WASHINGTON (UPI) Former President Richard M. Nixon hastemporarily blocked the scheduled May 4 public release of about 5percent of the 1.5 million pages of his private presidential papers,the National Archives said yesterday.
Spokeswoman Jill Brett said Archives personnel have received "alarge list of objections . . . to specific documents" from lawyersfor Nixon. "Under the regulations, these documents must be withdrawnand reviewed according to their claim," she said.
Brett said Nixon …
INDIANAPOLIS - A laboratory technician was fired after the parents of a 3-year-old boy claimed she bit his shoulder during a blood test, a hospital spokesman said.
Faith Buntin took her son Victor to St. Vincent Hospital on Friday to have blood drawn because of recent recalls of toys involving lead. She said she saw the worker put her mouth on Victor's shoulder as she restrained him so another lab worker could draw the blood.
"I looked at her like that was the craziest thing that I'd ever seen," Faith Buntin said Tuesday. "She looked …
Germany's parliament on Thursday fined the opposition Free Democratic Party some euro4.3 million ($6.06 million) for accepting illegal donations between 1996 and 2000.
The fine is related to a series of untraceable cash donations passed by Juergen Moellemann, the one-time party chief in North Rhine-Westphalia state, to the regional party's treasurer.
The donations were then broken up and paid into the party coffers under false names, the lower house of parliament's administrative office said.
"These donations are each viewed as violating laws that prevent political parties from accepting donations from sources that cannot be …
How do you investigate a bombing?
Experts zero in on the center of a blast to determine what kindof explosive was used, a federal investigator said Wednesday.
"When you get to an explosion scene and the victims have beentaken care of, you basically go through the bomb damage," said AgentJerry Singer of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
"What looks like rubble to normal people will look like evidenceto our agents," said Singer, spokesman for the Chicago ATF office."You can get some idea of where the blast originated by how the itemsare damaged - the way things are mangled. Once you get close to thecenter of the explosion, you can find …
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Danish container shipping and oil group A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S said Wednesday it returned to a profit last year, citing a recovery in world trade flows and higher oil prices.
The company posted a net profit of 26.5 billion kroner ($4.84 billion) in 2010, compared with a loss of 7.0 billion kroner in the previous year, when the shipping industry suffered from the severe economic downturn.
Higher freight rates and volumes in its container activities helped boost Maersk's revenue to 315.4 billion kroner from 260 billion kroner in 2009. The company does not release a quarterly breakdown of its results.
"There has been a turnaround in the container …
The assignment for Virginia Commonwealth University fashion students: design an abaya, an enveloping cloak worn by Muslim women, that is stylish yet acceptable in Arab countries.
The results: elaborately beaded designs, a flamenco-influenced abaya, a punk rock abaya _ and perhaps a better understanding of cultural norms in the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, where the university has had a campus for 10 years.
"We were trying to make a feeling of youth _ but still be true to their culture," said Kendra Palin, a fashion design major who partnered with classmate Shelby Day to design an abaya with looped buttonholes, princess seams and a high waist. …
NEVER ONE TO SHY AWAY FROM CONTROVERSY, here comes Spike Lee withhis latest take on contemporary American corporate corruption -- butthere's a twist. * As much as the activist director is concernedwith launching "our salvo at what we think is the poor moral andethical climate of big business in America today" -- Lee is equallyinterested in entertaining viewers with "She Hate Me," when it opensFriday in Chicago. * In the film, Jack Armstrong (played by AnthonyMackie) is suddenly ostracized when his unscrupulous bosses make itappear he may be responsible for a corporate scandal jeopardizing hisfirm's ability to produce and market a groundbreaking new AIDSvaccine.
As his …
En esta larga lucha, ya de cuarenta y cinco a�os, �casi medio siglo!, es usual y casi perdonable que muchos, algunos bien intencionados, pierdan la perspectiva y sin percatarse de que los tiempos y las circunstancias var�an a golpe de cambios e historia, no quiera aceptar ni entender que viejas estrategias fracasadas deben ser sustituidas por nuevos procedimientos que sin ser definitivos pueden marcar pautas para lograr el anhelado fin.
El pueblo de Cuba, que debe ser uno solo, encuentra dividido en dos por razones pol�ticas formativas y geogr�ficas; m�s de once millones prisioneros dentro de la isla y un par de millones en el Exilio, prisioneros de humanas ambiciones personales y …
Wall Street headed to a lower start while the Treasury market calmed only slightly Monday as investors cautiously awaited further news about the government's plan to buy $700 billion in banks' mortgage debt.
Dow Jones industrial average futures were down moderately, and the yield on the 3-month Treasury bill remained below 1 percent, indicating that investors were still willing to take low returns on a safe asset.
Investors are relieved that federal authorities are taking action to relieve the nation's banks of their toxic assets. But it is not sure yet how successful the plan will be in loosening up the credit markets and propping up the sinking housing …
Walton School Parent Teacher Association would like to thank allthe businesses and people that donated gifts for use in our summerfair raffle.
We would also like to thank those who …
NEW YORK - U.S. stocks appeared headed for a moderately higher open Monday as investors examined a hostile $33 billion bid by Alcoa Inc. for Canadian aluminum rival Alcan Inc.
Early Monday, Alcoa offered $58.60 in cash and 0.4108 of a share for each share of Alcan. Based on the closing prices Friday, Alcoa's offer carries a 20 percent premium. Alcoa said it took its offer to shareholders after Alcan rejected the company's overtures for two years.
The move by Alcoa, one of the 30 stocks that makes up the Dow Jones industrials, could give stocks a lift Monday as investors often regard merger and acquisition activity as a bullish bet by companies on corporate profits.
…
Easter Sunday Mass is taking on added meaning at the Vermont church where hostage Capt. Richard Phillips normally worships.
In a 7:30 a.m. service, St. Thomas Church pastor Rev. Charles Danielson urged his congregation to pray for the safe return of the 53-year-old sea captain being held by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean.
He drew a parallel between Jesus Christ's resurrection and Phillips' …
| East Division | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Pct | GB | |
| z-Tampa Bay | 94 | 63 | .599 | — |
| z-New York | 94 | 64 | .595 | 1/2 |
| Boston | 87 | 70 | .554 | 7 |
| Toronto | 81 | 76 | .516 | 13 |
| Baltimore | 62 | 95 | .395 | 32 |
| Central Division | ||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | |
| x-Minnesota | 92 | 65 | .586 | — |
| Chicago | 84 | 73 | .535 | 8 |
| Detroit | 80 | 76 | .513 | 11 1/2 |
| Cleveland | 66 | 91 | .420 | 26 |
| Kansas City | 65 | 92 | .414 | 27 |
| West Division | ||||
| W | L | Pct | GB | |
| x-Texas | 87 | 70 | .554 | — |
| Los Angeles | 77 | 80 | .490 | 10 |
| Oakland | 77 | 80 | .490 | 10 |
| Seattle | 61 | 96 | .389 | 26 |
z-clinched playoff berth
x-clinched division
___
| Tuesday's Games |
|---|
Detroit at Cleveland, ppd., rain
N.Y. Yankees 6, Toronto 1
Tampa Bay 5, Baltimore 0
Seattle 3, Texas 1
Chicago White Sox 5, Boston 4
Kansas City 10, Minnesota 1
L.A. Angels 4, Oakland 2
| Wednesday's Games |
|---|
Seattle at Texas
Oakland at L.A. Angels
Detroit at Cleveland, 2 games
N.Y. Yankees at Toronto
Baltimore at Tampa Bay
Detroit at Cleveland
Boston at Chicago White Sox
A profanity-laced shouting match turned into a bloodyconfrontation last year when one man drove over the other repeatedlywith a cab, five witnesses said Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege defendant Michael Jackson, 38, deliberately ranover Haroon Paryani with Paryani's cab on Feb. 4, 2005. They'vecharged Jackson with murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking.
But in opening arguments Tuesday at the Cook County Criminal Courtbuilding, the defense countered that Paryani had a history ofviolence -- and that Jackson never had control of the cab.
Describing Jackson as an accountant originally from Peoria,defense lawyer Todd Pugh said that in prosecutors' version of events,"somehow Michael Jackson went from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde."
But Assistant State's Attorney Mercedes Luque-Rosales said Jacksondid "the unthinkable" that February night.
DRIVER A TROUBLEMAKER: DEFENSE
An AIDS activist who was then an employee of the city HealthDepartment, Jackson hailed Paryani's cab around midnight aftervisiting a friend, Pugh said. After a short ride to Jackson'sapartment, the men began arguing over the fare at the intersection ofBriar Place and Cambridge Avenue.
