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F R O M T H E PA G E S O F

Monday
October 26, 2009

Midnight in New York

Nine pages © 2009 The New York Times Visit The Times on the Web: www.nytimes.com

Striving to Regulate ‘Too Big to Fail’ Deadliest Bombs


WASHINGTON — Congress
and the Obama administration
are about to take up one of the
it much more costly to be a large
financial company whose failure
would put the financial system
banks and investment firms long
before they fail, or at least impose
strict limits on their trading ac-
Since ’07 Shatter
most fundamental issues stem-
ming from the near-collapse of
the financial system last year —
and the economy at risk. It would
force such institutions to hold
more money in reserve and make
tivities — steps that the adminis-
tration continues to reject.
Frank, a Democrat of Mas-
Iraqi Complexes
how to deal with institutions that it harder for them to borrow too sachusetts, said his committee
are so big that the government heavily against their assets. would now take up more aggres- BAGHDAD — Two synchro-
has no choice but to rescue them Setting up the equivalent of liv- sive legislation on the topic, even nized suicide car bombings struck
when they get in trouble. ing wills for corporations, that as lawmakers and regulators at the heart of the Iraqi govern-
A senior administration official plan would require that they continue working on other prob- ment here on Sunday, severely
said on Sunday that after exten- come up with their own procedure lems highlighted by the financial damaging the Justice Ministry
sive consultations with Trea- to be disentangled in the event of crisis, including executive pay, and provincial council complex-
sury Department officials, Rep. a crisis, a plan that administra- protecting consumers and regu- es, leaving a scene of carnage that
Barney Frank, the chairman of tion officials say ought to be made lating the trading of derivatives. raised new questions about the
the House Financial Services public in advance. The administration and its Con- government’s ability to secure its
Committee, would introduce “These changes will impose gressional allies are attempting, in most vital operations.
legislation as early as this week market discipline on the largest essence, to graft the process used The bombers apparently
that would make it easier for the and most interconnected com- to resolve the troubles of smaller passed through multiple security
government to seize control of panies,” said Michael S. Barr, commercial banks onto both checkpoints before detonating
troubled financial institutions, assistant Treasury secretary for large banking conglomerates and their vehicles within a minute of
throw out management, wipe out financial institutions. He said that nonbanking financial institutions each other, leaving at least 132
the shareholders and change the one of the biggest changes that the whose troubles could threaten to dead and more than 520 wounded
terms of existing loans held by plan would make is that instead undermine the markets. strewn across crowded downtown
the institution. of being controlled by creditors, That resolution process gives streets.
The official said that the Trea- the process “is controlled by the the government far more sweep- It was the deadliest coordinated
sury secretary, Timothy F. Geith- government. ing authority over the institution attack in Iraq since the summer
ner, was planning to endorse the Some regulators and econo- and imposes burdens on lenders of 2007 and happened just blocks
changes in testimony before the mists in recent weeks have sug- to the companies that they would from where car bombers killed at
House Financial Services Com- gested that the administration’s not ordinarily face when compa- least 122 people at the Foreign and
mittee on Thursday. plan does not go far enough. They nies go into bankruptcy instead of Finance Ministries in August.
The White House plan as out- say that the government should facing a takeover by the govern- For months, Prime Minister
lined so far would already make consider breaking up the biggest ment.  STEPHEN LABATON Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who is seek-
ing another term as Iraq prepares
to hold elections in January, has
State Officials Scramble to Revise Marijuana Laws tried to present Iraq as having
turned a corner on the violence
GREELEY, Colo. — Health and themselves. marijuana, and more voters and that threatened to tear the country
law-enforcement officials around “The federal government says legislators in other states becom- apart in 2006 and 2007.
the nation are scrambling to fig- they’re not going to control it, so ing comfortable with the idea of He has insisted that Iraqi forces
ure out how to regulate medical the only other option we have is to allowing it. are capable of securing the coun-
marijuana now that the federal control it ourselves,” said Carrol For elected officials who have try as American troops prepare
government has decided that it Martin, a city council member in feared looking soft on crime by to withdraw entirely by the end of
will no longer prosecute legal us- this community north of Denver, supporting any sort of legalized 2011. Maliki’s popularity has rest-
ers or providers. where a ban on marijuana dis- marijuana use, the new policy ed on the belief that he has kept the
For years, since the first medi- pensaries was on the agenda at a might provide coverage to re- country reasonably safe.
cal marijuana laws were passed council meeting the day after the frame the issue. “The fact that But the bombings at four high-
in the mid-1990’s, many local federal announcement. At least the feds are backing off is going profile, well-protected govern-
and state governments could be five states are considering laws to to allow changes that are going to ment buildings within a two-
confident, if not complacent, that allow medical marijuana through make it more accessible,” said Bill month span led some Iraqis to
marijuana would be kept in check legislation or voter referendums, Morrisette, a state senator in Ore- say Sunday that they were recon
because it remained illegal under in addition to the 13 states where gon and chairman of a committee sidering. “We don’t want a gov-
federal law, and hard-nosed fed- such laws already exist. that oversees that state’s medical ernment that does not provide us
eral attorneys were not about to Some health and legal experts marijuana law. Morrisette said with security,” said Saif Adil, 26,
forget it. say the Justice Department de- he expects a flurry of proposals who has been unemployed since
But with the the Justice Depart- cision will promote the spread of in the legislature — including a graduating from college two
ment anouncement last week that marijuana for medical uses be- plan already floated to have the years ago. “It was good for awhile,
it would not prosecute people who cause local and state officials of- state grow the marijuana crop it- and now explosions happen less
use marijuana for medical pur- ten take leadership cues from fed- self, perhaps on the grounds of the often, but they are having big ef-
poses in states where it is legal, eral policy. That, the experts said, State Penitentiary in Salem. fects — large numbers of dead in
local and state officials say they could lead to more liberal rules in “It would be very secure,” he important places.”
will now have to take on the job states that already have medical said.  (NYT)  TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
International Monday, October 26, 2009 2

