JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's defense minister has formally apologized to Egypt for the killing of six Egyptian police officers during a cross-border shootout with militants suspected of carrying out deadly attacks in Israel.
Ehud Barak issued the apology after a joint Israeli-Egyptian investigation.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Amr said Wednesday that Israel expressed "deep regret and …
Goals from Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski have given Germany a 2-1 lead over England after 60 minutes of their World Cup second-round match.
Matthew Upson pulled a goal back in the 37th minute, heading in a cross from Steven Gerrard to make it 2-1. Frank Lampard had a shot go off the crossbar and apparently over the goal line in the 38th _ TV replays seemed to indicate that his lofted shot …
Smart food to help you celebrate your graduate's achievement
Forget the hot dogs, burgers and other unhealthy stuff. To celebrate Graduation Day 2002, why not try these alternatives for the grill?
Grilled Satay Lettuce Wraps
This recipe takes a Southeast Asian favorite-satay-and turns it into an appetizer that's short on cook time and long on flavor. …
In his boldest foray into Mideast peacemaking, President Bush has invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, along with representatives from nearly 50 nations and international groups, to next week's conference in Annapolis, Md. Some questions and answers about the summit.
____
What is the goal of Annapolis?
Bush wants Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to declare a formal resumption of peace talks, in the presence of a large international audience. Talks broke down in violence seven years ago. The U.S. hopes renewed talks will lead to a peace deal before Bush leaves office in January 2009.
…
Roland Burris is closer to taking President-elect Barack Obama's seat in the Senate, say knowledgeable officials in both parties, despite Democratic leaders' vows to reject any appointee of Illinois' embattled governor.
After being rejected Tuesday when he tried to join the class of incoming senators, Burris is finding new support in Congress as Democratic leaders scramble for a way to defuse the standoff with growing racial, political and legal complications.
The likelihood that Burris, a Democrat, will eventually prevail and become the Senate's only black member after Obama's resignation from the seat, increased Tuesday evening when a key chairwoman got …
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (AP) White House chief of staff Howard H.Baker Jr. conceded Saturday that economic sanctions against Panamahave "hurt the people more than they have hurt" strongman ManuelAntonio Noriega.
But Baker called the measures "carefully thought-out andcarefully executed" and said they were unavoidable.
"We grieve for the people of Panama," Baker told reporters. Hesaid, though, that U.S. officials hope the newest sanctions,announced on Friday, will further undermine Gen. Noriega's hold onpower.
Baker also said that economic sanctions taken against Noriegato this point have had little effect on the general. Thiscontradicted his statement …
NEW YORK - A painting stolen 20 years ago was found lying in trash along a street, and now it could fetch up to $1 million at auction.
Elizabeth Gibson didn't know anything about the brightly colored abstract work she spotted on her morning walk four years ago on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Sotheby's auction house will be selling the work next month for the now-widowed original owner.
"I would say it was an appointment with destiny," Gibson said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I just knew it meant something. ... It was extremely powerful, and even though I didn't understand it. I knew it had power."
It turned out that it was a 1970 painting titled "Tres …
Stocks that moved substantially or traded heavily Friday on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market:
NYSE
General Motors Corp., down 49 cents at $1.43
The leader of the Canadian Auto Workers union said it was "very likely" the auto maker will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Sears Holdings Corp., up $5.21 at $55.40
The Sears and Kmart stores parent reported a profit that surprised investors despite a 9 percent drop in sales from a year ago.
Aeropostale Inc., up $1.18 at $33.73
The teen apparel retailer's profit jumped 81 percent as sales rose, and analysts said it was …
BATKOVIC, Bosnia-Herzegovina In the fields outside thiswell-tended village two hours from Belgrade, a warehouse that oncestored grain now stores men.
Row upon row, 1,000 of them stood in the gloom with bowed headswhen their captors opened the warehouse door for two Westernjournalists last week. On command, the prisoners, mostly civilians,raised their close-cropped heads and sat tightly packed on the strawpallets that covered the concrete floor. Frightened eyes stared atthe strangers and at the armed men behind them.
Less than two weeks ago, Bosnian Serb officials not only deniedsuch a place existed in this area, but led a show tour of 10journalists into the …
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (AP) — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday asked people to stay positive about the search in the Adriatic Sea for two of ballooning's most accomplished pilots.
Richard Abruzzo, 47, of Albuquerque, and Carol Rymer Davis, 65, of Denver, were flying in the 54th Gordon Bennett Gas Balloon Race when contact was lost Wednesday morning. Since then, search and rescue teams from Italy, the U.S. and Croatia have been scouring the area.
Race organizers have said Abruzzo and Davis plunged toward the water at 50 mph (80 kph) when they dropped off air traffic control radar and likely didn't survive.
Richardson, who earlier this week requested on behalf of …
| All Times EDT |
|---|
| EASTERN CONFERENCE |
| Atlantic Division |
| W L Pct GB |
| Boston 45 25 .643 _ |
| Toronto 35 34 .507 9 1/2 |
| New York 25 45 .357 20 |
| Philadelphia 24 47 .338 21 1/2 |
| New Jersey 7 63 .100 38 |
| Southeast Division |
| W L Pct GB |
With hundreds of hotel rooms booked and municipal crews unfolding red, white and blue flags, Jerusalem is getting ready for its highest-profile visitor in years: President Bush.
Jerusalemites are accustomed to waiting in traffic jams as convoys of black sedans shuttle visiting dignitaries around the city, the seat of Israel's government. But Bush, who arrives for three days beginning Wednesday, constitutes a VIP of a different order. He is the first American president to come since former President Clinton a decade ago.
Israel is pulling out all the stops to impress a president who is perhaps its staunchest foreign ally.
Jerusalem is spending nearly $400,000 to spruce itself up for the visit, said Jacob Avishar, the city official in charge of coordinating preparations. Garbage teams are in furious race to clean the city's often dusty streets and walls tagged with spray paint, he said.
More than 10,500 policemen and security personnel will be deployed to protect Bush and keep order during the visit _ more than one-third of Israel's entire police force, according to police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.
"There will be so much security nobody will be able to get anywhere near the president," Rosenfeld said.
The security personnel will include snipers, bomb-sniffing dogs and bodyguards from the Shin Bet internal security service, including reservists called up especially for the visit, according to police officials. The operation is dubbed "Clear Skies."
Flights in and out of Israel's only international airport, Ben Gurion, will be suspended around the time Bush lands. From the airport, Bush will fly by helicopter to Jerusalem.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to divulge details of the preparations.
The choppers will be flown in from the U.S. on Air Force cargo planes, along with armored limousines _ complete with District of Columbia license plates _ vans filled with high-tech communications gear and other vehicles for a heavily-armed counterassault team.
Bush will be staying in a suite at the King David hotel that costs $2,600 a night _ for guests who are not president of the United States. Assistant General Manager Benny Olearchik would not disclose how much the Americans are paying to stay at his hotel, one of Israel's most expensive.
Bush's entourage already has taken up more than two-thirds of its 237 rooms, and will take over all of them once he arrives himself, Olearchik said. Unlucky guests who happened to plan their visits at the wrong time had their reservations canceled.
The King David, which opened in the 1930s, is best known for getting blown up by Jewish terrorists in 1946. Members of the hardline Irgun group, opposed to British rule over what was then known as Palestine, disguised their explosives in milk jugs and destroyed a wing housing British offices, killing 91 people.
