addition, U.S. firms are banned from exporting goods to Syria, with the exception of food and medicine.

In 2006, the sanctions were extended to include financial dealings with the Commercial Bank of Syria, as well as Syrian citizens and commercial enterprises.

In his letter to Congress regarding the decision, Obama said Syria continues“supporting terrorism, pursuing weapons of mass destruction and missile programs, and undermining U.S. and international efforts with respect to the stabilization and reconstruction of Iraq.”Damascus, Obama said,“poses a continuing unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy and economy of the United States.”

In Syria, the decision came as a shock, especially since it came on the heels of a visit to Damascus by several high-ranking U.S. officials. Just two days before the extension of the sanctions was announced earlier this month, Jeffrey Feltman, the acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, met Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem in Damascus. Muallem later described the talks as“constructive.”Some, however, believe the meeting was timed specifically so that the Obama administration could reassure the Syrians that dialogue was still possible, despite the extension of the sanctions.

“It is hard to believe that the timing of the visit was pure coincidence,”said an analyst in Damascus who asked that his name not be used out of concern for his security.“It is clear that Obama wanted to reduce the impact of prolonging sanctions. Obama wanted to reassure the Syrians that dialogue will continue and that results will be seen on the ground if Damascus makes some changes to its behavior in the region.”This analyst believes that sanctions were not lifted because doing so now would have been seen as “defeat”for a U.S. administration which has made clear it opposes Syria’s continued support of militant groups in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as its alliance with Iran.

Still, Syrian officials were quick to express their disappointment in Washington’s decision in the state-controlled media.

An editorial in the official daily Tishreen, for example, said the United States needs to prove its “openness”toward Syria not merely with words, but with concrete actions.

“The political behavior of any state cannot be expressed solely in words and speeches, but [it must be apparent] also through actions and processes,” said the editorial.

Al-Baath,another official newspaper,said that the Obama administration should be aware that sanctions would neither hurt the Syrian economy nor persuade its leaders to alter the country’s policies.

Others, however, believe that, given the current condition of the world economy, Syrian officials are indeed looking for ways to convince Washington to ease the financial restrictions.

According to an article in the highly respected London-based Arab newspaper Al-Hayat, Syrian officials asked U.S. officials to reconsider extending the sanctions because of the pressure they were putting on the economy.

Syrian companies were hoping the U.S. would

Obama wanted to reassure the Syrians that dialogue will continue and that results will be seen on the ground if Damascus makes some changes to its behavior in the region ease its financial sanctions in particular, said one private banker in Damascus who asked that his name not be used out of concern for his security.

“It shouldn’t just be about politics,”this banker said.“The economy should come first.”

Layal Demashqi is a reporter in Syria who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Readers may write to the author at the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, 48 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT, U.K.; Web site: www.iwpr.net. For information about IWPR’s funding, please go to http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?top-supporters.html.

ANALYSIS

22 May 2009

Second class citizens

By Joel Brinkley

It’s an unfortunate axiom of modern life that women’s rights are seriously curtailed in much of the less-developed world. In Northwestern Thailand, for example, mothers sell their 12-year-old daughters into sexual slavery so they can pay to send their sons to school.

In Russia, so many husbands beat their wives, with total impunity, that an ancient Russian proverb seems apt even today. It says:“A beating man is a loving man.”

In Saudi Arabia, clerics sentenced a 75-year-old woman to 40 lashes and three months in jail for asking two men to bring her some food. Meantime, religious authorities encourage child marriage, and

last month an 8-year-old girl managed to divorce her 50-year-old husband.

A list of barbarity could go on and on and reach around the globe. And in the most egregious cases, the United States and other nations express their distress and disdain. But what about the nations that the United States invaded and, to some degree, still control: Iraq and Afghanistan? In both cases, the U.S. imposed or encouraged relatively liberal new laws for women, including a constitutional provision in Iraq that awards them 25 percent of the seats in parliament.

In Afghanistan before 2001,women lived in a medieval Taliban theocracy that did not allow girls to go to school or women to leave the house without a male escort.So,after the invasion,the United States needed

to do very little to give women a sense of liberation.

Still, in both Afghanistan and Iraq right now, women’s rights are facing setbacks.

Perhaps the best known of them, in Afghanistan, was President Hamid Karzai’s recent decision to sign a law requiring Shiite women to put on fancy clothes and makeup if their husbands request it – and then to have sex whenever he demands it.

Karzai, relatively unpopular now, did this at the behest of Shiite clergy whose support he needs in the elections this summer.

The Afghan government could not function without Western aid, most of it from the United States.

After absorbing a broad international rebuke, Karzai said he would try to change the law. But if he caves in to Western concerns, he knows full well

that he may lose re-election in August.

While we watch Karzai squirm, Afghan women are subjected to the same brutal treatment women face worldwide in fundamentalist religious states. So far this year, there has been a rash of acid attacks on women and girls who, the attackers believe, have somehow besmirched their honour.

Last fall, extremists in Kabul threw acid on 15 school girls. One of them said she had been walking to school when a man on a motorcycle pulled up beside her, asked if she was going to school, then lifted her burqa and sprayed her face with acid.

Well-justified condemnation rained down on the Afghan government. But many Afghan men saw the attack as an inspiration. Human rights workers say acid attacks have flourished across the country in the last few months, though reporting on those episodes is imperfect. But these incidents are documented: Last month, three dozen girls were hospitalized after a man threw a bottle of poison into their classroom.There have been two more similar attacks in the last few weeks.

Afghan extremism doesn’t always target only women. In southwestern Afghanistan earlier this month, Taliban militants caught a young couple trying to elope.A firing squad killed both of them.

In Iraq,women suffer many of the same injustices – honour killings,acid attacks,summary executions.

In Basra last year,while extremist Shiite militias controlled the city, reporters and human rights workers described grisly scenes of women strangled,tortured, disfigured and beheaded for purported violations of that particular sect’s interpretation of Islamic law.

With help from U.S. forces, the Iraqi military now controls Basra, and women are far less threatened – for now.But the American-mandated promotion of women in government has not taken women very far.

Women do sit in the parliament,but they wield little influence.Meantime,Nawal al-Samarraie,Iraq’s minister for women’s affairs,quit her job when the central government cut her budget – to $1,500 a month for the entire Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

In the United States, women have fought for 200 years to win equal rights and have come a very long way. In Iraq and Afghanistan, women must climb a far steeper hill. Let’s hope that the accomplishments of western women can serve as an inspiration to shorten the journey.

Joel Brinkley is a former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for The New York Times and now a professor of journalism at Stanford University. Readers may send him e-mail at: brinkley@ foreign-matters.com

Terror threat growing in Germany

By Stefan Nicola UPI Europe correspondent

BERLIN – Radical Islamic terrorism is becoming a more multifaceted and concrete threat to Germany.

“Islamist terrorism continues to be a real threat to Germans,”Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said this week in Berlin at the release of the 2008 report by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, an agency that monitors all forms of extremism in the country.

Germany,Schaeuble said,is home to a considerable Islamist personnel potential that also includes German Muslim converts. An increasing number have been traveling to the border region shared by Afghanistan and Pakistan to receive training in al-Qaida-run terrorist camps, spy agencies have learned.

Heinz Fromm, head of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the government agency that compiled the 303-page report, spoke of a new quality of radical Islamic threats directed at Germany.

“We are seeing more video threats that are addressing Germany and its military engagement in Afghanistan directly, and they are increasingly in German,” he said. Many videos are also aimed at recruiting Muslims in Germany for jihad, Fromm added.

Berlin has some 4,000 troops stationed with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. In past years, authorities have foiled

several attack plots in Germany that were aimed at protesting the country’s military involvement there.

But it’s not just radical Islamic terrorism that poses a security threat for Germany.

The total number of right-wing extremist crimes in 2008 – a figure that also includes inciting racial hatred and spreading neo-Nazi propaganda material – shot up by 15.8 percent to 19,894, with 1,042 of the crimes violent.

“The number of neo-Nazis, and this is alarming, has risen again,”Schaeuble said.

The report says there are 4,800 neo-Nazis in Ger-

lation and a new phenomenon,”Fromm said.

In Berlin,left-wing extremists attacked police with bottles, stones and firebombs, injuring several hundred people – the worst May Day violence in years.

Schaeuble said authorities have every right to stop violent extremism; Schaeuble himself outlawed two far-right groups in March 2008 and another one last month.

Germany has for years tried to ban the National Democratic Party, or NPD, a far-right party with individual neo-Nazi members.