Iran Allows Inspectors Into Enrichment Plant in brief


WASHINGTON — Just be- It will probably be several der the rules of the Nuclear Non-
fore international inspectors on weeks before the results of the proliferation Treaty to sell Iran Opposition Figure
Sunday were guided for the first inspection of the newly revealed fuel. Obama tried to head off that
time into an Iranian nuclear en- Qum nuclear enrichment plant possibility this weekend with calls
Is Assassinated
richment plant whose existence are known. Iran has said it would to allies and to President Dmitri MOSCOW — A longtime oppo-
was a state secret until recently, give a definitive answer before Medvedev of Russia. sition figure in Ingushetia was
the speaker of Iran’s Parliament then about whether it will go along The rare public argument un- killed Sunday morning when
warned his countrymen to beware with a deal to turn over much of der way in Iran about how to deal his car was strafed with gun-
of American efforts to “cheat” its current stockpile of enriched with the demands suggests that fire as he drove along a fed-
Iran out of the nuclear fuel that has uranium to Russia for further pro- Obama has already achieved one eral highway, adding another
become the country’s currency in cessing, so that it can be returned of the major objectives of his en- name to the list of activists who
reasserting its power. to Iran for use in a reactor that gagement strategy: To force out have been killed recently in the
In Washington, the concern is makes medical isotopes. into the open the splits in the Ira- Northern Caucasus.
precisely the reverse. Here, even For days now, Iran’s leadership nian leadership. Maksharip Aushev, a busi-
some of President Obama’s aides has been fighting over whether to As R. Nicholas Burns, the lead nessman from a prominent
are wary that Iran is setting a trap, take that deal, with political oppo- State Department strategist on family, was killed and a pas-
trying to turn the administration’s nents of President Mahmoud Ah- Iran during the Bush administra- senger was wounded when they
signature offer of engagement into madinejad all but declaring that tion, told Congress over the sum- were shot with automatic weap-
a process of endless negotiations. he is being duped. mer, Bush’s refusal to negotiate on fire from a passing vehicle
They are acutely aware of the fact Among them is the speaker of with Iran for eight years meant in the neighboring republic of
that the clock is ticking: While the Parliament, Ali Larijani, who that the United States never Kabardino-Balkaria, accord-
talks continue, Iran is steadily is Iran’s former nuclear negotia- forced the country’s ruling mul- ing to the Russian Investigative
enriching more uranium, the fuel tor. On Saturday, he was widely lahs to justify their actions to their Committee. Russia’s prosecutor
it would need if it ever decided to quoted in the Iranian press as say- own people, who have suffered general, Yuri Chaika, said he
sprint for the bomb, much as Is- ing that the West was trying to de- from sanctions. “I think that for would personally oversee the in-
rael and India did 30 years ago, ceive Iran and might never return the first time, the Iranians are re- vestigation.
followed by Pakistan and North its enriched uranium. He argued ally on the defensive,” Burns said. Aushev’s life turned a corner
Korea. that other nations were obliged un-  DAVID E. SANGER in 2007, after his son and neph-
ew were kidnapped. He blamed
state security forces for the ab-
Philippines Struggles With Birth-Control Policies ductions and threw his consid-
erable clout behind organizing
MANILA — Abortion is illegal in ily planning advocates have been million pregnancies in the Philip- public protests against then-
the Philippines, but birth control making headway in their cam- pines in 2008 were unintended. President Murat Zyazikov.
