Ducato: 2012

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Greece: Muslims mark Eid with outdoor prayers

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Thousands of Muslim immigrants attended outdoor prayer services across Athens Tuesday to mark the festival of Eid-al-Adha, while police clashed with a small group of protesters from an extreme right group at one of the sites.

The services at eight public squares and other areas in greater Athens occurred peacefully, but police cleared one square where Greek local residents and members of the far-right Chrysi Avgi — a group widely linked to a growing number violent attacks against immigrants. Police later briefly clashed with several dozen of its members.

Protesters played loud music from a nearby apartment, threw eggs, and jeered at the immigrants …

Oil hovers below $83 ahead of key US jobs report

Oil prices hovered below $83 a barrel Friday as investors looked to a key U.S. jobs report later in the day for clues about the strength of the economic recovery.

Signs of monetary tightening in China and the dollar's gains on other major currencies also helped keep oil prices in check.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for February delivery was down 20 cents to $82.46 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. On Thursday, the contract fell 52 cents to settle at $82.66.

The Labor Department is scheduled to announce later on Friday the December unemployment rate and job creation figures _ numbers traders will …

SNEED

Tipsville . . .

Watch for former state Senate President Phil Rock to be appointedhead of the Illinois Board of Higher Education by his old pal, Gov.Ryan. A bird word . . .

Attention birders! Sneed hears a rare black-crowned night-heronwith a dislocated elbow in its wing is being nursed back to health atthe Willowbrook Wildlife Center in Glen Ellyn. A Westmont familyfound the injured bird at Waubonsee Creek in Oswego 10 days ago.Although the injury will heal, officials at the center said the heronlikely will never fly again. This week the bird will be taken to anew permanent home, the Cosley Zoo in Wheaton. The 1 1/2-foot tallbird - which has gray and white feathers, …

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Ex-East German activist Baerbel Bohley dies

BERLIN (AP) — Baerbel Bohley, a prominent figure in the pro-democracy movement that helped end communist rule in the former East Germany, died Saturday. She was 65.

The Robert Havemann Society, a group dedicated to the history of East Germany's opposition that Bohley helped set up, said she died of cancer.

Bohley, a painter who endured harassment by East Germany's secret police, and several others in September 1989 established New Forum. It became the most prominent opposition group in the final phase of hardline communist rule.

The group advocated free elections, greater openness in East German society and a free press.

East Germany opened its heavily fortified …

Euro falls against dollar

The euro fell against the dollar Wednesday after the U.S. Federal Reserve and European central banks said they would extend more credit to banks still roiled by financial market turmoil.

The 15-nation euro fell to US$1.5551 in afternoon European trading from the US$1.5586 it bought in late New York trading Tuesday.

The European Central Bank and Swiss National Bank said Wednesday they will make billions of U.S. dollars available to banks still starving for the currency.

The U.S. Federal Reserve said it is extending its emergency borrowing program to Wall Street firms by US$100 billion and is taking other steps to ease a severe credit crunch that …

Bomb scare shuts down Colo. town to base before crash

ASPEN, Colo. - Authorities say they're looking for a former Aspenresident after a bomb scare effectively shut down this resort townon New Year's Eve, one of its busiest nights of the year.

Suspicious packages and threatening notes were found at twobanks, forcing the evacuation of a 16-block downtown area. Afireworks show was pushed back from 8:30 p.m. until midnight andthen canceled altogether.

Police said a downtown Wells Fargo Bank first discovered apackage with a threatening note at about 2:30 p.m. A nearby …

Human chronic fascioliasis: a possible cause of unexplained abnormal liver tests

Fascioliasis is a cause of hepatic disease. Hepatitis B and C viruses are important causative factors in chronic liver disease. In this study, the frequency of hepatitis B (HBV) and/or hepatitis C (HCV) in cases of chronic human fascioliasis is studied. Egg count, indirect haemagglutination test (IHAT), haemoglobin level, total leucocyte and eosinophil counts, serum bilirubin, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and acid phosphatase (ACP) are performed. Serum γ-glutamyltransferase (GGT), arylsulphatase (ASA) and lipid peroxide levels are determined. Results showed that levels of the latter group of enzymes were increased …

Israel eases traffic restriction in West Bank city

Palestinian motorists drove freely out of this bustling West Bank city for the first time in six years Saturday after Israel eased long-standing travel restrictions in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a Muslim holiday.

The move was the latest sign of improving cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces in the West Bank. After years of fighting, Israel has begun to allow Palestinian security forces in the West Bank to maintain law and order in several major Palestinian population centers in recent months.

In contrast, Israel continues to battle militants in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Late Saturday, Israel launched a pair of …

CUBS NOTES

Shawon Dunston hopes to be back at shortstop for the Bravesseries, which begins at 3:05 p.m. today when Rick Sutcliffe (4-10)pitches against Doyle Alexander (2-4). Dunston sprained his wristThursday while attempting a tag in Montreal.

The Cubs are fourth in league with an average home attendanceof 26,500. The top three: Dodgers (39,000), Mets (37,000) andCardinals (32,000).

Steve Trout wants to discuss wine with Steve Carlton now thatCarlton is a White Sox. Each is a collector of vintage wines. "I'venever met him, but I've heard he's a great guy," Trout said. "Ibought him a bottle of Sterling Chardonnay when we were in Californiaand left it for him. It's a …

US Investors, Business Eye China Coal

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - As China's appetite for coal is booming, American investors and businesses are cashing in.

American pension and mutual fund money is being invested in the Chinese coal industry, which is lucrative but in general has a poor record for pollution and worker safety.

The biggest Chinese coal company is China Shenhua Energy Co. of Beijing, which produces about 170 million tons of coal a year from 21 mines and builds power plants. While about 80 percent of the company's stock is owned by Shenhua Group in Beijing, the rest of its shareholders reads like a who's who of U.S. investors: Fidelity Investments, OppenheimerFunds, Merrill Lynch, even the Teachers …

Expectant father Fisher could deliver Open triumph

Ross Fisher has his best chance to win the British Open. That's provided he makes it to the first tee on Sunday.

Fisher's pregnant wife Joanne is three days overdue and the 28-year-old Englishman plans to hurry to their home just outside London to be at the birth. While edging closer to the Open title with one shot to make up on leader Tom Watson on the west coast of Scotland, he is also waiting for the phone to ring any time.

"If Jo does go into labor, I'll be supporting her 100 percent. And I won't be here, I'll be with her because it's something I definitely don't want to miss," he said.

"It's been a long week, an intriguing week. I've got three days, she's got three …

Castaneda designated chairman of FHFB

Alicia Castaneda will be designated as chairman of the Federal Housing Finance Board, according to an announcement by President George W. Bush. Castaneda is a member of the board and would succeed Chairman John Korsmo, who resigned effective April 13.

The Federal Housing Board regulates the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks.

Fire extinguished at Berlin airport

Firefighters have extinguished a blaze that engulfed a wooden barracks at Berlin's main Tegel airport. Air traffic was interrupted for half an hour.

Fire department spokesman Stephan Fleischer says no one was hurt in the blaze that was tackled by 135 firefighters and 35 emergency vehicles Thursday morning.

The empty barracks sat in a northern section of Berlin's main airport used by the military and by visiting dignitaries. The 1,000-square-meter (10,700-square-foot) building was most recently used as a quarantine office.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Foes now are clean - Lewis

Olympic 100 meters champion Carl Lewis said Thursday he is moremotivated now than when he was racing against disgraced Canadian BenJohnson because he is confident that his present rivals were clean ofdrugs.

Asked whether he is still enjoying the Grand Prix circuitwithout the chance to run against Johnson, Lewis said: "I have moremotivation because I compete against people I know are clean.Everybody knew Ben was on drugs.