One such attempt failed when it surfaced that Berlin had infiltrated the 7,000-member group with its own spies.

Schaeuble said another legal attempt to ban the NPD should only be pursued if it was guaranteed to succeed – and that’s not the case at the moment.

The NPD has been in severe financial trouble many, up 400 from the previous year. recently, however, and may even collapse as a result.

The so-called Autonomous Nationalists,a group of The German government has levied the NPD with black-clad right-wing extremists, have over the past a $2.9 million fine because of tax violations; a senior year clashed repeatedly with left-wing extremists. party official had also diverted nearly $1 million from “They are much more ready to use violence,” the group’s accounts, further adding to its woes.

Fromm said.

“That doesn’t mean established parties can afford And it seems the neo-Nazis are not just clashing to be complacent in the federal elections scheduled with their far-left counterparts. for this fall.The NPD has made it into several state On May Day, a group of roughly 300 neo-Nazis parliaments and is determined to repeat that success. attacked participants of a regular union demonstraThe NPD’s severe financial problems will not tion with batons and stones – the first neo-Nazi paralyze the party,”Fromm warned. attack on a peaceful demonstration.“That’s an esca– UPI

WORLD

update

in 60 seconds

JERUSALEM WILL “NEVER BE DIVIDED” Jerusalem (dpa) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reinforced his position over the Israeli capital Jerusalem, saying the city would “never be divided,” following his return from meetings with US President Barack Obama in Washington.

“I say here the same thing that I said in the US: A united Jerusalem is the Israeli capital, Jerusalem was always ours and will always be ours. It will never again be partitioned and divided,” Netanyahu said.

The comments followed Israeli newspaper reports yesterday that Obama’s Middle East team is currently drafting a new peace plan, the essence of which Obama is expected to present in a key-note address in Cairo on June 4 – and which supports a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

WWII BOMBS FORCE SCHOOL EVACUATION Warsaw (dpa) – Some 400 pupils at an elementary school in southeastern Poland were evacuated Thursday when unexploded war-era missiles were found during renovation work, the Polish Press Agency (PAP) reported.

Workers found the missiles in the town of Jaroslawiec while working on a sidewalk near the school, the school’s director told PAP. An army team called to the scene found more weapons, including two grenades and rifle ammunition within a couple dozen metres of where the missiles were found.

Unexploded weapons from World War II are occasionally found in the former Soviet bloc.

In October, a gardener found a war-era grenade on the grounds of the University of Warsaw. The discovery lead to a survey of the grounds that uncovered more weapons and lead to the evacuation of around 1,000 people in December.

SUICIDAL SERB DISARMED Belgrade (dpa) – Police disarmed and arrested a suicidal man armed with hand grenades after a five-hour standoff in the Serbian presidential building in downtown Belgrade today, a presidential spokeswoman stated.

The explosives were not believed to have gone off, and no one was reported injured.

The man, said by local media to be a bankrupt former businessman, threatened to “blow himself up” if he did not get a “court settlement,” claiming that Serbian air carrier JAT owed him a million dollars. He also demanded to speak with Serbian President Boris Tadic.

The 57-year-old man, armed with two grenades, was said to have entered the building and was cornered near its back entrance by police around noon (1000 GMT).

The man pulled the pin from one of the grenades, but police later managed to relieve him of the other.

During the standoff, the man maintained his grip on the first explosive, which – if live – could have exploded within seconds once released, killing or badly injuring anyone within a range of 15 metres.

A bomb squad with shields and firearms were earlier seen entering the building, a former royal residency, located across the street from the Serbian parliament.

It was not known whether the pin was re-inserted into the grenade when the man was arrested.

The same man had several years ago staged a hunger strike in front of parliament building, tried to sell his kidney, and at one point threatened to set himself on fire.

22 May 2009

Obama gets hammered by Democrats Washington (dpa) – The question of what to do with detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp has thrust US President Barack Obama into the biggest political fight of his young presidency.

Seeking to quell the rising tide against him in Congress, Obama went before the nation on Thursday with a major address to assure Americans that he will not release detainees who remain a threat to national security.

Obama accused Congress of using fear as a political tactic in voting to block the transfer of any of the detainees to prisons on US soil. Obama did not single out opposition Republicans. His own centreleft Democrats joined the minority party in the towering 90-6 defeat of an 80-million-dollar spending request to begin closing the controversial prison.

“I’ve heard words that are calculated to scare people rather than educate them – words that have more to do with politics than protecting our country,”Obama said.

Obama’s order to close Guantanamo by January 2010 drew widespread praise from Democrats, Republicans, civil-rights groups and the European Union, but he has since encountered stiff resistance from all sides on the question of what to do with the remaining 240 detainees.

Only two countries, Britain and France, have combined to take two prisoners off his hands, and congressional opposition to bringing Gitmo inmates to the United States places him in a further dilemma. Lawmakers, fearing a backlash from voters, do not want to see any of the detainees end up in their home states or districts.

They argued in shooting down Obama’s budget request that transferring the prisoners to US soil unnecessarily places the American public at risk.

Obama countered that keeping Guantanamo open hurts the US image in the world and undermines the war on terrorism.

“The problem of what to do with Guantanamo detainees was not caused by my decision to close the facility,”Obama said.“The problem exists because of the decision to open Guantanamo in the first place.”

Former vice president Dick Cheney, who has hit the airwaves in recent weeks to defend the policies during the Bush years, shot back in a speech at the conservative American Enterprise Institute in Washington that began minutes after Obama concluded.

Cheney credited congressional Democrats for joining Republicans to criticize Obama over Guantanamo, and argued there were no good alternatives to keeping the prison open. He accused Obama of making a

snap decision to close Guantanamo without considering the consequences.

“The administration has found that it’s easy to receive applause in Europe for closing Guantanamo,”Cheney said.“But it’s tricky to come up with an alternative that will serve the interests of justice and America’s national security.”

Democrats insist that Obama first provide a plan before they dole out the money, but the president offered up few new details in his speech today. He did, however, say that some of the detainees will be brought to prisons inside the United States.

Obama said that the maximum-security facili-

ties in the United States are adequate for holding dangerous detainees, and already house hardened criminals and previously convicted terrorists.

He cited the cases of Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted in the first attack on the World Trade Center, and Zacarius Moussaoui, who was convicted of conspiracy for his role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Both are serving life sentences in federal prisons.

“If we try those terrorists in our courts and hold them in our prisons, then we can do the same with detainees from Guantanamo,”Obama said.

– DPA

Islamic terrorists in NY now charged New York – A United States court this morning charged four men arrested on suspicion of terrorist activities with conspiracy to acquire weapons of mass destruction and blow up a Jewish temple in New York.

Three of the four suspects appeared before a judge at a federal court at White Plains, in upstate New York, with the fourth defendant apparently hospitalized for some illness and receiving a bedside arraignment, local news reports said.

The four suspects were arrested early yesterday

by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents and local police.

“We live in a dangerous world,” said New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.“The New York Police Department did exactly what they’re trained to do and have prevented what could have been a terrible event in our city.”

News reports said that law enforcement agents watched the suspects on Thursday NZ time planting the purported bombs at the synagogue before moving in to arrest the men.

The men were given fake explosives in a year-long sting operation conducted by the FBI using an informant.They also received a disarmed anti-aircraft missile, because they wanted to shoot down planes at the Air National Guard base at Stewart Airport in Newburgh, about 100 kilometres north of NewYork City.

“The bombs had been made by the FBI technicians. They were totally inert. No one was ever at risk,”New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

The four suspects were identified as James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen, all residents of Newburgh, New York. The local news report said Payen was hospitalized.

Each defendant could face life in prison. The mandatory minimum sentences are 25 years in prison, if convicted on the charges filed today.

FBI agents and police mounted a surveillance operation starting in June 2008.

“The defendants wanted to engage in terrorist attacks,” said Lev Dassin, acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“They selected targets and sought the weapons necessary to carry out their plans. Fortunately, the defendants sought the assistance of a witness cooperating with the government. While the weapons providedto the defendants by the cooperating witness were fake, the defendants thought they were absolutely real.”

The federal criminal complaint alleged that the case began when Cromitie expressed to the informant in June 2008 a desire to do “something to America” because he was upset by the war in Afghanistan and that many Muslims were killed

by US forces there and in Pakistan.

Cromitie said he would go to“paradise”if he died a martyr and told the informant he wanted to “do jihad,”the federal complaint said.

