TGIF 4 Dec 09

4 December 2009 NZTONIGHT

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EDITION

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www.tgifedition.com

ISSN 1172-4153 | Volume 2 | Issue 51 |

| 4 December 2009

Woman in labour turned away on the

By Ian Wishart

A woman in labour, faced with a 50km dash to hospital in the middle of the night, stopped at a 24 hour service station begging to use the toilet, but was told to go away by the Mobil attendant on duty.

Details of the case surfaced on Newstalk ZB’s Danny Watson show this afternoon, when the father of the woman involved contacted the radio station to tell the story of last week’s nightmare birth experience.

Mobil’s corporate affairs department in Australia is investigating the case, which happened around 1am last Friday morning at the company’s Para-

paraumu service station, north of Wellington.

A growing number of late night ‘drive offs’ and robberies led oil companies to shut their doors after 10pm and demand customers pre-pay for fuel.

Danny Watson’s listeners heard how the couple, driving from the Kapiti Coast into Wellington at 1am, searched desperately for a public toilet when the birthing mother felt an urgent need for one.

“The only place open was a Mobil service station at Paraparaumu,” the listener told Watson in an email, but the middle aged man on duty refused to let the distressed woman inside, on the grounds it would breach company policy.

TGIF Edition contacted Mobil’s corporate affairs office in Melbourne for an explanation, but they had not replied by press time.

The incident sparked a fierce debate on the radio network about the balance between company policy and common-sense in emergency, or potentially emergency, situations – such as incidents where a woman trying to escape male assailants might bang on the door of a service station to escape a possible rape or domestic violence situation.

Although they were turned away from the Mobil station, the pregnant couple gave birth to a healthy baby boy in hospital a few hours later.

Tiger found shoeless and snoring after crash

The strange connection Page 2

ABs have point to prove Page 11

Woods, 29, after the National Enquirer reported the golfer had an affair with New York nightclub hostess Rachel Uchitel, 34. With Los ORLANDO, FLA. – The once-pristine image of golf Angeles cocktail waitress Jaimee Grubbs, 24, the superstar Tiger Woods took more blows today after rev- number of reported mistresses now stands at three.

Today’s news raised more questions than elations that neighbours found him lying shoeless and snoring on his Isleworth street after he plowed his SUV answers. In the recording, Tiger Woods’ neighbour Jarius Lavar Adams and sister Kimberly Harris had into a fire hydrant and tree.

These details, included in an interview recorded by no information on why he came to be in his postFlorida Highway Patrol troopers of neighbours who crash state. They told troopers Woods’ family barely rushed to Woods’ aid, emerged as a celebrity gossip spoke with them.

Highway patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Monpublication reported that yet another party girl had trysts tes said her agency had no comment. with Tiger Woods.

Moquin didn’t confirm or deny reports Kalika Moquin, 27, a marketing manager for The Bank nightclub in Las Vegas, “hooked up” with the champion golfer of her encounters with Tiger Woods. as recently as late October, Life &Style magazine reported. A press conference scheduled by Tabloid reports blamed the Nov. 27 crash on a quarrel Uchitel was canceled by her highthey said Woods, 33, had with his wife Elin Nordegren Continue reading

STICKY TRAP Mice find Govt ally Page 3

Gun slaying in Warkworth Inspector Keith Brady told a press conference at the Warkworth Fire Station today, the man in custody was known to police.

He said it appeared the man drove the deceased to the medical centre seeking help, but the woman was dead by the time doctors arrived at his car in the carpark.

“We don’t believe anyone else is involved, but we are in the early stages of this investigation so we can’t confirm this yet.”

No one else was threatened in the incident.

FEET & SEX

THE BARBARIANS

By Anika Myers Palm and Willoughby Mariano The Orlando Sentinel

WARKWORTH, DEC 4 – Rodney District police have launched a homicide investigation after a young Warkworth woman was fatally shot and found outside a medical centre this afternoon.

Police say the woman, aged about 20, was driven from her Percy Street home about 2pm by a man believed to be in his early 20s.

The man was now being questioned by police.

It was understood the couple had been in a relationship.A firearm was found at the scene.

INSIDE

Eight detectives and 10 general duties officers were working at two crime scenes in Warkworth – the medical centre, in Neville Street, and a Percy Street residence.

Mr Brady said he hoped to have the medical centre scene cleared tonight so a post mortem could be conducted tomorrow morning.

The woman’s name will not be released until nextof-kin have been notified.

– NZPA

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NEW ZEALAND

2

4 December 2009

off BEAT RESEARCHER: FEET SIGNAL SEXUAL ATTRACTION MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, DEC. 4 (UPI) – A British psychologist said his research indicates foot movements are one of the most powerful indicators of whether a woman finds a suitor attractive.

Professor Geoff Beattie, dean of psychological sciences at the University of Manchester, said he examined how people move their feet in a number of situations and found women tended to move their feet away from their bodies, adopting more open-leg stances, when speaking with someone they find attractive, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Beattie said crossing the legs or keeping them tucked under the body is a sure sign of a lack of sexual attraction among women.

The professor said he found men did not reveal sexual attraction through their feet, but both men and women signal they are being dishonest with an unnatural lack of foot movement. He said men also tend to move their feet more when they are nervous, while women keep their feet still while feeling the same emotion.

RECEPTIONIST, 87, HAS NO RETIREMENT PLANS GLENDALE, WIS. – An 87-year-old Wisconsin woman who celebrated her 51st anniversary Tuesday with a Milwaukee-area shoe importer says she has no plans to retire.

Rose Schulz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel she did not understand why anyone would want to interview her.

“Oh my goodness; I don’t know why,” she said. “I’m just a plain Jane.”

For most of her time at Weyco Group, which employees about 200 people in Wisconsin, and imports Florsheim and other brands of shoes, Schulz has been a receptionist working the front desk.

When the current president of the company, John Florsheim, was born, Schulz had already been with Weyco for five years.

He remembers Schulz giving him candy when he visited the office as a child when his father, Thomas Florsheim, was president.

Schulz is an old-style receptionist wearing a headset and working a switchboard. Callers get her voice live, not voice mail.

While she says she might have quit if her husband, who died 25 years ago, had lived longer, she plans to stay at Weyco for the foreseeable future.

“So often they’ve said, ‘Rose, we want you here as long as you want to be here.’ And that means a lot,” she said.

OXYGEN-THIEF GIVES UP ATTEMPTS TO PRODUCE MILK STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN, (UPI) – A Swedish man who spent months attempting to pump milk from his breasts has given up on the failed attempt, his observers said.

Magnus Talib, a member of the editorial team for TV show Aschberg, which has been observing the progress of Milkman Ragnar Bengtsson, 26, said the young father’s daily three-hour breast pumping failed to produce any milk, The Local reported Tuesday.

All he got was sore breasts, Talib said of Bengtsson’s attempt, which began in September.

However, Talib said Bengtsson has another perk coming from his project – he is flying to the United States this week to film an appearance on The Tyra Banks Show.

‘CHRISTMAS ELF’ ARRESTED IN BOMB HOAX MORROW, GA., DEC. 4 (UPI) – Authorities in Georgia said a man dressed as an elf was arrested for allegedly telling a mall Santa that he was carrying explosives.

Morrow police said William Caldwell III, 45, got in line to have his picture taken with Santa Claus at the Southlake Mall at about 6:45 p.m. and allegedly told St. Nick that he was carrying dynamite in his bag, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Police quickly arrested Caldwell and a bomb squad determined the dynamite threat was a hoax.

Caldwell was booked into the Clayton County Jail on charges of having hoax devices, making terroristic threats, false imprisonment, simple assault, reckless conduct, disorderly conduct and false public alarm.

Investigators said Caldwell was dressed as a Christmas elf but was not affiliated with the mall or its Santa Claus.

File

GE labs duck for cover over ‘escape’ WELLINGTON, DEC 4 – Massey University officials say their researchers are not to blame for the escape of genetically engineered plants found in the wild

by Plant and Food Research at Lincoln.

“Massey has no involvement in the research being done by Plant and Food at Lincoln,” a university spokesman said today. He said the university was conscious of its responsibilities in terms of GE containment and had robust systems in place.

A spokeswoman for Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry biosecurity staff said yesterday that import of the GE construct found in the grounds of Plant and Food had been approved by environmental risk regulators under an application filed by Massey in 1999, and it had been approved for use on the Lincoln site.

The Environmental Risk Management Authority (Erma) said today that when approval was given for a GE organism to be imported into containment, other researchers could use the same organism, as long as they kept to the specific conditions placed on its use by the authority.

Plant and Food’s chief executive Peter LandonLane – whose staff last week found the GE“escapes” in two wild arabidopsis plants outside the glass-

house – said when the find was disclosed:“It is unclear how these seedlings came to be outside the facility as they do not match to any work Plant & Food Research has done.

Regulatory controls on approval for the original import of GE seed were retrospectively changed in November 2006 to “future proof” the decision, official records showed.

Wording of the control on breach of containment was altered, and Erma removed control requiring ANY BREACH OF facilities to be inspected by them, its agent or CONTAINMENT RAISED enforcement officers A critic of some uses of genetic engineering techQUESTIONS ABOUT THE nology,Soil and Health spokesman Steffan Browning, INTEGRITY OF CONTAINMENT has said the key question is how the GE construct PROGRAMMES, THE found in the open at Lincoln escaped containment.

One possibility was that the plants or seeds had CONDITIONS SET BY been spread by humans.

REGULATORS SUCH AS ERMA, But any breach of containment raised questions AND THEIR ENFORCEMENT BY about the integrity of containment programmes, the conditions set by regulators such as Erma, and AGENCIES SUCH AS MAF’S their enforcement by agencies such as MAF’s bioseBIOSECURITY ARM curity arm.

Mr Browning last year found engineered kale “There is evidence suggesting they have come plants re-growing in a cleared field trial plot, and from a third party,”he said.

Plant & Food scrapped its 10-year trial of GE brocBut Massey said today it was not the“third party” coli, cauliflower, cabbage and forage kale at that side. referred to by Plant and Food.

– NZPA

Psycho soldier practiced killing on a ‘mate’ A teenage soldier said curiosity drove him to try to stab his sleeping roommate to death in their bunkroom at the Tekapo Military Camp.

The former soldier, now aged 19, today pleaded guilty in the High Court at Christchurch to charges of attempted murder and burglary for the incident on June 26, last year.

Logan Wiki Hodgson stabbed his roommate several times as he lay sleeping.When he was asked by the police why he would want to kill someone he had described as a friend, he replied he felt that if he could kill a friend he could kill anyone.

At a later interview he was asked what had led him to the point where he wanted to kill a friend.

He replied,“One word - curiosity.”

Justice Graham Panckhurst remanded Hodgson in custody for sentence in the High Court at Timaru on December 16. He called for a pre-sentence report.

Hodgson said,“Thank you, Sir,”as he was taken back into the cells.

The police said the victim was aged 19, and Hodgson was aged 17 at the time of the incident during a military exercise at Tekapo.The night of the stabbing, the pair lay down on their bunks, talked briefly, and then the victim dozed off.

Hodgson got up at midnight and went outside for a while, listening to music on his MP4 player.After an hour, he returned to the bunkroom, took out a pocket knife and opened the blade.

He stood with the knife in his hand, watching the victim sleep. He then tried to stab him in the throat, to sever his vocal cords and stop him crying out. He hesitated as he was about to stab and the victim stirred and rolled over. Instead of the throat, the blow hit the victim in the face near his eye.

There was a second stab to the face as the victim woke up and protected himself with his arms.

Hodgson stabbed him in the forearms and hands as he tried to get at his throat. The victim began calling out and Hodgson ran off, leaving the camp

and heading towards Twizel.

A medic in the next room heard the victim’s cries and found him lying covered in blood. Hodgson broke into a rabbiters’bach at a station along State Highway 8, where he stole civilian clothing, a sleeping bag, towel, biscuits, and a bottle of lemonade. He moved on and slept on the ground in a stand of trees.