"It's better if anyone can win because they've worked hard andbecause they have talent, not just because of drugs."

The Houston-based athlete will run the 200-meter race at theGrand Prix meeting today in Brussels.

Lewis said he would not mind racing against Johnson when theCanadian, stripped of his Olympic 100 meters gold medal for takingsteroids and subsequently banned from competition for two years, isallowed to return in September, 1990.

"If he's out there I will treat him just like anybody else. Themost important thing is whether he comes back clean like everybodyelse," Lewis said.

Town's hill and heath sink potters

A Jake HEATH double helped fire Cheadle Town FC into the semi-final of the Division One Cup on Sunday.

Day Hill was also on target in the 3-0 victory over DraycottPotter. Town FC will come up against Tean Albion in the semi-finalafter their local rivals thrashed Barlaston 6-1.

Karl Alcock, Neil Fisher and Ryan Griffin each bagged a brace.

Cheadle Town End improved their Division Two promotion prospectsafter beating Three Tuns 3-1.

The victory lifted Town End three points clear of third-placedJCB Lakeside after they came unstuck at leaders Stone, who continueto boast a 100 per cent record.

Fulford and Tean recorded a 4-2 win over Ye Olde Talbot in groupfour of the Sub Cup.

Black college enrollment rate in South passes milestone

RALEIGH, N.C. - For the first time ever in the South, Blacks are as well represented on college campuses as they are in the region's population as a whole - something not yet true of the country overall.

The milestone is noted in a new fact book to be released by the Southern Regional Education Board, a nonprofit organization that promotes education.

In the 16 states measured, the number of Blacks enrolled in colleges has risen by more than half over the last decade. They now make 21 percent of college students and 19 percent of the overall population.

The number represents progress but it also has to be seen in context. A major contributing factor is the South's rapidly growing Hispanic population, which has reduced the proportion of the population that is Black, and thereby made the milestone easier to reach mathematically.

And educators also stressed that the number should not obscure the persistent achievement gaps affecting blacks both in the South and nationally. In particular, Black enrollment rates for collegeage students, while improving, still lag well behind those of whites, as do the graduation rates of Black college students.

With a college degree now almost a prerequisite for highpaying jobs, those achievement gaps pose an economic threat - and the South will be on the cutting edge of that. In 2005 about 61 percent of public high school graduates in the South were white, the education board said, but by 2018 that figure is expected to be 45 percent.

"We've made tremendous progress, don't get me wrong," board President Dave Spence said. But, he added, unless achievement gaps narrow, "we're going to be in trouble. We already are in trouble, but we'll be in more trouble seven or eight years down the road."

The latest report may not reflect precisely what many consider the South, because the 16 states it covers also include border states Kentucky, Delaware, West Virginia and Maryland.

Still, the report reflects the reality that many more Southern Blacks are enrolling in college. In those states, about 1.1 million Black students were enrolled in college in the fall of 2005, 52 percent more than a decade earlier.

The increase has come largely from new and expanding public, traditionally white universities and two-year colleges rather than from historically Black colleges, which for many years shouldered nearly all the burden of higher education for Southern Blacks. Many of those schools still exist, but their share of Black enrollment in the region has slipped from 26 percent to 19 percent over the last decade.

"We've removed a lot of the barriers and accepted that we will have to provide higher levels of learning support in the short term," said Erroll Davis, who oversees the 33 institutions in the University System of Georgia. He noted that minority students arrive on campus with lower levels of college preparedness on average.

Overall, Blacks represent 31.4 percent of all Georgia college students, about 1 percent higher than the proportion in the overall population. The proportion of Blacks in the state university system is about 24 percent -higher than a decade ago but still below the population as a whole.

The number of Hispanics in higher education in the South has also shot up sharply over the last decade - by about 71 percent to about 552,000 in the region the board studied. But unlike for Blacks, it remains well below the proportion of Hispanics in the region's population.

Nationally, 25 percent of Hispanics aged 18-24 attend college, compared to 33 percent of Blacks and 44 percent of whites. That means the fastest-growing major group has the lowest college-going rate - an alarming long-term threat to the goal of increasing the percentage of workers with college degrees.

The board's report did not calculate graduation rates for its region, but an analysis done by The Education Trust, a nonprofit group, on behalf of The Associated Press calculated the graduation rates for the 16 states in the board's report.

The analysis, which applies only to four-year colleges, found six-year graduation rates of 40 percent for Blacks, 46 percent for Hispanics, and 56 percent for whites.

Las Mejores Comidas Tipicas de Hispanoamerica

"Filete a la Pimienta"

2 cucharadas de pimienta negra en grano

1 lb de bistec centro de cara de res

Preparacion:

Coloque los granos de pimienta en un wok o en una tabla para picar; tapelos con una toalla de papel y machaquelos con un rodillo o un mazo. Revuelque la carne sobre la pimienta para que se impregne bien de ella.

En un sarten grande, caliente la margarina y el aceite a fuego alto. Anada la carne y cocine durante 5 min. Volteela y cocine durante otros 5 min., para que quede poco cocida, o hasta lograr el punto deseado. Pasela a un recipiente para que suelte su jugo. Tape la carne con papel de aluminio a fin de mantenerla caliente.

Reduzca la llama a fuego moderado; anada la cebolla al jugo en el sarten. Sofria la cebolla durante 5 min. o hasta que este blanda. Agregue la media crema poco a poco. Cocine la salsa, revolviendo constantemente, de 2 a 3 min. o hasta que este espesa. Sazone con sal.

Corte la carne transversalmente en rebanadas delgadas y paselas a un platon caliente. Cubrala con el jugo acumulado y con la salsa de cebolla, sirva en forma inmediata.

"Tostaditas de Manzana"

4 manzanas Granny Smith grandes

1/3 taza de azucar blanco

2 cucharadas de jugo de limon

1 cucharadita de canela en polvo

1/2 taza de azucar moreno claro, muy apretado

1/2 taza de harina de trigo

1/2 taza de avena de coccion rapida

1/4 taza (1/2 barra) de margarina, cortada en trozos pequenos

Preparacion:

Precaliente el horno a 350{degrees}F. Pele, descorazone y rebane las manzanas. Coloque las rebanadas de manzana en un tazon grande, espolvoreelas con azucar blanco y pongales jugo de limon y canela en polvo. Revuelva las rebanadas de manzana, para cubrirlas bien con la mezcla de azucar, y paselas a un molde para hornear de 9" de diametro.

En un tazon pequeno, mezcle el azucar moreno, la harina y la avena. Incorpore la margarina y con un mezclador de masa, o con dos cuchillos a manera de tijeras, cortela para mezclarla con los demas ingredientes hasta formar migajas gruesas. Espolvoree las migajas sobre la mezcla de manzana.

Meta la manzana en el horno durante unos 30 min. o hasta que la cubierta de migajas este tostada. Con una cuchara, pase la tostadita de manzana a tazones pequenos y sirva de inmediato; o dejelas enfriar y sirva a temperatura ambiente.

"Tartaletas Cremosas de Banano"

1-1/4 tazas de leche

3-1/4 onzas de budin instantaneo sabor vainilla con mezcla para relleno de pay, de paquete

1 taza (1/2 pinta) de crema espesa

2 bananos medianos, maduros

6 conchas para tartaletas de galletas graham preparadas

Preparacion:

En un tazon mediano, combine la leche con la mezcla para budin; revuelva durante unos 45 seg. o hasta que quede bien integrada. Tape el tazon y refrigere hasta que vaya a usar la mezcla.