The informant later claimed involvement with Pakistan-based Jaish- e-Mohammed, which is designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization, and pretended to aid the conspirators in their preparations.

– DPA

WORLD

22 May 2009

Manhunt for cancer teen refusing treatment

By Warren Wolfe and Curt Brown Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

NEW ULM, Minn. – Colleen Hauser and her 13year-old son Daniel, on the run from court-ordered cancer treatment, were seen in Southern California on Wednesday morning, Brown County, Minn., Sheriff Rich Hoffman has told media.

At a hastily assembled news conference, Hoffman said the pair was apparently en route to Mexico for medical treatment and that he has notified the FBI and the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which agreed to assist in finding and detaining them.The two disappeared from southern Minnesota on Monday evening and failed to show up for a court hearing here on Tuesday.

Hoffman said it’s unclear how the pair is traveling or who is helping them, but said it’s possible that they already are in Mexico. He wouldn’t say how his office got the tip, but said he had confirmed the sighting late Wednesday afternoon.

Daniel was diagnosed in January with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, an uncommon but treatable form of cancer. The family ceased his treatment after one session in January, citing Native American religious and other objections,and turned to alternative treatments such as herbs and vitamins. Their decision prompted Daniel’s doctors to alert Brown County child protection authorities.A Brown County judge ordered the family to seek treatment, then issued a warrant for Colleen’s arrest on Tuesday after she failed to make a scheduled court appearance.

Hoffman’s announcement of the sighting in California concluded a day in which a local search became a national manhunt after the boy’s father, Anthony Hauser, suggested that Daniel and his mother had left the country.

Earlier Wednesday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued a national crime alert with a description of the pair and identifying two other adults who might be accompanying them.The Border Patrol was alerted and Hoffman

said authorities were trying to determine whether Colleen Hauser had a passport or other documents that might enable her and her son to cross the U.S. border. Ten officers in the sheriff’s department worked phones and interviewed relatives as tips poured in from around the state and the country.

In an afternoon press briefing, Hoffman pleaded for Colleen Hauser to return with her son.

The search has a special urgency because doctors fear that Daniel’s cancer could worsen rapidly if left untreated.

Doctors have testified that the boy has a 90 to 95 percent chance of survival if he gets the recommended chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but only a 5 percent chance of living five years if he goes without conventional treatment.

As the manhunt intensified Wednesday morning, Daniel’s father spoke with reporters at the family farm near Sleepy Eye, Minn., and seemed unworried about the boy’s condition. He said he was a “bit disappointed”by his wife’s spur-of-the-moment

decision to drop a treatment plan they had agreed on, but said he assumes that his wife had found a suitable alternative form of treatment, and hinted that he knew where.

Asked if he thought his wife and son were still in the United States,Anthony Hauser said,“No, but I’m guessing.I will say this:I left a call (for them) and Canada isn’t where I left the call. I’m not saying where.”

Hauser added that he and his wife were open to treating Daniel with a combination of low doses of chemotherapy and alternative medical treatments.

“We were going to present a treatment plan to the court. If they didn’t go with it, we would appeal it,”he said.

Hauser’s assessment of his son’s disappearance seemed to leave law enforcement authorities in a state of uncertainty.

Hoffman said the father has been “cooperative” with the investigation but added,“We can’t speculate on the sincerity of the information that Anthony Hauser has provided.”

Chavez tightens grip as dictator Caracas – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez announced the nationalization of five steel firms in a Thursday television address, extending the state’s grip on the country’s industries.

The move is part of a plan to create a single socialist industrial complex, he said.

The firms affected are Matesi, a joint venture between Venezuela’s Sidor and Luxembourg-based steel-pipe maker Tenaris SA, Consigua, Venprecar, Tavsa as well as

the US-financed Orinoco Iron.

Consigua’s sharholders include Japanese companies Kobe Steel Ltd, Mitsui Group and Sojitz Corp.

The companies’ products include pipes and iron briquettes, which they manufacture in Bolivar state in the south of the country.

At the same time, Chavez announced the nationalization of ceramics manufacturer Cerámicas Carabobo SA. Chavez recently nationalized a number of oil industry supply firms, some of them also backed by foreign capital.

– DPA

special

the ordinary becomes

NASA’s first moonshot set to launch The lunar poles are the likely landing targets for a potential manned spacecraft.

The LCROSS will focus on determining whether water could be hidden in the shadowy craters of the moon near its poles.

An earlier lunar satellite found high levels of hydrogen in the atmosphere near the poles, a hint that water could be present.

NASA scientists said that it is possible for frozen water to have remained in the moon’s craters for billions of years, because the bottoms of the craters are never reached by sunlight, which would cause ice to evaporate and vanish in the thin lunar atmosphere.

The LCROSS is to separate into two parts that will crash into a dark crater.The first part will send up a cloud of dust to be measured by a second, trailing device that will also crash in the moon.

Images of the impact will also be captured by the orbiting LRO, as well as the Hubble Space Telescope and other telescopes on Earth. The composition of the material kicked up by the impact will help scientists deduce whether water is present.

– DPA

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Washington (dpa) – NASA said today it is ready to send two missions to the moon in a launch next month that will set the course for the resumption of human lunar exploration.

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) are to launch aboard a single rocket on June 17.Together they will send data back to NASA to help scientists find the best location for a spacecraft landing to bring humans to the moon.

The moon would eventually serve as a jumping off platform for exploring Mars, according to NASA’s long-term objectives as set by former president George W Bush.

The LRO will orbit the moon, taking the most detailed images yet of the lunar surface, creating three-dimensional maps that are accurate to within one metre, showing details as small as boulder. It will measure radiation on the surface to scout for possible dangers to astronauts.

“We have much better maps of Mars than we have of our own moon’s polar regions,”said Craig Tooley, project manager for the LRO mission.

WORLD

10

22 May 2009

New brain imaging method shows promise for epilepsy

By John Fauber Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

MILWAUKEE – With 25 percent of his brain already gone, Clint Galster sat alone in a vaultlike room as doctors tried to figure out whether even more brain tissue could be taken out.

The solitary enclosure is the size of a small bedroom, but it weighs 7 tons.It’s lined with special metal walls thick enough to hide kryptonite from Superman.

The door was closed and a long steel lever was pulled down, sealing Galster inside, nestled in a large white machine with a reclining seat and a headpiece that looks like it might dry hair at a salon.

Over more than an hour, Froedtert Hospital personnel used the device to monitor and record the inner workings of his brain.

If Galster was lucky, the $3 million machine would find areas of abnormal electrical activity that later could be removed safely by a surgeon. Not so lucky, and the 34-year-old would continue to be plagued by seizures.

His seizures are not under control, despite taking four epilepsy drugs a day and undergoing surgery eight years ago to implant a nerve stimulator under his collarbone, as well as a brain operation as a teenager.

Now Galster is on the forefront of a technology that might make it easier for people with epilepsy and their doctors to decide whether they can benefit from brain surgery.

Magnetoencephalography, or MEG, is an emerging method that is being used in a variety of studies, ranging from finding better ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease to looking at what happens in the brains of people who stutter or suffer from Tourette syndrome.

In the 1995 sci-fi thriller “Strange Days,”MEGlike technology recorded the electrical activity of a person’s brain, which then could be used by someone else to re-experience those thoughts and feelings.

“Our technology is not that advanced,”said Frederick Langheim, a neuroscientist and psychiatry resident at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Still, research suggests that whole-brain MEG recordings might someday be used to categorize people as healthy or suffering from conditions such as multiple sclerosis,schizophrenia,Alzheimer’s or chronic alcoholism,said Langheim,who used MEG for his doctoral work on the dynamics of brain networks.But one of its most promising applications is epilepsy.

It is believed that many more people could benefit from surgery, but it is risky and expensive. Galster suffered a small stroke during his first brain operation at age 15 and has weakness on his left side.

Often in epilepsy cases, patients must undergo pre-surgery in which part of the skull is removed and electrodes temporarily are placed on the surface of the brain to look for seizure-producing areas.

It is hoped that MEG will eliminate the need for the surgical diagnosis in many patients, but that still needs to be proved, said Susumu Sato, a physician and researcher with the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Such preliminary surgeries can cost tens of thousands of dollars, compared with about $5,000 for a MEG scan, Sato said. But right now, most insurance companies won’t pay for MEG scans, he said.

“It is very exciting technology,”Sato said.

The Froedtert device, paid for by an anonymous donor, is one of about 30 in the United States.