A police patrol car out searching for him spotted him next morning as he continued walking south.

During an interview at the Timaru Police Station with members of the Triage Assessment and Crisis team – to assess his risk to himself or others – Hodgson admitted he wanted to kill his roommate.

“He said that he regretted hesitating while standing over the victim and that had he not done so, he would have achieved his purpose,” the police said.

“Frustrated at his hesitation, he stabbed at the victim randomly, until he awakened and cried out for help.”

– NZPA

NEW ZEALAND

4 December 2009

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‘Better mousetrap’ meets sticky end WELLINGTON, DEC 4 – Agriculture officials are to ban cruel glueboards – eight years after animal welfare advisers first asked the Government to ban the so-called“sticky mousetraps”.

Animal welfare lobbyists have criticised the traps as inhumane because they are not designed to catch and kill the animals as quickly and humanely as possible.

One company advertises its“non-poisonous mouse and insect glueboard trap”as safe to use in restaurants, hospitals, pet shops and childcare centres.

But the National Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (Nawac) called for a ban in 2002 because when a mouse gets stuck few people take the time to free it and kill it. Some people would simply throw the glueboard and mouse into the nearest bin for a lingering death.

Agricultural Minister at the time, Jim Sutton, did not publicly canvass whether any pain or distress caused by the glueboards was unreasonable, or whether the trap could be modified to avoid unacceptable effects.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry biosecurity officials today announced that from January 1, glueboards will be illegal for catching rodents, but can continue to be used for insects.

Using or selling a restricted glueboard trap will be an offence under the Animal Welfare Act, carrying a maximum penalty of 6 months in prison or a $25,000 fine for an individual, or a fine of up to $125,000 for a company.

But though the ban has been sought for over seven years, MAF will give a further four years of legal use of the glueboards, until the end of 2014, to commercial pest control operators; pest controllers in food production factories, Department of Conservation workers and contractors; and boat operators working close to pest-free islands.

From January 2015 their use and sale of glueboards will be totally prohibited.

MAF’s animal welfare director, David Bayvel, said that glueboards were no longer acceptable from an animal welfare perspective.

“There are welfare concerns over the pain and distress exhibited by captured rodents, the length of time they may be left on the traps and the potential for inhumane disposal,”he said.

“Groups who routinely use glueboards as part of their business are encouraged to investigate and develop alternatives that are more humane.”

Other mousetraps which have raised cruelty questions have included battery-powered models that electrocute up to 20 mice in the life of four AA batteries, or 100 rodents in a commercial unit with six C cells.

USING OR SELLING A RESTRICTED GLUEBOARD TRAP WILL BE AN OFFENCE UNDER THE ANIMAL WELFARE ACT, CARRYING A MAXIMUM PENALTY OF 6 MONTHS IN PRISON OR A $25,000 FINE FOR AN INDIVIDUAL, OR A FINE OF UP TO $125,000 FOR A COMPANY

– NZPA

Mobile telco’s about to be pinged WELLINGTON, DEC 4 – The Commerce Commission is looking to push ahead on recommendations for mobile termination rates, after an attempt to get Telecom,Vodafone and 2degrees to reach an acceptable agreement among themselves failed.

Mobile termination prices are the wholesale charges mobile phone companies charge for terminating calls or texts from other fixed or mobile networks.

The commission has said its preliminary finding is that the charges are now“significantly”above cost.

Last month the commission invited the three companies to talk to each other to see if they could reach consensus on reciprocity on prices and other terms.

Since then 2degrees’ nominated counsel has advised the commission that discussions had not reached an agreed position between the three parties.

The commission has now asked the three companies to submit any further revised undertakings they want considered by December 15.

Telecommunications commissioner Ross Pat-

terson said the commission intended to complete its analysis and make its recommendation to the Government in a final report early next year.

Telecom and Vodafone did send the commission an aligned proposal last month, but the commission said that proposal continued to reflect rates which were not, in the commission’s preliminary view, capable of being recommended for acceptance.

The rates in the aligned proposal would not sufficiently address concerns about removal of barriers to efficient entry.

The Telecom/Vodafone aligned proposal had not adopted a proposal made by Telecom in a letter to the commission in late October, Dr Patterson said.

Instead, under the Telecom/Vodafone proposal Telecom would align its undertaking at higher voice rates and text rates proposed by Vodafone.

The voice rates in Telecom’s October proposal were above the range of the commission’s benchmarks, Dr Patterson said.

NZ dollar settles, investors await US data WELLINGTON, DEC 4 – The New Zealand dollar market settled down ahead of the release of United States monthly jobs data for November later today.

A higher than expected number was seen as a potential trigger for buying in higher-yielding currencies such as the NZ dollar.

Locally, the focus was also turning to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s monetary policy statement next Thursday.

The NZ dollar was at US72.22c at 5pm from US72.60c at 8am and US72.68c at 5pm yesterday.

It rose as far as US73c on Thursday night.

The RBNZ was expected to keep the official cash rate on hold but rhetoric will be examined for nuances.

“Depending on the tone of the statement, interest rates and the exchange rate are likely to either rise or remain unchanged – there’s little chance of something coming out of the MPS that would inspire a move lower,”Westpac said in a commentary.

“Even if the message intended for public con-

sumption remains that rates are on hold until the second half of the year, investors would recognise a significant shift in the interest rate outlook further ahead and would act accordingly,”Westpac said.

Upbeat eurozone retail sales data overnight added to the positive mood today.

While the European Central Bank kept rates on hold as expected at 1 percent and outlined gradual plans to wind back its liquidity programmes, President Jean-Claude Trichet was not quite as hawkish as expected.

The US dollar dipped against the yen in Asian trading today and the euro also slipped against the yen.

The NZ dollar was at 0.4795 euro at 5pm, from 0.4816 yesterday, while against the Australian dollar it was at A78.20c from A78.16c.

It was 63.66 yen from 63.86 yen yesterday.

The trade weighted index was at 64.16 from 64.38 yesterday.

– NZPA

But the commission’s preliminary view was that on the whole the voice and text rates in Telecom’s October proposal appeared likely to generate broadly sufficient benefits when compared to regulation, that they could be closely considered for recommendation for acceptance.

In a statement today, Telecom said it remained committed to a self-regulatory outcome that would

deliver lower mobile termination rates over time.

Telecom group counsel Tristan Gilbertson said Telecom welcomed the commission’s indication of support for the rates Telecom proposed in October.

Telecom remained willing to move mobile termination rates to levels signalled by the commission if a self regulatory outcome could be secured,Mr Gilbertson said.

– NZPA

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EDITORIAL

4 December 2009

Editorial

Family Matters

The road to Dopenhagen Never before have so few conspired to take so much from so many.This coming week, clowns, charlatans, merchant bankers, carbon traders and pot-smokers will be gathering in the Danish capital, hoping to usher in a new type of global government structure to take command at this moment of planetary crisis.

You might think Copenhagen is all about climate, polar bears, falling icicles and seaside suburbs, but you would be utterly wrong.

In my book Air Con, published earlier this year, I laid out the real science behind global warming theory, and then I laid out the real agenda of those involved – an almost naked grab for power on a scale not attempted since the days of the Roman Empire.

In the past few weeks, that real agenda is no longer almost naked, it has indeed become the full monty. UN IPCC chair Rajendra Pachauri has given an interview to Britain’s Observer this week admitting that climate change is merely “a symptom”of

the real problem: too much wealth and growth in the Western world, and not enough wealth and growth in the Third World.You can read his comments in more detail over the page, but essentially Pachauri spouts the line I warned of in Air Con: the rise of a global entity to rule our lives, tell us what to eat, where we can travel, what we are allowed to buy, build or sell, all in the name of “controlling allocation of global resources”.

What Hitler could not achieve through military might, his spiritual successors are on the eve of ramming through beginning next week, aided and abetted by utterly foolish and naïve politicians like New Zealand’s Nick Smith.

Copenhagen, you see, is less about science and more about resembling an Australian timeshare investment seminar: schmooze and backslapping laid on thick, with ample doses of high-impact lectures and powerpoint presentations featuring

By Bob McCoskrie

melted polar bear cubs, and the constant message, “there is no alternative”.

What chance do the type of people we routinely elect to parliaments around the world have, in the face of the slick green marketing machine?

The Climategate scandal that you read about exclusively in the last TGIF is a speed bump, but not a brick wall in the road to global government.

If our leaders are stupid enough to sign anything in Denmark, only mass demonstrations of hundreds of thousands of people will prevent ratification by parliament on their return. Get ready to lobby your local MPs and let them know how you feel, one way or the other.

This is a battle for survival of the NZ economy, and for national sovereignty. Do we really want to be answerable to unelected rulers in the UN,just because Key and Smith get sucked in by Obama and Gore?

Not while we still have breath. SUBSCRIBE TO TGIF!

Comment

Cowardly act

By Patrick Reusse Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

MINNEAPOLIS – Do you happen to be one of those guys with a feeling of moral superiority over Tiger Woods today because you don’t cheat on the bride?

Here’s a bulletin, pal:You fit with the vast majority of America’s faithful adult males.

You are bulging at the waist. Or you are losing your hair. Or you are living one paycheck to the next. Or you hit a golf ball farther sideways than forward. Or it’s all of the above.

You are like the rest of us.You have been as faithful as a puppy dog, and when your temptation has come from Susan Boyle look-alikes, why not?

Now,if you had biceps fighting to escape extremely fashionable golf shirts, and hats carrying your personal logo to cover a slightly receding hairline, and were hauling in more money than any other athlete in the world, and played the international game of golf better than anyone in history, and had frisky and gorgeous young women throwing themselves at you, as well as the wherewithal to fly such a lass to Australia to help with your relaxation during a tournament, and you still remained completely true to the wife or fiancee, it would be much easier to be impressed with your high moral standards.

I think much less of Tiger Woods than I did a few days ago, but not because he has been exposed as a philanderer.

There was no surprise in that, since with all the assets mentioned above to attract very fetching members of the female gender, the assumption here was that Tiger was getting around – since dang near all celebrity hunks do get around.

The disappointment is that he has proved gutless in facing the music, choosing to stay in Florida rather than show up for today’s start of the Chevron World Challenge, both the No. 1 silly-season event and the source of millions for Tiger’s foundation.

Woods blamed his absence on injuries suffered in his Escalade’s tangle with a fire hydrant and then a tree, but a few scratches wouldn’t mess up his swing any more than Hank Haney already has.

No, the golfer who has been a competitor beyond all others on the course has turned cowardly at the prospect of facing the media and the hecklers in the wake of the revelations that even the beautiful Elin Nordegren – the mother of his two children – could not keep this big cat from straying.

So what does Tiger expect ... that the media and the galleries will let this go away if he makes his 2010 debut as planned for the end-of-January event at Torrey Pines in San Diego?

What he’s done is give the media nine weeks to find more lady friends and the loudmouths in the gallery to come up with more creative taunts.

Woods also lost standing in the macho department with his pleading voicemail to mistress Jaimee

WENN

Grubbs to remove the personal greeting from her cell phone.

It was Grubbs’willingness to share that voicemail and Tiger’s text messages that led Woods to release Wednesday’s statement admitting“transgressions.”

The wording was high-brow, but at its essence the statement was pure Tiger.There was a tepid attempt to take responsibility for the scandal, and yet he succeeded in turning the statement into a screed against an invasion of his privacy.

He has been the face of golf since turning pro 13 years ago,and you can count on one hand the number of times that Woods has explained a subpar round by admitting that he played lousy golf. Ninety percent of the time it’s putts that lipped out or bad bounces.

Tiger’s enormous defense mechanism carried over to Wednesday’s statement that included:“For the

5

last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives.”

Ah, Tiger, you hit the fire hydrant at 2:25 a.m., not anyone from TMZ or US Weekly or even the venerable National Enquirer.

I was in attendance when Tiger won his first Masters as a pro by 12 strokes in 1997, and when he crushed the U.S. Open field by 15 strokes at Pebble Beach in 2000. These performances gave me a fanatical belief that, within his sport, this was the greatest athlete of my lifetime – beyond Gretzky in hockey, well beyond Jordan in basketball.