Mientras tanto, en un tazon pequeno, con la batidora electrica, bata la crema hasta formar picos duros. Mida 1/2 taza de la crema batida y aparte. Con una espatula de hule, incorpore con movimientos envolventes el resto de la crema batida al budin hasta que esten bien mezclados.

Pele y rebane los bananos. Si lo desea, reserve 6 rebanadas para adornar. Ponga 4 rebanadas en el fondo de cada concha. Con una cuchara, reparta la mitad de la mezcla de budin dentro de las conchas. Anada 1 capa de banano y cubra con el resto del budin. Remate con 1 cucharada de crema batida y 1 rebanada de banano, y sirva.

No Swearing in South Pasadena This Week

What the @$%#? This community on the edge of Los Angeles has become a cuss-free zone.

So if you're headed to South Pasadena this week, be sure to turn down the volume on that Snoop Dogg CD, and, if the little old lady from Pasadena cuts you off in traffic, don't even think about flipping her the bird.

Not that police will slap cuffs on you and haul your sorry, er, butt off to jail in light of the proclamation passed Wednesday by the City Council. But you could be shamed into better behavior by the unsettling glares of residents who take their reputation for civility seriously.

"That's one of the purposes of this," Mayor Michael Cacciotti said of his city's proclamation designating the first week of March as No Cussing Week. "It provides us a reminder to be more civil, to elevate the level of discourse."

The proclamation will be in effect until Friday, and then the first week of every March hereafter.

South Pasadena, a tranquil city of tree-shaded cottages at the base of a mountain range eight miles north of downtown Los Angeles, isn't the first to try to rein in potty mouths. Earlier this year, the St. Louis suburb of St. Charles, Mo., proposed banning swearing in bars. Last year, hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons called for an industrywide ban on racially and sexually charged epithets.

But what's different about the latest push to stop saying in public the words that Jane Fonda and Diane Keaton recently discovered we still can't say on television is that it was proposed by a 14-year-old boy.

"My mom and dad always taught me good morals, good values, and not cussing was one of them," said McKay Hatch, the founder of South Pasadena High School's No Cussing Club, during a recent break between study hall and tennis practice.

"I've cussed before, I'm not gonna lie to you," Hatch quickly added. "But I try not to cuss any more."

He was in junior high school when he became fed up with all the blue language around him.

He understood why his friends use foul language: "They just want to fit in like everybody else and they don't know how. They figure if they cuss maybe it's an easy way to do that."

But it wasn't for him.

"I finally told my friends, `I don't cuss.' And I said, `If you want to hang out with me, you don't cuss.'"

It took a couple of years, but enough friends finally came around that Hatch formed a 50-member club, handed out fliers and called the group's first meeting, held June 1.

Nine months later, the No Cussing Club has a Web site, claims 10,000 members and boasts chapters in several states and countries. Hatch considers his greatest achievement, though, to be getting his hometown of 25,000 to become a cuss-free zone.

He hopes to encourage cuss-free zones in other cities to improve the quality of life.

"You have to start with the little things," he said.

___

On the Net:

http://www.nocussing.com

Move will bring 100 jobs, fill void

When Tyco International Ltd. and Dana Corp. announced plans last year to close warehouses and lay off hundreds of workers, Mary Justh worried those employees would have a tough time finding new jobs during the economic slowdown.

On Feb. 19, Justh, secretary and treasurer of Middlesex Township, Cumberland County, received some reassuring news: a West Hartford, Conn.-based designer, manufacturer and seller of electrical products plans to open a 220,000-square-foot regional distribution center in her municipality. It will create 100 new jobs for the Harrisburg area.

Wiremold Co. signed its lease for space in Crossroads Commerce Center Feb. 14, said Adam Meinstein, president of Equilibrium Equities Inc. His New York City-based company, along with Conewago Contractors Inc. of Hanover, York County, are the coowners and developers of Crossroads, a 500,000-square-foot distribution center.

Meinstein declined to disclose the terms of the deal, except to say it is a long-term agreement. Wiremold expects to be up and running in Crossroads this summer, he said.

On Dec. 4, Dana said it planned to close its distribution center in Middlesex Township by the end of May. At the time of the company's announcement, 157 employees worked at the warehouse in the Roadway Industrial Park off U.S. Route 11.

They will all lose their jobs once the plant is closed.

On Feb. 12, Tyco International of Bermuda closed one of its former AMP plants on Harrisburg Pike in Carlisle, Cumberland County, a spokeswoman said. That plant, which had been a light manufacturing operation, was converted to a warehouse after Tyco bought AMP in April 1999, Justh said. The plant employed more than 100 workers at one time, she said.

Founded in 1900, Wiremold plans to relocate its current operations from Memphis, Tenn., Meinstein said. The company's products consist mainly of wire and cable management, power and data quality products and data/communications connectivity systems.

Wiremold plans to make approximately 25 truck trips per day, including inbound and outbound trips, Meinstein said. That is a modest volume for a facility of its size, he said.

Of the 220,000 square feet the company has leased, it will use all but 5,000 square feet for distribution operations, Meinstein said. Those 5,000 square feet will be converted into office space, he added.

A representative of Wiremold did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Wiremold will join Genco Distribution Systems in the industrial business park. Genco, a Pittsburgh-based logistics, warehousing and supply-chain management firm, is leasing 160,000 square feet in Crossroads.

Genco's manufacturing services division moved into the distribution center in October. The company is using its space to store products for Kraft Foods' Nabisco division.

The owners of Crossroads had hoped to have the industrial business park fully leased by early 2002. Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, prospective tenants have been slower to commit to leases, Meinstein said. Now, he hopes to have the property fully leased by the end of this year.

"We have had inquiries from companies interested in leasing space," Meinstein said "But there are no active negotiations on the balance of the building."

Poetic fireworks // A novel in epic verses from Anthony Burgess

Today's subject is a novel written in epic verse . . . Wait! Don'tgo away. This is no academic stunt by a bored old ivory-towernovelist who just wants to see if he can bring it off. The novel inquestion, Byrne (Carroll & Graf, $20) is by Anthony Burgess, thatfierce, cranky and witty British polymath who died in 1993.

Burgess was famed most for the grotesquely surreal A ClockworkOrange. Skeptic, scholar, linguist and composer, he wrote in thesame thoughtful, difficult, erudite, semiotically experimentaltradition of James Joyce, his hero.