and related health services have paign to change that. Legislation Those unintended pregnancies, Last year, after the opposition
long been available to those who before the Philippine Congress, the institute says, contributed to journalist Magomed Yevloyev
can afford to pay for them through called the Reproductive Health an estimated half-million abor- was shot to death in police cus-
the private medical system. But and Population Development Act, tions that year, despite a ban on tody, Aushev offered to take re-
70 percent of the population is too would require governments down the procedure. Most of the abor- sponsibility for Yevloyev’s Web
poor and depends on heavily sub- to the local level to provide free or tions are done clandestinely and site, Ingushetia.org.
sidized care through the public low-cost reproductive health ser- in unsanitary conditions. His killing is an unsettling sig-
health system. In 1991, responsi- vices — from condoms and birth The main opposition in this nal, in part because the Kremlin
bility for public health services control pills to tubal ligations and overwhelmingly Roman Catholic last October removed Zyazik-
shifted from the central govern- vasectomies. It would also man- country has come from the church ov and installed Yunus-Bek
ment to the local authorities, who date sex education in all schools. and affiliated lay organizations, Yevkurov, who reached out to
have broad discretion over which Supporters of the bill cite urgent which say the proposed law would internal dissidents and seemed
services are dispensed. public health needs. According to legalize abortion. In churches to offer them a degree of protec-
Many communities responded the Guttmacher Institute, a non- across the country, signs have tion.  (NYT)
by making birth control unavail- profit organization based in the been posted that read: “Yes to
able. U.S. that researches reproductive Life! No to RH Bill!” Election in Tunisia
More recently, however, fam- health policy, 54 percent of the 3.4  CARLOS H. CONDE
TUNIS, Tunisia — Tunisians
cast ballots on Sunday for presi-
Protesters Clash at Jerusalem Temple Compound dent and parliament in elections
expected to hand another land-
JERUSALEM — Israeli po- scene said at least 17 Muslims Cohen, said the disturbances slide victory to incumbent lead-
lice officers clashed Sunday with were wounded, including several were precipitated by calls from er Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who
stone-throwing Palestinians at a women. Nine police officers were both right-wing Jewish activists warned opponents they would
site sacred to Muslims and Jews, slightly hurt by rocks, a police and an Islamist group, the Islam- face retaliation if they ques-
in the latest sign of tension in this spokesman said. ic Movement, for their supporters tioned the elections’ fairness.
volatile city. The Temple Mount, revered to ascend the mount on Sunday. The campaign offered timid
The police said their forces had by Jews as the site of two ancient Anticipating violence, hun- gestures toward the opposition
entered the Temple Mount com- temples and by Muslims as the dreds of riot police officers took in this tourist haven that is al-
pound twice after Palestinians site of the Dome of the Rock and up positions in and around the lied with the United States and
hurled rocks at officers patrolling Al Aksa Mosque, has been the fo- Old City in the early morning, Europe but criticized by human
there, and that they dispersed riot- cus of simmering unrest in recent prompting Muslims to accuse Is- rights groups for not following
ers with stun grenades. weeks. rael of provocation. through on pledges to liberalize.
Palestinian medics at the The Israeli police chief, David  ISABEL KERSHNER  (AP)
national Monday, October 26, 2009 3