The technique looks for electrical currents and the magnetic fields produced by brain cells.All electrical currents produce magnetic fields, but with brain cells, magnetic activity is minuscule – it has been compared to trying to hear an ant’s footsteps at a rock concert.

MEG readings must be done in a room shielded from outside magnetic fields, requiring walls lined with a special metal that are 7 inches thick, said Sylvain Baillet, scientific director of Froedtert’s MEG program and an associate professor of neurology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

In addition, liquid helium at absolute zero (minus 273 degrees Celsius) is used to cool the inside of the machine, he said.

One of the advantages to MEG over other imaging techniques is that it can monitor brain activity over a period of milliseconds, as opposed to a second or more with magnetic resonance imaging.

And MEG looks at electrical and magnetic activity of brain cells, while MRIs measure blood flow and oxygen used by brain cells.

That’s important because with epileptic seizures, the abnormal activity of a group of neurons may fire in unison, producing a synchronized spike that can be picked up by MEG. The trick is detecting those spots in the brain and determining whether they can be removed without causing damage to other important areas such as those controlling movement or vision.

of violence by insurgent Taliban forces and organized political opposition, the security of its nuclear assets remains in question.”

The report called on the Obama administration to persuade Pakistan to halt its production of fissile materials and join international negotiations on a global treaty banning the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for nuclear weapons.

McClatchy Newspapers first reported the expansion of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program on May 1, after ISIS published satellite pictures showing the construction of two new plutonium production reactors at Khushab in Punjab Province.

Concerns have been rising over the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and weapons facilities amid a drive by Taliban insurgents allied with al Qaida to seize the North West Frontier Province districts of Swat, Dir and Buner, which is about 60 miles north of Islamabad, the capital.

The Pakistani military, which under heavy U.S. pressure launched operations last month to recapture the areas, yesterday claimed to have retaken Sultanwas, the main town of Buner.

The Pakistani government and the Obama administration say Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are secure, but some U.S. officials and other experts remain concerned that Islamic extremists could infiltrate a nuclear facility and obtain radioactive material for a dirty bomb.

The report on the Chemical Plants Complex at Dera Ghazi Khan, where natural uranium hexafluoride and uranium metal for Pakistan’s nuclear weapons are produced, said that a comparison of satellite images from October 2004 and August 2008 show a major expansion of the site.

“The expansion includes new industrial buildings, new anti-aircraft installations and several new settling ponds,”the report said.“A new plot of land adjacent to the southern side of compound #1 will likely contain new industrial buildings and will roughly double its size.”

The report noted that suspected rebels from Paki:C@<EK GL9C@:8K@FE minority stan’s Baluch attacked the site in 2003, :FM<I ;8K< J

KI@D J@Q< killed more than 30 people and`e]f7`[\ek`k%Zf%eq a')(-(--+* suicide bomber D`jkiXc Jf]knXi\ @em\jk`^Xk\

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in Dera Ghazi Khan, about 200 miles southwest of Islamabad, in February.

The second ISIS report compared a series of satellite images of the New Labs, a part of the Pakistan Institute of Science and Technology, near Islamabad’s sister city of Rawalpindi, between February 2002 and September 2006.

The pictures “show the construction of what appears to be a second plutonium separation plant adjacent to the original one, suggesting that Pakistan is increasing its plutonium separation capacity in anticipation of an increased supply of spent fuel” from the two new reactors at Khushab, said the report.

ON THE WEB

Read the new ISIS reports on Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program: http://www.isis-online.org Back to the front page

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SPORT

22 May 2009

11

Future shape of domestic rugby agreed to Wellington, May 22 – The future shape of domestic rugby competitions in New Zealand has been outlined after a two-day workshop in Wellington, with details to be released next week.

New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) chief executive Steve Tew and Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chairman Bruce Cameron told a press conference today that the workshop involving the top 14 unions, second-tier Heartland unions and players’ association representatives had ticked off a number of important boxes.

“The process has just begun, not completed but we think we have made some real progress and created some real momentum,”Tew said.

“There’s a view that the change we believe is necessary can now be achieved.”

With financial structures crumbling at some of the top 14 unions, the NZRU had tried to cut the number of teams to 12 last year but had to back down after a revolt.

However, the unions decided to return to the table to consider the format, number of teams, promotion/relegation, salary cap and the impacts of any change at this week’s workshop.

Costs and the level of funding required to support the competition and participating provincial unions were also on the agenda as well as the consequence of poor financial performance.

Tew said the unions had endorsed a set of objectives, attributes and principles for the competitions.

The key ones were that the competitions must: • include Super rugby players; • have a stand-alone window (which also recognises the windows for club rugby and Super rugby); • feature a full round-robin and playoffs; • be affordable and sustainable;

Chief’s players celebrate their win against the Hurricanes as fog rolls in during a Super 14 semi final rugby match, Waikato Stadium, Hamilton. NZPA / Wayne Drought.

• provide meaningful competition for all 14 unions in the Air NZ Cup and maintain the strength of the Heartland Championship; • maintain a point of difference for New Zealand.

Tew said details would be released next week as it had been agreed that workshop participants needed to report back to their respective “stakeholders”first.

Competition options would be modelled by the NZRU and the board would be fully briefed on the workshop at a meeting next week.

A full report would be tabled for the 26 provincial

Underdog Crusaders confident of upset

By Mark Geenty of NZPA

Sydney, May 22 – They might be largely written off at the most imposing Super 14 rugby venue, but that hasn’t dimmed the noticeable confidence emanating from the Crusaders’ camp.

The defending champions tackle the Bulls in semifinal two at a sold out Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Sunday (1am NZT) as clear underdogs in their bid to make it an all-New Zealand final.

The facts are clear.The table-topping Bulls won all six home games this season, are unbeaten in their last nine there, have a baying full house behind them, a tough forward pack led by Victor Matfield, a gun goalkicker in Morne Steyn, and a matchwinner in Bryan Habana, whose try two minutes into injury time in the 2007 final secured the Bulls their first Super 14 title.

The Crusaders didn’t arrive in Johannesburg until Monday night (NZT), so have the travel and high altitude to overcome.

It appeared a simple equation but the visitors weren’t buying into it. McCaw insisted the long journey and high altitude wouldn’t be a factor, and felt their buildup had hardly gone better.

That mood was further improved when All Blacks lock Brad Thorn (hamstring) was passed fit, while halfback Andy Ellis (ribs) was given until match day to prove his fitness amid an encouraging medical report.

McCaw rated Loftus one of his favourite venues.

His Crusaders have a four-win, four-loss record there including a staggering 54-19 victory in last year’s round robin, and a more forgettable 12-27 defeat in the 2007 semifinals.

“It’s the same anywhere you go away from home.

If you get into the game and on top early you take the crowd noise out of it a bit,”he said.

“You can either feel lonely out there if you can’t hear your mate yelling at you or you can just get excited. If you do well in those places it’s the most

satisfying. Saturday will be about making the most of the opportunity.”

The Crusaders defied the odds this year, having lost their champion coach Robbie Deans and a host of frontliners, notably All Blacks stars Dan Carter and Ali Williams.

Under new coaching trio Blackadder, Mark Hammett and Daryl Gibson,they won just one of their first five matches but fought their way back with trademark tough defence,and sealed fourth spot with a Leon MacDonald drop goal to beat the Blues 15-13.

McCaw relished the chance to “slip under the radar”in recent weeks, knowing each of their final three matches were must-win.

His side matched up well with the Bulls up front at least, with a solid set piece and impressive loose forward trio of McCaw, Kieran Read and Thomas Waldrom.

Blackadder labelled the presence of New Zealand referee Bryce Lawrence a positive, and McCaw said discipline was their main buzzword against a side who will kick for territory and try to suffocate.

“Playing at altitude, anything inside your half, a penalty is pretty much three points.They’ve got a pretty good kicker in Steyn so that (discipline) is going to be absolutely critical.

“That comes from pressure as well and having trust in the guys that your defence is going to stand up and not make mistakes.We’ve definitely talked about that this week.”

They’ve also stressed the need to start strongly, having learned the lessons from 2007 when they were dominated in a try-less semifinal.

“There’s a few guys that were involved that day.

When I think back we just didn’t impose ourselves on the game.We were chasing the game from early on,”McCaw said.

The Bulls’only hiccup this week was in their midfield, with centre JP Nel suspended and in-form Springbok Wynand Olivier named to start despite a painful hip injury.

unions at the next scheduled meeting in June.

It was hoped an agreed format would be ready to take to broadcasting negotiations at the end of June.