No, Burgess has never been easy, although, unlike (say) ThomasPynchon, he is not at all impenetrable. Yes, Burgess loved toscatter polyglot obscurities like potholes throughout his more than50 novels and dozens of nonfiction works. Yet there always has beenan infectious joy to his romps in the meadows of language. He couldleap gaily from Welsh to French to Malay to Yiddish in one breath,and, if he cared to, he could transfix the reader upon an openingsentence: "I was in bed with my catamite," began one novel, "when theArchbishop came to call."There always has been something mesmerizing about Burgess'swork, even when one can't quite understand it all, and that is whyhis posthumous Byrne is such a pleasure.Its plot is simple. Michael Byrne, an Irishman born around1900, is an artist, composer and world-class letch who fathersbastards hither and yon through the tumultuous first decades of the20th century, fetching up in prewar Nazi Germany. There he producesscandalously erotic paintings and jackboot librettoes while sharing amistress with Josef Goebbels, finding "light relief" in "beer,schnapps, the joy of being drunk and Aryan,/though Hitler was ateetotalitarian."Afterwards Byrne disappears into Africa, and almost half acentury later three of "the fruits of his insemination" are summonedto London to hear the old man's will. They are Tim, a burnt-outpriest; his twin brother Tom, a professor suffering from cancer; andtheir airhead sister Dorothy. Separately they move across Europetoward England and an apocalyptic resolution, dodging such topicaland emblematic pitfalls of their half of the century as terrorists,Eurocash, Hollywoodspeak, megabytes, punk rockers and Muslims whohave it in for a long-dead poet:Outraged believers in IslamabadDemanded filthy Dante's executionOutside the US Embassy. A sadAnd academic voice poured a cold douche onA hot imam. Iranian leaders hadAs yet not issued a stern resolutionAbout the doing of the sinner in.That would come with a later bulletin.This is all great fun, and it should not cast a schoolmasterishpall on the proceedings to point out that Byrne is written almostentirely in ottava rima, an eight-line stanza that was a favoriteform of Lord Byron. The rhyme scheme is abababcc, which affordsBurgess a wide canvas upon which to commit rhymes by turns ingenious,hilarious and outrageous: "Calvin/bivalve in," fish an/technician,""Sacher-Masoch/cassock."Burgess makes heavy use of the trick of interior split rhyme,and somehow gets away with it, as in:Unseasonable warmth possessed the land. Rheu-Matically wincing but intrepidHe made for Curzon Street. His bare right hand drewA hanky out, to wipe. . . .It does help to be familiar with British pronunciation, forBurgess loves to send up his own plummy high-class London dialect.Listen to this:Dorothy paid, and Timothy could see at aDistance that her tip displeased the cabbie,Entering first the coruscating theatreHe saw a well-dressed crowd, while he was shabby...And you absolutely must have an abridged dictionary close tohand. Burgess rhymes "Christmas" with both "rhotacismus" (a tendencyto use "s" for "r," once common among people who spoke Latin) and"strabismus" (crossed eyes).But this erudition pays off almost every time, as with thiscouplet:Even if he'd dressed clerical, not laicHe knew dog collars weren't apotropaic.I want to quote more, especially Burgess' ribaldries, but thisis a family paper. Suffice it to say that even if you understandjust half and have to scramble, this banquet's well worth the candle.

Monday, March 12, 2012

US: Ex-Guantanamo prisoner carried out Iraq suicide attack

A Kuwaiti who had been imprisoned in Guantanamo for more than 3 1/2 years carried out a recent suicide attack in Iraq, the U.S. military said Wednesday.

Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi took part in one of three suicide bomb attacks last month in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, said U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye, a military spokesman.

It appears to be the first time someone who was held at the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba has carried out a suicide attack, said a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.

Al-Ajmi, 29, was transferred in 2005 to Kuwait, where the government was supposed to ensure he would not pose a threat. In May 2006, a Kuwaiti court acquitted him and four other former Guantanamo prisoners of terrorism charges.

Dubai-based al-Arabiya television, citing a cousin of al-Ajmi, last week reported that he had carried out a suicide attack, but the U.S. military could not confirm it until Wednesday.

Rye said in an e-mail to The Associated Press that al-Ajmi's family has confirmed his death and that authorities determined he entered Iraq through Syria.

"It is unknown what motivated him to leave Kuwait and go to Iraq," Rye said. "His family members reportedly were shocked to hear he had conducted a suicide bombing."

Three suicide car bombers targeted Iraqi security forces, killing at least seven people and wounding 28 in the northern city of Mosul, local officials said. It was not yet known which involved al-Ajmi.

Military documents previously released to AP show that al-Ajmi was "constantly in trouble" while in Guantanamo and held in disciplinary blocks during his detention. He also allegedly told officials in August 2004 that "he now is a jihadist, an enemy combatant, and that he will kill as many Americans as he possibly can."

Tom Wilner, a lawyer who represented Kuwaiti prisoners at Guantanamo, said al-Ajmi had a broken arm during one of their meetings at the base in Cuba and that he alleged he had been injured by guards who interrupted him while he prayed.

Wilner called the alleged suicide attack a "tragedy" that could have been avoided with court hearings for prisoners held at Guananamo, where the U.S. now holds about 270 men.

"The lack of a process results in tragic mistakes on both sides," the lawyer said.

American officials have said in the past that more than a dozen former Guantanamo prisoners engaged in hostilities against U.S. forces or its allies, an assertion that critics have challenged.

Panic hits Latam markets for 3rd day in a row

Investors panicked again Wednesday across Latin America, prompting central banks to sell billions of dollars in reserves to prop up local currencies while stocks dove in a third straight day of extremely volatile trading.

Chile's IPSA led losses in trading, down 4.5 percent to 2,238, and Brazil's Ibovespa closed down 3.9 percent to 38,594 _ its lowest close since Oct. 9, 2006.

Colombia's IGPC closed down 3.2 percent to 8,410, while Argentina's Merval was off 1.8 percent to 1,359. Mexico's IPC index fell 1 percent to 20,679.

A drop in currency markets added to the initial plunge in the share values, which are reported in local currencies, prompting the central banks of Brazil and Mexico to auction off dollars.

And after the markets closed, Brazil announced that it would ease limits on the reserves banks are required to hold, freeing up about US$10 billion in credit.

In wild trading with swings unseen in years, Brazil's real sank to a new two-year intraday trading low of 2.5 per U.S. dollar but recovered and closed in positive territory after the central bank sold US$1.3 billion of the nation's reserves in an auction that will eventually be returned to the government. But the real's level of 2.3 per dollar was just barely below Tuesday's close and at a level not seen for two years.

The bank also sold an undisclosed amount of dollar reserves in three additional auctions, and that money won't go back to Brazil.

It marked the first time since 2003 that the government has taken such a step with reserves President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last week characterized as "sacred" and essential as a part of the government's cushion of US$200 billion to protect it from the financial crisis.

Mexico's peso, which had been trading at fewer than 11 to the dollar for much of the year, briefly hit 14 per dollar Wednesday morning, then recovered some value after Mexico's central bank said it was auctioning off US$2.5 billion in reserves.

Chile's peso fell to its lowest level in four years, topping 600 pesos per dollar _ while Colombia's peso fell to 2.3 to the dollar, it's lowest against the U.S. currency since November 2006.

Stock markets across the region have been pummeled in recent weeks on deepening fears of a global slowdown that will crimp the region's robust growth. Traders predict volatility for months as investors see whether the global financial crisis devastates Latin America's commodities-based economies, reversing hard-won gains for the poor and middle class.

Brazil, with the region's largest economy, has been hit hardest because its equities were pumped up the most in recent years by foreign investment. Now foreign investors are dumping emerging market positions to reduce their risks.

Credit for everything from buying cars to loans that Brazilian farmers take out to finance harvests and planting has largely dried up, and that prompted the central bank on Wednesday to invoke the new rule easing the amounts that banks must keep on reserve.

The move will free up as much as 23 billion reals (US$10 billion) in credit, the central bank said.

Brazil took a similar step on Oct. 2, injecting 5 billion reals (US$2.2 billion) of credit into the economy.

NASCAR Circuit Stays Red Hot During Short Winter Offseason

The motorsports world has been in high gear since the finalcheckered flag flew on the 1995 season. The short offseasontraditionally has been a time for evaluation and preparation for thenew year, but NASCAR has been especially busy this winter.

With an eye toward the NFL and the NBA's global marketing plans,NASCAR announced it would present a series of Winston Cup-style racesin Suzuka City, Japan, over a three-year period beginning inNovember, 1996. The series features an invitational event with 30Winston Cup, Busch Grand National and Winston West teams at thehistoric Suzuka Circuit road course near Tokyo.

"For the first time in our history, we will be presenting oursport to a worldwide audience," said Bill France Jr., NASCAR'spresident and CEO. "The events at Suzuka will provide a tremendousopportunity for American automobile manufacturers and corporatesponsors to showcase their products in Japan."