Israeli officialdom is eagerly anticipating the arrival of Bush, whom Israel sees as one of the most supportive presidents ever to have served in the White House.
"It's not every day that a president comes here," Israel's deputy premier, Haim Ramon, told Army Radio this week.
Not every Israeli will welcome him with open arms.
Supporters of convicted Pentagon spy Jonathan Pollard have rented space on the sides of Jerusalem city buses to place posters of Bush flanked by Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Gaza Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. The posters compare the imprisoned Pollard to three Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah and Hamas and call for the immediate release of all four.
Pollard, a civilian intelligence analyst for the U.S. Navy, transferred military secrets to Israel while working at the Pentagon. He was arrested in 1985 and pleaded guilty at his trial. He is serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison.
There is little chance Bush will see the posters, as local traffic will be diverted away from routes used by his motorcade.
On the other side of the political spectrum, a left-wing Israeli Arab party plans to demonstrate opposite the city's U.S. Consulate at the start of Bush's visit to protest his policy toward Iran, Jerusalem police said.
Eli Ben-David, 48, who has run an antique shop opposite the King David for 28 years, said three days of Bush mean blocked roads and bad business. No tourists will be staying at the hotel and the street will be largely shut, meaning that nearly no one will be able to reach his store.
"Every time one of these big guys come, we don't sell anything," Ben-David sighed. "It's probably better just to close up shop and wait for it to pass."
___
Associated Press White House Correspondent Terence Hunt in Washington contributed to this report.
Christine Forgey, Greenfield's first mayor, says it's OK to plan. But it's not OK when that's all you do.
"This town has been planning for more than 30 years," said Forgey, who told BusinessWest that the shelves at Town Hall are full of reports, studies, and master plans on everything from downtown to urban renewal to a bikeway. "We've got all kinds of plans - the problem is, we don't implement any of them."
Changing that scenario was one of the main planks in Forgey's campaign platform, which she used to outlast 12 other candidates - an intriguing group that included several current and former town councilors, an attorney, a driving school owner, a financial planner, and even a former newspaper reporter turned political consultant - to become mayor of this city that still calls itself a town.
And as she goes a about her assignment, she borrows Nike's main marketing slogan. "We have to just do it," she said, "and stop talking about it."
In her first 20 or so months in office, she has succeeded in at least moving the town in the right direction. There are several developmentrelated projects in various stages taking shape within the community, and the promise of many more as this rural community at the foot of the Mohawk Trail sets out to reshape its identity, while preserving its past as a tool and die center and tourist destination.
The community of roughly 20,000 people has hired its first economic development director, Marlene Marrocco, a former tech sector veteran who came to Greenfield to retire, but didn't. After launching a few technology startups, she accepted Forgey's invitation to help chart a new, more aggressive course for the community.
With a focus on marketing and building relationships with such organizations as the Economic Development Council of Western Mass. (EDC), Forgey and Marrocco are putting Greenfield on the map and on some radar screens that didn't pick it up before.
Indeed, Ranch Kimball, the Romney administration's Economic Development secretary, is now on a first-name basis with town leaders, said Marrocco, noting, diplomatically, that only a few months ago he might well have needed a map to find the place.
He's not the only one that can now locate Greenfield, she added, noting that many developers and business owners are calling, intrigued by a number of opportunities, from retail to hospitality to industry.
One such industry is a little out of the ordinary, but still boasts strong growth potential. Northeast Biodiesel, a venture that takes waste vegetable oil collected from restaurants and cafeterias and turns it into green 'biofuel,' plans to build a plant in the town's industrial park off Route 2. Currently located in leased space on Federal Street, the company employs about 10 people, but plans to increase that number to 40 or more in the years ahead.
"The whole town will smell like french fries," quipped Marrocco, adding that other manufacturers, from small machine shops to Toyota, have made inquiries about Greenfield.
But there are still a number of challenges facing this community, said Forgey, noting its remote location - and the perception of remoteness as well as a lack of developable land that most would find surprising. Indeed, while the town has thousands of undeveloped acres, most of them are designated for agricultural, environmental, and recreational uses. Removing such restrictions is possible, but also difficult.
Meanwhile, perhaps the biggest challenge is the attitude of many residents, said Marrocco. While some applaud development, many don't, she said, adding that a good number of residents prefer the status quo. "Some people just want this to be Mayberry."
BusinessWest looks this month at what comes next for Greenfield. There are a number of specific development issues to be addressed, said Forgey, including development of the former Greenfield Tap & Die (GTD) site, finding new uses for the longvacant First National Bank Building in the heart of downtown, creating a new intermodal transportation center, and others. The broad assignment, however, Is creating an identity for the community.
"We're not to that point yet," she said, echoing Marrocco's comments on how not everyone in this town is on the same page when it comes to development and what they want the community to be. "But we're getting there."
Rural Renewal
Tracing the economic history of Greenfield, Forgey said the city was once a thriving manufacturing hub. It was also a think tank of sorts, she explained, where industrialists and scientists, working in concert with counterparts in Europe, developed new machining tools and processes.
A string of mills once employed thousands, Forgey noted, ticking off the names of many companies that have moved or closed. That list includes GTD, Millers Falls Tools, Bendex, and many others.
When asked what happened after the mills closed, Forgey paused for a moment and said, "essentially ... nothing."
There was some economic development, most of it retail in nature, she continued, but there were no real strategies or comprehensive programs to attract new companies and create new jobs. As a result, the community's once thriving downtown began to decline, while Greenfield's population stagnated.
The lack of jobs prompted many young people to leave the community, said the mayor, noting that this trend continues today.
"Many young people feel compelled to leave because they believe there are no jobs," she said, noting that employment opportunities are relatively scarce and many residents commute to jobs in other communities. "Some people come back, though, when they reach their 30s and 40s because they value the quality of life here. We have to find ways to keep the younger people here."
While Greenfield didn't have much in the way of economic development in the '80s and '90s, it did have plenty of studies and plans. Over the years, said Marrocco, there was a master plan created for the community and a separate master plan for downtown. There was also a Recreation Plan, an Urban Renewal Plan, a Strategic Plan, a Bikeway Plan, and a Facade Improvement Plan. Most of those effort were worthwhile, she said, and yielded valuable information and direction for town leaders.
In many cases, however, the Studies merely gathered dust.
Part of the problem "'its it cumbersome governmental infrastructure, said Forgey, noting that, at one time, the community had five selectmen, a town manager, and a 27-member town council trying to run things.
"It's difficult to manage in that type of environment," she said, adding that while it is nearly impossible to gain a consensus with such a topheavy governing body, that didn't stop people from trying, and this contributed to the inertia.
The excessive bureaucracy and slow, ineffective nature of town government, led to a successful drive to change Greenfield's charter, thereby incorporating the community as a city and creating a strongmayor form of government that would also feature a 13-member city council and rare three-year terms for those elected officials; the norm is two or four.
The mayor's race eventually attracted 13 candidates, and I would press on to the preliminary election. Forgey said she joined the fray because she saw the vast potential for the community and believed she was imminently qualified to help it realize that potential.
"I looked around, and said, 'I can do this job,' site recalled, noting that she had served the community as assistant accountant and, while working at Smith, gained experience working with budgets, marketing, and public relations.
Forgey took office its Greenfield was celebrating its 250th birthday, but her thoughts were clearly focused on the present and future, not the past, and on moving the community past its prolonged planning stage.
"You can make plans to build a boat until the cows come home," she said. "But, as I see it, the water's rising and we've got to get going."
