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.