Many close to the sport believe the Suzuka events will be thefirst step for Japanese auto manufacturers to participate in NASCARracing. Presently, only U.S. nameplates compete on the Winston Cupcircuit.

Also, series sponsor R.J. Reynolds announced it would increasethe points fund another $500,000 to $4 million in 1996, making nextyear's Winston Cup circuit worth an estimated $50 million in prizemoney.

NASCAR's popularity was reflected in this year's record-settingattendance and television viewership numbers. More than 5 millionfans attended the 31 Winston Cup races in 1995, an average of morethan 161,000 per event. And through the coverage of CBS, ABC, ESPN,TBS and TNN, another 91 million viewers watched at home.

When Jeff Gordon collected his record-setting, $1.8 millionWinston Cup championship check, it capped an impressive year forNASCAR racing. The '95 Winston Cup season was worth a total of $45million, the richest in all of motorsports. In addition to hischampionship dollars, Gordon set a single-season mark in winning morethan $4 million in race purses and prize money.

"It sounded kind of crazy at the beginning of the season, but wereally believed we had a chance at becoming Winston Cup champion,"history's second-youngest NASCAR champion said.

"To win your first championship is such an incredible feelingand something I hope we can build on as a team."

The countdown to 1996 already has begun, with only 10 weeks leftuntil the season-opening Daytona 500.

PIT STOPS: The 1996 NASCAR Craftsman SuperTruck Series scheduleincludes 24 events and a major increase in prize money. New racesinclude the season-opening event at the Homestead (Fla.) MotorsportsComplex as well as stops at New Hampshire International Speedway,Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International Raceway, Nashville (Tenn.) SpeedwayUSA, Nazareth (Pa.) Speedway and the new Las Vegas Motor Speedway.The Las Vegas event will close the season and feature a record purseof $600,000. All SuperTruck events will receive live televisioncoverage. . . . The American Speed Association's 1996 scheduleincludes 21 events, the majority to be televised by The NashvilleNetwork. The ASA season opens and closes at the new USAInternational Speedway in Lakeland, Fla. . . . The fledgling IndyRacing League completed its first testing session this week at thenew Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla. Buddy Lazier postedthe quickest speed on the 1.1-mile "Mick-Yard" oval at more than 180m.p.h. The IRL has received more than 30 entries for its inauguralevent, on Jan. 27.

Flooding in southern Thailand kills 12

BANGKOK (AP) — Floodwaters that swamped vast areas of southern Thailand and inundated its largest city have killed 12 people, officials said Thursday, bringing the flooding death toll from across the country to more than 120.

The government's Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department said 122 people have died and nearly 6 million residents in 39 provinces in the northern, central, eastern and northeastern regions had been affected by two weeks of heavy floods in October.

But on Thursday, Hat Yai, the urban hub of the south, was coming back to life after the floodwaters quickly receded Wednesday. Hundreds of residents gathered to clean up the main streets that were once accessible only by motorboats.

Rows of cars submerged in the floodwaters were being removed from the streets and piles of trash taken away by trucks.

"It will take three days to clear up the garbage and make the city livable like before," said Hat Yai mayor Prai Pattano in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "My only concern is the water service is still not functioning and people don't have normal access to clean water."

Prai said he estimated the damage from the flooding in Hat Yai to be around 7 billion baht ($234 million).

A tropical depression that dumped constant rain on the region Sunday and Monday triggered the flooding in 11 out of 14 southern provinces.

Rail service to the region was partially restored Thursday morning and the airport on Samui island, a popular tourist destination in the Gulf of Thailand, reopened after a temporary shutdown caused by a submerged runway.

Thousands of troops were deployed and Thailand's only aircraft carrier had earlier been sent to help the victims in the coastal provinces.

The deluge in Thailand's south — along a peninsula it shares with Malaysia — followed two weeks of heavy floods in October, mostly in central and northeastern Thailand, that killed 107 people. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva described it as "one of the worst natural calamities" in decades.

Pain new bureau chief for AP's Mid-Atlantic region

John Pain, an editor for The Associated Press in Florida who has also served as acting assistant chief of bureau, has been named chief of bureau for the news cooperative's Mid-Atlantic region.

The appointment was announced Monday by Kate Lee Butler, vice president for U.S. Newspaper Markets.

Pain will be based in Washington, D.C., where he will oversee AP news and business operations for Maryland and Delaware. His responsibilities also will include oversight of business operations in Washington and general news coverage of the city and its suburbs, including northern Virginia.

He succeeds David Wilkison, who was promoted in May to director of major accounts for the AP's U.S. newspaper markets. Dorothy Abernathy, chief of bureau for Virginia and West Virginia, has overseen the Mid-Atlantic territory on an interim basis along with acting assistant chief of bureau Stephanie Stoughton.

"John has distinguished himself in a variety of challenging roles and projects at the Associated Press, and so brings an excellent mix of news and business skills to his new role as Mid-Atlantic chief of bureau," Butler said.

Pain, 35, joined the AP in Miami in 2002 and has worked there as acting assistant bureau chief, day supervisor and business writer. He helped lead coverage and race calling of the 2008 election in Florida, the devastating 2004-2005 hurricane seasons and the Terri Schiavo end-of-life dispute.

He also developed the AP's hurricane coverage training for print reporters.

From 2000 to 2001, he worked as an editor and reporter for Agence France-Presse's financial newswire in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and an English-language daily newspaper in Buenos Aires. Previously, he was editor of a trade newspaper publisher in Chicago.

He graduated in 1996 from the State University of New York, College at Geneseo.

UK: Britain must learn lessons from Libya crisis

LONDON (AP) — Britain should consider changing its policy on recognizing self-declared nations after it lagged behind others in legitimizing the rebel council in Libya, the country's national security adviser said Thursday in a report on the conflict.

Along with recommendations for speedier operations to evacuate citizens from danger zones and a call for Britain to exert more influence within NATO, Peter Ricketts said London should re-examine the diplomatic cornerstone of recognizing states, not governments.

Foreign Secretary William Hague has repeatedly backed the long-standing diplomatic convention. During the Libya conflict, that meant that Britain followed France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and others in recognizing the National Transitional Council — the organization that led the political work to unseat Moammar Gadhafi.

It was only in late July, with much of Libya under the council's control, that Britain moved to endorse it as the country's legitimate ruler.

"The U.K.'s long-standing policy is to recognize states, not governments. But in certain exceptional cases, such as happened with the NTC and Libya, HMG (Britain's government) should be ready to review and adapt such policies, even where deeply ingrained, where that is clearly in the U.K.'s interests to do so," Ricketts said.

Britain currently offers funds to, but does not formally recognize, self-declared nations including Somaliland and Puntland, both regions in Somalia that have declared autonomy.

The Foreign Office said it has no plans to offer recognition to either territory, or to make any sweeping reforms to its current rules. "These issues would be looked at on a case by case basis," a spokeswoman said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.

The report by Ricketts offered the most detailed account yet of the British government's activity during the Libya crisis, detailing 190 meetings held by Britain's Cabinet, National Security Council and other committees.

Prime Minister David Cameron created the National Security Council after taking office in 2010, and said the conflict had "proved its worth."

The report praised work led by the committee on post-conflict stabilization — an area highlighted as a major failure in the aftermath of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

"Early decisions helped prevent a wide scale humanitarian crisis and encouraged action by the wider international community," Ricketts said in his report.

Shiite leader: Sunni help key in extremist battles, but controls needed

Former Sunni insurgents _ wearing masks and wailing in grief _ joined a funeral procession for a leader killed for turning his guns on Islamic extremists instead of America in a contested city that al-Qaida in Iraq once considered its capital.