Cameron said the workshop was driven by some concerns that have been around for sometime and“I think the outcomes developed over the last 36 hours are going to go a long way to addressing these issues”.

Today’s announcements would go some way towards soothing the concerns of the“G9”group – unions in the top 14 who did not host Super 14 franchises.

In a recent letter to the NZRU they said an expanded Super rugby competition would further devalue the

provincial competition and that the controlling body was putting revenue,the broadcasters and the players’ association before the good of the game.

Diminishing New Zealand crowds at this year’s Super 14 clearly illustrated that Super rugby was a tired concept, they said.

“The group is concerned that if NZRU dumbed down the Air NZ Cup as reflected in the financial modelling produced to date, then rugby, as we currently know it will be stuffed by the 2019 World Cup,”they said.

There had been an exodus of talent at the beginning of this year and when New Zealand teams got off to a slow start in the Super 14, there had been suggestions the country had lost a lot of the depth it needed,Tew said.

“We believe that last year’s Air NZ Cup prepared a big bunch of players to come forward and produce the results where we have three teams in the semifinals and one team guaranteed to get into the final.

“It reflects the important point of difference a strong domestic competition means for us.

“That’s why we have been so keen to achieve a window of time for this competition in our Sanzar negotiations.”

Tew would not say if changes would result in a shorter season containing fewer than 14 teams in the Air NZ Cup. “The competition could go on for as long as you like bearing in mind I think there’s some pretty clear evidence and some pretty good messages from our fans that too much more rugby, is too much more rugby.”

Tew said a revised national competition structure could come as early as next year.

– NZPA

Champions leaguers champing Barcelona – Argentine Lionel Messi made clear today his excitement about the Champions League final that his team, Barcelona, is set to play next week against Manchester United in Rome.

“I could not enjoy the final in Paris because of an injury I had, but, fortunately, I have a second chance now. This is the most important game in my career,”he said.

Barcelona won the 2005-06 Champions League in the French capital, when they beat Arsenal.

Messi, 21, noted that Wednesday’s game will be special against Man United, the same club that knocked Barca out in last year’s semis.

“There are no favourites or revenge for last year,” he said.

“There are two great teams full of great players.

If you have to name a favourite, it would perhaps be them, because they won the tournament last year, but I expect a very open final.”

He said that Barca and Manchester have been “the two teams that have played the best football all year,”and stressed that their focus on attack was the key to success for both.

Barcelona has already won La Liga and the King’s Cup this season, while the Red Devils have won the League Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup and the Premier League.

“They play football very similar to us.They quite like to play with the ball on the ground, and they are also very good in counterattack with extremely fast people like Cristiano (Ronaldo) or (Carlos) Tevez,” Messi said.

The striker went as far as to say that his team deserves the cup,precisely because of their good football.

“I am aware of the fact that many people who are not Barca fans admire us for our football. We deserve this reward,”he said.

The Argentine had to answer many questions about his own clash with Cristiano Ronaldo, since both are considered to be the world’s best players.

“He is a player who can easily throw you off balance and who can settle a game anytime. He is difficult to stop, he scores many goals, he is very complete,”Messi said of his Portuguese rival.

He further praised fellow-Argentine striker Tevez and French left back Patrice Evra, who is likely to mark him in Rome.

“I respect him because he is an extremely good player, as he already showed last year. Let’s see what happens this time,”Messi said.

Barcelona is seeking a historic treble.

“We know we are close to making history. Even if we don’t manage to win, it will be a great season,” Messi said.“We have our chances, both because of the players we have and because of how we have been playing all year round. We are playing spectacularly.”

Messi gave his version of the key to crack the game.

“The most definitive thing is that we are able to play our game, that is, that we have possession of the ball and that we create chances. It does not matter who scores the goals,”he said.

“I expect this to be an open final for the good of football and for people to be able to enjoy it.”

– DPA

SPORT

12

22 May 2009

Scott vs Danica: Indy 500 showdown I’ve been here,”Dixon said.

“Every time you have a new teammate, it’s new fresh blood, and you learn things they’ve learned over INDIANAPOLIS – Anyone walking around the contheir careers – and especially in fines of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway might get IndyCar racing, because you the impression that only two drivers are competing have people coming from Sunday in the Indianapolis 500. many different countries.

Helio and Danica. Danica and Helio.

They’ve been brought up Theirs are the only names you seem to in different styles and things hear: two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Caslike that. And that was definitely troneves – the“Dancing with the Stars”winner who a big transition for me when I was acquitted on tax-evasion charges in April and teamed up with Dan initially on who will start on the pole for Sunday’s race – and the mile-and-a-half ovals and even Danica Patrick – pinup queen and the only woman the Speedway here. And already with to win an IndyCar Series race and finish as high as line at the same time.”

Franchitti, a 36-year-old Scotsman, has fit right in Dario on some of the street courses and fourth in the Indy 500.

Has everyone forgotten about Target Chip with Ganassi as the replacement for Dan Wheldon, things like that.” who left the team after winning six races in three In addition to Wheldon, Dixon’s teamGanassi racing? mates with Ganassi since 2003 have No team at the Brickyard can match Ganassi’s seasons and returned to Panther Racing.

“To be teamed with Scott, I’m enjoying it a lot,” included Ryan Briscoe, Darren momentum heading into the 93rd running of the said Franchitti, who spent last season in a failed Manning, Jacques Lazier Indianapolis 500. attempt at racing for Ganassi’s NASCAR Sprint and Tomas Scheckter.The Target Chip Ganassi boasts: The last two Indianapolis 500 winners: Scott Cup and Nationwide teams.“It’s made me raise my team has 26 career Indygame already, and it pushes me really hard.To have Car Series victories.

Dixon and Dario Franchitti.

“What Chip enjoys in The last two Indy Car Series champions: Dixon Scott and I having won the last two 500s, the last and Franchitti (though Franchitti won the title two championships, to have won races this year ... race drivers is the same thing that all of us on and the 2007 Indy 500 driving for Andretti Green but it’s a blank slate.

“You come back here ... you’ve done well in the the team enjoy. ... The Racing).

The last two winners in the Indy Car 2009 season: past, but it’s not a guarantee of success.You’ve got most important thing to Dixon at Kansas and Franchitti the week before at to prove yourself again. ... Half the battle of the them is to drive the race Indy 500 is showing up on race day with a fast car. car,” Hull said. “They Long Beach.

Excellent qualifying times for the 500: Franchitti That puts you in a position to win the race. Then aren’t swayed away by will sit on the first row in the third position; Dixon you’ve got to do everything right over that whole outside interests or the day to get it done – and you’ve got to have some success of winning ... right behind in fifth. and they never get “We’ve got two really good race-car drivers,” luck, as well.”

Dixon,a 28-year-old New Zealander known as the tired of wanting to said Mike Hull, managing director for Target Chip Ganassi.“It’s like other sports. Maybe in football, if “Ice Man”for his cool demeanor,had a season for the win again.” you’ve got a really big-time quarterback leading ages last year. He tied an IndyCar record with six Both Franchitti your team, everybody really picks up their game. victories,one of them the Indy 500,and won six poles and Dixon like “When you have (high-)quality race drivers on the way to his second series championship. their chances – and combined with experience that surrounds them, “I’ve been lucky on two parts: One is still being the other’s chances the whole organization rises to the occasion. It’s as here and not being on the firing line of Chip, and the – on Sunday. simple as that. ... It would be great if we had a two- other would be having the many great teammates “It’s a situation seater, so that both of them could cross the finish I’ve had, which I’ve had I think eight or 10 since I’ve been in before,”

By Randy Covitz McClatchy Newspapers

Franchitti said.“I’ve been lucky to have a lot of great teammates, and that’s what happens when you get in good equipment and you end up driving with really great drivers on your team. You end up fighting for wins and championships with them.

“You go out and have a good race and afterward if you’re beaten, you say, ‘Good job, man.’ If you’re the guy that wins, you get the same from your teammate, and that’s the way I’ve been lucky enough to do it in the past and now.”

WEEKEND

22 May 2009

13

TV & Film

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: Battle At The Smithsonian 0Cast: Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria 0Director: Shawn Levy 0Length: 105 minutes 0Rated: PG (for mild action and brief language)

Terminate this one

Watch the trailer

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Movie picks

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– By Robert W. Butler

Chi

The machines are winning.

That’s how I felt after Terminator Salvation, the fourth installment in a franchise that used to make us care about the characters but has now – in the hands of director McG (Charlie’s Angels) – turned into a mechanical exercise in pointless action.