Defense lawyers labored to depict Paryani, 61, as a troublemaker.According to Pugh, the 270-pound Paryani began "beating upon" Jacksonafter a dispute over a fare erupted between the two men. During theshouting match that followed, Paryani yelled, "'F - - - you, you f - -- ing faggot. F - - - you, Jew. You're not going to rip me off,' "Pugh claimed.
Four of the five eyewitnesses who testified Tuesday lived near theintersection of Briar and Cambridge the night of Paryani's death.Susan Lichtman told of two men, later identified to her as Jacksonand Paryani, standing in front of the cab arguing "and began tothrottle each other."
Like the other eyewitnesses, Lichtman said after Jackson walkedaway, Paryani fell forward into the street. Jackson then got intoParyani's cab.
"Mr. Jackson then adjusted the steering ahead to the left andaccelerated into Mr. Paryani," she said, adding Jackson then backedthe cab up over Paryani and ran over him again.
Jackson is expected to testify in his own defense, his lawyerssaid.
eherman@suntimes.com
A northern Chinese province has launched an investigation into the cause behind the recent deaths of more than 1,000 pigs, state media reported Monday.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 1,056 pigs, most less than a month old, were found dead in 10 villages in one county in Shanxi province.
China is especially wary of any unchecked spread of disease in its pig population. Two years ago, blue ear disease, also known as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, killed hundreds of thousands of pigs before it was brought under control.
The outbreak caused farmers to stop raising pigs because of worries they would become infected. That sent the price of pork _ China's staple meat _ sharply higher.
Xinhua said animal disease control officials in Shanxi were carrying out the investigation. Officials have already started burying or burning the dead pigs.
It said no contaminated pork had been found in stores or restaurants.
Another disease commonly found in pigs, the Streptococcus suis bacteria, is known to infect people through wounds.
An unusually large and lethal outbreak of Streptococcus suis killed at least 38 people in the southwestern province of Sichuan in 2005, mostly farmers who butchered or handled infected pigs. More than 200 people were infected. Pockets of infection were also reported then in Hong Kong and Jiangsu province in the east.
Symptoms include high fever, nausea and vomiting, followed by meningitis, hemorrhaging under the skin, toxic shock and sometimes coma. Some patients have also suffered organ failure.
A top Illinois liquor official said Monday the state willinvestigate the licenses of three dozen west suburban bars that ranillegal gambling operations with the mob to determine whether theowners should be put out of business.
"I've got to clearly have some evidence," said John Stanton, chiefcounsel for the state Liquor Control Commission. "We'll have to lookoutside (the agency) for information to see if we will bringdisciplinary action."
Sam Panayotovich, the executive director of the commission, saidit "will monitor the ongoing developments" and will provide "anyinvestigatory assistance requested by local authorities."
While the bar owners have immunity from federal criminal charges,Stanton said transcripts of their statements to federal authoritiescould be used to shut the bars or impose fines or suspensions.
Stanton's comments follows a Chicago Sun-Times report Monday thatneither state nor local liquor officials have taken any actionagainst the 36 bars whose owners have told federal officials they rangambling for as long as 15 years. The bars are in Franklin Park,Melrose Park, Northlake, Stone Park and Leyden Township.
Those bars were among 73 bars and restaurants named last year infederal indictments against Anthony Centracchio, the reputed mob bossfor Chicago's West Side and DuPage County; Stone Park Mayor RobertNatale, and six others tied to gambling with video poker and slotmachines.
Stanton told the Sun-Times last week that the state was unawarethat the bars were among 73 bars and restaurants named in federalindictments, but Monday he said his staff would be investigating allof those establishments based on a list provided by the Sun-Times.
Many of the bars and restaurants are no longer in business, soStanton said the liquor commission could take no action against thoseestablishments. The owners, however, could still face disciplinaryaction if they hold liquor licenses for other establishments.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA charged Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho with "unsporting conduct" on Thursday over allegations he ordered two players to get themselves sent off in a Champions League match.
UEFA's disciplinary committee will investigate Mourinho as well as players Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas and Jerzy Dudek. Their cases will be heard Nov. 30.
Mourinho appeared to send instructions from the bench before Alonso and Ramos received second yellow cards for time-wasting late in Tuesday's 4-0 win against Ajax in Amsterdam.
Their expulsions meant they should serve one-match suspensions in a meaningless group match against Auxerre next month, then start the knockout rounds in February with a clean slate.
On Tuesday, Mourinho dismissed the idea that he had orchestrated the bookings.
"I spoke with many players throughout the game, not only with Ramos and Alonso," Mourinho said after the match. "Stories sell, but the important thing is the 4-0 win and the fantastic game we had. Let's talk about that and not other things."
Mourinho has previously clashed with UEFA after incidents in the Champions League when he coached Chelsea.
UEFA banned Mourinho from the touchline for two matches in 2005 after he accused Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard of visiting Swedish referee Anders Frisk at halftime in the first leg of a round-of-16 clash.
Mourinho is in his first season with Madrid and aims to become the first coach to lead three different clubs to the European title. He guided FC Porto to the 2004 title, and Inter Milan last season.
Also Thursday, UEFA said it opened a disciplinary case against Romanian champion Cluj for the improper conduct of its coach Sorin Cartu during a Champions League game at FC Basel.
Cartu kicked out a dugout panel, sending shards of plastic flying through the air during his team's 1-0 loss in Switzerland on Tuesday. He was then restrained by a club official.
The club said Thursday it fired Cartu and apologized to UEFA, to Basel and "to all football and sports fans."
China will put an Australian national and three other detained employees of mining giant Rio Tinto Ltd. on trial on charges of stealing commercial secrets and taking bribes, a state news agency said Wednesday.
The four Rio employees were detained in July during contentious iron ore price talks with China's steel industry group. The case strained relations between Beijing and Australia, a key supplier of iron ore to China's steel mills.
The Xinhua News Agency said the case against Australian Stern Hu and three Chinese nationals was accepted for trial by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate Court but gave no date. Phone calls to the court were not answered.
Nearly all criminal cases that go to trial in China end in conviction. The maximum penalty for commercial espionage is seven years in prison if the case is found to have caused extreme damage. The maximum penalty for taking large bribes is five years.
The case comes as Beijing tries to tighten control over China's dozens of steel producers and consolidate the industry through mergers. Industry analysts suggest the Rio employees might have been snared in an effort to clamp down on information being given by executives to foreign miners.
China is the world's biggest steel producer and consumer of iron ore and is pressing Rio and other suppliers to give its mills lower prices than those paid by Japanese, South Korean and other competitors. Rio balked last year and talks ended without agreement, forcing Chinese mills to pay the same price as other customers. Analysts are forecasting iron ore price hikes of 40 percent or more this year due to strong demand.
The Rio employees were detained July 5 in Shanghai while Rio acted as lead negotiator for global ore suppliers in price talks. Hu was the manager of Rio's Chinese iron ore business. The Chinese employees are Wang Yong, Ge Minqiang and Liu Caikui.
Xinhua said they are charged with stealing commercial secrets on multiple occasions from Chinese steel producers and taking bribes from mills _ a shift from earlier accusations that the Rio employees paid bribes. It gave no other details.
The government has given few details of the case.
Chinese news reports last year said the employees were accused of paying bribes to obtain information on China's negotiating stance. Rio has denied its employees paid bribes.
The Chinese newspaper National Business Daily said last year that investigators found confidential information on sales and production from dozens of Chinese mills on a computer seized from Rio's Shanghai office. The communist government treats a wide range of commercial information as state secrets.
Australia's foreign ministry said earlier that Chinese authorities told Australia on Jan. 11 the investigation had been completed and the case sent to prosecutors.
Australian officials have pressed Beijing to resolve the case promptly, warning that delay could erode Australian public support for close commercial ties with China. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd warned Beijing shortly after the arrests that the world was watching its handling of the case and said China should consider its economic ties.
Chinese officials have rejected Australian comments as interference in this country's judicial system.
___
On the Net:
Rio Tinto Ltd.: http://www.riotinto.com
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel has signed off on the construction of 238 homes in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, bringing an end to an unofficial building freeze in the traditionally Arab sector of the city and further complicating peace talks stuck over the broader fate of West Bank settlements.
The Israeli Housing Ministry's announcement that developers would be allowed to bid for contracts to build new homes in the neighborhoods of Ramot and Pisgat Zeev drew swift condemnation Friday from Palestinian negotiators.
U.S.-brokered peace talks that began in early September are currently deadlocked over a Palestinian demand that Israel extend a slowdown on settlement construction that expired last month. The Palestinians are threatening to quit the negotiations unless Israel reinstates the building restrictions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has refused to do so.