Developing Interest
Upon assuming the corner office, Forgey set about addressing some rather alarming demographic statistics, specifically those pertaining to tax revenue. Nearly 80% of that number now comes from residential property, she explained, while a mere 3% is industrial, and the rest is commercial, mostly small businesses.
Changing that equation won't be easy, she said, noting that the manufacturing sector has been steadily declining regionwide, and will likely continue on that course. But the community can take steps to case the burden on residential tax payers, she said, and the process begins with marketing, networking, and, in general, working harder to sell Greenfield.
Leading those efforts will be Marrocco, who brings it broad range of experience to the position. She started its it marketing specialist for Digital, and, after working in several capacities there, Joined the Motorola subsidiary Codex Corp., where site developed the companys first mail order catalog. After working for a Bostonbased software company as vice president, she moved to Western Mass. and cofounded the Internet solutions company Tech Cavalry.
The position of economic development director was included in the charter change in 2003, said Forgey, but the town couldn't afford the salary at the time. When fiscal conditions improved, the town launched a search for a development czar, and Marrocco was eventually chosen.
Since coming to Town Hall late last year, she has focused much of her energies on marketing and creating new, higher levels of visibility for Greenfield. Her participation in EDC programs is one example of how she is going about her assignment.
Prior to her arrival, Greenfield didn't have much of a presence with the EDC, she explained, noting that while the community "its always it part of broad planning and economic development activities in Western Mass., it didn't have it very strong voice. The Office of Economic Development, meanwhile, gives those with questions and interest in Greenfield or specific properties a place - and it person - with which to initiate contact.
Through greater visibility and more aggressive marketing, Marrocco hopes to add to a rather lengthy list of projects in various stages of development. Those initiatives include a planned new Hampton Inn and 99 restaurant just off the exit to I-91 in the west side of the community; emerging plans for an intermodal transportation center to be built on the site of a Toyota dealership a few blocks from Town Hall; development of the GTD site; expansion of the industrial park, and continued revitalization downtown, especially development of the First National Bank building.
The GTD parcel did not attract much attention from a preliminary request for proposals (RFP) issued late last year, said Marrocco, noting that the document may have deterred some developers because it was quite specific with regard to preferred uses - elderly housing, assisted living, or office space - rather than broad. Also, the site is somewhat challenged, with limited access and a road bisecting the property.
But Marrocco said that through some targeted marketing to developers and an extension of the RFP, some proposals are coming forward, and she expects some type of development at the site in the near future.
Finding a new use for the GTD site was a priority identified in the master plan for the town, she told BusinessWest, and it's one example of how the community is trying to act on those various documents.
Another example is the intermodal transportation center, a concept proposed in the urban renewal study completed a few years ago. Very preliminary plans call for moving the Toyota dealership and creating a center for buses, taxis, and, perhaps someday, trains. The proposal would require state and federal assistance to move forward, said Marrocco, adding that if it does, it should generate more interest in a downtown that is vibrant, but also challenged by absentee landlords and unrealistic expectations on the part of property owners looking to sell various properties.
"There are several buildings that could be developed," she said, pointing to one block dominated by vacant storefronts, "but the owners want too much."
The Greenfield Community Development Commission now owns the vacant bank building, she said, adding that an RFP for that property should be issued in the next few months. If a proposal comes forward, it could create additional momentum in a downtown that has a number of small, independently owned businesses, including the landmark Wilson's Department Store, a fixture on Main Street for more than 80 years.
"Downtown is strong and vibrant, but we all think things could be better," said Marrocco. "The intermodal center could create more activity in that area and lure different kinds of businesses."
Downtown is one of the three economic development zones within the community, she explained, and there is also activity in the other two the area near the rotary just off the I-91 exit, and the so-called French King area to the north of downtown.
The new Hampton Inn and 99 Restaurant are planned for the site of the landmark restaurant Bricker's, which closed several years ago. Meanwhile, the Home Depot just down the road is slated for expansion, and a motel just off the interstate will get a major facelift.
In the French King section, a purchase-and-sale agreement has been inked for a parcel across Route 2 from the industrial park. A large discount department store is planned for the site as well as several possible pad sites. The development is expected to draw shoppers from Greenfield and surrounding towns, such as Gill, Buckland, and Conway, and, in the process, help Greenfield meet two of its economic development goals: providing residents with more retail options, while also making the community more of a destination.
Road to Prosperity
As she talked about the challenge of finding an identity for Greenfield and even getting residents to embrace the notion that it is a city Forgey jokingly asked Marrocco, "do we have a plan for that?"
There were some snickers, but the subject of 'planning' is not a laughing matter in this town.
"We have a planning mentality," said Marrocco, who was blown away recently by a suggestion for an implementation plan that would cover all the previous plans that have been done.
"We don't need another plan," she said sternly, "we just need to take some action."
A week ago, Europe was done, its biggest stars flops, its supremacy in international soccer hijacked by South America.
So much for that.
Europe is back in its traditional power spot at the World Cup, producing three of the four semifinalists and ensuring its streak of having at least one team in the final since 1934 will continue. (Yes, Brazil and Uruguay were the only two teams that could have won in 1950, but there was no "official" final.)
All that moaning and groaning that could be heard above the din of the vuvuzelas? Only six of Europe's 13 teams making it out of the group stage, compared with all five from South America and two from Asia, which has yet to be mistaken for an international powerhouse? The tantalizing prospect of an all-South American final?
Forget all that. The only outsider remaining is Uruguay, and if it loses to the Netherlands on Tuesday, Europe will be guaranteed its first title in a World Cup held outside the continent. Germany plays Spain in the other semifinal Wednesday.
"What the team showed, it was not only international level, but the level of champions," Germany coach Joachim Loew said after his squad dismantled Argentina, which had emerged as one of the favorites after winning its first four games with flair and style.
"It was," Loew added, "absolute class."
Yes, Europe had its worst showing in the group stage since the World Cup was expanded to 32 teams. But it probably wouldn't have looked quite so bad if not for the misadventures of defending World Cup champ Italy and 2006 runner-up France. And, really, was either teams' crashing and burning that big of a surprise?
Italy was, no other way to put it, old. Nine players on the squad were 30 or over, including 36-year-old captain Fabio Cannavaro. Soccer is a young man's game, and the Italians simply didn't have the legs to keep up in South Africa.
As for France, Les Bleus were a trainwreck waiting to happen since they tumbled out of the 2008 European Championship in the group stage, and they didn't disappoint.
But that hardly meant all of Europe was on the wane. Or that its domestic leagues need to be overhauled to nurture up-and-coming players and ensure veteran players aren't being overworked. And it certainly didn't mean, as some dared suggest, that FIFA should consider taking a few of Europe's World Cup slots away.
Germany, the Netherlands and defending European champion Spain all won their groups, while England finished second to the United States on goal differential. Granted, England made a quick _ and not very pretty _ exit in the second round at the feet of Germany. But with the way the Germans are playing, there's no shame in losing to them these days.
The three-time champions are in the semifinals for a third straight World Cup. They've scored four goals in three of their five games; there are teams that left this tournament without four goals total. Lots of 'em, in fact. Germany has rolled over England and Argentina by a combined score of 8-1 and, don't look now, but Miroslav Klose is lurking right behind Ronaldo for most goals in World Cup history.