That Tiger Fever started to cool this summer when he made a fool of himself at the British Open. And now comes the full disillusionment . . . not because of the philandering, but his cowardly response to the headlines.

-Families warned pillow fight may be assault A decision to drag an uncle through court for having a pillow fight with his nephew is an example of the ‘discretion’ test failing and laws such as the anti-smacking law effectively targeting good parents. The case was thrown out in the Wellington District court today just before the trial by jury started.

While this uncle is no saint, the facts of this case and the evidence presented to the police clearly shows that this was no assault yet the police proceeded with a prosecution right through to a trial by jury. It is incredible when a harmless playful gesture between an uncle and a nephew with a soft pillow becomes an assault charge, and suggests that the zero tolerance policy for family violence is overriding discretion and a common sense approach.

It also shows confusion over the definition of violence.

Police effectively don’t have discretion. This reinforces why many people want the anti-smacking law changed to bring certainty to what is or isn’t allowed rather than depending on the ‘inconsequential’ test. Parents deserve that measure of certainty as to how the law will be applied. Fortunately the court has seen the facts for what they are, but that may come down simply to who the judge was on the day.

Parents who previously had faith in police discretion have every reason to be hugely concerned by this case.

-Parental leave priority for both parents The call by the Families Commission to extend paid parental leave to fathers is to be welcomed, but there should also be paid parental leave for mothers for at least 12 months and preferably 2-3 years.

The role of parents during the crucial early years of a child should be acknowledged. Families should not be pressured to return to work simply because of financial concerns. The Parental Leave scheme and other family tax breaks should support and strengthen families with young children.

A recent Department of Labour evaluation showed that only 25% of mothers thought the paid parental leave was long enough, and up to 75% said ideally they would take a year off. Yet the average time at which mothers return to work is when their baby is six months old. Only 14 weeks of that is paid.

While the 14 week paid parental leave lessened money worries, it didn’t provide financial security, and ‘financial pressure’ was cited as a key reason for returning to work earlier than desired.

The Ministry of Health recommends at least six months exclusive breastfeeding and a key objective of the Parental Leave and Employment Protection Act 1987 is improved health outcomes for both mother and child with a mother being able to recover from childbirth, bond with a new baby, and return to work without negative consequences to her health and that of her child.

At the moment, the scheme is falling well short of parental needs.

-Media undermines violence message The ‘White Ribbon’ message is being undermined by failing to restrict the violent and sexual content in our media and public displays.

A recent report documents an alarming rise in violence against women and girls on prime-time television.

It highlights the concern that our unacceptable levels of family violence are potentially being driven by a violent media culture. The increasing use of violence against women as a punch line in comedies such as Family Guy and American Dad also shows a disturbing trivialisation of the seriousness of this issue.

The report correctly concludes that this may be contributing to an atmosphere in which viewers see aggression and violence against women as normative, even acceptable. There is ample evidence and research that shows that violence and sexual content in our media is a significant risk factor for violence in the community and families.

The Boobs on Bikes parade, the sexualisation of children in marketing, a weak response to the growth of hard-core pornography and child pornography, and the underlying sexual themes in many advertisements is also fuelling the view of women and children as objects and cheapens their value and the respect they deserve.

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ANALYSIS

6

4 December 2009

Climategate torpedoes public faith in climate science (and that will take a number of weeks), then I think it is safe to conclude the one world government nutters are buying themselves a massive fight if they and the gullible politicians they are leading by the nose try to ram their daft ideas through after Copenhagen.

Other main points from Rasmussen: Even as Obama and senior members of Congress are pushing major anti-global warming initiatives, Americans overwhelmingly believe they should focus on the economy instead. Seventy-one percent (71%) say the bigger priority for U.S. national leaders is stimulating the economy to create jobs.

It seems what Only 15% say they should focus instead on stopping most concerns Mr. Pachauri now global warming to save the environment. is not climatolForty-four percent (44%) of U.S. voters see a conogy, or glaciology, flict between economic growth and environmental or oceanography protection, although 31% disagree. Forty-seven – but the way we live / Donatella percent (47%) say global warming is caused priGiagnori / EIDON/ marily by long-term planetary trends, not human MAXPPP activity. Obama,Vice President Al Gore and other climate change activists believe human activity is

By Ian Wishart Similar noises have been made in New Zealand by the chief culprit. the Government’s climate gnome Nick Smith, which Voters express mixed feeling about the bill aimed The latest Rasmussen poll in the US shows a majority of illustrates that politicians have blinded themselves at fighting global warming that is now working its people now believe the science on global warming is to the public mood, possibly to their own downfall. way through Congress, but by more than two-to-one not settled, and only 25% of those surveyed believe Although the new poll does not attribute blame they say it will hurt the economy rather than help it. a ‘consensus’really exists. for this massive shift in public perceptions to Climategate…

Most voters also think the news media makes The poll also shows 59% of people say it is at “This skepticism does not appear to be the result global warming look worse than it really is. least somewhat likely that“scientists have falsified of the recent disclosure of e-mails confirming such As for Gore, despite winning both the Nobel Peace research data to support their own theories and data falsification as part of the so-called “Climate- Prize and an Academy Award for his advocacy of beliefs about global warming. Thirty-five percent gate” scandal. Just 20% of Americans say they’ve efforts to fight global warming, only 31% of Ameri(35%) say it’s Very Likely. Just 26% say it’s not very followed news reports about those e-mails Very cans consider him an expert on the topic. or not at all likely that some scientists falsified data.” Closely, while another 29% have followed them The UN is another leading advocate for major As the Rasmussen report makes clear, the poll Somewhat Closely. anti-global warming initiatives, but just 29% of results are in sharp contrast with statements from “That’s a lower level of interest than has been voters see that organization as an ally of the United politicians: shown about the White House party crashers and States, while 15% regard it as an enemy. For 47%, “But just in the last few days, White House suggests that Americans have had their doubts the UN falls somewhere in between. spokesman Robert Gibbs seemed to reject any about the science of global warming for some time.”

The story that we helped break in a worldwide such disagreement in a response to a question …Personally I think that is even more signifi- exclusive with the last TGIF Edition is now reverabout global warming,“I don’t think … [global cant: if public feelings about climate change and berating around the world.Will it be enough to stop warming] is quite, frankly, among most people, in science can be this negative before the real impact a climate change treaty of some kind being formudispute anymore.” of Climategate percolates through the community lated at Copenhagen? Probably not.

As the Wall Street Journal reported earlier today, IPCC boss Rajendra Pachauri seems far more interested in global governance arising from Copenhagen, than he does about climate issues: “It seems what most concerns Mr. Pachauri now is not climatology, or glaciology, or oceanography – but the way we live,”reported the WSJ. “‘Today we have reached the point where consumption and people’s desire to consume has grown out of proportion,’ he told the Observer, also on Sunday.‘The reality is that our lifestyles are unsustainable.’

“Mr. Pachauri’s actions speak even louder than his words. Last month, he branded the Indian environment minister“arrogant”after his office released a study that called into question whether climatechange is causing abnormal shrinkage of Himalayan glaciers. The IPCC’s line is that Himalayan glaciers could be reduced by 80% or disappear entirely by 2035 – but for this factoid, it cites no scientists, only the activist group,World Wildlife Fund.

Now, the meteorologist and expert IPCC reviewer Madhav Khandekar says on Roger Pielke Sr.’s blog that the 2035 date may have been derived from a typo, based on a 1996 paper on snow and ice edited

by V.M. Kotlyakov, which estimates the glaciers could be severely depleted or gone by 2350.

“Mr. Pachauri was not available for comment as of press time, but on his personal Website last week he made clear that the science, for him, comes second.

Conceding that Copenhagen was ‘clearly not making much headway,’ he advocated a focus on ‘the larger problem of unsustainable development, of which climate change is at best a symptom.’

“In other words, if Mr. Pachauri is sanguine about the undermining of the IPCC’s scientific methods, it’s because his chief concern isn’t the science at all.

Rather,to judge by his recent public statements,he is more focused on an ideological economic agenda in which climate change is little more than a useful tool.”

Bearing that in mind, what exactly is it that John Key and Nick Smith are in grave danger of signing New Zealand up to at Copenhagen?

Is Obama Poised to Cede US Sovereignty?

Obama risks failure in Afghanistan Islamist radicals in neighboring Pakistan. It could result in a downward spiral of security in Afghanistan: a resurgent Taliban, eventual collapse of the President Obama’s decision on how to proceed in Afghan government, an even bloodier civil war, Afghanistan is one of the most important he’s likely renewed humanitarian crisis and a refugee exoto face in office. Unfortunately it appears that he dus. Moreover, the Taliban will bring back not just will risk the success of his administration’s new their ally al-Qaeda, but a rogues’ gallery of almost strategy for Afghanistan by providing fewer troop every major Islamist insurgent movement in the reinforcements than his military commanders have world today. recommended.

Resorting to half-measures would be courting The Obama administration deserved praise disaster. Like it or not, Obama is a wartime president earlier this year for recognizing that Afghanistan who must make timely decisions on difficult issues, needed more high-level attention, resources and U.S. sometimes with no guarantee of success.The United troops. In March the president announced the adop- States needs a decisive commander in chief, not a tion of a new counterinsurgency strategy to protect professorial hair-splitter trying to transcend the Afghan civilians, build up the Afghan army and differences of opinion of his staff. police, provide more foreign aid and help Afghans The basic concept of the McChrystal strategy build a more effective national government. He also is sound. U.S. troops must increase the focus on dispatched 21,000 more U.S. troops to lay the foun- protecting Afghan civilians to reduce the space in dation of the new strategy and selected Gen. Stanley which the Taliban can operate freely.

McChrystal to lead the effort.

A major part of this effort must be a “civilian In late August McChrystal submitted a situa- surge” to help build the capacity of the Afghans tion report that concluded that more U.S. troops to govern, fight corruption, restore the rule of law were required to carry out the strategy. McChrystal and revitalize the Afghan economy. But security reportedly requested about 40,000 more troops. But must come first.There must be additional American the White House apparently has gotten cold feet “boots on the ground”to defend civilians – and the about implementing its own strategy, announced sooner, the better. with much fanfare last March, opting for a comTo shore up waning popular support for the war, mitment to provide 30,000 more troops for a period the president needs to be clear with the American of three years. people about what is at stake in Afghanistan and This downsizing of urgently requested troop rein- why the war is not only necessary but winnable. forcements could lead to a dangerous and tragic And he should stress that although the war in outcome. If Obama retreats to a“McChrystal Light” Afghanistan is costly in terms of casualties and option that shortchanges his own hand-picked com- defense spending, losing that war would be much mander, it will greatly increase the risk of failure, more costly and dangerous for the future security not only in Afghanistan but in the struggle against of the United States.

By James Phillips The Heritage Foundation

Obama also needs to lay the groundwork for a bipartisan approach to Afghanistan that would attract renewed popular support. He should emphasize that this is not “Bush’s war”or “Obama’s war”

but America’s war. And he should promise to give his military commanders the tools that they need to fight and win that war.That would be change that most Americans can believe in.

Troop commitment to Afghan War

Currently, 43 nations, including the United States, have troops in the NATO-led force in Afghanistan; additional U.S. troops are also serving.

Top contributors

U.S. troops

NATO-ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) troops; total: 71,028* U.S. U.K. Germany France Canada Italy Netherlands Poland Australia Spain Turkey Denmark 31 other nations *As of Oct. 22, 2009

34,800

Total: 67,800 With NATO-ISAF forces

9,000 4,365 3,095 2,830 2,795

Additional forces

33,000

34,800

Troop deaths Total: 1,531** U.S. 926

2,160 1,910 1,350

U.K. 236

1,000

Canada 133

690

France 36 Germany 34 Others 166

720

6,313 **As of Nov. 30, 2009

Source: NATO-ISAF, iCasualties.org Graphic: Judy Treible © 2009 MCT

021616643 info@identit.co.nz

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WORLD

8

update

in 60 seconds 10-YEAR OLD BOY ‘JUSTIFIABLY TASERED’ PUEBLO, COLORADO, DEC. 4 (UPI) – Authorities in Colorado shocked an out-of-control, 10-year-old boy with a stun gun, a tactic a sheriff’s department captain says was warranted.