Both sides have indicated a compromise is possible, but U.S. mediators scrambling to keep the talks alive have failed to break the impasse so far.
Israel's decision to renew construction in east Jerusalem further soured the atmosphere.
"This announcement is a very clear-cut indication that the choice of Mr. Netanyahu is settlements, not peace," Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said, charging the Israelis with "closing all doors on attempts to revive the direct negotiations."
Netanyahu's office refused to comment.
Israel imposed a settlement slowdown in the West Bank last November. Those restrictions did not officially include east Jerusalem, although Israel had quietly halted building there as well without explicitly saying it was doing so.
Israel discussed the new construction with the U.S. administration and cut the number of planned units by several hundred to temper American displeasure, Israeli officials said. The U.S. was unhappy with Israel's decision but was not caught off guard by the announcement, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue.
An Israeli announcement earlier this year of new building in east Jerusalem came during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, catching the U.S. administration by surprise and sparking a crisis in relations between the close allies.
There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials Friday.
The fate of traditionally Arab east Jerusalem is one of the most combustive issues in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
Around 180,000 Israelis live in neighborhoods Israel has built in the eastern sector of the city since capturing the area from Jordan in the 1967 Mideast War and then annexing it. The international community has not recognized the annexation and sees the status of the Israeli neighborhoods as the same as that of other West Bank settlements.
East Jerusalem is home to around 250,000 Palestinians, who hope to make it the capital of a future state.
Past peace plans have proposed leaving the Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli sovereignty. But Palestinians and the U.S. have said Israeli construction there is provocative nonetheless and undermines peace talks.
Egypt's foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said Friday that if Israel continues to build settlements Arab nations might seek U.N. recognition of a Palestinian state without Israel's approval.
Aboul Gheit said the Arab League's request to the U.N. on the matter might come as early as next month.
A unilateral declaration of Palestinian independence would have few practical implications, but would serve to increase international pressure on Israel.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Former U.S. Sen. Lincoln Chafee (CHAY'-fee) has become the first independent elected Rhode Island governor.
Chafee formed a broad coalition of liberal Democrats, moderate Republicans, unions and environmentalists.
The former Republican defeated Democratic General Treasurer Frank Caprio, Republican John Robitaille (ROH'-bih-teye) and Moderate Party founder Ken Block on Tuesday to succeed term-limited Republican Gov. Don Carcieri (kuh-CHEER'-ee).
Chief rival Caprio was hurt by his comment late in the campaign that President Barack Obama could "really shove it" for not endorsing him.
Chafee is a social liberal who supports legalizing same-sex marriage and environmental causes. He also considers himself a fiscal conservative, although he has proposed a new 1 percent sales tax on items that are now exempt from the existing 7 percent sales tax.
The Chafee family tree includes several governors, including Chafee's father, the late U.S. Sen. John Chafee.
LONDON (AP) — India fast bowler Ishant Sharma may be a sensational limited-overs player, but a lack of stamina in the five-day game may be the decisive factor if his team loses the first test against England on Monday.
Sharma's spell of 3-1 in 16 balls dragged India back into contention at Lord's. But he said fatigue had then kicked in, allowing England to regain control after lunch and declare with a lead of 457 runs.
"I am a human being and I have a body," Sharma said. "I bowled 11 overs in the first session and we still have another three test matches to play. It's not that easy to come on and bowl another long spell."
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni left the decision on whether or not Sharma should bowl after lunch up to him.
"He asked me do you want to bowl or take a break, and I said I'd take a break," Sharma said.
Sharma was poor in England's first innings. He attributed a vastly improved performance to a change of ends and the advice of injured colleague Zaheer Khan.
"I think in the first innings I wasn't used to this slope," Sharma said. "But I spoke to Zaheer about it and I think it helped me a lot. I wanted to bowl from the Pavilion end, but he told me to bowl from the other end. In the end, I bowled the way he wanted me to bowl and I think it helped me a lot."
Although Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have steered India to 80-1 at stumps, the tourists will have to make history if they are to win on Monday, having been set a world record target of 458.
Sharma admitted he was partly responsible.
"Obviously, I'm happy with the way I bowled in the second innings," he said. "But I would feel more happy if I'd bowled with the same energy and length in the first innings, and I think we would be in a much better position now."
When Sharma did return, 35 minutes into the afternoon session, he almost immediately had Morgan caught for 19 by Gautam Gambhir. But by that stage, England had added a useful 45 runs for the sixth wicket.
Matt Prior (103 not out) and Stuart Broad (74 not out) then took the game away from India.
The chase was further complicated by lengthy absences from the field for Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, who was hit on the elbow by Prior and was sent to hospital for an X-ray that revealed severe bruising.
Tendulkar will not be able to bat until five wickets have fallen, or before 92 minutes of Monday morning's session have elapsed.
India's highest fourth innings score was 445, when it lost to Australia in 1978. The team made 429-8 to draw with England in 1979, while its highest successful run chase was when it made 406-4 to beat West Indies by six wickets in 1976.
WASHINGTON - Come January, Social Security benefits for nearly 50 million Americans are going up 2.3 percent, the smallest increase in four years. It will mean an extra $24 per month in the average check, the government announced Wednesday.
The cost of living adjustment means that the monthly benefit for the typical retired worker in 2008 will go from $1,055 currently to $1,079 next year.
The adjustment, announced by the Social Security Administration, will go to more than 54 million Americans. Nearly 50 million receive Social Security benefits and the rest get Supplemental Security Income payments aimed at helping the poor.
The adjustment, announced by the Social Security Administration, will go to more than 54 million Americans. Nearly 50 million receive Social Security benefits and the rest get Supplemental Security Income payments aimed at helping the poor.
The 2.3 percent increase is the smallest since a 2.1 percent rise in 2004. It compares to an increase of 3.3 percent last year and a jump of 4.1 percent in 2006, which had been the biggest advance in 15 years.
The COLA is based on the change in consumer prices from the July-September quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. Benefit payments have been tied to inflation since 1975.
The big jump for 2006 occurred because energy prices had soared in September of 2005, reflecting the impact of Hurricane Katrina. This year, however, energy prices have been coming down in recent months after having spiked in the spring.
With oil prices surging this week to highs above $88 per barrel, analysts believe that consumers will get socked with higher gasoline prices and home heating oil costs in coming months, but those gains will come too late to influence the new cost-of-living adjustment.
In addition, food prices and medical prices have been rising rapidly this year. But those gains have been offset somewhat by a moderation in categories that the elderly tend to buy less of such as computers, consumer electronics and clothing.
"Social Security recipients are going to feel like they are getting squeezed," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Economy.com. "For most households out buying gasoline and a loaf of bread, it feels like inflation is high."
Part of the Social Security increase will be eaten up by a rise in the cost of Medicare, the giant health care program that covers the elderly and disabled. The government announced earlier this month that Medicare premiums will rise 3.1 percent next year or $2.50 to $96.40 per month. That is the lowest Medicare premium increase in six years.
The average retired couple, both receiving Social Security benefits, will see their monthly check go from $1,722 to $1,761, an increase of $39.
The standard SSI payment for an individual will go from $623 per month to $637.
The average monthly check for a disabled worker will go from $981 to $1,004.
The government also announced Wednesday that nearly 12 million wage earners will pay higher taxes next year because the maximum amount of Social Security earnings subject to the payroll tax will rise from $97,500 currently to $102,000. In all, an estimated 164 million workers will pay Social Security taxes in 2008.
The Social Security Administration on Monday had a ceremony to highlight the opening wave of baby boomer retirements, a generation of 78 million people born from 1946 to 1964. The first of those boomers will turn 62 next year, making them eligible for Social Security benefits.
An estimated 10,000 people a day will become eligible for Social Security benefits over the next two decades, putting a severe strain on the pension program.
If no changes are made, the Social Security trust fund is projected to deplete its reserves in 2041 and even sooner, in 2017, Social Security is scheduled to start paying out more in benefits than it collects each year in payroll taxes. Medicare is facing even greater funding problems because of the rapidly rising cost of health care.
President Bush pledged to make reforming Social Security the top priority of his second term, but his plan to provide private accounts for younger workers went nowhere in Congress and Republicans and Democrats remain deadlocked on the issue.
A coalition named Divided We Fail has been pressing to make entitlement reform a major issue in the presidential campaign, hoping to force candidates in both parties to address the need to overhaul the government's big benefit programs.
"We want to get all of the candidates on the record and we want to let voters make up their own minds," said Jim Dau, an official with AARP, an advocacy group for people 50 and older.