Klose's two goals in the 4-0 rout of Argentina on Saturday give him 14 total, tying him with German great Gerd Mueller and putting him one behind Ronaldo. And Klose isn't even the top scorer at this tournament. That honor _ for now, anyway _ belongs to David Villa, who put Spain in the World Cup's final four for the first time in 60 years Saturday night with his fifth goal in South Africa.
Spain's semifinal with Germany is a game probably better suited for a final. It is, in fact, a rematch of the Euro 2008 final, which the Spanish won to capture their first major title since 1964.
"The Germans have played a brilliant World Cup so far," Andres Iniesta said. "We're also at the top of our game, I think. It will be a game between two rivals who enjoy having the ball, and I think it will be a beautiful battle."
Despite Germany's stingy, organized defense, the Spaniards say the matchup suits their attacking game _ something that hasn't always materialized in South Africa.
"Two of the best teams in the World Cup have to play in the semifinal, so unlucky for one of them," Spain striker Fernando Torres said. "They are an attacking team and they will try to win, try to attack. But we will have more space to go at them."
The Netherlands have a lock on that dreaded "best team never to win the World Cup" title after losses in the 1974 and '78 finals. And the Dutch haven't always looked like the Clockwork Oranje here.
But they are the only team with a perfect record in South Africa _ no small thing _ and their unbeaten streak is up to 24.
"This is the moment we have been waiting for two years," Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk said.
Uruguay has been waiting a while, too. The two-time champions haven't been in the semifinals since 1970, and what better way to declare South America's burgeoning prominence than by having someone other than traditional powerhouses Brazil and Argentina make the final? A team that needed to beat Costa Rica in the playoffs just to get to South Africa, no less.
That assumes, however, that Uruguay can get by the Europeans.
And, unlike how it looked just a few days ago, that's no longer such an easy prospect.
Federal health scientists say follow-up studies of a Roche breast cancer drug show it failed to slow tumor growth or extend patient lives, opening the door for a potential halt in sales.
The Food and Drug Administration approved Roche's blockbuster Avastin in 2008 based on early-stage trials showing it shrank tumors caused by breast cancer. The approval was controversial because such drugs are usually required to show increased survival time for patients.
The FDA says follow-up studies recently submitted by Roche failed to show that Avastin extended lives compared to chemotherapy alone.
On Tuesday the FDA will ask a panel of outside cancer experts to review the evidence on Avastin.
The FDA has the option to remove drug from the market.
CeaseFire, an initiative of the Illinois Project for Violence Prevention, has received funding from the State of Illinois to the tune of more than $13 million during the last two years. However, Gov. Rod Blagojevich has eliminated funding for CeaseFire. A state senator has called the organization ineffective. However, CeaseFire has caused a reduction in shootings in many areas of the city. The Defender asked if the funding should be restored and you said:
"Yes I think the funding should be restored because any programming that does anything to make sure any child is safe and not committing a crime or not hurt or killed is important. We need to invest our money in the future, which is our children"
-Rhea
"Yes I do because the funding that goes to CeaseFire helps the teens and helps the children get off the street. If they stop the funding then the kids are going to get back to the street, go back to gangbanging, back to selling drugs."
- Ashley
"Yes I do it helps as far as gangbanging, as far as people killing one another. Yes we do need CeaseFire."
- Erica
'Yes I do think it should be restored. Ex-offenders, once they have served their time and once they have been released, they should have an opportunity to join society and maybe mentor someone so they can spread the word and we can keep kids off the street and hopefully they wont end up in the same predicament they were in."
-Patrice
There's a sequence in "Duke Nukem Forever" (2K Games, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, $59.99; PC, $49.99) that's destined to be remembered as one of the all-time low points in the history of video games.
It takes place in the Hive, a sort of alien incubator. The Hive is filled with naked human women who have been abducted and impregnated by the aliens. When Duke — the "hero" — accidentally kills one of the women, he makes an extremely tasteless joke.
Duke eventually stumbles upon two women. They beg for their lives. Duke responds with an F-word-based pun and watches as the two women explode.
I'm not a squeamish person, but there's a point at which even the strongest stomach says enough is enough. Unfortunately, I had to keep playing "Duke Nukem Forever" — and while it never again reaches that low, there's nothing that justifies that level of sadism and misogyny.
You may be familiar with the long, strange history of "DNF." It had been in development since the mid-1990s — the adolescent years of the first-person shooter, before "Halo" and "Call of Duty." Last year, it was finally rescued from the scrapheap by Gearbox Software, the studio behind 2009's superb role-playing shooter "Borderlands."
What Gearbox has assembled is a mishmash of poorly paced, archaically designed chunks of action. Along with the gunplay, "DNF" incorporates driving, running-and-jumping platform antics and even some rudimentary puzzle-solving, all of which would be welcome in a modern-day shooter if they were better executed. Instead, when you finally get to do something fun — like driving Duke's monster truck, the Mighty Foot — the game grinds to a halt by forcing you to stop and find gas.
The worst game issues are reserved for the excruciating boss battles. At the end of the Hive section, for example, you face off against the alien queen, who can only be taken down by high-powered ordnance. Every time you score a hit, though, she knocks you off your feet, so you have to hide from her while your "ego" (this game's equivalent of health points) recovers.
That's right: During one of the core battles in "DNF," the hero — established as the toughest, most fearless hero Earth has ever seen — spends most of the time hiding. And if Duke runs out of ego (which he will, often), you're subjected to a 30-second-plus loading screen. Pile up enough of those and you'll eventually decide the limited amount of "fun" you're having isn't worth the aggravation.
Survive the alien queen and you're treated to a pointless fetch quest in which you have to find three items in a strip club. Your reward? The creepiest lap dance ever.
All of which left me wondering: Who is Duke Nukem? The character was established in the '90s as a parody of two-fisted action heroes like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme. But during Duke's decade-and-a-half in limbo, those targets became toothless, and the gags here about contemporary stars like Christian Bale and Justin Timberlake fall flat.
So in 2011, Duke is just a parody of his former self, spouting jokes that are either lifeless or sickening. At one point, the president of the United States tells Duke he's "a relic from a different era." I wish he had stayed there. No stars out of four.
___
Online:
http://www.dukenukemforever.com/
___
Lou Kesten can be reached at http://twitter.com/lkesten
Sometimes you find the answer you have been looking for in places you never thought. Our challenge was to find a system that would make it easy and less risky for our viable business owners to explore the business opportunities of West Africa and, at the same time, improve our cultural interchange and discover our lost heritage.
Let's face it, we African Americans have been removed from our African roots for centuries and we are only touching the surface in the attempt to reconnect. Our approach to doing business in West Africa has been even less sophisticated. Too many of us go it alone and either become confused, swindled or just plain unsuccessful. It doesn't have to be like that if we get ourselves organized.
It took me by surprise when officials from the Canary Islands came to our office and introduced a program they were starting for all interested American entrepreneurs. For the last 30 years, they have been cultivating business relationships with all of the West African countries from Morocco to Equatorial Guinea.
I have come to find out that not only have the Canarians been able to do ongoing business with West African nations, they have established technical assistance offices throughout this part of the continent. They have done their homework and have established an infrastructure that gets you to the deal table fast and effectively. The cons and swindle games have been eliminated and they know where the real deals lie and the games to avoid. The Canary Islands Chamber of Commerce knows West Africa as well as anybody and now they are looking to African Americans to join them as partners. We have come to find this inviting and quite timely.
We Americans have developed a deep passion to find our West African roots. Ads on national television promote the use of swabbing your mouth and sending in the sample to be examined and determine where your DNA comes from such as Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, etc. From there, we want to journey and find the people from which we come.