The foster child had threatened his foster parent, Daniel Biby of Pueblo West, with a 2-foot-long pipe after destroying property and throwing a stick and landscape timber at him, the Pueblo Chieftain reported this morning. “(The officers) followed all policies and procedures.

This was appropriate use of the Taser device,” said Capt.

Jeff Teschner of the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputy Randy Mondragon said that when he and Deputy Mark Myers arrived, the child ran from them holding the pipe. The boy ran to a neighbour’s yard, where he cornered himself and defied commands to drop the pipe.

The officers deployed the Taser and the boy dropped the pipe. They arrested him, the newspaper said.

“They couldn’t get close enough to deploy pepper spray without putting themselves in danger,” Teschner said.

“This lad, we have a long history of (him) running away.

I don’t know what his entire psychological profile is, but obviously he has emotional distress,” Teschner said.

The boy was booked on suspicion of menacing with a deadly weapon at the Pueblo Youth Center.

PITBULL KILLS 4-YEAR-OLD, UNCLE HELD LONDON, DEC. 4 (UPI) – The uncle of a 4-year-old British boy mauled to death by an illegal pitbull dog has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter, police say.

The victim, John Paul Massey, was attacked Monday at the home of his grandmother, Helen Foulkes, in Wavertree, The Daily Telegraph reported. Foulkes was injured as she tried to pull the dog from her grandson.

The boy’s uncle, Christian Foulkes, 21, of Liverpool, was away with the army when the attack occurred. He returned home after the incident and was detained by police.

Pitbulls are banned in Britain under the Dangerous Dogs Act. POLICE CONFUSE TOURISTS FOR ‘TERRORISTS’ LONDON, DEC. 4 (UPI) – British police are misusing their anti-terrorism powers to stop innocent photographers taking pictures of tourist attractions, a British politician said.

“The fact that someone is taking photographs is not prima facie a good reason for stop and search and is very far from raising suspicion,” Liberal Democrat House of Lords member Alexander Carlile said.

“People have been stopped and searched for taking photos of Christmas lights and even of a fast-food restaurant selling fish and chips,” he said.

A photojournalist named Marc Vallee even set up a campaign group with more than 4,000 supporters called, I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist.

“Photography is not a crime, but it is being routinely criminalized,” he told The Independent.

Britain’s Terrorism Act 2000 includes a provision known as Section 44 that empowers police and Britain’s Home Secretary to define any area in the country as places where they can stop and search any vehicle or person, and seize articles of a kind which could be used in connection with terrorism.

BILL WOULD CREATE FETAL RIGHTS IN ITALY ROME, DEC. 4 (UPI) – A bill that would give fetuses legal rights was introduced in the Italian Senate by the governing center-right coalition Thursday.

Maurizio Gasparri, head of the People of Freedom Party caucus, said the legislation would not change abortion laws, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Women can now obtain abortions during the first trimester of a pregnancy for any reason and later if continuing the pregnancy would risk the mother’s life or health or a fetus is deformed. ‘’What we want is to establish limits against new abortion techniques that violate the law’s original intent,’’ Gasparri said.

Donatella Portetti, a senator representing the largest opposition group, the Democratic Party, said the law is ‘’the government’s latest assault on Italians’ freedom to decide whether they want to live, die or have children.’’

The major debate on abortion in Italy at the moment is whether to allow use of RU486, which can induce abortions chemically. Gasparri did not say whether the proposed bill would affect that debate.

4 December 2009

Americans turning sharply toward isolationism, poll finds since the 1970s – when the U.S. had withdrawn from Vietnam, been hurt by an Arab oil embargo and seen its citizens held hostage in Iran – that a plurality of WASHINGTON – At the very moment when Presi- Americans thought their country was weaker than dent Barack Obama is looking to thrust the U.S. it had been a decade before. ever more into global affairs, from Afghanistan to The shift in sentiment comes after more than climate change, the American public is turning more eight years of war in Afghanistan and almost seven isolationist and unilateralist than it has at any time in Iraq, and in the midst of the worst economy since in decades, according to a new poll released today. the Great Depression.

The survey by the Pew Research Center found a plurality of Americans – 49 percent – think that the IT WAS THE FIRST U.S. should “mind its own business internationally” TIME IN MORE THAN and leave it to other countries to fend for themselves.

It was the first time in more than 40 years of 40 YEARS OF POLLING THAT polling that the ranks of Americans with isolationist THE RANKS OF AMERICANS sentiment outnumbered those with a more internaWITH ISOLATIONIST tional outlook, Pew said.

“The U.S. public is turning decidedly inward,” SENTIMENT OUTNUMBERED Pew said.

The U.S. is also growing more unilateralist, with THOSE WITH A MORE 44 percent saying that the U.S.“should go our own INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK way in international matters, not worrying about whether other countries agree with us or not.”

Just 32 percent of the public favours increasing That was the highest percentage since the ques- U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and only 46 percent say tion was first asked in 1964. it’s likely that Afghanistan will be able to withstand The country also has grown pessimistic about U.S. the threat posed by the Taliban.The survey of 2,000 clout in world affairs.

U.S. adults was taken from Oct. 28-Nov. 8 – before By a margin of 41 percent to 25 percent,Ameri- Obama’s speech on Afghanistan Tuesday night.It has cans think the U.S. is playing a less important role an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. in the world than 10 years ago. It was the first time The public turn toward isolationism comes as

By Steven Thomma McClatchy Newspapers

Obama plans to escalate the U.S. role in Afghanistan with more troops and as he engages with other countries and international institutions on issues ranging from climate change to the economy.

Next week, he will visit Denmark to attend an international conference on climate change, then Norway to accept the Nobel Peace Prize.

On other points, the Pew poll found: -A plurality of Americans, 44 percent, now say that China is the world’s top economic power, while just 27 percent say it’s the U.S.That’s a sharp reversal from nearly two years ago, when 41 percent thought the U.S. was the No. 1 economic power, and 30 percent thought it was China.

-A majority of Americans, 53 percent, see China’s growing power as a “major threat.”That’s virtually unchanged from what the quadrennial poll found in 2001 and 2005.

However, 642 members of the Council on Foreign Relations, who are seen as opinion leaders and also were polled by Pew, had the opposite view. Just 21 percent of them saw China as a major threat, down from 38 percent in 2001 and 30 percent in 2005.

For them, Pew said,“China has been transformed from a major threat to the United States to an increasingly important future ally.”

ON THE WEB For the full report, go to: http://people-press.org/ report/569/americas-place-in-the-world

India says “no binding targets” at Copenhagen NEW DELHI – India today announced it planned to reduce its“carbon intensity”by 20 to 25 per cent by 2020, but reiterated it would not accept any legally binding target at the Copenhagen climate change conference.

Federal Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh also spelled out measures India would be taking to achieve the emission reduction during a discussion in parliament on the impact of climate change.

The measures included a mandatory fuel efficiency standard for all vehicles by 2011, a model building code which local governments would be requested to make mandatory and ensuring that at least 50 per cent of all new coal-based power plants used clean coal technology.

This is the first time that India, the world’s fifthhighest emitter of greenhouse gases, has quantified any emission reduction targets.

Carbon intensity is the rate of positive growth of emission of greenhouse gases, as compared to Western efforts to actually reduce CO2 emissions below 1990 levels. Ramesh said according to a survey by India’s Planning Commission, this“intensity”had reduced by 17.6 per cent between 1990 and 2005, a period which saw rapid economic growth. By 2020 another 20-25 per cent was achievable, he said.

India needed to develop its own data on climate change and evolve a new alternate development model as it was particularly vulnerable to climate change.A bulk of people depended on seasonal monsoon rains for their agriculture-linked livelihoods.

“If we want to go on the low carbon path ...We must follow a different model of growth. Not one where prosperity equals pollution,”Ramesh said.

The environment minister, who is to lead the Indian team to the Copenhagen climate conference set to begin on Monday, said India would not accept any legally binding emission reduction target at Copenhagen nor would it agree to a peaking year for emissions.

“These are non-negotiables,”he said.“We are telling the world that India is ready over the next 15 years to unilaterally ... take the responsibility to

India has been under pressure to announce quantified targets before the Copenhagen conference after several countries including the United States and China recently set such targets

reduce the rate of growth of emissions.

He said various laws would be put in place to ensure action was taken and these would be discussed and progress monitored by parliament.

“We will do everything according to domestic laws and not international agreements,” Ramesh added.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) members are scheduled to meet in Copenhagen from December 7 to reach a new climate pact to replace the Kyoto protocol that expires in 2012.

India along with China, Brazil and South Africa had submitted a draft resolution to the UNFCC that was different from host country Denmark’s draft, Ramesh said.

India has been under pressure to announce quantified targets before the Copenhagen conference after several countries including the United States and China recently set such targets.

India maintains the burden for reducing carbon footprint must be equitable. It says developed countries must reduce their much larger emissions first and make funding commitments to help poorer nations develop emission control technologies so that their economic growth is not hampered.

Ramesh reiterated that India’s per capita emission would never exceed that of developed countries.

India was going to the climate change negotiations in a positive frame of mind, he said.“We are prepared to be flexible.”

After announcing the planned cuts in emission growth, Ramesh said: “At Copenhagen – if we have a successful, equitable agreement, if we are satisfied, we are prepared to do more.This is our baseline.”

Depending on the concessions, India along with China, Brazil and South Africa could modulate their stand, he said.

– DPA

9

WORLD

4 December 2009

Secret Service takes blame for Obama gatecrash

By William Douglas McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – The head of the Secret Service accepted full responsibility this morning for last week’s security breach at President Barack Obama’s first state dinner, but he said that the president and Vice President Joe Biden were never in danger from a party-crashing couple who shook hands and posed for pictures with them.

Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan told the House Homeland Security Committee that his agents were at fault for allowing uninvitedWashington socialitesTareq and Michaele Salahi into a lavish state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Sullivan told the committee that three uniformed agents had been put on administrative leave in the wake of the incident.

“In our judgment, a mistake was made,”he told the committee. “In our line of work, we cannot afford even one mistake. I fully acknowledge that the proper procedures were not followed. ...This flaw has not changed our agency’s standard, which is to be right 100 percent of the time.”

He added:“This is our fault, and our fault alone.”

However, several committee members said it was unfair for the Secret Service to take full blame for the party-crashers, and that they thought that Sullivan was falling on his sword for the White House.

“We always expect the Secret Service to take a bullet for the president, but we don’t expect Secret Service to take a bullet for the president’s staff,”said Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa. Sullivan was the lone witness at today’s hearing, in a room packed with onlookers, reporters and photographers from mainstream media outlets to television’s“Inside Edition.”

The Salahis, who have been angling to become contestants on the Bravo cable network’s upcoming“Real Housewives of D.C.”reality TV series, and White House social secretary Desiree Rogers, who oversaw logistics for the dinner, were invited to

President Barack Obama greets Michaele and Tareq Salahi during a receiving line in the Blue Room of the White House before the State Dinner with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, on November 24, 2009. (Samantha Appleton/The White House/MCT)

testify, but declined. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that White House staff members didn’t answer to Congress.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., ordered staffers to prepare the committee’s first-ever subpoenas for the Salahis and have them ready to be issued next week.He warned that the couple could face charges of contempt of Congress if they fail to respond.

Rep. Peter King of New York, the committee’s top-ranking Republican, said that Rogers also should be subpoenaed. King squarely blamed Rogers, saying that her office didn’t sufficiently staff

the dinner or carefully monitor the guest list. He said that usually at White House social events, a representative of the social secretary’s office was at checkpoints alongside Secret Service agents to monitor the guest list.

“The reality is, social events at the White House is a shared responsibility. ... The social secretary’s office was not standing there with the Secret Service,”King said.“Not one person from the social secretary’s office was standing there. Not one.”