BOSTON - Trot Nixon, the former Red Sox outfielder who helped beat Boston with an extra-inning single in Game 2, was back in Cleveland's starting lineup Saturday night for the sixth game of the AL championship series.
The Red Sox also made a lineup change, putting rookie Jacoby Ellsbury in center field in place of Coco Crisp, who was batting .143 in the series with six strikeouts. Ellsbury, who will bat eighth, played just 33 games in Boston this year, batting .353; he was 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts.
"He does a lot of things. He can really run," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "He's not up here for the ride, he's up here to win. When you get a young player like that, that's pretty special. You can get a guy playing and maybe get some hits that help you. But when you get a young kid that seems to understand Boston, what every game means, that has a chance to make him even a better player."
Nixon, who played the first 13 years of his career in the Boston organization, replaced Franklin Gutierrez in right field for the Indians. Gutierrez is batting .133 in the series, but hit a three-run homer in Game 2.
Indians manager Eric Wedge had a long list of reasons for playing the 34-year-old Nixon.
"He knows right field here," Wedge said. "He's a left-handed bat. Presence. Fenway Park. Emotion. We'll put it all together and see what happens."
The seventh overall pick in the 1993 draft, Nixon played eight seasons in Boston and helped the Red Sox end their 86-year title drought in 2004. He gave up the starting job to Gutierrez during the season, played once in the first-round series against the Yankees and was 0-f0r-3 in Game 3 of the ALCS.
"Trot has obviously played so many games here in right field, big games, in the postseason," Wedge said. "To get that experience in the lineup, another left-handed bat, a guy that's been a leader on our team all year long, I felt like it was the right thing to do."
Neither manager relished the idea of taking his regular right-fielder out of the lineup.
"Everybody wants to play, everybody wants to compete this time of year," Wedge said. "But you swallow that, you come to the ballpark, you do your work and you get ready to get in there."
Francona said he also considered subbing Alex Cora at shortstop for Julio Lugo, who's batting .214 in the playoffs. But the manager opted against it because of Lugo's speed and because Cora hadn't played at all in the ALCS.
So Crisp takes over the role Ellsbury had played: a potential late-inning defensive replacement or pinch-runner.
"Anybody that sits there and says they can't wait to tell somebody something they know is going to crush him I think is crazy," Francona said. "I don't enjoy doing that. I don't think anybody does. ... I didn't expect Coco to jump up and hug me. If I was him, I wouldn't, either. So we try to do it correctly and with respect and give him reasons why."
Billionaire Larry Ellison raked in a fiscal 2008 pay package valued at $84.6 million for his work as Oracle Corp.'s chief executive and topped it off with a nearly $544 million windfall from cashing in stock options that he has accumulated during his 31-year reign at the business software maker.
Oracle's payments and other awards to Ellison, spelled out in documents filed Wednesday, represented a 38 percent raise from the $61.2 million package that the Redwood Shores-based company doled out to its flamboyant leader in the previous year.
Unlike most companies, Oracle operates on a fiscal year ending May 31.
Ellison, who is Oracle's largest shareholder, recommended how much he should be paid, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Oracle's compensation committee embraced Ellison's proposal in a vote the CEO didn't attend, the documents said.
Oracle reasoned Ellison deserved to be richly compensated because the company's fiscal 2008 profit climbed 29 percent to a record $5.5 billion while its stock price rose 18 percent to create about $19 billion in shareholder wealth.
Ellison, 64, has played a pivotal role in Oracle's recent prosperity by engineering more than $35 billion in acquisitions during the past three years _ an expansion that has turned the company into an even more powerful player in the business software industry.
The Associated Press bases its executive pay totals on salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and other equity awards granted during the year.
Dylan Thomas immortalized a mythical Welsh seaside town in hisradio play "Under Milk Wood." Edgar Lee Masters created a graveyardview of small-town Midwestern life in his "Spoon River Anthology."And now the American poet David Budbill has set his eye and ear onthe fictional world of Judevine, a rugged little town in northernVermont where Christmas tree farms and a ski resort are the mainsources of jobs and the human tragicomedy is omnipresent.
"Judevine," Budbill's stage adaptation of an extensivecollection of poems he wrote about a Vermont town where he lived for20 years, is now on view in a glorious production by Equity LibraryTheatre. The show is being mounted in the intimate confines of theChicago Dramatists Workshop, where a cast of 11 fine actors set fireto the material. Their work should not be missed.
Wrenchingly real, fiercely emotional and unexpectedly funny,this is a show that pierces the heart and engages the senses, growingin intensity as it draws you into the lives and battered fortunes ofan entire community. Budbill's characters are unusually rich andthree-dimensional. And he offers profound insights into the secretlives and overt eccentricities of the inhabitants of a modern ruralcommunity where unemployment, child abuse and loneliness coexist withlove, friendship and the unmatched beauty of the natural world.
The production is structured as a sort of choral round, withvoices entering, receding and returning to create a rhythm akin tothe beautifully evoked seasons. "Judevine," superbly directed byVirginia Smith, is a series of interlocked character sketches andbrief scenes stitched together by sound effects created by theactors, and by Paul Amandes' subtly woven score for guitar (fine work by the lovely Suzi Regan), harmonica and a cappella voices.
Serving as narrator for the play, which was first staged in1990, is the poet himself (played by Norm Boucher, with just theright writerly distance). And it is through him that we get to knowthe townspeople, including Antoine La Motte (the beguiling JackHickey), a feisty little French-Canadian woodsman forever in searchof the perfect earth mother and wife to help him fend off lonelinessand drink; Arnie Pike (Robert W. Behr), the marginally employedhandyman who barely ekes out a living, and Roy McInnes (StephenSpencer), the welder whose passion for his craft has an almostmedieval intensity.
There are memorable couples, too: Alice Pwiss (Annalise Raziq),the husky owner of a great junkyard emporium who quietly goes abouther life with her petite, ladylike lesbian lover; Raymond and AnnMiller (played magnificently by Craig Spidle and Diane Dorsey), themodest and meticulous farmers whose passionate marriage is conjuredto exquisite effect; Edgar Whitcomb (Spencer), the decorous postman,and his independent lover, Laura Cate (Maureen O'Dowd); andtragically, Grace (played with ferocity by the excellent SuellenBurton), the single mother with a record of child abuse who finds afew brief moments of happiness with Tommy Stames (the splendidSpencer), a traumatized Vietnam vet.
The people of Judevine, Budbill says, tend to be survivors,"waiting, always, for the spring." We gladly wait with them and growin their presence.
WASHINGTON - A former Justice Department official told House investigators Wednesday that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales tried to review his version of the prosecutor firings with her at a time when lawmakers were homing in on conflicting accounts. Gonzales has testified he hasn't spoken with witnesses.
"It made me a little uncomfortable," Monica Goodling, Gonzales' former White House liaison, said of her conversation with the attorney general just before she took a leave of absence in March. "I just did not know if it was appropriate for us to both be discussing our recollections of what had happened."
In a daylong appearance before the Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee, Goodling, 33, also acknowledged crossing a legal line herself by considering the party affiliations of candidates for career prosecutor jobs - a violation of law.
And she said that Gonzales' No. 2, Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty, knew more than he let on when he did not disclose to Congress the extent of White House involvement in deciding which prosecutors to fire. McNulty strongly denied that he withheld information, saying Goodling did not fully brief him about the White House's involvement.
Goodling's dramatic story about her final conversation with Gonzales brought questions from panel members about whether he had tried to align her story with his and whether he was truthful in his own congressional testimony.
Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee last month that he didn't know the answers to some questions about the firings because he was steering clear of aides - such as Goodling - who were likely to be questioned.
"I haven't talked to witnesses because of the fact that I haven't wanted to interfere with this investigation and department investigations," Gonzales told the panel.
Goodling said for the first time Wednesday that Gonzales did review the story of the firings with her at an impromptu meeting she requested in his office a few days before she took a leave of absence.
"I was somewhat paralyzed. I was distraught, and I felt like I wanted to make a transfer," Goodling recalled during a packed hearing of the House Judiciary Committee.
Gonzales, she said, indicated he would think about Goodling's request.
"He then proceeded to say, 'Let me tell you what I can remember,' and he laid out for me his general recollection ... of some of the process" of the firings, Goodling added. When Gonzales finished, "he asked me if I had any reaction to his iteration."
Goodling said the conversation made her uncomfortable because she was aware that she, Gonzales and others would be called by Congress to testify.
"Was the attorney general trying to shape your recollection?" asked Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala.
Goodling paused.
"I just did not know if it was a conversation we should be having and so I just didn't say anything," she replied. She added that she thought Gonzales was trying to be kind.
Democrats pounced.