There is one big problem there. West Africa lacks hotel and travel facilities to meet the demand of 40 million American Blacks wanting to visit their homeland. The Canary Islands has developed an answer to that. Over the past 30 years, they have built more than 100,000 beautiful hotel rooms along their beaches. The Islands have a population of 2 million and are host to more than 12 million tourists per year, most of them Europeans.
The Islands are located 50 miles off the coast of Africa, just south of Casablanca. The scenario is this: you can enjoy the warm and beautiful environs of the Canary Islands and shuttle to and from Senegal, Ghana, Cameroon and other destinations. Members of the Canary Islands Chamber of Commerce have also built free-standing hotels in Senegal and other places along the coast to meet the growing demand of Americans wanting to visit Africa.
For too long, African businesses have been strapped with the dependence of shipping their goods all the way to Amsterdam, Brussels and England before they could be relayed to the United States. This is costly and time consuming. To answer this call for a change, the entrepreneurs of the Canary Islands have built two modern deep water ports open for business. They are ready to ship goods from there directly to ports such as Miami, Baltimore, New Orleans and Houston in the United States.
They have also developed trucking lines that go into the interior of West Africa and can supply or pick up goods deep into the bush at affordable rates. Americans who seek to import cold storage produce such as pineapples and bananas now have a process they can rely on. The dependable players have been identified and the process for setting up has been reduced immensely.
Flying to West Africa can take up much time and may force you to journey by way of London or Amsterdam. From the East Coast of the United States a direct flight to the Canary Islands is only six hours. When we get the travel demand up, we can have even more flights. Once in the Canary Islands we can set up in their beautiful hotels and shuttle to and from our West Africa destinations.
The entrepreneurs of the Canary Islands anticipate meeting African American entrepreneurs seeking joint ventures in West Africa. The National Black Chamber of Commerce is forming a strategic alliance with them and the mystery of doing business in Africa will be history.
The best is yet to come.
[Author Affiliation]
Harry C. Alford is Co-Founder, President/CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, Inc. Website: www.nationalbcc.org. Email: president@nationalbcc.org.
Eight-seeded Horacio Zeballos of Argentina and Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky advanced to the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open with straight-set victories Friday.
Stakhovsky beat German veteran Bjorn Phau 6-2, 7-5, and Zeballos reached his first career ATP tour semifinal by beating Ernests Gulbis of Latvia 7-6 (8), 6-4.
Playing in his only fourth ATP event, the 54th-ranked Zeballos broke his opponent in the third game of the second set and served a winner to close the match.
The 93rd-ranked Stakhovsky broke three times in the first set and once in the second set to reach his second career semifinal. He will play either Marat Safin of Russia or Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan.
Also Friday, second-seeded Victor Hanescu of Romania was scheduled to play Igor Kunitsyn of Russia.
Dwight Howard recorded his first career triple-double with 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks Wednesday night and the Orlando Magic beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 109-92.
Howard had a double-double and matched his previous career-best of seven blocks in the first half then scored the Magic's first nine points after halftime to stretch the lead to 32.
Oklahoma City, playing without reigning rookie of the year Kevin Durant, got as close as 14 points in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. Durant was sidelined with a sore left ankle.
Jeff Green had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Russell Westbrook added 13 points and Earl Watson and Desmond Mason each scored 12 for the Thunder.
Mickael Pietrus and Jameer Nelson each had 17 points, Hedo Turkoglu scored 15 and Rashard Lewis added 13 for the Magic against the team he played nine seasons with before it relocated from Seattle. Nelson had a career-high 10 rebounds.
Nicknamed "The Daily Double," Howard led the NBA with 69 double-doubles last season and had 227 in his career but never the triple.
He had a highlight-reel type of night, mixing in a handful of dunks with all his swats. He could only smile when he was whistled for goaltending when he knocked away Joe Smith's shot in the third quarter for what would have been his 10th block of the game.
He got the block he needed by cleanly knocking away another of Smith's shots with 6:49 left in the game.
By that time, it was the only drama remaining.
Nelson hit a wide-open 3-pointer and jumper to stake the Magic to the lead from the outset, and Orlando pulled away to a 39-19 lead with a 20-7 run to finish the first quarter. The lead stretched to 29 by halftime as the Magic shot 54 percent and scored 71 points.
Notes:@ On his 20th birthday, Westbrook went 0-for-11 from the field in the first half before making his first shot of the second half. He finished 3-for-19. ... Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo was called for a technical foul with 5:41 left in the third quarter after Green took a hard tumble in the lane but no foul was called against the Magic. ... Orlando has won the last six games against the Oklahoma City/Seattle franchise. ... Oklahoma City rookies Kyle Weaver and Steven Hill both scored the first points of their NBA careers in the final minutes.
"Can I get you a 7-Up or a beer, please?" Sam murmurs as we walkin.
Greg shows Sam a jacket and sweater his wife wants copied. Samis also showing fabric samples to Tom. And he's asking me what I'dlike to buy.
If this seems like a lot for one tailor to be doing at once,there's an explanation: Sam is actually three people - the originalSam who came from India and opened the shop in 1957, and his twosons. To maintain the family mystique, perhaps, the Sams decline togive me their real names. (Guidebooks report that father Sam is namedAsh Samtani, though one of the Sams told me that's not so.)
Sam's is crowded. Tom is being measured for a suit, a man istrying on trousers in a corner alcove (sorry, no dressing room), andGreg and I are looking at more fabric samples.
One of the Sams tells me there are 12,000 tailors in Hong Kong.His shop employs 42, turning out 30 suits per day. He says about 85percent of Sam's business comes from repeat customers.
Having come here only to observe, I am now getting caught up inthe excitement. I am looking at samples of ultra-suede; I've alwayswanted an ultra-suede blazer.
As I admire a light gray, one of the Sams cuts a corner from thesample and tapes it to an order form. He asks me to sign. As I'mcrossing the "t" in Jonathan, he shows me fabric samples for a shirtto complement the jacket.
A Sam tells me his shop does no advertising. "One customer willbring five . . . they will bring 25 . . . and they will bring 100."
Business cards and photographs of customers crowd the counterand walls of the shop, on the ground floor of Burlington Arcade,92-94 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon.
Richard Nixon shopped here; so did rock star Sting. Alsoposted is a photograph of actor Peter Graves being measured by Sam.Graves is decked out in his boxer shorts.
Before we call a halt, Greg has ordered a blazer and a shirt, aswell as the jacket and sweater for his wife. Tom is buying a suit,two pants and two shirts. I'm getting the blazer and shirt.
The days of the "24-hour suit" are long gone, so I must returntwo days later for a fitting.
The half-made jacket is slipped on me. Sam inspects the fitand, in Cantonese, instructs one of the staff tailors to make thejacket just a little longer.
On my last day in Hong Kong, I return for a final fitting. Thejacket ($150) is perfect, and I'm so pleased with the shirt ($18)that I order three more, to be mailed to my suburban Chicago home.
Almost more important than the price, I can now proudly displaythe jacket label: "Specially Made for Jonathan Lehrer."
I can also show off my "J.L." monogram, which Sam's embroideredon the shirt pockets at no extra charge.
Kristina Drzal Houghton considers herself the creative type.
That terms applies to her approach to home decorating, for example. "I really work at it; I try to get everything perfect, right down to the smallest detail. I want a room to look just right."