Thompson and other committee members shrugged off King’s accusations.

“Social secretaries don’t plan security, they plan parties,”Thompson said.

Sullivan told the committee that the Secret Service had a planning meeting with the White House before the dinner and it was decided there that Secret Service agents would have the sole responsibility of staffing the checkpoint that the Salahis entered.

Pressed by King on whether the couple would have gotten into the dinner if someone from the social secretary’s office had been at the checkpoint with the agents, Sullivan said,“It would have helped.”

Study: Increased carbon dioxide benefits trees

By Tom Meersman Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

MINNEAPOLIS – Aspen trees, the backbone of Minnesota’s paper industry, are liking the extra carbon dioxide in the air linked to global warming.

New research published Friday found that aspen growth rates increased by 53 percent during the past half-century, as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere increased about 20 percent.

“Trees eat carbon dioxide for a living,”said Don Waller, study author and University of WisconsinMadison botany professor.

As carbon dioxide increases in the air, he said, plants can extract more of it and convert it to sugar through photosynthesis.That speeds up their growth.

The results could be especially important for Minnesota and Wisconsin, where aspen is the dominant species on about 7.3 million acres of timberland.

“It’s the most abundant and the most used species by the forest products industry,” said Tim O’Hara, vice president of forest policy at Minnesota Forest Industries. It is the main species used for paper and certain construction board, he said, and is also used for pallets and other products.

The Wisconsin research is one of the first to study aspen and outdoor carbon dioxide levels in their native forest environment.

Waller and other scientists chose 919 aspen trees, ranging from five to 76 years old, from three regions of Wisconsin.They took core samples from each and analyzed their growth rings. Even accounting for different ages of the trees and rainfall rates over the decades,Waller said, carbon dioxide was the major cause of boosted growth rates.

The study included researchers at the University

of Minnesota-Morris, and was published Friday in Global Change Biology, a national journal.

Waller said that the findings do not mean that aspen will continue to grow at ever-faster rates.The species may already be reaching a saturation point on the limits of how much carbon dioxide it can absorb.

“Aspen may have a relative growth edge right now because of this carbon dioxide fertilization effect,”he said.“But that doesn’t mean necessarily that they’re going to continue growing better forever.”

What happens in the woods will be much more complicated and unpredictable,Waller said. Rapid aspen growth and expansion could trigger an insect infestation or sets off a plant disease. It could also reduce the number of other tree species, he said, and change wildlife habitat.

Previous studies by other researchers have found correlations between carbon dioxide and tree growth, but have used growth chambers or greenhouses that piped in elevated concentrations of the gas. Other scientists studying oak and pine have not observed faster growth rates.

Waller said that carbon dioxide is a more powerful influence on growth than he expected.

Still, he said, nothing can counteract drought, which is killing millions of aspen in Canadian prairie provinces, northern plains states and parts of the West. Colorado alone has lost half a million acres of aspen in this decade – a phenomenon known as “sudden aspen decline” – in large part because of acute drought and increased vulnerability to insects.

“The big lesson here is that there are surprises in nature, and that global climate change isn’t just about temperature,”Waller said.“It would be very difficult and unwise to predict all the ecological consequences of this one research result.”

WORLD

10

4 December 2009

There also are reports by the Chicago Sun-Times that Tiger and Elin Woods are in marriage counseling and are renegotiating their prenuptial agreement to give her more money / Kenneth E. Dennis/ Icon SMI

profile attorney Gloria Allred hours before it was to take place.

And local WFTV-Channel 9’s Eyewitness News reported this afternoon that the three alleged mistresses could just be the tip of the iceberg.The station reported that two more women – from Central Florida – are talking to lawyers, claiming they too have had affairs with Tiger Woods, one of them up until three weeks ago.

There also are reports by the Web site The Daily Beast that Tiger and Elin Woods are in marriage counseling and are renegotiating their prenuptial agreement.“A lawyer familiar with the hastily conducted negotiations of the past 72 hours said that as of Wednesday evening Elin has been offered a $5 million payment immediately if she agrees to stay – and her prenuptial agreement is being revised to give her up to an additional $55 million,”the Web site reported. They are also undergoing marriage counseling, it said.

There also are reports by the Chicago Sun-Times that Tiger and Elin Woods are in marriage counseling and are renegotiating their prenuptial agreement to give her more money.

Tiger Woods’public ordeal began about 2:25 a.m.

Nov. 27 when he drove his Cadillac Escalade out of the driveway of his Deacon Circle home.He careened into a row of hedges, drove over a curb and swerved into a fire hydrant and finally into a neighbor’s tree.

The golfer was not wearing a seat belt.

By the time authorities arrived,Tiger Woods was on the ground outside the SUV. His wife told them she used a golf club to break open rear windows and free him.

TigerWoods was rushed to Health Central hospital in Ocoee with injuries troopers described as “incapacitating.”He was treated and released the same day.

Tiger Woods turned away highway patrol investigators seeking to interview him three times. He was cited with careless driving Tuesday and paid a $164 fine.

Adams and Harris spoke with two troopers just after 6 p.m. Saturday, more than a day after Adams called 911 for help.

In the 16-minute interview, Harris, who was visiting from Texas, said she was in a bedroom when she heard what she described as a“knocking sound”and saw the tail lights of a black truck through a window.

She awakened Adams and asked him to go outside.

Adams saw Tiger Woods, unconscious and snoring, in the street on the passenger side of his 2009 Cadillac Escalade. Elin Woods was wearing a black jogging suit. Woods was wearing a blue shirt and khaki shorts. A golf cart was next to Tiger Woods’ vehicle, with two golf clubs in it.

The golfer’s wife begged for help.

“She said, ‘Can you please help me? Can you please help me?’”Adams said.

“I said ‘OK.’ I immediately just ran back to the house, got the phone, called 911, ran back out the house again to go back out there to see if she needed any assistance,”he said.

Tiger Woods was bleeding.

“Not a lot of blood ... nothing on his shirt, nothing on his hands,”Adams told investigators.

It was cold, so Harris brought a pillow and blankets.

Adams and Harris said they were so distracted by caring for their neighbor that although they realized Woods’Escalade had crashed into the tree, they did not notice any glass or the extent of the damage to the vehicle.

Windermere police arrived first at the scene, followed by security guards for the gated Isleworth community.Tiger Woods’mother and a woman the neighbors thought to be his mother-in-law came out of the golfer’s house at some point after the accident.

The interview did not shed light on how the golf cart came to be at the crash scene.

Tiger Woods did not speak at any time during the ordeal, and his wife did not speak to the neighbors after asking them for help.

They did not smell alcohol on Tiger Woods.

“No alcohol, no other type of drug whatsoever,” Adams said.“Zero.”

Adams and Harris said they did not see any indications that Elin Woods, had been drinking or was Back to the front page impaired.

SPORT

4 December 2009

11

All Blacks with points to prove in tour finale

By Mark Geenty of NZPA

LONDON, DEC 4 – All the focus might be on the Barbarians stars and Richie McCaw, but a fair few All Blacks will be quelling test match-like nerves as they run onto Twickenham for Sunday’s tour finale.

At least half the All Blacks side have points to prove at the end of what the coaches dubbed a sixweek“selection tour”.

For first five-eighth Stephen Donald and tighthead prop John Afoa, it’s their first start of the tour after several bench cameos while others have really only had the scrum-and-kickfest against Italy to show their wares.

For the likes of Donald, Brendon Leonard, Rodney So’oialo, Liam Messam, Jason Eaton and Afoa, it’s a chance to ensure the red pen doesn’t hover over their names before the summer break.

So’oialo, 30, is the interesting figure in the side, with the 62-test All Black having been clearly overtaken by Kieran Read in the No 8 pecking order after a frustrating year.

A heavy workload and a pesky neck injury saw him below his best, but the Wellingtonian vowed he would fight all the way to retain his black jersey next year.

“It is a good battle. It’s easy to get into a team but to stay there is bloody hard.A true test of someone’s character is how well you can bounce back from things,”So’oialo said.

“I’ve done that many times. I’ll simply work hard to come back next year and play really well in Super 14.”

The man who captained the All Blacks four times last year in McCaw’s absence, and also led them against Italy, admitted fatigue got to him after the Super 14 and he would enjoy his four-week break at tour’s end.

“It’s one thing I didn’t do that well this year, I wasn’t smart on the body. I’ve been abusing it for many years for the All Blacks and I probably didn’t listen to it well enough.”

The clear advantage the All Blacks have over the

MaxPPP

Barbarians – dominated by top Springboks and Wallabies – is the fact the second-stringers trained together for much of the six-week tour.

The Victor Matfield-captained Barbarians assembled on Sunday, enjoyed some social sessions and negotiated a first training that coach Nick Mallett labelled “a shambles”.

Still, with a big pack and the class of Fourie du Preez, Matt Giteau and wingers Bryan Habana and 60-test All Black Joe Rokocoko, it’s no stroll.A year ago the Baabaas, including McCaw, ran the Wallabies to 18-11 at Wembley.

Three bouts lined up for Tua

By Rachel Pinder of NZPA

AUCKLAND, DEC 4 – Heavyweight boxer David Tua’s next three fights are to be staged in the United States and New Zealand.

Tua is about to set out on Tua De Force, a three-fight campaign which he is calling his continued offensive to win the world heavyweight championship title.

Ranked third by the World Boxing Organisation (WBO), the New Zealander’s first fight is on February 7 against former World Boxing Association heavyweight champion Bruce “The Atlantic City Express” Seldon in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Tua’s US-based promoter, Cedric Kushner, hopes that a series of successful fights will help elevate Tua in the rankings with the principal world sanctioning bodies.

“Fighting regularly obviously helps the process of conditioning and also raises your profile, because you are prominently in the limelight for extended periods,” Cushner said today.

Tua’s second fight, scheduled for New Zealand in March, will be against Friday Ahunanya, who beat Shane Cameron in Auckland last year.

His last fight will see Tua head back to the US for a fight in Hawaii, with the opponent yet to be announced.

Tua, who has beaten four world champions, said he had proved to everyone that he was still the best heavyweight puncher in the division after his second-round knockout of Cameron in October.

That win took his career record to 50 wins (43 by

ICON/File 2007

Donald will marshal the All Blacks’ backline before making way for Mike Delany at halftime or soon after.

He was determined to make it count after just 26 minutes in three tests off the bench.

“It’s a Barbarians game but we’re pretty focused on going out and doing the job.We’ll try to be entertaining but we’ve got to finish this tour right,”Donald said.

“It’s up to us to go out and look after ourselves and it’s up to them to play how they want to play.”

The scrum will also be under scrutiny, with Afoa

heeding coach Graham Henry’s advice to improve his efforts and Wyatt Crockett keen to make up for his Milan nightmare.

Afoa said a heart-to-heart with Henry when he was dropped for the Cardiff test was a wakeup call.

“It was a real shock to the system.We and had a chat and he gave me things to work on and I’ve been doing that the last four weeks,”Afoa said.

“He told me I’ve got everything, I can pass, a good runner with the ball, but my scrums can wobble a little bit, up and down, so we just really worked on getting good scrums back to back.”

Auckland today... ...Phuket tonight

Our one-stop connection will have you in Phuket same day. knockout), three losses (all on points) and a draw.

Tua, 38, believes he has a good five years left in him and he believes the dream is still alive for him to become the heavyweight champion of the world.

“It’s not when you get knocked down that counts but it’s when you get back up that matters,”he said.

Maori Television has announced it will be the exclusive New Zealand broadcaster of Tua’s next three fights, with free-to-air available across the country.

www.thaiairways.com For more information and details of our latest special deals, ask your travel agent.

publiceye1466_INVEST

WEEKEND

4 December 2009

13

TV & Film

Everybody’s Fine

0Cast: Robert DeNiro, Drew Barrymore, Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale 0Director: Kirk Jones Length: 1 hour 34 minutes 0Rated: PG-13 (for thematic elements and brief strong language)

senger,”which has more weight, less melodrama and rarely hits “cute.”