The burial Friday of 29-year-old Naseer Salam al-Maamouri, placed in a casket draped with the Iraqi flag, also served as a show of resolve for the tribes that have chosen to back the U.S.-led struggle to regain control of Baqouba, the strategic urban hub of Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

For the moment, the tribal militias _ known as Awakening Councils, Concerned Citizens and other names _ have given U.S. and Iraqi forces a key advantage in seeking to clear extremist-held pockets in and around Baghdad. But the Sunni militiamen are demanding something in return: permanent jobs and influence in Iraq's security forces.

The Shiite-led government has been slow to respond, despite Washington's fears that the tribal support could collapse into chaos without swift integration into the standing forces.

Mixed messages were delivered Friday by the head of the nation's biggest Shiite political party.

Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraq Council, praised the help of the Sunni militias _ comments that could increase pressure on the government to open more room for the fighters.

But he also insisted the groups must submit to government authority, reflecting Shiite worries that the armed Sunni factions could evolve into a rebel movement.

"I want to remind people about the role that our police and army forces are playing, as well the Awakening Councils and the tribes," al-Hakim told about 5,000 faithful during a sermon in southwest Baghdad. "They are practicing an honorable national role, they are expressing the unity of Iraqis in confronting the enemies of Iraq."

Al-Hakim tempered his praise of the tribal fighters with a warning that they must remain "on the side of the government in chasing terrorists and criminals, but not be a substitute for it."

"Weapons should be within the hands of the government only," he added.

He insisted the groups should be active only in areas where there is sustained fighting _ such as Diyala _ but that they should stand down in less volatile areas, fearing the Sunni factions will stir up sectarian strife.

The outreach to Sunnis and the cries of mourning at the funeral were both telling signs of how far Iraq has changed in the past year.

Last December, many of today's pro-American Sunni groups were fighting U.S. troops, the Pentagon openly worried about a Shiite-Sunni civil war and firebrand Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr was still a wanted man.

This month, the U.S. military has reported a 60 percent decline in violence since June. According to figures compiled by The Associated Press, fewer than 600 Iraqi civilians and security forces have been killed so far in December. The figure was 2,309 in December 2006.

On Friday, the first day of the Eid al-Adha religious feast for Iraq's Shiites, just four people were reported killed around the country.

Al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army militia in August to put down their weapons for six months and has taken up religious studies in an effort to become an ayatollah. The U.S. military is now chasing Mahdi splinter groups that have refused to comply with al-Sadr's edict.

"Coalition troops will continue to target terrorists who seek to kill innocent Iraqis, coalition and Iraqi forces, and those who are not honoring Al-Sayed Muqtada al-Sadr's pledge to cease attacks," said Maj. Winfield Danielson, a military spokesman. Al-Sayed is an honorific often reserved for respected and senior clerics.

Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, the U.S. military spokesman, said more than 71,000 Iraqis have joined the irregular militia groups. An estimated 21,000 are interested in serving in the Iraqi security forces, he added. Iraq's government has said it will pay to provide vocational training for the rest.

In Baqouba, masked gunmen placed an Iraqi flag on the casket of al-Maamouri and loaded it onto a pickup truck. AP Television News footage showed trucks _ carrying gunmen shouting "God is great" _ taking the casket for burial.

Al-Maamouri was one of the local security chiefs of the 1920s Revolution Brigades, a former insurgent group. The group includes former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party and officers from his army.

According to local group members, al-Maamouri was responsible for about 200 fighters and helped coordinate a pact with U.S. forces.

He was driving around Baqouba with two of his bodyguards handing out gifts for the Eid festival when he was kidnapped. Their bullet-riddled bodies were found Thursday.

Graffiti threatening to kill those who worked with American forces began appearing on walls in the area more than a week ago, group members said.

Al-Qaida in Iraq began moving into Diyala in 2006 after losing its sanctuaries in Anbar province. An extremist umbrella group set up by al-Qaida declared Baqouba as the capital of the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq. U.S. forces and volunteer groups have been systematically pushing them out of Diyala.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Meet the Filibuster's Cousin: the Hold

WASHINGTON - The Senate is by design a cumbersome place to do business. Any one of the 100 senators can gum up the works, and they often do - without uttering a word.

Welcome to the world of the Senate "hold," a first cousin of the better known filibuster. It's where a simple threat by a single stubborn senator to talk ad nauseam - at least until 60 senators declare enough - can bottle up a nomination or popular bill for months. A fax or letter is all that is needed.

"If you walked down any street in the country and asked people what a secret hold was, my guess is they might think it was a hair spray," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "But they wouldn't have much of an idea that it is arguably one of the most powerful tools that an elected official has."

It's so easy that at any given time hundreds of such holds are in effect.

To some, holds are proof the system is broken. Any senator who lodges one can do it anonymously, effectively becoming the secret assassin of a bill or nomination.

"The current use of holds is the most corrosive thing going on in the Senate right now," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., the former GOP majority leader. "The attitude around here has become, 'How can we keep anything from happening.'"

Lott noted that technically a hold is only a request from a senator to the party leader to be notified when a particular bill comes up. In real terms, "that's the same as shooting it in the head with a bullet," Lott said.

Other senators, however, say holds are useful in forcing negotiations and compromise that, in the end, produce better laws.

"From a leadership standpoint, holds allow you to systematically put people in a room within 24 hours of an objection and at the same time protect that bills don't go flying through here at night," said Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

Wyden and Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, have been on a decade-long fight to make senators who place holds identify themselves. Wyden and Grassley won an 84-13 vote this year to end the practice of secret holds. But the victory came during debate on an ethics bill that has languished and now stands no chance of being enacted.

"If there's a valid purpose to the hold, there's no reason to hide it from the American people," Wyden said.

Holds are effective because so much of the Senate's work is done through unanimous, bipartisan agreements to structure debates or to pass bills. All it takes is for one senator to object to such "unanimous consent" to stall a bill or nominee.

Senators, however, rarely have to troop to the floor to voice their objections. Instead, they notify the party cloakroom that they are lodging a hold and rely on the party leaders to enforce it.

The practice drew public attention last month when Internet bloggers became outraged that a few senators anonymously blocked a bill by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., that would create a Google-like database for tracking government spending on grants and contracts.

Irate bloggers began calling every Senate office in an effort to try to find the culprit. Eventually, the bloggers bagged their prey - Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska and Robert Byrd, D-W.Va.

Once exposed, Stevens and Byrd quickly dropped their holds, the Senate passed the bill, the House followed suit and it went to President Bush last week.

Most holds are aimed at leveraging changes in a bill rather than stopping it, or winning some other concession. Senators also often use them on presidential nominations to force a change in an agency's policies.

Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., for example, put holds on Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach's confirmation to head the Food and Drug Administration. They sought to force the agency to make a long overdue decision on whether to allow over-the-counter sales of the morning-after emergency contraception pill. Clinton and Murray lifted their holds when the FDA last month approved nonprescription sales of the drug to women age 18 and older.

"They made a decision," Murray said, crediting the hold.

As Congress nears the end of its session, holds proliferate and dealmaking to get them lifted is rampant.

"At the end of the session, the person who wants to hold something up has far more negotiating value than somebody who wants to move forward," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

In those last days, said Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., "everything is on the table all the time."