Granted, it’s great action.Terrific special effects.

Pulse-pounding pacing.

But it’s a case of diminishing returns. Salvation so keeps its characters at arm’s length that after a while it really doesn’t matter what happens to them.

Like the recent Star Trek movie, this is an attempt to reboot a perennial by approaching it from a different angle. The first three Terminator films (released in 1984, 1991 and 2003) were set in the “present”and were about preventing Judgment Day, when the world’s computers and machines would turn on their human creators.

Terminator Salvation, though, is set after Judgment Day. Earth’s cities are smoldering ruins.

The now-adult John Connor (Christian Bale) grew up being told he would lead humanity to triumph over the machines. But at this point Connor is only a regional guerrilla commander whose ideas are overruled by the Resistance’s hierarchy.

John D. Brancato and Michael Ferris’screenplay pivots on two plots.The first is the development of the T-800, the flesh-encased Terminator played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the original. Human freedom fighters are accustomed to the more primitive T-600s, which have rubbery faces that don’t fool anybody. But the T-800 is so convincing, you’d never suspect it’s not human.

Marcus Wright (Aussie actor Sam Worthington) emerges from the wreckage of a bombed-out terminator manufacturing plant with no memories or clothing. He hooks up with a young fugitive named Kyle Reese (AntonYelchin, Star Trek’s Chekov) and his mute child companion, Star (Jadagrace), and proves effective at fighting machines.

Actually we’ve seen Marcus before. In a prologue set in our present he’s a condemned criminal who donates his body to science – or at least to a scientist (Helena Bonham Carter) from some computer company called Cyberdyne Systems. (Gasp!) Once

bit more intriguing as a gung-ho woman warrior.

The best performance comes from Worthington as the conflicted Marcus, torn between his conviction that he’s human and the growing evidence to the contrary.

Frankly,most of these roles could have been played by marionettes with about the same impact.

But the movie looks great, anyway.The production designers have had a field day. They give us flying machines. Riderless motorcycles like machine guns on wheels. Towering machines that look like Transformers. Nasty aquatic sentinels that resemble voracious metallic eels. And, of course, various T-600s and T-800s.

Plus, the flick is jammed with references to earlier “Terminator” movies and shout-outs to the Mad Max movies (the mute child Star could be a cousin of the Feral Kid from The Road Warrior) and other apocalyptic sci-fi classics.

With all its noise and kinetic juice,“Terminator Salvation” dishes plenty of eye candy and thrills.

But it has none of the emotion or intellectual resonance of the first two James Cameron-directed installments.

It’s basically a cheap thrill. An expensive cheap thrill.

he emerges from the wreckage, he’s determined to meet John Connor and, along the way, falls in love with a hotshot jet fighter pilot (Moon Bloodgood).

The other plot is about the efforts of John and Marcus to rescue Kyle, who has been captured by the machines. This is important because at some point in the future Kyle will be sent back in time to protect (and impregnate) John’s mother, Sarah.

If Kyle is allowed to die at the hands of the machines, John Connor will never exist.The Resistance will collapse.The machines will win.

Yeah, it gives me a headache, too. And one of Salvation’s big problems is that the gnarly knotted mythology keeps us from getting into characters who are shallow to begin with.

The original Terminator was a love story about time travel. T2 was a love story about a boy and his pet killer robot ... and about time travel.

Terminator Salvation, though, has no real relationships and no time travel. It hasn’t yet been invented.

Bale’s John Connor is a flinty-eyed stoic and about as interesting as a two-by-four (a Batman suit might have helped). He’s got a pregnant wife, Kate (the same character that was played by Claire Danes in T3), but in this colorless role the usually excellent Bryce Dallas Howard is wasted.

Yelchin is, well, boyish as young Reese, but he’s not exactly overflowing with personality. Bloodgood is a

al c

0Cast: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin, Moon Bloodgood, Bryce Dallas Howard 0Director: McG 0Length: 115 minutes 0Rated: M (contains violence)

Loc

Terminator Salvation

Angels & Demons Ghosts of Girlfriends Past Is Anybody There?

Management The Soloist Star Trek State of Play X-Men Origins © 2009 MCT

The warm moments rise from the real history sampled in Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian. The kidfriendly thrills come from the special effects – the monsters, mannequins, artifacts and paintings that come to life in this sequel to Night at the Museum.

But the laughs roll out of Ben Stiller’s verbal sparring with Amy Adams, Jonah Hill, Hank Azaria, Bill Hader and Robin Williams. When this excessive and silly farce works – roughly half the time – it’s thanks to the comic dynamic created by funny folk who can go riff-to-riff with Stiller.

When Jonah Hill (Superbad) as a Smithsonian security guard gets after Larry (Stiller) the former security guard of New York’s Museum of Natural History, it’s a throw-down.

“You’re moving with some I.T.T., bro!”

“I.T.T.?”

“That’s intent-to-touch, homie.”

When Hank Azaria affects an English-accented lisp as a pharaoh bent on world conquest, Stiller stifles a laugh.

On the other hand, the sometimes hilarious Christopher Guest is given nothing funny to play as Ivan the Terrible, and that’s what he plays – nothing.

Larry has left his museum gig and gone into infomercials.

But he still checks in on his friends (Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, Owen Wilson as a cowboy miniature).

That’s when he learns they’re going into storage, replaced by cool interactive holograms. The “friends,” brought to life by a pharaoh’s magical tablet, are to be stored in the vast Smithsonian archives, where another pharaoh is revived and hopes to use that tablet “to summon my army of the dead.” He enlists Napoleon, Al Capone and Ivan the youknow-what.

Larry must bust into the Smithsonian and save the world, because tonight, history really does “come alive” in the largest museum in the world.

Amy Adams plays a plucky and adorably sexy Amelia Earhart, who resolves to help Larry on his quest. Everything from Rodin’s The Thinker to The Lincoln Memorial plays a role. All heck breaks out in the Air and Space Museum, home of the Wright Brothers and the Tuskegee Airmen (Craig Robinson, given nothing funny to do).

These are kids’ movies with the odd moment of History with a capital H. General Custer (Bill Hader of Saturday Night Live, amusing) has his moment of doubt, Lincoln and Roosevelt toss a few of their immortal words our way and Amelia Earhart keeps getting lost. Adams is the heart of the movie. That Amelia had moxie.

It’s a clunky, stumbling film. But it’s funny to see Hill, Hader, Azaria and Adams push Stiller toward something like his old A-game. Managing that in a movie likely to lure children into museums makes this Battle, if not an outright win, at least a draw.

Watch the trailer – By Roger Moore

REVIEWS

14

22 May 2009

Music

No Dunderheads

How Radiohead’s business model shook up the music industry

By Greg Kot Chicago Tribune

(The following is an excerpt from Greg Kot’s new book,Ripped:How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music, Scribner, US$25.

Ripped tells the story of a new grassroots music industry,created by the laptop generation, with the fans and bands in charge.

In this excerpt, Radiohead reinvents the way in which it distributes music directly to its fans.) *** Whenever he considered the possibility of Radiohead going into business for itself, guitarist Jonny Greenwood got a little queasy.“It makes me think we’re gonna be sitting in endless business meetings talking about how to do it off our own backs, rather than sitting in studios recording music.”

But Radiohead was genuinely unsettled by what it saw as the major labels’inability to adapt to the marketplace. The long lag time imposed by the majors between finishing an album and actually releasing it to set up a proper big-budget marketing campaign was particularly irritating.The band appreciated that its fans were almost ridiculously vigilant. As soon as word would get out that Radiohead had finished working on an album,the Internet began to buzz with anticipation.A leak of the new music would inevitably follow, and Radiohead fans were soon sharing the music and debating its merits.

Inevitably, Web sites would jump in with their critiques of the still-unreleased work.

It was flattering and yet frustrating for the band; increasingly, they sensed the problem was not with the fans, but with their label’s inability to keep up with how fans were consuming music.

By the fall of 2007, Radiohead had a new album ready to go, but still hadn’t pulled the trigger on any kind of record deal. It decided to release the album anyway, through its Web site. On Oct. 1, Jonny Greenwood posted a terse announcement on radiohead.com:“Well, the new album is finished, and it’s coming out in 10 days. We’ve called it ‘In Rainbows.’”