But it also describes her work as a tax specialist and partner with Holyoke-based Meyers Brothers Kalicka, she told BusinessWest, and such terminology may surprise some people not familiar with this field.
"The perception is that numbers are boring and pretty dry," she explained. "But you can be very creative in tax work. I love the challenge of trying to figure out how to make something work. Whether you're dealing with mergers, acquisitions, or other business transactions, it's challenging to get the answer to come within the tax code and be as favorable to the client as possible."
Creative is also a word the Springfield native used to describe her efforts to manage that chaotic time between mid-January and April 15, when all taxpreparers - and those who manage them - are put the test.
"There needs to be a balance," said Drzal Houghton who, as the 'tax partner' for Meyers Brothers Kalicka manages a team of nine dedicated tax preparers. "The work has to get done, obviously, but you need to do it a way so that you don't burn people out; otherwise, you're not going to retain your quality employees."
As the mother of two children ages 7 and 13, Drzal Houghton says she's keenly aware of the challenges involved with balancing work and family, especially for accountants during those hectic three months. Thats why she brings what she calls a blend of sensitivity and creativity to managing workloads.
And with that assignment, as well as all others, she said its her responsibility to come up with not the right answer, necessarily, but the best answer.
"I consider myself a problem solver - thats my job description," she said of the term she would use often. "And I love what I do."
Bean Imaginative
Drzal Houghton told BusinessWest she developed a passion for numbers early in life.
"I really loved math, and I remember telling my father that I wanted to be a math major in college and maybe teach the subject," she recalled. "He said, 'what are you going to do a math degree? - you're not going to make enough money to cover your share of the tuition."'
With some help from a guidance counselor who suggested accounting as a career path, she's proven her father wrong.
She earned a bachelor's degree in Accounting from American International College and then a master's in Taxation from Bentley College in Vermont. She broke into the field in 1984 as a tax specialist with Deloitte Haskins & Sells (then one of the so-called Big Eight accounting firms) in Hartford.
She stayed there only a year - "the commute was killing me; I-91 was still two lanes back then" - before becoming a tax specialist in the Springfield office of Coopers & Lybrand, another of the Big Eight firms. There, she eventually took on a number of large corporate accounts and developed a real passion for working with and for those types of clients.
She was recruited by the then Longmeadow-based firm Meyers Brothers, P.C. in early 1995, and became a partner two years later.
Today, she heads the firm's Tax Department and is the technical adviser for the tax aspects of all special services. She has her own portfolio of clients, which includes some of the region's largest employers and several non-profit organizations, and is also the individual tasked with making sure the more than 2,100 individual returns and 600 more for corporations and partnerships are done on time - and done right.
"It's like a giant puzzle," she said of the workload to be handled between January and April 15. "It does take a good deal of creativity to get it a one."
The challenges don't end in mid-April, however, she added quickly, noting that there is tax work to be done year-round late spring and summer is when the focus shifts to non-profit groups, for example. There is also 40 hours of continuing education each year and constant work to keep current with changing tax laws.
Drzal Houghton told Business West that she doesn't actually prepare any returns herself, per se. Rather, she acts as adviser, or problem solver for those who do.
When asked to describe her work, she said it boils down to finding solutions for clients while staying within the boundaries of the tax code.
"We look for creative ways to avoid the traps or the gray areas of the law," she explained, "and devise solutions that are more likely than not to be upheld in the event of an audit.
"I'm not going to take your sports car and call it a bus so you can write off the depreciation," she continued, adding that she has what she would call a 'higher than average' degree of integrity. "You work within the law, but look for creative ways to find those best answers for clients."
Good outcomes are among the biggest rewards for individuals in this profession, she told BusinessWest, adding that she takes great satisfaction from devising those 'best answers' she referred to.
Equally rewarding for her, however, is her work within the community, which often involves putting her skills with numbers - and problem-solving - to work for area non-profit groups.
She is currently treasurer for the Springfield Symphony Orchestra and the Spirit of Springfield, for example, and formerly held that same post with the Kiwanis Club of Springfield. She also serves on the Board of Directors for the Springfield Boys and Girls Club and the advisory board for the Family Business Center at UMass.
In addition to those groups, she is also helping to crunch the numbers and advance plans by members of Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow to buy the club and thus prevent the facility from being converted into a large housing project.
"We're hoping that we can make this work," she said, using the third person to refer to the club's membership, which she is part of. "This is important not only for the club, but for the town as well."
Counting on Her
Dryzal Houghton told BusinessWest that, despite their best efforts, tax preparers can't always put smiles on their clients' faces, usually due to factors well beyond their control and their desire to work within the law.
"That's part of the business," she told BusinessWest, adding that, over the years, she has devised a method of 'apologizing' to clients, even though she's done nothing wrong. "I say, 'sorry you are disappointed with this.' "
Thanks to her highly creative nature and life-long passion for finding the best answer, though, she hasn't had to say that very often.
Since we speak more or less the same language, shopping iseasier in England than on the continent. Many top London shops are apiece of history in themselves, so you can justify the expedition toany history-buff traveling companions. Rain or shine, shopping isone activity to fit into your London trip, even if you are only abrowser.
There's a staggering abundance of shops in London, in five majorareas. If you're limited to just one day, as I was, you can hit thehigh points in three areas, with a few diversions along the way.
Outfitted with a good pair of walking shoes and umbrella, wewere able to make the grand shopping tour with time out for lunch andeven a short visit to the National Gallery.
Plot your trek on a city map before you set out. Or invest ina shopping guidebook like Born to Shop, London. Here are some mainstores to hit: Selfridges: When you're homesick for Marshall Field's or CarsonPirie Scott, a trip to Selfridges on Oxford Street will lift yourspirits.
If you think it has the look and feel of an American departmentstore, you're right. That's because it was founded by Harry GordonSelfridge, who worked for Marshall Field's in Chicago before foundinghis own store in London in 1909. Covering an entire city block, thiscomplete department store is for one-stop shoppers andLondon-shopping initiates. Debenhams: Visit Debenhams if you start getting depressed by highprices. A real-people store, it has women's and children's clothing,home furnishings and cosmetics, jewelry and ever-necessary umbrellas.
The store's lively spirit also brightens the trip for anyfoot-draggers you might have with you. The in-store disc jockey notonly plays music but also promotes sale items and the store's creditcards. Marks & Spencer: Marks & Spencer blends a quasi-department storewith the atmosphere of Woolworth's. The racks and racks of sweaters,blouses, dresses and jackets go on and on. There's clothing foreveryone in your family and the prospect of bargains if you have theenergy to wade into the racks. Liberty: One of my favorites, this a major expansion of the smallLiberty shop in Chicago's Water Tower Place. With its mock-Tudorbuilding and galleried floors, it seduces shoppers who love silks,leather, exotic presents and the lovely Liberty prints. Those whosew shouldn't miss Liberty's fabric department, which takes up anentire floor. Fortnum & Mason: Fortnum & Mason has come a long way from its startin 1707 as a grocery store. Yet the famous food halls still set itapart from anything American stores have developed, including thefancy deli arrangements in Neiman Marcus.
Here you'll find the finest in caviar, foie gras, teas,chocolates, jellies, coffee and wines - all in elegant surroundings.Schedule your lunch or tea break at the famous Fountain Restaurant. Harrods: Another former grocery store, Harrods has arguably the bestof everything. Although some snobs might not be impressed, don'tavoid a visit here. We stopped by late in the afternoon; otherwise,I might have stayed the entire day.