Golf Westlawn Results for Sunday 03/04/2011 monthly medal stroke event... [Derived headline]

Golf

Westlawn

Results for Sunday 03/04/2011 monthly medal stroke event

Monthly Medal and A Grade Winner J Kelleher with 32 A 1/2 Nett

A Grade Runner-up: P Tilley 34 A 1/2 Nett on c/b

2nd Runner-up: P Taaffe 34 A 1/2 Nett on c/b

3rd Runner-up: W Drew 34 A 1/2 Nett on c/b

4th Runner-up: D Tasker 35 Nett

B Grade Winner: I Steward 35 A 1/2 Nett

Runner-up: J Packwood 36 A 1/2 Nett on c/b

2nd Runner-up: C Husking 36 A 1/2 Nett

3rd Runner-up: G McMullen 37 Nett

4th Runner-up: P Cubbin 37 A 1/2 Nett

C Grade Winner: R Tangye 34 Nett

Runner-up: G Bush 35 Nett

2nd Runner-up: T Hunter 36 A 1/2 Nett

3rd Runner-up: S Rose 38 Nett on c/b

4th Runner-up: J Leonard 38 Nett

NTPs 2nd no one 7th G McGowen

Best Gross Scores: A Grade: W Drew 38

B Grade: J Packwood

C Grade: R Tangye

Least Putts Winner: J Hall with 9 Putts

Longest Drive 6th Fairway Winner: A Anderson

Pro Balls: R Wicks 35 A 1/2, N Henwood 36 A 1/2, J Lehn 36 A 1/2, J Ellis 37,

N Winters 37, C Doggett 37, R Jackson 37.

GRAFTON DISTRICT SERVICES WESTLAWN GOLF CLUB

Results for weekly competition ending 31/03/2011 stroke event

A Grade Winner: J Rainbow 29 A 1/2 Nett

Runner-up: W Drew 31 A 1/2 Nett

B Grade Winner: J Packwood 32 A 1/2 Nett

Runner-up: B Dean 34 Nett

C Grade Winner: J Campbell 34 A 1/2 Nett on c/b

Runner-up: R Jenkin 34 A 1/2 Nett

Pro Balls: R Lawrence 34 Nett, K Ellem 34 Nett.

Yamba

Thursday March 31st 2011

Event Single Stableford. 150 starters

"A" Grade Garry Payne 41, Tim Stokes 39 c/b, Craig Erskine 39

"A Reserve" Grade Derek Temple-heald (C/Tweed) 43, Erik Pedder42, Nick Anderson 40

"B" Grade Ron Bines 42 c/b, Bryan Groth 42, Martin Harris 40

"C" Grade Peter O'Donnell 40 c/b, Cliff Wood 40 c/b Barry Hall 40

NTP Darryl Crook, Ron Bines, Craig Erskine, Mal Tune (C/Tweed)Danny Quin

Ball Rundown to 36 with 19 on the back nine.

Saturday April 2nd 2011

Event Single Stableford. 117 starters

"A" Grade Andrew Watson 42, Peter McGrath 41, David Miles 40

"A Reserve" Grade Ian Brockwell 44, Vic Heron 39 c/b Ralph Smith(Traralgon) 39

"B" Grade David Cruden 41, Ross Jones 40, Peter Tonkin 39

"C" Grade George Ives 40, Cliff Wood 38, Fred Holland 37

NTP Ross Jones, Steve Hodgson, Geoff Flett, David Bruton, AndrewKelly and Lance Eaves

Ball Rundown to 37 with 17 on the back nine

Sunday April 3rd 2011

Kim Lipscombe and David Bruton +7

Suzanne Stokes and Peter Tonkin +6 c/b

Lesley Love and Tony White +6

NTPs Russell Cain (Draw) Lesley Love, Graham Kulmar, KimLipscombe, David Miles. Margaret Julian

Jacaranda Hotel

Results: Winners Nathan Blanch & Craig Want, R/ups Mark Mckenna &Wayne Hicks. NTP 2nd Peter Gardner 7th Eddie Gordon, Long driveladies Dulcie Want, men Mark Mckenna., Ball winners Dulcie, RobMcCredie, D Campbell, Eddy, P Gardner, Paul Lucas, Marg Hopkins &Brett Perrett.

Grafton district

Tuesday Competition Results Date:5/04/2011VeteranStarters98Member Starters117 Total Starters:117CCR:70GraftonVeterans ResultsGrafton District Golf Club Members ResultsEvent:18Hole Stableford Event:18 Hole Stableford Veteran Winner:LawrenceWatsford 41 PtsMembers Winner:Aaron Edwards 42 PtsVeteran 1st RunnerUp:Bill Byrnes 40 Pts c/bMembers 1st Runner Up:Lawrence Watsford 41PtsVeteran 2nd Runner Up:Eric Schaefer 40 PtsMembers 2nd RunnerUp:Tony Gallagher 40 Pts c/b NTP1st:Ray Evans .094NTP 6th:EricKrazman 0.76NTP 2nd Shot 4thGavan Smith 1.70NTP 3rd Shot 9thChrisMiller 1.51 NTP 12thJeff McGelligott 2.95NTP 10th:Tom Battaglini0.98NTP 2nd Shot 15thTrevor Smith 4.20NTP 17th:John Bensted 3.09Ball Run Down: Net Score34 c/bPoints or BetterBall Run Down: NetScore33 c/bPoints or Better

Bowls

Grafton Men

BOWLING CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS

Semi-Final Men's Pairs

N. Oxenford/B. Williams 29 d S. Attewell/W. McLeod 13

B. Christopher/J. Stacey 30 d G. Maxted/K. Landrigan 26

Championship Games to be Played Sunday 10/04/11 at 9.00am roll up8.50am

Final Men's Pairs

N. Oxenford/B. Williams v B. Christopher/J. Stacey

Men's Club Triples (Catch up Round)

R. Marchant, R. Cavanagh, K. Wratten v G. Maxted, J. Landrigan,K. Landrigan

TBA, P. Perkins, K. O' Meara v D. Morgan, A. Knox, R. McWaters

Play or Forfeit rule to apply

Hockey

Under 7s and 9s Draw-Sunday 10 April Under 7s 9.15am Bears vSailors Sharks10.00am Barbs Boomers v Royals Raiders Under 9s9.15amBarbs Bilbys v Royals Ravens10.00am Bears v Sailors All Stars10.45amBarbs Badboys v Royals Rascals Please note that these games arepractice games as a lead into the formal competition which willcommence on Sunday 17 April. The games will be played on the waterbased field and are for a duration of 35 minutes that includes abreak of 5 minutes during the game. Most of these young players havenever played on the water based field so it should be an excitingexperience for our future "rising" hockey stars.All clubs arerequired to arrange the provision of umpires for these games.

Archery

Grafton archery

Results of 3D shoot held Sunday April 3rd

at Bawden's Bridge course

Scores out of 400 - Scott Amos 254, Tanya Amos 253. Scores out of200 - Dylan Byers 174, Rob Sherlock 172, Liam Unwin (Coffs) 161,Peter Henderson 149, (on count-back) Rod Shorten 149, Gaynor Boyd(Coffs) 131, David Unwin (Coffs) 127, Jeff Thompson 118, Brook Amos82.

Next Outdoor shoot 3D Sunday May 1st 9.00am. Bawden's Bridgecourse.

Indoor shoots Wednesdays. Cubs and beginners 5.30pm, Seniors andJuniors 7.00pm to 9.00pm Grafton Sports Centre. Powell Street.

TAB Divs

Gosford

Race 1: 3 2 5. Win $4.40 place $2.20 $1.60 NTD. Q: $6.00. E:$10.20. T: $66.40. First 4: 3-2-5-7: $178.30. Sub: 2. Scr: 1(L).

Race 2: 1 4 6. Win $3.70 place $1.70 $2.10 NTD. Q: $10.40. E:$18.00. T: $86.40. D: $19.10. First 4: 1-4-6-5: $163.80. Sub: 5.Scr: 2.

Race 3: 2 6 7. Win $4.60 place $2.00 $7.70 NTD. Q: $43.90. E:$83.70. T: $323.80. D: $18.80. First 4: 2-6-7-4: $975.80. Sub: 3.Scr: 1.