"It certainly has the flavor of trying to get their stories straight," said Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a member of the committee.
The Justice Department denied that Gonzales did anything at that meeting other than try to help Goodling.
"The attorney general has never attempted to influence or shape the testimony or public statements of any witness in this matter, including Ms. Goodling," said spokesman Brian Roehrkasse. "The statements made by the attorney general during this meeting were intended only to comfort her in a very difficult period of her life."
Gonzales' resignation is being demanded by Democrats and some Republicans in part over the firings. Bush is standing by his longtime friend, but Democrats have pressed ahead with their probe, contending the firings may have been an attempt to exploit a loophole in the Patriot Act to install GOP loyalists as prosecutors without Senate confirmation.
Gonzales has denied that. But the furor has been costly nonetheless - Goodling and Sampson have resigned over it. McNulty, too, is leaving later this year. And many lawmakers who have not directly demanded Gonzales' resignation say he has lost their confidence.
Republicans spent most of the hearing dismissing the hubbub over the firings as politically motivated. Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., said Goodling's meeting with Gonzales sounded innocent, if awkward.
"This thing ended with a thud," Lungren said of the hearing.
Earlier Wednesday, Goodling acknowledged that she had given too much consideration to whether candidates for jobs as career prosecutors were Republicans or Democrats.
"You crossed the line on civil service laws, is that right?" asked Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va.
"I believe I crossed the lines," Goodling replied. "But I didn't mean to."
She said she had limited involvement in the firings and offered the panel's Democrats nothing new in their probe of whether President Bush's top political and legal aides chose which prosecutors to dismiss.
Goodling said she never talked to Karl Rove, Bush's political adviser, nor Harriet Miers, then the president's White House counsel, about the firings. She said Gonzales' former chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, drew up the list of those to be dismissed but she didn't know how names got on it.
She testified that McNulty, the department's highest official after Gonzales, knew more than he admitted to congressional investigators about the extent of White House involvement in the firings of eight federal prosecutors. She said McNulty falsely accused her of withholding key details before he spoke to investigators.
"I believe the deputy was not fully candid," Goodling said.
McNulty told senators during the hearing Feb. 6 that the decision to fire the U.S. attorneys in December was made solely by the Justice Department.
He and another top Justice official, William Moschella, say Goodling and Sampson withheld crucial information from them as they prepared their congressional testimony.
"The allegation is false," she told the panel. "I didn't withhold information from the deputy."
McNulty retorted in a statement that his own testimony had been truthful "based on "what I knew at that time."
"Ms. Goodling's characterization of my testimony is wrong and not supported by the extensive record of documents and testimony already provided to Congress," he said.
After resigning, Goodling refused to testify, citing her constitutional right against self-incrimination. She then disappeared from public view, surfacing only Wednesday at the hearing. Conyers won court approval to have her testify under a grant of immunity from prosecution.
Goodling attended numerous meetings over a year's time about the plans to fire the U.S. attorneys and exchanged e-mails with the White House and at least one of the prosecutors before the dismissals were ordered. A former colleague, Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, told congressional investigators this month that Goodling broke down in his office March 8 as majority Democrats in Congress prepared to call Justice Department officials to testify amid the emerging controversy.
---
Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.
REDMOND, Wash. Microsoft Corp. is expected to unveil as early asthis week a sweeping endorsement of its instant-messaging servicefrom several of its global partners as it battles America OnlineInc., analysts said.
Internet service providers such as AT&T Corp. and TelewestCommunications PLC, personal-computermakers including Dell ComputerCorp., and online hubs such as Yahoo! Inc. likely will throw supportbehind Microsoft, said Rob Enderle, senior analyst with GigaInformation Group. Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates is probablyinvolved in talks and may make the announcement because of instantmessaging's strategic importance, Enderle said.
The world's biggest softwaremaker is battling AOL, the No. 1online service provider, for dominance of instant messaging, or real-time e-mail, because of its huge potential in paging technology andelectronic commerce. The rivals are trying to build critical massfor their respective services after failing to resolve differencesover the linkage of them.
"This is the future of person-to-person messaging," Enderle said."It's changing the way a lot of people communicate."
Instant messaging alerts users that friends are online and letsthem chat with each other in real time over the Internet. Iteventually could replace pagers with handheld computers and digitalcell phones.
Microsoft is seeking to enlist support from partners such as AT&T,in which Microsoft invested $5 billion, and Telewest, which is 30percent owned by the software powerhouse. Yahoo, Excite At HomeInc. and Prodigy Communications Corp. joined Microsoft in sending aletter to AOL urging it to open up its service to Microsoft.
NEW YORK Stocks retreated today in subdued trading ahead ofPresident Bush's speech this evening before the Republicanconvention.
The Dow Jones average of 30 industrial stocks slipped 2.17points to close at 3,304.89.
Volume on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange was 184.5million shares. Declining shares outnumbered advancing ones on theNYSE, with 761 up, 942 down and 610 unchanged.
"There's a general nervousness in the market," said MichaelMetz, managing director with Oppenheimer & Co. "Fears about theelection and about the strength of the economy are temperingenthusiasm."
Many investors were waiting on the sidelines to see what Bushwould say in Houston and whether the acceptance speech would boosthis standing in the polls, traders said. Wall Street tends to favorRepublican administrations.
On Wednesday, the Dow fell 22.42 points to 3,307.06 in a lateselloff linked to rumors that sent bank shares tumbling.
Bank stocks recovered some ground in trading today. Citicorpwas the most active issue, up 5/8 at 17 3/8. Chemical Bank was up3/4 at 33 1/2, BankAmerica was up 1/2 at 43 5/8 and Chase Manhattanwas up 1 1/4 at 23 7/8.
The market appeared to ignore today's government reading on initial jobless claims, whichsoared by 71,000 in the week ended Aug. 8 to 474,000.
The report, however, was within forecasts by private economistsand reflected the second round of filings after General Motors'two-week shutdown.
The U.S. dollar fell against other major currencies today inEuropean trading.
In Tokyo, the dollar fell to a closing 126.37 Japanese yen from 126.41 yen at Wednesday'sclose. Later, in London, it rose to 126.50 yen.
In London, the British pound rose to $1.9371 from $1.9355 lateWednesday.
Other late dollar rates in Europe, compared with late Wednesday,included: 1.4520 German marks, down from 1.4530; 1.2955 Swiss francs,down from 1.3020; 4.9280 French francs, down from 4.9315; 1.6360Dutch guilders, down from 1.6375; 1,103.25 Italian lire, down from1,103.50, and 1.1917 Canadian dollars, down from 1.1977.
Gold fell in London to a late bid of $337.35 a troy ounce, downfrom $338.45 bid late Wednesday. In Zurich, the metal fell to aclosing bid of $337 an ounce from $338 bid late Wednesday.
Silver bullion fell in London to a late bid of $3.74 a troyounce, down from $3.80 bid late Wednesday.
WASHINGTON - Federal testing of recalled pet foods turned up a chemical used to make plastics but failed to confirm the presence of a cancer drug also used as rat poison. The recall expanded Friday to include the first dry pet food.
The Food and Drug Administration said Friday it found melamine in samples of the Menu Foods pet food involved in the original recall and in imported wheat gluten used as an ingredient in the company's wet-style products. Cornell University scientists also found melamine in the urine of sick cats, as well as in the kidney of one cat that died after eating some of the recalled food.
Meanwhile, Hill's Pet Nutrition recalled its Prescription Diet m/d Feline dry cat food. The food included wheat gluten from the same supplier that Menu Foods used. The recall didn't involve any other Prescription Diet or Science Diet products, said the company, a division of Colgate-Palmolive Co.
FDA was working to rule out the possibility that the contaminated wheat gluten could have made it into any human food. However, melamine is toxic only in high doses, experts said, leaving its role in the pet deaths unclear.
Menu Foods recalled 60 million containers of cat and dog food, sold throughout North America under nearly 100 brands, earlier this month after animals died of kidney failure after eating the Canadian company's products. It is not clear how many pets may have been poisoned by the apparently contaminated food, although anecdotal reports suggest hundreds if not thousands have died. The FDA alone has received more than 8,000 complaints; the company, more than 300,000.
Company officials on Friday would not provide updated numbers of pets sickened or killed by its contaminated product. Pet owners would be compensated for veterinary bills and the deaths of any dogs and cats linked to his company's products, the company said.
The melamine finding came a week after scientists at the New York State Food Laboratory identified a cancer drug and rat poison called aminopterin as the likely culprit in the pet food. But the FDA said it could not confirm that finding, nor have researchers at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey when they looked at tissue samples taken from dead cats. And experts at the University of Guelph detected aminopterin in some samples of the recalled pet food, but only in the parts per billion or trillion range.