But as predicable and cloying as Brothers sometimes is, the cast is fascinating – young actors now possessing the dramatic heft to pull something like this off. Maguire, as Sam, comes unhinged in subtle, realistic ways and Gyllenhaal and Portman react to him with a convincing blend of fear and pity.

Putting them all at a table with Shepard and veteran character actress Mare Winningham makes for intimate, beautifully-played drama, even if we have a feeling that we’ve seen all this before.

Watch the trailer

– By Roger Moore

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Brothers is a movie built on that jarring disconnect between combat zone and “back home.”

Part POW thriller, part romance, with a big helping of melodrama, Jim Sheridan’s film is about a brother who went off to war, was declared dead, but returns a changed man. And it’s about the brother left behind, a man changed by his soldier sibling’s sacrifice, and by stepping into his brother’s role with the missing man’s family.

A mature, lean Tobey Maguire is Capt. Sam Cahill, the son who followed Dad (Sam Shepard) into the Marine Corps and is about to go back to Afghanistan. Jake Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as Tommy, the prodigal son we meet as Sam picks him up from prison. Tommy always drank too much and got into trouble. Sam is the alpha male the old man is proud of.

“Why don’t you try mimicking your brother for a change?” is Dad’s only advice, picking up their father-son fight the moment the convict gets home.

Sam’s wife, Grace (Natalie Portman), has hated the slacker Tommy since high school. When Sam ships out and his helicopter goes down and he is listed as dead within day, that doesn’t change.

Adapting a Danish film by Susanne Bier,Sheridan (My Left Foot) gives away Sam’s fate – he’s a prisoner of the Taliban – right away. He contrasts Sam’s ordeal with Tommy’s transformation back home.

Sam is tortured while Tommy charms one and all to pop-music accompaniment. Sam is tested, and

Tommy starts to think about someone other than himself – caring for his brother’s young daughters and widow.

And then Sam comes home.

The home-front scenes are so cute – skating dates, making pancakes for Mommy, cute contractors helping Tommy fix up Grace’s kitchen – that they feel like another movie set in another world. But that’s how vets describe their dislocation trying to talk with people who “wouldn’t understand.”

Sheridan, at home working with kids and dealing with dark subjects, doesn’t quite get the balance right, especially when you compare Brothers with the superior soldiers’homecoming drama“The Mes-

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0Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, Natalie Portman 0Director: Jim Sheridan 0Length: 1 hour 34 minutes 0Rated: PG-13 (for thematic elements and brief strong language)

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Brothers

The Blind Side A Christmas Carol Fantastic Mr. Fox Ninja Assassin Old Dogs Precious The Road Twilight: New Moon © 2009 MCT

Everybody’s Fine is a quiet, light study in family dysfunction, a comedy-drama with no heroes or villains, just sad people who aren’t necessarily telling the truth when somebody asks them, “Are you happy?”

That’s become an important question to Frank Goode (Robert DeNiro), a lonely, widowed retiree whose four adult children won’t make the time to visit now that Mom has died. Frank’s life was spent at the grindstone – coating telephone and electrical cables, something he’s proud to point out on telephone poles to strangers.

That’s because those miles and miles of cable and the lung disease Frank got from the work put his kids in a position to do more interesting things for a living. “A lotta cable,” he says of this one’s orchestral career or that one’s designer home.

Frank resolves to drop in on each of the four – surprise visits. They tell him “everybody’s fine” on those rare occasions he gets each of them on the phone.

But he wants the truth Kirk Jones’ (Nanny McPhee) movie never finds a tone that it’s comfortable with as Frank amusingly bores fellow train and bus travelers with tales of his work and his family. Fellow retirees commiserate on kids who don’t appreciate the sacrifice the parents had to make to get them where they are. Contrast that with each visit to his offspring – Kate Beckinsale in Chicago, Drew Barrymore in Las Vegas, Sam Rockwell in Denver. Dad observes what the kids might have once told Mom, but not him.

“I tell you the good news and spare you the bad,” Amy (Beckinsale) says, and the others, in turn, echo that.

The movie has one open secret and a few “reveals” – including the kids’ efforts to solve problems involving the sibling we don’t meet.

The patient pace and subtle disappointment the kids feel about their lives, disappointment that they worry will be shared by Dad, makes for a movie of no cathartic confrontations. A contrived and melodramatic third act seems out of character and abrupt. And truthfully, there’s little novel about the story of an aged parent trying to right the wrongs of his child-rearing years.

But DeNiro, leaving his Meet the Parents comic ogre persona to Ben Stiller, makes Frank a man we neither pity nor blame, a gruff dad who remembers his stern past with a wince. His winning, thoughtful performance and matching work from those cast as his kids (each lifting his or her game) make this remake of Guiseppe Tornatore’s 1990 Italian dramedy a tolerably sober alternative to holiday froth at the mutliplex.

Watch the trailer – By Roger Moore

REVIEWS

14

4 December 2009

Music UPI Photo/Jim Ruymen

John Mayer plays the fame game like a champion

By Steve Johnson Chicago Tribune

I don’t own a single John Mayer CD or even a single single.

I’m not going to see him in concert at Chicago’s United Center next April. My mind wanders during lengthy guitar solos, especially when it’s far from the stage in hockey arenas, behind hordes of rabid women in their 20s.

And I would pay extra to never again hear that song of his about fathers being good to their daughters, a tune that I suspect Mayer wrote mostly so he could drive wedges into father-daughter relationships nationwide.

Yet I have become a fan of the Connecticut bluesman for reasons that are only tangentially related to his music.While he is a fine guitar player, he’s a borderline virtuoso at handling fame.

At 32,Mayer seems to view being a celebrity as an interesting challenge, rather than a birthright or a heavy burden.To the extent that anything in the gossip pages can be smart and interesting, the soft-rock superstar has managed to be smart and interesting.

On Twitter, he’s prolific and as good as many of the writers I follow.After the mini-scandal in Australia when people got upset that Britney Spears appeared to be “miming” lyrics, as they phrase it Down Under, Mayer Tweeted:“If you’re shocked that Britney was lip-syncing at her concert and want your money back, life may continue to be hard for you.”

When a New York Magazine reporter, at a party for an Armani home furnishings store last month, asked him about health care and the public option, he responded:“Have you ever heard me play guitar?

I’m really (expletive) good.You know what I’m bad at? Answering questions about public health care.”

And on a cruise for fans last year, he came out on deck in a lime-green singlet thong, read a copy of US Weekly, and asked passengers on the“Mayercraft Carrier”to send the photos of him looking like an Eastern European wrestler in to the magazine.

While he has dated actresses including Jennifer Aniston and Jessica Simpson, he also made out with the gay gossip blogger Perez Hilton in public, and, after he won a Grammy in 2003, said with apparent genuine humility,“This is very, very fast, and I promise to catch up.”

There’s a caveat to being overly charmed by this.

Celebrity is a kind of public performance, and, following from our distance, we can make only undereducated guesses at what’s really going on.

What plays as engaging and amusing in the snippets that trickle down to the public might be caddish in the full context of real life.

He could have been lousy to Aniston. She could have been lousy to him. They could be, like other people who tried it and found it didn’t work, friends.

We have no idea.

As great as Mayer’s New York Magazine quote is – every celebrity asked about politics should have a version of it at the ready – the full interview transcript reveals more of an edge to the conversation.

Apparently trying to be funny, he belittles questions, makes a reference to his personal parts, even suggests he should defile the editor who sent the reporter out to ask such questions.

“It was probably 25 percent vicious, maybe, and attacking, and the rest, maybe, was tongue in cheek,” said Christianna Ablahad, the free-lance party reporter for the magazine who asked the questions.

“There was an aspect of it that was cruel, I feel, and authentic, like when a boy pulls girl’s pigtails. Even when he’s playing, he’s pulling too hard.”

ABC’s “Nightline”tail him in New York for a piece that aired last week.

In it, Mayer asks, “Is there such a thing as paparazzi if you’ve already got a crew with you?”

He rejects the assertion that his dates with famous women are extraordinary.

Like other 32-year-olds,he says,he’s trying to figure out who his“mate”will be and when he’ll settle down.

And, touching on the street-theater aspect of his persona, he says:“I have this incredibly, just, like, voracious need to express. That’s just what I am.

AT 32, MAYER SEEMS TO VIEW BEING A CELEBRITY AS AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE, RATHER THAN A BIRTHRIGHT OR A HEAVY BURDEN. TO THE EXTENT THAT ANYTHING IN THE GOSSIP PAGES CAN BE SMART AND INTERESTING, THE SOFT-ROCK SUPERSTAR HAS MANAGED TO BE SMART AND INTERESTING Afterward, she said, the singer-songwriter’s publicist told her,“I told you he wasn’t ready for those types of questions.”

Mayer’s publicist did not respond to a request to have him talk to me about his public persona.He has a new CD out,“Battle Studies.”It just went to No. 1, and he’s touring behind it and is probably much more interested in talking about why he covered a Robert Johnson tune. It wasn’t to tweak TMZ, apparently.

But as part of the publicity ramp-up, he did let

Look, I might be a little jazz-handy.”

For his candor, Mayer gets to hear the“Nightline” reporter call him“offbeat.”

It’s the sort of adjective, almost belittling, that gets applied to people who don’t do the expected.

But from my perch in the cheap seats, where other young celebrities affect a world-weariness that derives, I suspect, from an authentic emptiness, let me urge Mayer: Keep those jazz hands waving.

Free Fallin’ (Where The Light Is)

REVIEWS

4 December 2009

NEW CD RELEASES

15

Books

El Perro Del Mar

0Love Is Not Pop 0The Control Group For many, Stockholm’s now (indie) pop sound is Peter Bjorn and John – more rock than their 2007 breakthrough hit “Young Folks” might imply. And then there is PB&J’s current tourmate, Sarah Assbring, aka El Perro Del Mar (her moniker inspired by a Spanish beach canine encounter).You might think she’s a“Gothenburg Calling”alternative, hailing from Sweden’s second city, a big college town and music hotbed. But her beautifully brooding, deceptively lively indie pop is gorgeously borderless.

Her third album is a slight departure, more beatpushed (even including clubby remixes), developed with studio whiz Rasmus Hagg. It’s also darker, if sparkling in its meditations on lost love, with EPDM’s measured, ethereal and unmistakable voice conveying the sadness of a “Change of Heart” or moving on to“A Better Love.”And her sublime take on“Heavenly Arms”must be the Lou Reed cover of the year, a track off his own pivotal album, 1982’s “The Blue Mask.”

– David R. Stampone

James Hand

0Shadow on the Ground 0Rounder

Testimony to America’s eternal appeal to immigrants American on Purpose: The Improbable Adventures of an Unlikely Patriot 0Craig Ferguson 0HarperCollins. 268 pages.

Acknowledged that this may seem to be a left-field choice for a biz book review but upon closer examination, maybe not.Two reasons: first, some of the best “Shadow on the Ground” business advice comes from life itself,not just unamis only the second studio biguously mercantile situations. Second, in many album for the 57-year-old ways, this really is a business book: Fergusons’story Texan. As with 2006’s “The is an archetypal tale of the pursuit of the American Truth Will SetYou Free,”also dream ... and not just in terms of achieving success produced by Ray Benson by owning a house with a wife and 2.6 kids.

Unlike most memoirs of CEOs and other biz and Lloyd Maines, Hand pours a lifetime of experience into its grooves, creat- whizzes, Ferguson isn’t quite the faultless hero of ing a perfectly realized honky-tonk world, whiskey- his own story. In fact, he lopsidedly portrays himself in a pretty poor light, mostly due to his alcoholism, stained and neon-lit.

With the quaver in his voice, his sometimes which took hold at an early age. He’s also currently haunted air, and the twang-fueled music, Hand on his third marriage, so he made a number of bad bears a strong resemblance to Hank Williams Sr. choices that may not have been solely attributable But from gut-punches like“The Pain of LovingYou” to substance abuse. Regardless, his bracing, selfand “Don’t Depend on Me” to the defiant “Ain’t a effacing autobiography is replete with examples Goin’“ and the gospel-flavored “Men Like Me Can of product development, innovation, networking, Fly,” Hand is clearly creating his own memorable human resources and other business practices.