Are there any bargains in London? Yes - if you hunt for them,take advantage of sales and shop for items made in the British Isles.
And unless you plan to do a lot of shopping, don't expect to geta break on the VAT - Value-Added Tax. This 15 percent retail tax canbe refunded or partially refunded if the goods are taken out of thecountry.
Here are some London-Chicago comparisons at the current exchangerate of about $1.60 to a British pound:
Swatch watch: 24 pounds ($38.40) at Selfridges; $35 at MarshallField's in Chicago.
Bennetton women's cotton sweatshirt: 17.90 pounds ($28.65) atDebenhams; $29 at Bennetton's in Chicago.
Laura Ashley cotton sleeveless dress, made in Ireland: 34.95pounds ($55.90) in London; $100 in Chicago.
Liberty print makeup bag: 9.95 pounds ($15.90) in London; $18in Chicago.
Burberry men's trenchcoat: 325 pounds ($520) in London; $460 inChicago.
Wedgwood's Peter Rabbit children's dining set: 12.95 pounds($20.65) in London; $28 in Chicago.
Fortnum & Mason tea (25 bags): 1.80 pounds ($2.90) in London;$3.75 at Marshall Field's.
Pope Benedict XVI met privately Monday with Australians who were sexually abused as children by priests, ending a pilgrimage to the country with a gesture of contrition over a scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church.
The pontiff held prayers and spoke with four representatives of abuse victims _ two men and two women _ in the last hours of his nine-day visit to Australia to attend the church's global youth festival.
The victims did not speak publicly after the meeting. Support groups for other victims dismissed the gesture as a public relations stunt.
The abuse scandal was a sour undertone to the trip for World Youth Day, which is supposed to be a celebration of faith to inspire a new generation.
On Saturday, Benedict delivered a forthright apology for the scandal, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the victims' suffering. But victims said this was not enough, and demanded that Benedict do more to provide financial compensation and psychological help for them.
The Vatican did not give details of the conversations between the pope and the victims he met for about an hour Monday "as an expression of his ongoing pastoral concern for those who have been abused by members of the church."
"He listened to their stories and offered them consolation," a Vatican statement said. "Assuring them of his spiritual closeness, he promised to continue to pray for them, their families and all victims.
"Through this paternal gesture, the holy father wished to demonstrate again his deep concern for all victims of sexual abuse," it said.
The pope, who has made trying to repair damage caused by the scandal one of the themes of his papacy, held a similar meeting with clergy abuse victims in the United States in April.
Bernard Barrett of the Broken Rites group, which estimates there are thousands of clergy sexual abuse cases in Australia, said the victims met by the pope were carefully chosen as people who would not cause trouble.
"It doesn't alter things because it's purely public relations," Barrett told the Fairfax Radio Network. "I think it's a cynical exercise."
Benedict left Australia for Rome midmorning on a chartered plane. At a brief ceremony at the airport, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd thanked the pope for coming and announced that Australia would post an ambassador in the Vatican for the first time. Former conservative Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fischer will take up the post next year.
In his apology, Benedict said Saturday he wanted "to acknowledge the shame, which we have all felt" about the clergy abuse and called for those responsible to be "brought to justice."
Representatives of the victims of clergy sexual abuse said the apology must be backed by Vatican orders to Australian bishops to stop what they say are efforts to cover up the extent of the problem and to block survivors' attempts to win compensation.
Benedict's pilgrimage to Australia was his furthest journey yet of his three-year papacy, and one intended to inspire a new generation of faithful while trying to overcome the dark chapter for his church from the sex abuse scandal.
Summing up his message, Benedict told pilgrims at a Mass on Sunday that a "spiritual desert" was spreading throughout the world and challenged them to shed greed and cynicism to create a new age of hope.
The Vatican said some 350,000 faithful from almost 170 countries packed the Randwick race track _ many of them camping out in sleeping bags in the mild chill of the Australian winter _ to hear the pope.
Benedict touched on themes for the universal church as well as Australia in particular _ raising the need for the world to change its lifestyles because of global warming, relations with non-Catholics and the struggle here to rejuvenate a crisis-battered Church.
Benedict announced to the pilgrims that Madrid, Spain would host the next World Youth Day in 2011.
___
Associated Press Writers Rohan Sullivan and Kristen Gelineau in Sydney contributed to this report.
BP PLC says it will get rid of some of the oil being recaptured from a spill in the Gulf of Mexico by burning it off.
BP spokesman Max McGahan told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the company will process some of the flow by sending it to a burner that turns it into a combustible fog and ignites it.
McGahan says the rig carrying the burner will be moved away from the main leak site so flames and heat do not endanger other vessels.
BP spokesman Robert Wine says the company will also boost capacity by bringing in a floating platform it believes can process most of the flow. He didn't know when it would arrive.
The current equipment being used at the surface to collect the spilled oil is believed to be nearing its daily capacity.
The Christmas season is again upon us. It has been since Halloween or even before. Many of us feel repulsed by the big business Christmas has become and by being encouraged-even prodded-into spending more money and giving more extravagant gifts than we want to. We do not like the barrage of advertising that encourages our children to think greater happiness lies in receiving the latest toy or electronic gadget.
On the one hand, I cannot but agree. We are an intricate part of a free enterprise, consumer society that expresses some of the worst excesses at Christmas. I know how TV and print ads tantalize children and put pressure on parents. I have struggled with guilt when we have "deprived" our children of some of the things they really really wanted.
On the other hand, I wonder if our giving is lavish enough. I grew up hearing my parents' stories about the early years in Canada when their families were dirt-poor. Luxuries, store-bought clothes and toys were virtually nonexistent. Yet on Christmas morning they wondered at the lavishness of receiving an orange, apple and pencil.
My childhood was much less poor, but my parents rarely splurged-except at Christmas. Then they would spend relatively lavishly on gifts we had given up hope of ever receiving. I anticipated Christmas with eagerness because I knew my parents would surprise us with lavishness.
In O'Henry's great Christmas story, The Gift of the Magi, Delia and Jim are a young couple in New York City. With Christmas approaching, each wants to show love and care for the other by giving just the right gift, but there is no money to spare. Both find the money for the gift they want to buy: Delia sells her pride and joy-her glorious, long hair, and Jim sells his prized heirloom pocket watch. The beautiful irony of their sacrifices is revealed when Jim presents Delia with the elegant, longed-for tortoise-shell combs for her hair and Delia gives Jim a beautiful chain for his pocket watch.
The storyteller observes: "I have related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children...who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest.... They are jfhe magi."
O'Henry suggests that the magi who came to see the infant Jesus invented the "art of giving Christmas presents." I think he is only partially correct. They were the first humans to respond by giving. But in the incarnation, God initiated the cycle of giving with the greatest, most lavish gift of all: his son, Jesus:
* Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing.... In him we have...the riches of his grace that he lavished on us (Ephesians 1:3, 7-8).
* For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich (II Corinthians 8:9).
* The is sacrificial gift unleashes a new abundance: of grace (John 1:16; Romans 5:15-17); of joy (II Corinthians 8:2); of love, knowledge and insight (Philippians 1:9; I Thessalonians 3:12); of comfort (II Corinthians 1:3-5); of truth (Romans 3:7); of hope (Romans 15:13); of thanksgiving (II Corinthians 4:15).