"Biologically, that means nothing. It wouldn't do anything," said Grant Maxie, a veterinary pathologist at the Canadian university. "This is a puzzle."
Meanwhile, New York officials stuck to their aminopterin finding and pointed out that it was unlikely that melamine could have poisoned any of the animals thought to have died after eating the contaminated pet food. Melamine is used to make plastic kitchen ware and is used as a fertilizer in Asia.
An FDA official allowed that it wasn't immediately clear whether the melamine was the culprit. The agency's investigation continues, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine.
In a news conference, Sundlof and other FDA officials said the melamine had contaminated a shipment of wheat gluten imported from China and purchased by Menu Foods from an undisclosed supplier in the United States. At least some of the that wheat gluten was used in all the recalled wet pet food, according to Menu Foods.
Menu Foods said the only certainty was the imported Chinese product was the likely source of the deadly contamination, even if the actual contaminant remained in doubt.
"The important point today is that the source of the adulteration has been identified and removed from our system," said Paul Henderson, Menu Foods chief executive officer and president. Henderson suggested his company would pursue legal action against the supplier.
New York remained confident in its aminopterin finding, said Patrick Hooker, commissioner of the state Department of Agriculture and Markets. Hooker added that neither aminopterin nor melamine should be in pet food, but that it was unclear why the latter substance would be poisonous to the cats in which it was found.
"While we have no doubt that melamine is present in the recalled pet food, there is not enough known data on the mammalian toxicity levels of melamine to conclude it could cause illness and deaths in cats. With little existing data, many questions still remain as to the connection between the illnesses and what has caused them," Hooker said.
Wheat gluten, a source of vegetable protein, is also used in some human foods, but the FDA emphasized it had found no indication that the contaminated ingredient had been used in food for people. The FDA said it would alert the public quickly if the melamine was found in any foods other than the recalled pet food.
About 70 percent of the wheat gluten used in the United States for human and pet food is imported from the European Union and Asia, according to the Pet Food Institute, an industry group. Menu Foods used wheat gluten to thicken the gravy of its "cuts and gravy" style wet pet foods, FDA officials have said.
One veterinarian suggested the international sourcing of ingredients would force the U.S. "to come to grips with a reality we had not appreciated."
"When you change from getting an ingredient from the supplier down the road to a supplier from around the globe, maybe the methods and practices that were effective in one situation need to be changed," said Tony Buffington, a professor of veterinary clinical sciences at Ohio State University.
The FDA's Sundlof said the agency may change how it regulates the pet food industry.
"In this case, we're going to have to look at this after the dust settles and determine if there is something from a regulatory standpoint that we could have done differently to prevent this incident from occurring," he said.
Dolphins over Vikings
Considering Minnesotas punchless offense in Week 1, its not astretch to believe 17 points is enough to win this game. Can Miamisbackfield duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams move the chainsagainst a defense that was second best in the NFL last year againstthe run? If they can, advantage Dolphins. Percy Harvin afterbattling migraine issues again in the preseason missed practiceThursday with a hip injury. He wont be 100%, further diminishingMinnesotas ability to throw the ball. James Irwin
Storylines
1. Scoring is down The most important lesson learned from Week 1of the NFL season? Bet the under. According to the Elias SportsBureau, 585 points were scored last week, 252 less than the openingweek of 2008, which set an NFL record. Each of the signature nightgames from Week 1 produced fewer points than expected. The Saintsover the Vikings (Thursday), 14-9, the Redskins over the Cowboys(Sunday), 13-7, and the Ravens over the Jets (Monday), 10-9. Thescoring average in all games was 36.6. Despite this trend, thelowest over-under listed on betting website FootballLOCKS.com forthis weeks games is 37 (Pittsburgh at Tennessee). Kevin Dunleavy
2. Big arms not turning in big wins Last season appeared to bethe year of the quarterback as evidenced by the conferencechampionship games Drew Brees vs. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning vs.well, Mark Sanchez. But the Jets were the anomaly in the group thatfeatured the games biggest passers. If Week 1 is any indication, bigpassing games may not equal wins in 2010-11. Eleven quarterbackstopped 250 yards last week and only four won with only two head-to-head matchups. Lets face it, the number couldve easily dropped tothree winners as Jay Cutlers 372 yards were a Calvin Johnsoncontrolled catch away from a loss. Looks like big QB yardage will begood for your fantasy team, but not as helpful
for your reality team. Leon Saffelle
3. Early-season injuries Its always an issue in the NFL. But twoplayoff contenders got hit by the injury bug while playing eachother in Week 1. Green Bay has to replace starting running back RyanGrant, who tore an ankle ligament in last weeks 27-20 win overPhiladelphia. Expected to be one of the leagues top offenses, thePackers turn to Brandon Jackson, a fourth-year running back who hasnever rushed for more than 267 yards in an NFL season. Philadelphia,meanwhile, lost quarterback Kevin Kolb to a concussion. Thats not agood start to the Kolb era after Donavan McNabb was traded in theoffseason. Michael Vick starts this week. But coach Andy Reidinsists Kolb remains the starter when he returns. The only problem?We dont know when that is. Brian McNally
1. Saints (1-0) With defense in gear, Brees and co. will run itup at San Francisco 1
2. Packers (1-0) Foot went off the gas late vs. Philly. Same gameplan for Bills 2
3. Ravens (1-0) How will Houshmandzadeh play in his return inCincy? 8
4. Patriots (1-0) Perhaps the dissed defense isnt as bad asforecast 10
5. Texans (1-0) Planning all offseason for Colts easier than aweeks prep for Skins 13
6. Colts (0-1) Easily the most dangerous of teams upset in Week 13
7. Vikings (0-1) Without receiving threats, turning to AdrianPeterson is a must 6
8. Cowboys (0-1) Jason Garrett on the road from offensive guru togargantuan goat 4
9. Steelers (1-0) Defensive side of the ball content to outshineBig Ben 17
10. Titans (1-0) Young benchmark: set to make his first-everstart vs. Steelers 18
11. Jets (0-1) Looked as uncomfortable offensively as in lockerroom with Sainz 11
12. Giants (1-0) Indy will be reality check after sloppy win overPanthers 15
13. Dolphins (1-0) At Vikings in first of four straight against2009 playoff teams 14
14. Bengals (0-1) Will need to rattle Baltimore with early scores9
15. Falcons (0-1) Is there any hope of reviving Michael Turnersfantasy value? 5
16. Redskins (1-0) Run defense certain to be challenged by ArianFoster and Texas 19
17. Chargers (0-1) Pouting Rivers the lasting image from beatingat Arrowhead 7
18. Eagles (0-1) No shocker to see QB controversy arrive right ontime 16
19. Cardinals (1-0) Derek Anderson has never been 1-0 in a seasonuntil now 21
20. Chiefs (1-0) Dexter McClusters speed as striking as ChrisJohnsons 27
21. Seahawks (1-0) The most surprising victory for any team inWeek 1 31
22. 49ers (0-1) was also the site of opening weeks biggestdisappointment 12
23. Jaguars (1-0) Aiming to sustain buzz in a place they oftencant: the West Coast 24
24. Bears (1-0) Division win valuable but Chicago ripe to getcrushed at Dallas 22
25. Raiders (0-1) Wild swings in momentum likely to followOakland all season 20
26. Broncos (0-1) Cant afford to let Orton get pummeled like thatevery week 23
27. Panthers (0-1) Need to get DeAngelo Williams going 25
28. Lions (0-1) Robbed of a victory and Matthew Stafford in thesame week 26
29. Buccaneers (1-0) Undefeated, yet why ranked this low? Theybeat the Browns 29
30. Browns (0-1) Delhomme did exactly what CLE fans were dreadingin opener 28
31. Bills (0-1) Schedule unfriendly: at Green Bay, at New Englandnext 2 weeks 30
32. Rams (0-1) Jeez, can STL give Bradford the ball enough (55throws last week) 32
Criag Stouffer
Five to start
1. QB Michael Vick After rushing for 103 yards in part-time dutylast week, Vick gets to make his case as the Eagles full-timestarter against the Lions.
2. RB Brandon Jackson The Packers new starting running back willface a Buffalo defense that was one of the worst against the runlast season.
3. RB DeAngelo Williams The Panthers were held to just 89 yardson the ground last week but will have a much better matchup againstthe Bucs on Sunday.
4. WR Hakeem Nicks Dont expect three more touchdowns, but itbecame apparent who Eli Manning favors in the red zone.
5. WR Brandon Marshall Dont be discouraged by Marshalls 53-yardperformance last week. He was Chad Hennes favorite target by far andhad eight receptions.