Ferguson grew up in Scotland and describes, with musical legacy. As he puts it on “Ain’t a Goin’”: “When you sing from the heart you know every humor and love, his parents, their community, its part. ... And when I’m gone I want it wrote on the poverty and their determination to improve themselves and support their children. His father started stone,‘When he sang he sang it all the way.’“ – N.C. as the equivalent of a telegram delivery boy and steadily rose through the ranks to run the Glasgow city post office. Mother became a teacher and rode Lyle Lovett herd over two daughters and two sons.

0Natural Forces When young Craig and his father visited relatives 0Curb/Lost Highway in the United States, he was smitten with our open society and boundless possibilities,vowing to return.

This is Lyle Lovett without And so he did,but first,he drummed for several punk his Large Band. On“Natu- bands in Scotland,dropped out of school,tried standral Forces,”the lanky Texan up comedy and became a raging alcoholic.When he with the crooked grin leads married, the young couple moved to America.

In the early ‘80s, NewYork’s burgeoning punk and a small ensemble and focuses on his folk-country alternative art scene captivated Ferguson, and he side. His title song is a finely succumbed to many of its temptations while worketched portrait of a loner ing construction by day and attempting a stint on cowboy, but mostly Lovett uses the album to show- the off-off-Broadway stage at night. Unsuccessful case the work of fellow Lone Star troubadours: He and broke, he returned to the U.K., the marriage gives sympathetic readings of songs by Townes Van failed, and he started a new career as a comedian with the unfortunate name “Bing Hitler.”

Zandt, David Ball, Eric Taylor and others.

Despite his ferocious alcoholism,he enjoyed modest Lovett does show his lighter side, cutting loose with the risque swing of “Farmer Brown/Chicken success but fell into debt and depression. In despair, Reel”and the honky-tonk wordplay of“Pantry,”and he planned suicide, but was distracted by an offer of “It’s Rock and Roll”is just that. Given the somber, a glass of sherry – a very large glass of sherry. After slow-paced ambience that predominates, however, finally committing to rehab and embracing recovery, these bright, up-tempo performances seem out of he moved to Los Angeles on a whim,hooked up with an place, giving the album a bit of a disjointed feel. agent he’d met during the Bing Hitler days and wound – N.C. up with a recurring role on“The Drew Carey Show.”

Along the way, Ferguson honed his craft, wrote screenplays (and filmed a couple), became a novelist and replaced Craig Kilborn as host of “The Late, Late Show” on CBS following David Letterman, whom he may eventually succeed. He became a U.S. citizen last year.

Craig Ferguson was attracted to this country’s openness, which can still be a function of race, class and socioeconomic status. But it’s far less stratified than where he came from, and it afforded him, as others, the opportunity to begin again, which is probably the real American Dream.

A gritty view of the aftermath of violence The Ghosts of Belfast

0Stuart Neville 0Soho Crime (326 pages, $25)

After reading about three modern-day Creed brothers, Linda Lael Miller introduces readers to one of their ancestors, Lincoln.

Lincoln becomes the savior for Juliana, a teacher whose school has closed leaving four orphan Indian children in her care.

A sympathetic heroine being shunned for being kind and doing the right thing, plus orphans, plus a handsome man willing to help equals a pretty good holiday story.

Lincoln is a widower with a precocious young daughter.He loved his wife,and has vowed not to fall in love with anyone else. However, he does realize that his daughter needs a woman in her life. So he has advertised for a governess and housekeeper, to no avail.

So by the time Juliana comes into his life, he’s considering settling for a wife. He just won’t love her.

Juliana, of course, changes his plans – about the settling and loving part. He grapples with his feelings for her, and has to come to terms that loving her shouldn’t make him feel guilty. Once he does that, the rest is easy.

Juliana fled her wealthy life in the city to avoid marrying a man she didn’t love, which led to her brother shutting her out of his life and refusing to give her money. She’s dejected and worried about where she and the children will stay during the cold winter when Lincoln literally walks in the door and rescues her.

She doesn’t like accepting charity from a stranger, but she has little choice because of the children in her care. And Lincoln makes her feel safe. Perhaps that’s why she doesn’t freak out when he calmly and matter-of-factly suggests they get married.

Of course she quickly learns that she’s in love as well, but does not have the guilt to sort through.

This is a rather tepid, but nice, romance.You won’t need tissues nearby, won’t feel your heart race or won’t break out in laughter while you read it. But it’s a fast, easy read and a sweet story.

Ireland’s“troubles”– a rather bland term to describe that country’s generations of internal war – have provided the background for countless novels.

In his stunning debut, Stuart Neville delivers an inspired, gritty view of how violence’s aftermath lasts for years and the toll it takes on each person involved. The Ghosts of Belfast also insightfully delves into Irish politics, the uneasy truce in Northern Ireland, redemption, guilt and responsibility.

Gerry Fegan is both the hero and villain of his own story.A former IRA hit man, he spent a dozen years in prison for some of the 12 murders he committed for the cause.“He was a foot soldier, and one of their best, or worst, depending on your point of view. A killer, plain and simple.”In the past, Gerry had believed being an assassin was “a job. Just a job to be done with no care or feeling behind it. ...

It only took a certain hardness of the soul, a casual brutality.”

But since he has been out of prison, Gerry has grown a conscience. He sees the ghosts of the 12 people he killed; wherever he goes those dozen souls trail him. He is especially remorseful about the innocent bystanders he killed, including a shop owner and a mother and her infant.

Gerry’s reputation still gives him a certain power in the community. But many in the militant IRA underworld – most of whom have reinvented themselves as respectable businessmen and politicians – consider him an outcast, a foolish drunk, prone to talking to himself for hours in pubs. But Gerry believes that the only way he can make amends to these Ghosts of Belfast is to kill each man who gave him the orders.

As Gerry begins his reign of terror, he is drawn to Marie McKenna, the niece of one of the men he had killed. Marie has been shunned by her community because she has a 5-year-old daughter with a British soldier.

Gerry must navigate a path where, despite the truce, old loyalties are still strong and the brutalities that fueled the IRA members have just gone underground. But will his old bosses or his demons get him first?

Neville delivers an emotionally packed novel that is both empathetic and savage. Neville never makes Gerry’s visions of ghosts seem trite or silly.

Like his fellow countryman, John Connolly, Neville keeps the supernatural aspects believable. Neville maintains that same realism in shaping Gerry.

We are both repulsed and intrigued by this brutal man who only wishes for“peaceful sleep and bloodless hands,”yet continues his murderous rage.

The Ghosts of Belfast is a haunting debut.”

– By Lezlie Patterson

– By Oline H. Cogdill

– By Richard Pachter

A sweet story for the holidays A Creed Country Christmas

0Linda Lael Miller 0HQN Books, 253 pages, $16.95

HEALTH

16

4 December 2009

Get fit, the Wii way puts into it, Bryant said. And he points out, something is better than nothing.

“What you can do is look at it as part of an overall DETROIT – On most days, at 3:30 a.m., South Lyon workout program,”he said.“For a person who tradiresident Sherry Bridson wakes up and heads to tionally works out pretty hard already, the Wii could her TV, where for the next 90 minutes, she plays a be a great exercise for a recovery day.” video game.

Local trainer Jennifer DiDonato said there is a This is how she has lost 98 pounds – and counting. market for things like the Wii Fit, and that no matter “I feel fantastic,”said Bridson, 49, who is just 19 what workout plan you follow, much of your success pounds away from the 130-pound goal-weight the will come from your mental commitment. video game assigned her.“I have much more energy.”

“It’s funny,”said DiDonato, who owns Made Fit Bridson is a Wii Fit success story, and part of personal training based in Sterling Heights.“People a growing wave of people who bypass traditional in the general population are convinced that the workout methods and use interactive exergaming problem is time, money, junk food, and expensive to get in shape. gym equipment and memberships. But the realThree years ago,“Dance Dance Revolution” ity is, the problem lies within transitioned its frenetic arcade game into a our motivation to successful at-home version for PlayStation. make health and Now, walk down any video game aisle, and fitness work for you’ll see not just the Wii Fit and DDR, but us.“ a “The Biggest Loser” exergame, a Jillian Michaels, the Michaels line of games compatible with Nincelebrated trainer tendo DS and Wii; yoga and Pilates-based from“The Biggest games, and even fitness coaching games.

Loser,”said getting According to the American Council on into the exergaming Exercise (ACE), which named technologyarena was rewarding because she once was an based fitness one of its top 10 trends of 2009, Wii overweight gamer herself. Her new game line,“FitFit has sold more than 21 million units since its ness Ultimatum 2010,” allows users to customize launch in 2007. Even Oprah Winfrey’s trainer, Bob their workout and get simulated one-on-one trainGreene, is endorsing an exergame – “EA Sports: ing from Michaels. On the Wii version, which use s a More Workouts”– for Wii Fit. balance board, it can track how closely users mimic Some, like Bridson, swear by these games, saying Michaels’movements. they help make fitness fun and get people who are “The game offers immediate and accurate feednot exercising to start. back following each rep completed, so the player They’re becoming so popular, that ACE commis- can correct their movements, thus attaining a sucsioned a series of studies in the past three years cessful workout,”Michaels wrote in an e-mail.“The to look at whether the games offer a worthwhile DS version ... allows players to train anywhere at workout.The most recent, a study conducted with any time.This puts to rest the No. 1 excuse for not the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, showed less working out, which is lack of time.” than six-pack-producing results.

Bridson wasn’t a fan of repetitive DVDs. Nor did “Doing the real thing is always better in terms she care for gyms or group fitness classes. So her of return on that investment,”said Dr. Cedric Bry- husband bought her a Wii Fit, and Bridson decided ant, the ACE chief of science.“You can’t perfectly the only time she would commit to working out was simulate the activity that the game mimics.” before she left for her job as a child care provider at ACE is a non-profit that helps people make smart St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia, Mich. fitness choices and encourages them to get active.

She started with 30 minutes and worked up to her It also certifies personal trainers and other fitness 90-minute routine.Whatever studies prove, Bridson professionals. It partnered with university research said the possibility of finding success in exergamteams to conduct the studies, which it fully funded. ing is right in her waistline – she hasn’t been so thin Those studies found that“Dance Dance Revolution” since 1981. offers the best video game workout;Wii Sports was “It has a lot of options,”she said.“Like if I wanted second-best. They called the popular Wii Fit the to do just all yoga or strength or play balance games most ineffective. to be active, I could do any of those for just one day.

Of course, much depends on how much the user Or I mix it up.I think it’s the amount of options I like.”

By Krista Jahnke Detroit Free Press

Smoking rate rises slightly from a year ago

By Jodi Mailander Farrell McClatchy Newspapers

The battle to get adult smokers in the United States to quit has stalled.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in November that 20.6 percent of adults – about 46 million – were smokers in 2008, up slightly from 19.8 percent in 2007.

Although the smoking rate has dropped sharply since the mid-1960s, when it hovered around 40 percent, the CDC had hoped to lower the rate to 12 percent or less by 2010. The lack of progress is dismaying to health officials because smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, killing 443,000 people a year.

Despite cigarette price hikes, antismoking ad campaigns and smoking bans in offices and restaurants, adult smoking rates have changed little since 2004, partly because the efforts haven’t been widespread enough, the CDC says. So what does work? If you’re trying to quit, consider these proven methods: Exercise: Physical activity changes the way the brain processes information, reducing the cravings for nicotine, according to research from the University of Exeter published earlier this year in the journal Psychopharmacology. Other studies have shown that just one short burst of moderate exercise – a brisk walk for as little as five minutes, for example – can significantly reduce smokers’nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.

Seek out other quitters: Smokers are twice as likely to kick the habit if they use a support group, found a University of Bath study published in the February issue of Addiction. More than a third of smokers using support groups quit after four weeks, almost double the proportion of those using oneto-one support.