Race 4: 9 3 7. Win $10.40 place $4.00 $1.40 NTD. Q: $12.30. E:$32.30. T: $172.70. D: $67.40. First 4: 9-3-7-2: $602.30. Sub: 3.Scr: 1,4,5.

Race 5: 3 5 4. Win $11.60 place $2.80 $2.00 $2.20. Q: $30.40. E:$63.60. Duets: 3-5: $9.30, 3-4: $16.20, 5-4: $12.10. T: $305.80. D:$136.90. First 4: 3-5-4-2: $1,310.20. Sub: NSR. All Started.

Race 6: 2 4 12. Win $2.30 place $1.40 $3.70 $3.50. Q: $15.30. E:$23.90. Duets: 2-4: $6.40, 2-12: $7.70, 4-12: $33.50. T: $278.70. D:$43.00. First 4: 2-4-12-10: $3,788.80. Sub: 2. Scr: 8.

Race 7: 6 2 7. Win $5.30 place $1.70 $1.60 $4.30. Q: $6.70. E:$15.90. Duets: 6-2: $1.60, 6-7: $16.90, 2-7: $11.10. T: $155.60. D:$19.30. First 4: 6-2-7-11: $2,362.20. Sub: 2. Scr: 4(L),10.

Race 8: 1 6 11. Win $1.90 place $1.20 $2.10 $1.90. Q: $7.40. E:$9.20. Duets: 1-6: $2.90, 1-11: $3.70, 6-11: $9.00. T: $51.30. D:$12.60. First 4: 1-6-11-13: $184.70. Sub: 1. Scr: 2,4,5,8,9(L),10.

NSW TAB DAILY DOUBLE on races 6 and 8: Cael Hwyl (2)--Anubas (1)$5.70. Subs: 2,1.

NSW TAB QUADDIE on races 5,6,7,8: (3)(2)(6)(1): $812.10. Subs:NSR,2,2,1.

Rockhampton

Race 1: 8 2 3. Win $11.40 place $3.80 $3.10 NTD. Q: $29.10. E:$25.80. T: $280.70. First 4: 8-2-3-1: $554.60. Sub: 1. Scr: 4,6.

Race 2: 8 5 6. Win $3.80 place $1.70 $4.20 $4.20. Q: $40.50. E:$56.10. Duets: 8-5: $17.50, 8-6: $21.60, 5-6: $28.10. T: $509.00. D:$60.80. First 4: 8-5-6-12: $5,590.80. Sub: 8. Scr: 7,11,13,14,15.

Race 3: 6 8 2-9dh. Win $2.50 place $1.40 $2.20 (2) $1.00 (9)$1.60. Q: $11.80. E: $25.50. Duets: 6-8: $4.30, 6-2: $1.40, 6-9:$3.30, 8-2: $2.40, 8-9: $9.30. T: 6-8-2: $30.00, 6-8-9: $54.40. D:$12.60. First 4: 6-8-2-9: $186.20, 6-8-9-2: $220.70. Sub: 6. Scr:11,12,13,14,15.

Race 4: 3 1 8. Win $3.50 place $1.60 $1.80 $3.40. Q: $9.00. E:$12.80. Duets: 3-1: $3.20, 3-8: $9.30, 1-8: $11.50. T: $114.20. D:$10.50. First 4: 3-1-8-5: $464.30. Sub: 3. Scr: 4,10.

Race 5: 7 2 10. Win $9.90 place $2.80 $3.20 $2.50. Q: $36.30. E:$53.20. Duets: 7-2: $8.80, 7-10: $4.60, 2-10: $8.40. T: $353.80. D:$36.50. First 4: 7-2-10-6: $3,357.00. Sub: 9. Scr: 11.

Race 6: 7 5 13. Win $6.90 place $2.60 $2.30 $7.70. Q: $24.00. E:$48.50. Duets: 7-5: $12.40, 7-13: $43.40, 5-13: $33.40. T: $893.00.D: $105.10. First 4: 7-5-13-3: $7,367.90. Sub: 8. Scr: 9,12,15,16.

Race 7: 2 10 7. Win $3.10 place $1.50 $4.60 $2.20. Q: $22.40. E:$41.30. Duets: 2-10: $14.00, 2-7: $4.80, 10-7: $37.80. T: $369.00.D: $33.80. First 4: 2-10-7-8: $2,437.70. Sub: NSR. All Started.

Race 8: 7 6 2. Win $9.10 place $3.30 $4.60 $1.60. Q: $69.10. E:$144.90. Duets: 7-6: $30.90, 7-2: $9.70, 6-2: $14.10. T: $694.90. D:$34.40. First 4: 7-6-2-12: $10,566.30. Sub: 2. Scr: 9,10.

NSW TAB DAILY DOUBLE on races 6 and 8: Rapid Motion (7)--Garrison Gold (7) $60.90. Subs: 8,2.

NSW TAB QUADDIE on races 5,6,7,8: (7)(7)(2)(7): $1,388.00. Subs:9,8,NSR,2.

Pakenham

Race 1: 7 2 5. Win $1.30 place $1.00 $3.10 NTD. Q: $2.70. E:$3.30. T: $27.00. First 4: 7-2-5-3: $107.40. Sub: 7. Scr: 1,9.

Race 2: 5 6 9. Win $1.60 place $1.04 $2.30 $3.60. Q: $6.70. E:$9.70. Duets: 5-6: $3.70, 5-9: $11.10, 6-9: $15.90. T: $54.80. D:$2.50. First 4: 5-6-9-7: $253.50. Sub: NSR. All Started.

Race 3: 3 2 6. Win $3.60 place $1.80 $3.20 NTD. Q: $24.00. E:$33.50. T: $81.40. D: $9.00. First 4: 3-2-6-5: $341.80. Sub: 1. Scr:4.

Race 4: 5 4 12. Win $2.40 place $1.20 $1.60 $1.04. Q: $8.70. E:$14.40. Duets: 5-4: $2.40, 5-12: $1.30, 4-12: $3.40. T: $24.80. D:$15.90. First 4: 5-4-12-6: $113.00. Sub: 12. Scr: 2,7,10(L),11.

Race 5: 2 7 3. Win $4.20 place $2.20 $3.20 NTD. Q: $19.90. E:$36.50. T: $141.90. D: $23.60. First 4: 2-7-3-4: $413.50. Sub: 3.Scr: 8.

Race 6: 2 4 8. Win $9.00 place $3.80 $2.00 NTD. Q: $13.80. E:$36.60. T: $189.70. D: $88.10. First 4: 2-4-8-6: $457.00. Sub: 6.Scr: 1,5.

Race 7: 3 2 11. Win $26.10 place $5.30 $3.30 $8.30. Q: $149.50.E: $231.30. Duets: 3-2: $15.80, 3-11: $83.20, 2-11: $83.20. T:$3,764.60. D: $152.60. First 4: 3-2-11-4: $12,682.10. Sub: 4. Scr:5,8.

Race 8: 4 5 10. Win $3.40 place $1.80 $3.90 $2.20. Q: $32.50. E:$55.40. Duets: 4-5: $12.50, 4-10: $6.00, 5-10: $17.10. T: $288.60.D: $118.00. First 4: 4-5-10-13: $3,594.00. Sub: 2. Scr: 6,9,11,16.

NSW TAB DAILY DOUBLE on races 6 and 8: Gold Red (2)--Gazardiel(4) $34.80. Subs: 6,2.

NSW TAB QUADDIE on races 5,6,7,8: (2)(2)(3)(4): $4,586.10. Subs:3,6,4,2.