Five to sit
1. QB Brett Favre The Vikings timing looked off last week andnow Percy Harvin is suffering from a hip injury on top of SidneyRices absence.
2. RB Cedric Benson The Bengals back had a breakout season lastyear, but Cincinnati will face a Ravens defense that held the Jetsto six first downs.
3. RB Shonn Greene He fumbled twice and had just five rushingattempts last week. The Jets may be more comfortable with LaDainianTomlinson.
4. WR Donald Driver The Packers second receiver is facing aBuffalo defense that didnt allow a touchdown catch last week and letup only 14 last season.
5. WR Dez Bryant The Dallas rookie had eight catches as theCowboys forced some screens to him last week. Expect more emphasisput on Dallas run game Sunday. Jeffrey Tomik
Game
Cincinnati at Baltimore
The Bengals need a win to avoid an 0-2 start, in a season wherethey have grand expectations real or not. Cincinnatis defense wasshredded by New England in the opener and will be tested on theground by Ravens RB Ray Rice. But Rice didnt hurt the Bengals lastyear, gaining a combined 117 yards in the two games as the Ravensscored just 24 total points. Meanwhile, Bengals RB Cedric Bensonrushed for a combined 237 yards in those two wins.
Player
Jets QB Mark Sanchez
Sanchez, the darling of the 2009 postseason, has stopped lookingso hot. Against Baltimore last week, Sanchez finished with 74 yardsand a 56.4 passer rating as the Jets scored just nine points. NewYork runs a conservative offense, but some of that has to be areflection of Sanchezs growth, or lack of it. Yes, hes just a second-year guy, but one with 19 career starts. With a game Sunday vs. NewEngland, the pressure is on Sanchez to perform better.
Dolphins over Vikings [Derived Headline]Dolphins over Vikings
Considering Minnesotas punchless offense in Week 1, its not astretch to believe 17 points is enough to win this game. Can Miamisbackfield duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams move the chainsagainst a defense that was second best in the NFL last year againstthe run? If they can, advantage Dolphins. Percy Harvin afterbattling migraine issues again in the preseason missed practiceThursday with a hip injury. He wont be 100%, further diminishingMinnesotas ability to throw the ball. James Irwin
Storylines
1. Scoring is down The most important lesson learned from Week 1of the NFL season? Bet the under. According to the Elias SportsBureau, 585 points were scored last week, 252 less than the openingweek of 2008, which set an NFL record. Each of the signature nightgames from Week 1 produced fewer points than expected. The Saintsover the Vikings (Thursday), 14-9, the Redskins over the Cowboys(Sunday), 13-7, and the Ravens over the Jets (Monday), 10-9. Thescoring average in all games was 36.6. Despite this trend, thelowest over-under listed on betting website FootballLOCKS.com forthis weeks games is 37 (Pittsburgh at Tennessee). Kevin Dunleavy
2. Big arms not turning in big wins Last season appeared to bethe year of the quarterback as evidenced by the conferencechampionship games Drew Brees vs. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning vs.well, Mark Sanchez. But the Jets were the anomaly in the group thatfeatured the games biggest passers. If Week 1 is any indication, bigpassing games may not equal wins in 2010-11. Eleven quarterbackstopped 250 yards last week and only four won with only two head-to-head matchups. Lets face it, the number couldve easily dropped tothree winners as Jay Cutlers 372 yards were a Calvin Johnsoncontrolled catch away from a loss. Looks like big QB yardage will begood for your fantasy team, but not as helpful
for your reality team. Leon Saffelle
3. Early-season injuries Its always an issue in the NFL. But twoplayoff contenders got hit by the injury bug while playing eachother in Week 1. Green Bay has to replace starting running back RyanGrant, who tore an ankle ligament in last weeks 27-20 win overPhiladelphia. Expected to be one of the leagues top offenses, thePackers turn to Brandon Jackson, a fourth-year running back who hasnever rushed for more than 267 yards in an NFL season. Philadelphia,meanwhile, lost quarterback Kevin Kolb to a concussion. Thats not agood start to the Kolb era after Donavan McNabb was traded in theoffseason. Michael Vick starts this week. But coach Andy Reidinsists Kolb remains the starter when he returns. The only problem?We dont know when that is. Brian McNally
1. Saints (1-0) With defense in gear, Brees and co. will run itup at San Francisco 1
2. Packers (1-0) Foot went off the gas late vs. Philly. Same gameplan for Bills 2
3. Ravens (1-0) How will Houshmandzadeh play in his return inCincy? 8
4. Patriots (1-0) Perhaps the dissed defense isnt as bad asforecast 10
5. Texans (1-0) Planning all offseason for Colts easier than aweeks prep for Skins 13
6. Colts (0-1) Easily the most dangerous of teams upset in Week 13
7. Vikings (0-1) Without receiving threats, turning to AdrianPeterson is a must 6
8. Cowboys (0-1) Jason Garrett on the road from offensive guru togargantuan goat 4
9. Steelers (1-0) Defensive side of the ball content to outshineBig Ben 17
10. Titans (1-0) Young benchmark: set to make his first-everstart vs. Steelers 18
11. Jets (0-1) Looked as uncomfortable offensively as in lockerroom with Sainz 11
12. Giants (1-0) Indy will be reality check after sloppy win overPanthers 15
13. Dolphins (1-0) At Vikings in first of four straight against2009 playoff teams 14
14. Bengals (0-1) Will need to rattle Baltimore with early scores9
15. Falcons (0-1) Is there any hope of reviving Michael Turnersfantasy value? 5
16. Redskins (1-0) Run defense certain to be challenged by ArianFoster and Texas 19
17. Chargers (0-1) Pouting Rivers the lasting image from beatingat Arrowhead 7
18. Eagles (0-1) No shocker to see QB controversy arrive right ontime 16
19. Cardinals (1-0) Derek Anderson has never been 1-0 in a seasonuntil now 21
20. Chiefs (1-0) Dexter McClusters speed as striking as ChrisJohnsons 27
21. Seahawks (1-0) The most surprising victory for any team inWeek 1 31
22. 49ers (0-1) was also the site of opening weeks biggestdisappointment 12
23. Jaguars (1-0) Aiming to sustain buzz in a place they oftencant: the West Coast 24
24. Bears (1-0) Division win valuable but Chicago ripe to getcrushed at Dallas 22
25. Raiders (0-1) Wild swings in momentum likely to followOakland all season 20
26. Broncos (0-1) Cant afford to let Orton get pummeled like thatevery week 23
27. Panthers (0-1) Need to get DeAngelo Williams going 25
28. Lions (0-1) Robbed of a victory and Matthew Stafford in thesame week 26
29. Buccaneers (1-0) Undefeated, yet why ranked this low? Theybeat the Browns 29
30. Browns (0-1) Delhomme did exactly what CLE fans were dreadingin opener 28
31. Bills (0-1) Schedule unfriendly: at Green Bay, at New Englandnext 2 weeks 30
32. Rams (0-1) Jeez, can STL give Bradford the ball enough (55throws last week) 32
Criag Stouffer
Five to start
1. QB Michael Vick After rushing for 103 yards in part-time dutylast week, Vick gets to make his case as the Eagles full-timestarter against the Lions.
2. RB Brandon Jackson The Packers new starting running back willface a Buffalo defense that was one of the worst against the runlast season.
3. RB DeAngelo Williams The Panthers were held to just 89 yardson the ground last week but will have a much better matchup againstthe Bucs on Sunday.
4. WR Hakeem Nicks Dont expect three more touchdowns, but itbecame apparent who Eli Manning favors in the red zone.
5. WR Brandon Marshall Dont be discouraged by Marshalls 53-yardperformance last week. He was Chad Hennes favorite target by far andhad eight receptions.
Five to sit
1. QB Brett Favre The Vikings timing looked off last week andnow Percy Harvin is suffering from a hip injury on top of SidneyRices absence.
2. RB Cedric Benson The Bengals back had a breakout season lastyear, but Cincinnati will face a Ravens defense that held the Jetsto six first downs.
3. RB Shonn Greene He fumbled twice and had just five rushingattempts last week. The Jets may be more comfortable with LaDainianTomlinson.
4. WR Donald Driver The Packers second receiver is facing aBuffalo defense that didnt allow a touchdown catch last week and letup only 14 last season.