Our response to this abundance is thanksgiving and generosity, indeed the desire to give as lavishly as we have received (II Corinthians 9:6-8, 11,13). The magi presenting their gifts to Jesus is an example of appropriate lavishness in responding to God's good gifts. Another is the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, then anointed him with perfume worth $25,000, a year's wages for a labourer (Mark 14).
I believe that the gift of the incarnation calls us to live lives characterized by lavish generosity and to celebrate Christmas with lavish giving that is an imitation and symbol of-and a response to-the lavish giving of God. Do I, do we, give lavishly enough?
Every year two of our kids begin their Christmas wish lists with a Porsche or a Lamborghini. They ask in jest (I hope), but even if we could afford to buy them such a luxury sports car, would that be lavish giving? God's giving of Jesus was lavish beyond measure, not because it cost big bucks but because it was a costly sacrifice and because its value and benefit was priceless to those to whom the gift was given.
If these are the principles that guide our sacrificial giving, I suspect the dollar value of our giving may decrease as the lavishness increases. When my parents were growing up, money and even essential things were in short supply, so gifts that cost money were a sacrifice to give, an incredible joy and benefit to receive, and powerful lessons of God's gift in Christ. Delia and Jim sacrificed precious possessions, powerfully lavishing upon each other profound expressions of love and care.
Most of us live quite comfortably. Given our affluence, it is hard for us to know how to give with sacrifice and great benefit. Perhaps the key is discerning what is hardest to give and what is of greatest benefit to whom we would give.
Kids still need toys, teens and young adults still need music and new clothes, moms still need new slippers, and dads still need new drill sets. We should never get away from giving "things" that cost money. However, I believe our most lavish gifts will be our most valuable treasures-our time, attention, caring and prayers.
What might such lavish giving look like? Perhaps like this:
* Giving your spouse a date on the first or third (or both) Saturday of the month for the next year.
* Spending a parent's birthday with them.
* Giving your friend tickets for the two of you to see a series of hockey games or symphony performances.
* Giving each child a coupon for a restaurant meal and outing of their choice.
* Giving nieces and nephews a banana split outing to Dairy Queen for birthdays.
* Inviting loved ones to help you make a quilt for them.
* Without notifying him or her, offering a one-minute prayer on behalf of your loved one every day for the next year.
I could go on, but you get the picture.
As long as there is money to be made, Christmas will be overly commercialized. May this not "be-Scrooge" us into withdrawal and cynicism, but let us be imitators of God and be joyful practitioners of truly lavish giving.
Dave Tlessen
[Sidebar]
I have struggled with guilt when wo have 'deprived' our children of some of the things they really really wanted.
[Sidebar]
The article was originally published in the Fall 2003 Messenger.
[Sidebar]
I bolleve our mort lavish gifts will bo our most valuable treasures-our time, attention, caring and prayers.
LOURDES, France (AP) — Veteran German rider Andreas Kloeden has pulled out of the Tour de France early into the 13th stage, becoming the fourth RadioShack rider to leave the race.
Kloeden hurt his back after crashing earlier in the race, and he then banged his right elbow in a fall on Thursday.
The 36-year-old German pulled over onto the side of the road about 40 minutes into the 95-mile route from Pau to Lourdes in the Pyrenees. He was slowly riding and struggling before deciding to quit.
Yaroslav Popovych, Janez Brajkovic and Chris Horner had to leave the race after crashes.
The 36-year-old Kloeden had been the designated team leader. His withdrawal means American Levi Leipheimer takes over as RadioShack's leader. Leipheimer was third overall on the 2007 Tour.
SPRINGFIELD Betsy looked so good in her overalls andred-and-blue denim bonnet that she won the "Bossy Fashion Frolic forChildren."
The victory, over four others, made the 6-month-old from EastMoline the Illinois State Fair's best-dressed bovine.
"I guess I did pretty good," said Betsy's owner, Scott Bohnert,9. "It took us awhile to decide what we were going to do."
Obviously a pro. In the contest's four years, he has won twicein a row.
Yesterday was Youth Day at the fair.
"Quit eating my suit!" snapped Scott's 5-year-old sister, Tara,as she slapped the half-ton cow on …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee says the nation faces the real possibility of becoming a "second tier economic power" if it fails to address the trillion-dollar-plus deficit. He says changes to Social Security and Medicare are imperative.
Democrat Kent Conrad of North Dakota on Thursday faced questions about the divisive proposals from the chairmen of President Barack Obama's …
MINING for vinous gold in bargain bins and supermarkets mightseemlike an exercise in futility, but there is a rich lode to exploit ifyou know where to look.
The rampant New Zealand dollar, coupled with a domestic winesurplus, is conspiring to keep prices low -- but what a greatconspiracy this is for the consumer
There is currently a mouth-watering array of eminently drinkablewine from around the world for under $11 a bottle.For a touch of class in a glass, without breaking the bank, thespotlight first falls on Argentina. This is the world'sfifth-largest wine producer, but until recently most slipped downthethroats of thirsty gauchos.However, things …
Bargain bins can be goldenMINING for vinous gold in bargain bins and supermarkets mightseemlike an exercise in futility, but there is a rich lode to exploit ifyou know where to look.
The rampant New Zealand dollar, coupled with a domestic winesurplus, is conspiring to keep prices low -- but what a greatconspiracy this is for the consumer
There is currently a mouth-watering array of eminently drinkablewine from around the world for under $11 a bottle.For a touch of class in a glass, without breaking the bank, thespotlight first falls on Argentina. This is the world'sfifth-largest wine producer, but until recently most slipped downthethroats of thirsty gauchos.However, things …
Next work week, thousands of Chicago Transit Authority riders may have to devise new paths to workplaces, schools, medical facilities and other destinations.,
Sunday, 39 bus routes are schedule to be eliminated, and fares increased. Exactly 18 of the eliminated routes are express, and 13 run into the Loop.
South Side riders will be dealt a blow with the loss of three staples; -X3 King Drive Express, X4 Cottage Grove Express and X28 Stony Island Express.
Josephine Moon, who has depended on X4 Cottage Grove Express for 10 years, is surprised that it was selected. "That's one of the few lines that runs express from the South Side all the way to the Loop. That's all we …
(ADPnews) - Apr 28, 2011 - German optics company Fielmann AG (ETR:FIE) booked a net profit of EUR 31 million (USD 45.9m) for the first quarter of 2011, up by 19%, year-on-year, boosted by improving consumer morale.
The pre-tax profit reached EUR 44 million, up 18% from the first three months of the previous year, while analysts polled …
Byline: Edward Lapham
Unless I've just been taking my restroom breaks at all the wrong times, the topic of China has almost fallen off the map at Traverse City this year.
Sure, there have been a few mentions here and there. And CEO Jack Perkowski of China-based ASIMCO waxed philosophical about the rise of Chinese technology during the World Class Manufacturing session.
But so far there hasn't been the same volume of bluster about China in the big room that we've heard in recent years. This year's thematic undercurrent is more about introspection in North America, which makes sense given what General Motors and Ford are up against.
Maybe - …
NEW YORK (AP) — Government bond prices rose Tuesday after a surprise drop in consumer confidence added to a growing pile of evidence that the U.S. economic recovery may be losing steam.
The price of the 10-year Treasury note rose 9.4 cents per $100 invested Tuesday. Its yield fell to 3.06 percent from 3.08 percent late Friday. Earlier the yield fell to 3.05 percent, the lowest level for the benchmark interest rate this year.
Earlier in the day, the Conference Board released results of its monthly survey which found that Americans are losing faith that the economy is improving. That added to …