So much for the big marketing plan. In the land of the major labels, Greenwood would’ve been drummed out of the public-relations academy for

his utter offhandedness. For an artist of Radiohead’s stature, it was customary for a big label to plot out the details of an album months in advance, to line up shelf space at retail stores, programming at commercial radio, and full-page ads and interviews in Billboard, Rolling Stone, and the usual print-media suspects. But for the first time in its existence, Radiohead had no such constraints. It could now effectively function as its own record company, record store, and distribution service rolled into one – at least temporarily. So Radiohead instructed its fans that on Oct. 10, it would provide an access code to a digital download of the new album to any customer willing to part with an e-mail address.

The price was left to the customer’s discretion, the virtual equivalent of a giant tip jar.

“It’s up to you,”the checkout screen read for preordering the 10-song disc.

Also available to order was an expanded, physical version of the album, to ship two months later.

Priced at the U.S. equivalent of $81, it would include an 18-track double album packaged in both CD and vinyl versions, with lyrics, artwork, and photographs in a hardback book and slipcase.

Radiohead’s distribution strategy for “In Rainbows”reduced the decade-long debate over Internet downloading to a single, deceptively simple question: “What’s this piece of music really worth to you?”It was a question that respected the intelligence of the potential buyer, a question that bristled with moral, ethical, economic and aesthetic considerations.And yet it was a question that could be answered with a simple mouse click, in prices ranging from $0.00 to $99.99 (the order form didn’t accommodate threedigit dollar figures).

It was a brilliant move made even more potent by its timing. Only a week before, a federal jury in Minnesota had awarded the record industry a $220,000 judgment against Jammie Thomas for the crime of downloading 24 copyrighted songs and making them available for file sharing.Thomas was hardly alone. At the very moment her verdict was being read, more than 9 million consumers were sharing music files around America, according to media management company BigChampagne.

As one of the more marketable names in the business,Radiohead was in a position where it didn’t have to give away anything. It had the cachet to charge

$10 or more for its music, and rest assured that most of its fans would gladly pay. But it clearly wanted no part of a music industry that labels its own customers as thieves. By declaring,“It’s up to you,”Radiohead made it clear whose side it was on.

The Internet exploded with Radiohead-related chatter. In the three days after the announcement, blogpulse.com,a search engine that reports on daily blog activity,showed more than a 1,300 percent increase in the number of posts mentioning the band.

The behind-the-scenes mechanics of the deal were intriguing, all the more so because Radiohead really wasn’t interested in talking about them – perhaps because it might’ve appeared unseemly to gloat.The band stood to profit handsomely from any paid download.

What’s more, they didn’t have to share the money with any middlemen.

Ken Waagner, the tech guru for Wilco, estimated that Radiohead spent $5,000 to $10,000 to process the flood of orders and downloads on its Web site.

Those distribution costs are minimal compared with what pioneers such as Prince faced a decade ago when fans ordered CDs from his Web site. Rather than e-mailing a code to customers leading them to a download page, Prince had to manufacture, package, and ship CDs, and struggled to keep up with demand.

Prince, like Radiohead, was able to pull it off because he had a large fan base for his music built up over years of promotion and marketing by a major label before he went into business for himself.

This factor often was overlooked in media coverage of Radiohead’s new business model, but it was critical to its success.

“Radiohead’s developed a pretty good brand name over the years,”Allman Brothers Band manager Bert Holman says.

“There’s artistic merit, but they also had a major label doing a lot of marketing for them.They’re in a position where, of course, they can do something like this.And so could a few others – U2, Pearl Jam, Dave Matthews.These are bands that benefited from the old system. But it’s not really applicable to reinventing the music business.”

Radiohead didn’t want to lead a revolution. Its goal was far more modest: to leak its own album, give fans a taste of the new music, and invite them

Radiohead instructed its fans that on Oct. 10, it would provide an access code to a digital download of the new album to any customer willing to part with an e-mail address.

The price was left to the customer’s discretion, the virtual equivalent of a giant tip jar to buy the sonically superior physical product once it became available in a few months. If the band screwed up, it was in offering “In Rainbows”in the form of relatively low-fidelity 160 kilobits per second MP3s.

A year after the release of “In Rainbows,”the big numbers started to roll in.The album had sold 3 million copies, including downloads from radiohead.com, according to the band’s publisher,Warner/Chappell.

The sales from the band’s Web site alone exceeded the total sales for the band’s previous album,“Hail to the Thief.”The figures included 100,000 limitededition box sets, sold at the U.S. equivalent of $81 – an $8 million haul, with the band keeping most of the profits.The publicity windfall helped ensure one of the most successful tours of 2008, with the band playing to 1.2 million fans.

It was an impressive accomplishment, if only an intriguing first step in a new direction for the business as a whole. This revolution, as successful as it was, could have used a few tweaks: the low-bit-rate digital release was slipshod; after two months, the Radiohead Web site stopped offering the nameyour-price MP3 files; and the band ended up tying its fate to a traditional record label (albeit an independent one) rather than pioneering a new marketplace dynamic.

Perhaps that was too much to ask of any band.

REVIEWS

22 May 2009

NEW CD RELEASES Jarvis Cocker

0Further Complications 0Rough Trade For his second solo album, former Pulp frontman and trenchant Britpop wit Jarvis Cocker has grown a beard and cranked up the midlifecrisis rock. Now 45, the avuncular intellectual of the mid-’90s scene that also spawned Oasis and Blur has turned to a producer of that era – Steve Albini,of Nirvana and Pixies renown – to give“Further Complications”a rugged,at times raucous, full-band, live-in-the-studio feel.

Some trademark bon mots do appear.“I met her in a museum of paleontology, I make no bones about it,”Cocker sings in the weary come-on “Leftovers.”

He also gets off some good lines in “I Never Said I Was Deep”–“the phrase I would like carved on my tombstone,”he has said, disingenuously.And he kicks up a properly cacophonous storm of self-loathing in “Caucasian Blues.” But too often “Complications” trades in Cocker’s well-spoken distinctiveness for a bar-band squall that’s a tad on the generic side. It also suffers from particularly poor song sequencing, starting off with the nondescript“Angela”and saving more memorable songs, like the winning weather metaphor“Slush”and the attractively sleazy“You’re In My Eyes (Discosong)”for dead last.

15

Books

A sensitive 12-yearold in Reif Larsen’s gorgeous debut novel The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet 0Reif Larsen 0The Penguin Press (US$27.95)

Let’s get the background buzz out of the way: Reif Larsen is 29 years old, lives in Brooklyn and has an MFA from Columbia University. He has written an ambitious and smart first novel, The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet, featuring minutely drawn maps, annotations and illustrations. It was bought at auction for a bit less than a million dollars, following a frenzy that had 10 publishers vying for the manuscript; international rights were sold in 22 countries. Not bad for a first-time author.

T.S. Spivet – his initials stand for“Tecumseh Sparrow,”which is fully explained – is a rather peculiar 12-year-old boy, narrating in his inimitably charming voice. He lives with his family on a ranch in Montana, where he spends his days immersed in cartography. No topic is too esoteric for his intricate maps and diagrams, displayed in the book’s margins.

(They were created by the author and Ben Gibson, –Dan DeLuca who designed the book’s quirky typography.)

To call T.S. obsessive would be an understatement.

Tinted Windows He fussily charts, among other things, his father’s 0Tinted Windows whiskey-drinking habit, birthplaces of the world’s 0Curve major religions and the stages of male pattern baldness. He has a clandestine career, publishing his drawings in exhibitions and science magazines. No Dust off the old “supergroup” one knows he’s just a talented kid. label.This ad hoc quartet is made But unlike, say, a character in a Wes Anderson up of singer Taylor Hanson, the film,T.S.’eccentricity doesn’t seem tacked on for its poster boy from the sibling trio own sake.A deep sense of loss and loneliness drives Hanson; guitarist James Iha the boy’s compulsive behavior – namely, the death from Smashing Pumpkins; bass of his 10-year-old brother, Layton. (Since Layton’s player Adam Schlesinger from Fountains of Wayne; death, T.S. hides his name in the borders of every and drummer Bun E. Carlos from Cheap Trick. map he draws.)

All that’s missing is Rick Springfield. The ‘80s Then there’s his teenage sister, Gracie; his tacisinger of “Jessie’s Girl” would fit right into this turn, disapproving cowboy father; and his preocalbum’s retro mood of catchy pop melodies fizzing cupied mother, Dr. Clair Linneaker Spivet, whom atop arena-anthem foundations.