5. WR Dez Bryant The Dallas rookie had eight catches as theCowboys forced some screens to him last week. Expect more emphasisput on Dallas run game Sunday. Jeffrey Tomik
Game
Cincinnati at Baltimore
The Bengals need a win to avoid an 0-2 start, in a season wherethey have grand expectations real or not. Cincinnatis defense wasshredded by New England in the opener and will be tested on theground by Ravens RB Ray Rice. But Rice didnt hurt the Bengals lastyear, gaining a combined 117 yards in the two games as the Ravensscored just 24 total points. Meanwhile, Bengals RB Cedric Bensonrushed for a combined 237 yards in those two wins.
Player
Jets QB Mark Sanchez
Sanchez, the darling of the 2009 postseason, has stopped lookingso hot. Against Baltimore last week, Sanchez finished with 74 yardsand a 56.4 passer rating as the Jets scored just nine points. NewYork runs a conservative offense, but some of that has to be areflection of Sanchezs growth, or lack of it. Yes, hes just a second-year guy, but one with 19 career starts. With a game Sunday vs. NewEngland, the pressure is on Sanchez to perform better.
Dolphins over Vikings [Derived Headline]Dolphins over Vikings
Considering Minnesotas punchless offense in Week 1, its not astretch to believe 17 points is enough to win this game. Can Miamisbackfield duo of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams move the chainsagainst a defense that was second best in the NFL last year againstthe run? If they can, advantage Dolphins. Percy Harvin afterbattling migraine issues again in the preseason missed practiceThursday with a hip injury. He wont be 100%, further diminishingMinnesotas ability to throw the ball. James Irwin
Storylines
1. Scoring is down The most important lesson learned from Week 1of the NFL season? Bet the under. According to the Elias SportsBureau, 585 points were scored last week, 252 less than the openingweek of 2008, which set an NFL record. Each of the signature nightgames from Week 1 produced fewer points than expected. The Saintsover the Vikings (Thursday), 14-9, the Redskins over the Cowboys(Sunday), 13-7, and the Ravens over the Jets (Monday), 10-9. Thescoring average in all games was 36.6. Despite this trend, thelowest over-under listed on betting website FootballLOCKS.com forthis weeks games is 37 (Pittsburgh at Tennessee). Kevin Dunleavy
2. Big arms not turning in big wins Last season appeared to bethe year of the quarterback as evidenced by the conferencechampionship games Drew Brees vs. Brett Favre, Peyton Manning vs.well, Mark Sanchez. But the Jets were the anomaly in the group thatfeatured the games biggest passers. If Week 1 is any indication, bigpassing games may not equal wins in 2010-11. Eleven quarterbackstopped 250 yards last week and only four won with only two head-to-head matchups. Lets face it, the number couldve easily dropped tothree winners as Jay Cutlers 372 yards were a Calvin Johnsoncontrolled catch away from a loss. Looks like big QB yardage will begood for your fantasy team, but not as helpful
for your reality team. Leon Saffelle
3. Early-season injuries Its always an issue in the NFL. But twoplayoff contenders got hit by the injury bug while playing eachother in Week 1. Green Bay has to replace starting running back RyanGrant, who tore an ankle ligament in last weeks 27-20 win overPhiladelphia. Expected to be one of the leagues top offenses, thePackers turn to Brandon Jackson, a fourth-year running back who hasnever rushed for more than 267 yards in an NFL season. Philadelphia,meanwhile, lost quarterback Kevin Kolb to a concussion. Thats not agood start to the Kolb era after Donavan McNabb was traded in theoffseason. Michael Vick starts this week. But coach Andy Reidinsists Kolb remains the starter when he returns. The only problem?We dont know when that is. Brian McNally
1. Saints (1-0) With defense in gear, Brees and co. will run itup at San Francisco 1
2. Packers (1-0) Foot went off the gas late vs. Philly. Same gameplan for Bills 2
3. Ravens (1-0) How will Houshmandzadeh play in his return inCincy? 8
4. Patriots (1-0) Perhaps the dissed defense isnt as bad asforecast 10
5. Texans (1-0) Planning all offseason for Colts easier than aweeks prep for Skins 13
6. Colts (0-1) Easily the most dangerous of teams upset in Week 13
7. Vikings (0-1) Without receiving threats, turning to AdrianPeterson is a must 6
8. Cowboys (0-1) Jason Garrett on the road from offensive guru togargantuan goat 4
9. Steelers (1-0) Defensive side of the ball content to outshineBig Ben 17
10. Titans (1-0) Young benchmark: set to make his first-everstart vs. Steelers 18
11. Jets (0-1) Looked as uncomfortable offensively as in lockerroom with Sainz 11
12. Giants (1-0) Indy will be reality check after sloppy win overPanthers 15
13. Dolphins (1-0) At Vikings in first of four straight against2009 playoff teams 14
14. Bengals (0-1) Will need to rattle Baltimore with early scores9
15. Falcons (0-1) Is there any hope of reviving Michael Turnersfantasy value? 5
16. Redskins (1-0) Run defense certain to be challenged by ArianFoster and Texas 19
17. Chargers (0-1) Pouting Rivers the lasting image from beatingat Arrowhead 7
18. Eagles (0-1) No shocker to see QB controversy arrive right ontime 16
19. Cardinals (1-0) Derek Anderson has never been 1-0 in a seasonuntil now 21
20. Chiefs (1-0) Dexter McClusters speed as striking as ChrisJohnsons 27
21. Seahawks (1-0) The most surprising victory for any team inWeek 1 31
22. 49ers (0-1) was also the site of opening weeks biggestdisappointment 12
23. Jaguars (1-0) Aiming to sustain buzz in a place they oftencant: the West Coast 24
24. Bears (1-0) Division win valuable but Chicago ripe to getcrushed at Dallas 22
25. Raiders (0-1) Wild swings in momentum likely to followOakland all season 20
26. Broncos (0-1) Cant afford to let Orton get pummeled like thatevery week 23
27. Panthers (0-1) Need to get DeAngelo Williams going 25
28. Lions (0-1) Robbed of a victory and Matthew Stafford in thesame week 26
29. Buccaneers (1-0) Undefeated, yet why ranked this low? Theybeat the Browns 29
30. Browns (0-1) Delhomme did exactly what CLE fans were dreadingin opener 28
31. Bills (0-1) Schedule unfriendly: at Green Bay, at New Englandnext 2 weeks 30
32. Rams (0-1) Jeez, can STL give Bradford the ball enough (55throws last week) 32
Criag Stouffer
Five to start
1. QB Michael Vick After rushing for 103 yards in part-time dutylast week, Vick gets to make his case as the Eagles full-timestarter against the Lions.
2. RB Brandon Jackson The Packers new starting running back willface a Buffalo defense that was one of the worst against the runlast season.
3. RB DeAngelo Williams The Panthers were held to just 89 yardson the ground last week but will have a much better matchup againstthe Bucs on Sunday.
4. WR Hakeem Nicks Dont expect three more touchdowns, but itbecame apparent who Eli Manning favors in the red zone.
5. WR Brandon Marshall Dont be discouraged by Marshalls 53-yardperformance last week. He was Chad Hennes favorite target by far andhad eight receptions.
Five to sit
1. QB Brett Favre The Vikings timing looked off last week andnow Percy Harvin is suffering from a hip injury on top of SidneyRices absence.
2. RB Cedric Benson The Bengals back had a breakout season lastyear, but Cincinnati will face a Ravens defense that held the Jetsto six first downs.
3. RB Shonn Greene He fumbled twice and had just five rushingattempts last week. The Jets may be more comfortable with LaDainianTomlinson.
4. WR Donald Driver The Packers second receiver is facing aBuffalo defense that didnt allow a touchdown catch last week and letup only 14 last season.
5. WR Dez Bryant The Dallas rookie had eight catches as theCowboys forced some screens to him last week. Expect more emphasisput on Dallas run game Sunday. Jeffrey Tomik
Game
Cincinnati at Baltimore
The Bengals need a win to avoid an 0-2 start, in a season wherethey have grand expectations real or not. Cincinnatis defense wasshredded by New England in the opener and will be tested on theground by Ravens RB Ray Rice. But Rice didnt hurt the Bengals lastyear, gaining a combined 117 yards in the two games as the Ravensscored just 24 total points. Meanwhile, Bengals RB Cedric Bensonrushed for a combined 237 yards in those two wins.
Player
Jets QB Mark Sanchez
Sanchez, the darling of the 2009 postseason, has stopped lookingso hot. Against Baltimore last week, Sanchez finished with 74 yardsand a 56.4 passer rating as the Jets scored just nine points. NewYork runs a conservative offense, but some of that has to be areflection of Sanchezs growth, or lack of it. Yes, hes just a second-year guy, but one with 19 career starts. With a game Sunday vs. NewEngland, the pressure is on Sanchez to perform better.