Try a substitute: Strong and consistent evidence shows that nicotine replacement products can help people quit smoking. Nicotine patches, gum, lozenges, nasal spray and inhaler are equally effective, says the National Cancer Institute.

Cut back: Cutting back on the number of cigarettes smoked, coupled with nicotine replacement, raised the quit rate in 16 of 19 studies reviewed by University of Vermont researchers, who said their 2006 findings contradict the commonly held belief that smokers must stop abruptly.

Drugs: The FDA has approved two prescription drugs – bupropion, an antidepressant marketed as Zyban, and Varenicline, which is marketed as Chantix – to help reduce the urge to smoke.

In a few years, smokers may be able to inject themselves with a vaccine to combat their habit.

Nabi Pharmaceuticals’ NicVax, which is in latestage tests, is designed to prevent nicotine from entering the brain, where it creates a highly addictive sensation of pleasure.

More help: The National Cancer Institute talks about what works and what doesn’t at www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/ tobacco/cessation.

Healthy Christmas food • Dark chocolate with high cocoa content

What it is good for

Rich in flavonoids; reduces risk of blood clots

• Fruit, also dried, such as dates, figs, raisins, cranberries

Rich in vitamins (A, C, B1, B2, B3, B6) and minerals (calcium, iron)

• Cinnamon Lowers blood sugar, cholesterol • Cook low-fat (less cream, butter) • Walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds

Lowers body weight, blood pressure

Vitamin K, E, selenium, calcium, magnesium

• Red wine Rich in antioxidants, good for heart • Lean meat Rich in protein and types, such omega-3 fatty acids as turkey, © 2009 MCT chicken, fish Source: Food Standards Agency

Graphic: Jutta Scheibe, Eeli Polli

SCIENCE/TECH 17

4 December 2009

Advances made in growing body parts for transplant Karen Youso

Amid all the noise of health care reform, a real revolution is happening.

Medical advancements that sound like science fiction – growing your own organs, being cared for by robotic nurses, popping anti-aging pills – are either at or near reality already. No matter what is decided about how we deliver and pay for health care in the future, the manner in which bodies and diseases are treated is about to change dramatically.

At least that’s the opinion of the innovators in medicine and technology – scientists, doctors, engineers and philosophers – who gathered last month at a Technology, Entertainment, Design Medicine conference in San Diego to unveil solutions to some

stubborn health care problems. These innovations are likely to be embraced not only because they could save money, but also because a large, vocal group is going to want them – the baby boomers.

Consider DIY body parts: Don’t wait for an organ donation – grow your own. Here’s how: Cells from an organ to be replaced are put into nutrients, where they multiply and create a “soup,” explained Dr.Anthony Atala, director of the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina.The“soup”of cells is“painted”on a form or scaffolding in the shape of the organ, say a bladder, and placed into an incubator.A new bladder grows in about six weeks.

“It used to be that the patient’s pelvis was extensively X-rayed to get the right-sized bladder,”Atala

said,“but now (scientists are doing so many that) bladders come in three sizes: small, medium and large.”

Ears, arteries, heart valves, fingers and toes are being grown in this manner. Recent news stories have described the successful growing of new penises in lab animals.Atala’s group is experimenting with the ink-jet technology of a printer/scanner that will be able to“print out”a copy of skin, or even a heart, for replacement.

This could spell the end of transplant organ shortages and, because they use the patient’s own tissue, make organ rejection a thing of the past.

How soon will you be able to grow your own parts? Lab-grown bladders have already been transplanted into patients in the United States, a precursor to FDA approval, said a Wake Forest

THE “SOUP” OF CELLS IS “PAINTED” ON A FORM OR SCAFFOLDING IN THE SHAPE OF THE ORGAN, SAY A BLADDER, AND PLACED INTO AN INCUBATOR. A NEW BLADDER GROWS IN ABOUT SIX WEEKS Institute spokeswoman. In 10 years, it could be out with the old and in with the new, at least with some organs.And they’ll be your own organs.

BPA should be banned at least in products intended for children The U.S. Food and Drug Administration seems paralyzed by the controversial chemical bisphenol A. On Monday, the agency blew its own self-imposed deadline for issuing a ruling on the safety of the ubiquitous chemical, which is found in thousands of household products and has been linked to an array of diseases.The FDA is taking more time to have its scientists analyze studies of the chemical’s effects.

The FDA has all the evidence it needs to support a ban – at least in products intended for children.We’re puzzled by the foot-dragging. BPA, a $6 billion-ayear business, is found in everything from the lining of metal food containers to hardened plastics to teeth sealants. Bills are pending in Congress that would ban the chemical, and in the absence of FDA action, Congress should move ahead with the legislation.

The FDA has not covered itself in glory. Last year, the agency concluded that the chemical was safe for all uses, basing the decision on two studies bought and paid for by BPA makers and allowing chemical industry lobbyists to help write the ruling.

The industry, of course, is hellbent on persuading consumers that BPA is as safe as mountain spring water, employing many of the same tactics used by the tobacco industry to sow doubt. The industry even considered having a pregnant woman vouch for the chemical’s safety.

Under pressure, the FDA’s science board did the

right thing and forced a review of the agency’s findings.

Advocates for a ban saw the delay as a positive sign, concluding that if the FDA had planned to confirm its previous ruling, it wouldn’t need additional time. But we believe that any delay is harmful.There is too much evidence that BPA is hurting people.

Tests on lab animals have found links between

© 2009 MCT Source: Weekly Reader Graphic: Paul Trap

McClatchy-Tribune News Service

1

Make sure the bottle is clean inside

2

The clouds floating across the sky are made of tiny droplets of water.

Dust is made of tiny particles that float in the air. Let’s see how dust can help create clouds.

Clear 2-liter soft drink or water bottle Hot water Adult helper Match

5

Do this

Making clouds

You’ll need

BPA and breast and prostate cancers,diabetes,heart disease and behavioral disorders. A recent Kaiser Permanente study of Chinese factory workers found that those exposed to large amounts of the chemical were far more likely to experience sexual dysfunction.

Other tests, including those conducted on behalf of the Journal Sentinel, have found that the chemical

Pour about 3 cm (1 inch) of very hot tap water into the bottle

6

3

Put on the cap and swirl the water around inside the bottle, wetting the inside of the bottle well

4

Pour out the water

leaches out of even some food cans labeled“BPA free.”

It is found in the urine of 93% of Americans tested.

The FDA – or Congress – should ban the chemical. In the interim, the FDA should issue a public health warning and order mandatory labeling of food cans and a ban of the use of polycarbonate plastic for food containers. Further delay is pointless.

What happened?

Have the adult light the match, then blow it out

You now have a cloud-making bottle When you squeeze the bottle, wispy clouds of water vapor will form Let the bottle go, and the clouds disappear

While the match is still smoking, squeeze the bottle, then hold its mouth near the match and let go, sucking smoke into the bottle

The smoke from the match is made of tiny particles even smaller than specks of dust

7 Put the cap on the bottle

When you squeeze the bottle, you increase the pressure inside it Droplets of water form on the dust particles, and you see a little cloud

special

the ordinary becomes

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TECHNOLOGY 19

4 December 2009

Tiny device captures every keystroke

By Craig Crossman McClatchy-Tribune News Service

When I first saw this little electronic marvel, I immediately thought it would be something James Bond might use. Picture this. Bond’s assignment is to find out which web sites the bad guy is logging on to, what passwords are being used along with whatever else that might be typed on the computer’s keyboard. Bond sneaks into the computer room but it’s dark and there’s no power. Besides, turning on the computer would make way too much noise and there’s no time to install some kind of spyware anyway. So instead, from his pocket he takes out a tiny cylindrical plug. He unplugs the keyboard from the computer, plugs it into one end of the little device and then plugs it back into the computer. It only takes a few seconds and the job is complete. From now on, anything being typed on the keyboard will be instantly captured into the device’s memory.

Later on Bond can return, remove the device and access all the captured keystrokes it has recorded by installing it on his own computer later on. Or he can come back and type a simple password to display its contents on the screen.

Yes, the device really does exist and it’s called the manufacturer, there really isn’t any way to detect KEYKatcher. I’m pretty sure its maker,Allen Con- its presence via the use of anti-spyware software. In cepts didn’t intend for it to be used by sophisticated fact, the only way to detect it is to physically inspect international spies but if you are one and you’re the computer and look for the device. And since it reading this column, there you go. If you’re not, sug- looks much like any other power connector, it can gested uses for the KEYKatcher by the company easily be overlooked. However, if you’ve installed it are parents who wish to in a non- surreptitious monitor what their chilmanner, heat-shrink THERE REALLY ISN’T dren are doing on their tubing is provided to ANY WAY TO DETECT ITS create a tamper-evident computers, employers to monitor employee PRESENCE VIA THE USE OF seal which cannot be activities, and suspiremoved without your cious spouses who may ANTI-SPYWARE SOFTWARE. knowledge. want to keep tabs their IN FACT, THE ONLY WAY TO The KEYKatcher significant other. uses a microcontrolThe KEYKatcher is DETECT IT IS TO PHYSICALLY ler and non-volatile different than software INSPECT THE COMPUTER AND memory to capture all Spyware products that the keystrokes. The latLOOK FOR THE DEVICE require you to power ter means no power is up the computer and required to maintain go through an installation process. As an exter- the memory contents of the KEYKatcher. Removnal hardware device, the KEYKatcher is totally ing it from the computer does not result in the loss transparent to the operating system and requires of its contents. none of the system resources typically required by To see the contents, just open any word processor software spyware applications. According to its or WordPad document and type in your password.

As soon as your password has been correctly entered a menu will be displayed on your screen.The menu gives you several options, including View Memory, NETPatrol Search,Erase Memory,Disable recording, and other selections. As soon as the View Memory option has been selected, every word that has been typed will be displayed on the notepad.All typing is displayed including chat rooms,e-mail,web addresses, and instant messaging.After the full contents of the memory are displayed, you can save the file to your hard drive as a word processing document.

The NETPatrol option flags words that have to do with online activities such as www,.com or http making them easier to spot. Other options let you search for keywords and change the KEYKatcher’s password.

The KEYKatcher comes in memory capacities of 64k (US$32.99), 256k (US$79) and the KEYKatcher Magnum with a whopping 4 megabyte capacity (US$99). All require a PS/2 connection. Older PC’s which use the 5-pin DIN connector require an adapter set.Although the KEYKatcher will not work on USB keyboards directly, the company does make a PS2 to USB adapter set (US$19.95) that allows it to function. www.keycatcher.com

The riskiest web domains to surf and search Africa’s Cameroon (.cm) has overthrown Hong Kong (.hk) as the Web’s riskiest domain, according to McAfee’s third annual Mapping the Mal Web report, released today. At the opposite end, Japan (.jp) is the safest country domain, landing in the top five safest domains for the second year in a row.

The most heavily trafficked Web domain in the world, commercial (.com), jumped from the ninth to second most dangerous domain, while government (.gov) is the safest non-country domain.

“This report underscores how quickly cybercriminals change tactics to lure in the most victims and avoid being caught. Last year, Hong Kong was the riskiest domain and this year it is dramatically safer,”said Mike Gallagher,chief technology officer for McAfee Labs.

“Cybercriminals target regions where registering sites is cheap and convenient, and pose the least risk of being caught.”

Cameroon, a small African country that borders Nigeria, jumped to the number one spot this year with 36.7 percent of the .cm domain posing a security risk, but did not even make the list last year.

Because the domain .cm is a common typo for .com, many cybercriminals set up fake typo-squatting sites that lead to malicious downloads, spyware, adware and other potentially unwanted programs.

Following aggressive measures from .hk’s domain managers to clamp down on scam-related registrations last year, Hong Kong fell 33 spots from the most risky domain in 2008 to the 34th most risky domain in 2009. Now only 1.1 percent of .hk sites pose a risk, whereas last year nearly one in five .hk Web sites were risky. Among country domains, the People’s Republic of China (.cn) and Samoa (.ws) remained in the top five most dangerous places in the last two years.

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