T.S. calls “Dr. Clair” rather than “mom.”A coleopCredit Schlesinger, Tinted Windows’ principal terist obsessed with a rare beetle, Dr. Clair is, her songwriter, for providing material that is contagious son explains,“the kind of mother who would teach (“Kind of a Girl”), nostalgic (the Byrds-like chiming you the periodic table while feeding you porridge guitars on“Without Love”), and clever (the nod to as an infant, but not the type, in this age of global Slim Harpo on“Messing with My Head”). terrorism and child kidnappers, to ask who might – David Hiltbrand be calling her children on the telephone.”

T.S. has just two friends, and one of them, his Joe Lovano/us Five mentor, Dr.Terence Yorn, an entomology professor, 0Folk Art secretly submits a portfolio of T.S.’ scientific draw0Blue Note ings to the Smithsonian. One day T.S. receives a call informing him that the submission has won a prestigious prize.

Saxophonist Joe Lovano’s new When he’s invited to Washington to deliver an CD is an artful one. It requires acceptance speech and begin his yearlong residency, big ears to take in this set of nine T.S. lies about his age and level of education (sevoriginals, but Lovano, one of the enth grade) and decides to “hobo it”east. He hops music’s reigning reed players, can a freight train, hitchhikes, encounters great danger swing between squeaking free and subsists mostly on McDonald’s and beef jerky. jazz and hard swing rooted in the jazz tradition His journey is not only geographical but one of – sometimes in the same tune. tremendous personal revelation.T.S. discovers a pri“Song for Judi,” with pianist James Weidman’s vate journal of his mother’s inside his suitcase, and old-time intro, becomes soaring and beautiful as the text unfolds, he gains a richer understanding (Lovano is married to singer Judi Silvano), while of his family – namely, that they are in severe denial “Drum Song” begins with gongs and has a hide- about Layton’s death and that he should no longer and-seek melody that cavorts with the set’s two blame himself. drummers, Francisco Mela and Otis Brown III, who There’s something very poignant about how T.S. mysteriously complement each other. slips his insights into the marginalia, as if exposLovano is prone to changing horns here: tenor, ing vulnerability directly would be too intimate or straight alto saxophone, alto clarinet, and taragato, unsettling. He is only a child, after all. a fatter cousin of the clarinet that gets a screeching This is a book to be read slowly, savoured for its workout here on“Dibango.” digressions and offbeat characters. It’s true that Smoky atmospherics abound on the title track, the naive-male-prodigy-on-a-mission is familiar typical of the new-and-old synthesis that Lovano, (The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time 56, pulls off. comes to mind), and that whimsy and charm can –Karl Stark often seem forced and cloying. But that isn’t the case

here. For T.S., mapping is“not an act of forgery but of translation and transcendence.” He documents everything and everyone in order to have a sense of purpose and to beat back profound loneliness.

full years of war, though observers fear the relative calm could collapse when U.S. troops withdraw from the cities by June’s end.

Ever since U.S. troops invaded Iraq in 2003, – By Carmela Ciuraru journalists, scholars and soldiers have weighed in on the causes and consequences of the conflict, contributing to an expanding canon of nonfiction reportage and analysis. What more could be said at this hour?

But along comes The Weight of a Mustard Seed, a quiet quasi-biography that sets out to broaden our Love and Obstacles: Stories understanding of Iraq – post and pre-invasion – 0Aleksandar Hemon with a simple yet compelling idea.The protagonists 0Riverhead (US$25.95) aren’t trigger-itchy soldiers, suit-clad diplomats or cowboy reporters but those directly affected by this Aleksandar Hemon can be a huge bungle of a war:The Iraqis. stolid prose writer, which makes Wendell Steavenson uses the story of Kamel the extraordinary acclaim Sachet, a Sunni general who served in Saddam Husaccorded him a puzzlement. sein’s Baath Party, and his family to tell a larger His compelling backstory may story about life under 30 years of tyranny. In the be part of it: Young Bosnian process, Steavenson has produced a stirring meditajournalist stranded in America tion on morality and compromise, complicity and when war breaks out at home service. Central to the book’s thesis is this question: improbably teaches himself to How and why do the rank-and-file turn into killing write literary fiction in English – a rare achieve- machines instead of running away? ment that places him in the company of titans the A former Time magazine reporter who has also likes of Joseph Conrad and Vladimir Nabokov. written for The NewYorker, Granta and Slate, SteavPerhaps Hemon is more comfortable in the short- enson stumbled upon this question while working story form,but that lumpish quality is almost entirely in Iraq as a free-lance journalist at the dawn of the absent from his new collection. Love and Obstacles is invasion. Like so many of her deadline-driven colwritten in a nimble and entertaining style. leagues, she was holed up in the Hamra, a wornLike most of Hemon’s work, the stories here are down hotel just outside the Green Zone compound autobiographical, swinging back and forth – some- in Baghdad. Though the streets rumbled with times in the same tale – from the life of an aspiring explosions, Steavenson ventured out, interviewwriter in Bosnia to his struggles as an involuntary ing those who knew Sachet:Wife, children, friends, immigrant in America. military colleagues, a former cellmate. Outside Iraq, The best,“Death of the American Commando,” she tracked down the exiles living “the patched up covers an impressive range of time and material.A half-life”in the country’s suburbs – Amman, Beirut, successful Bosnian-cum-American writer is being Damascus, Dubai, London. interviewed by a young Bosnian ex-pat documenThrough her living-room reporting, Steavenson tary filmmaker. Under her scrutiny, he tells a long builds the biography of General Kamel Sachet Aziz anecdote from childhood, regarding juvenile delin- al Janabi.The son of a poor farmer, Sachet climbed quencies with other boys, that proves a crucial point the military ranks, was jailed for sedition during in the development of his character. the Iran-Iraq war and earned Saddam’s praise.The It’s a terrifically rewarding story, as are many career afforded him cars, cash and a farm, but he others.“The Bees, Part 1” derives much pathos by sold the vehicles and used the proceeds to build examining the author’s father through his apiary mosques. All these things about Sachet may seem obsessions.“Szmura’s Room”humanizes the trials contradictory, but they speak to the protean nature facing a Bosnian refugee and the odd and violent of life under Saddam.

American who gives him a place to stay.“The ConNarrowing in on the Iraqi psyche,Steavenson seeks ductor”is a portrait of the author as a neophyte and to understand how one justifies his or her actions – or his relationship with an alcoholic Bosnian poet of ignores them.“Locked inside our own skulls, none of great accomplishment. us can claim perspective enough to judge ourselves Hemon’s pieces are full of concise observation clearly.But maybe,somehow,the truth does exist,like and turns of phrase, as in this description of a hated a kernel, deeper than thought and thinking, beyond construction-site guard eating lunch:“He munched the reach of rationalization, society, memory, condetachedly, without appetite, as though the purpose ditioning, experience.”Lying to oneself and others, of chewing was to make his jaw less lonely.”

Steavenson writes, is essential to survival.

Given the degree of autobiographical content,and Elsewhere, the author turns to the work of psythe apparent lack of shaping imagination, several of chologists Philip Zimbardo and Stanley Milgram, these pieces seem more sketches than short stories. whose experiments suggest that ordinary people But that’s not necessarily a negative criticism. The are too willing to heed authority figures even if that sketch, in which a person’s character is displayed means doing ghastly things to others.The outcome through anecdote rather than dissected through underscores the many explanations she receives imaginative storytelling, is a genre with a long and from the Baathies.“If I am a general and they tell respectable tradition. Hemon makes the most of it. me to invade that village, I will invade the village – By Chauncey Mabe and kill everyone on the way and I will come back home and I will make my prayers,”a Baathie psychiatrist told Steavenson.“It has nothing to do with honour. It is fear.”

Steavenson reveals herself as a diligent reporter, The Weight of a Mustard Seed: The reconstructing complex and distant narratives from Intimate Story of an Iraqi General hours of interviews.At times, her prose shines: She and His Family During Thirty Years writes as if she wants to tell this story with a whisof Tyranny per. At others, the prose stumbles, and some might 0Wendell Steavenson quibble with the awkward language:“Saddam cre0Harpercollins (US$24.99) ated slaves and henchmen in one mind.”

The Weight of a Mustard Seed reminds readers of Iraq is still shrouded in smoke the question of whether the Bush administration and fire and ash. Roadside had even the slightest understanding of Islam or bombings persist as the bone- the history of Iraq. Had this insightful book been rattling norm, but the inter- released sooner, perhaps the United States would necine strife behind them has have understood more about Iraqi society. But the largely subsided. Everyday Ira- lessons it imparts may come too late. qis are eager to move on after six – By Trenton Daniel

Inward gaze of Bosnian expat

Iraqi general’s story

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