Recession Drives Surge in Youth Runaways in brief


MEDFORD, Ore. — Over the increasingly surviving by selling sullen-faced, she vowed not to
past two years, government of- drugs, panhandling or engaging sleep by herself again behind the Rocket Launching
ficials and experts have seen an in prostitution, according to the hedges downtown, where older The first flight in the Nation-
increasing number of children National Runaway Switchboard, homeless men and methamphet- al Aeronautics and Space Ad-
leave home for life on the streets. a federally financed hotline. amine addicts might find her. ministration’s program to build
Foreclosures, layoffs, rising food In interviews, teenagers living The boys were also runaways. a next-generation rocket to re-
and fuel prices and inadequate on their own told of a harrowing But unlike them, Betty said she place the space shuttle could
supplies of low-cost housing have existence that involved sleeping had been reported missing. That also be its swan song.
stretched families to the extreme, in abandoned buildings, couch- meant that if the boys let her stay The launching of the Ares I-X,
and those pressures have trickled surfing among friends and rela- overnight in their tent encamp- a prototype, is scheduled for
down to teenagers and preteens. tives, or camping in parks after ment, they risked being arrested 8 a.m. Tuesday. It comes less
Federal studies and experts fleeing or being kicked out by for harboring a fugitive. than a week after a blue-ribbon
in the field estimate at least 1.6 families in financial crisis. “We keep running into this,” panel reviewing NASA’s human
million juveniles run away or are They spend much of their time said Clinton Anchors, 18. Over spaceflight program released
thrown out of their homes annu- avoiding the authorities, because the past year, he said, he and five its final report, which offers a
ally. But most return home within they assume the officials are try- other teenagers living together less-than-ringing endorsement
a week. The government does not ing to send them home. But most on the streets had taken under of the Ares I and brings the en-
conduct a comprehensive count. often the police are not looking for their wings 20 children, some as tire program into question.
The best measure of the prob- them as missing-person cases, young as 12, and taught them how Most of the options explored by
lem may be the number of con- just responding to complaints to avoid predators and the police, the panel look to alternatives
tacts with runaways by federally about loitering or menacing. survive the cold and find food. from commercial companies to
financed outreach programs, At a city park here, Betty Sny- “We always first try to send carry astronauts into Earth or-
which rose to 761,000 in 2008 from der, 14, huddled under a cold driz- them home,” said Clinton, who bit. (NYT)
550,000 in 2002, when current zle as several older boys decided himself ran away from home at
methods of counting began. what to do with her. She said she 12. “But a lot of times they won’t
Too young to get a hotel room, had run away from home a week go, because things are really bad Pilots Questioned
sign a lease or in many cases earlier after a violent argument there. We basically become their WASHINGTON — Federal
hold a job, young runaways are with her mother. Shivering and new family.” IAN URBINA investigators on Sunday ques-
tioned the captain and first offi-
cer of the Northwest plane that
Flu Vaccine Effort Marked by Misplaced Optimism overshot its destination by 110
miles on a trip from San Diego
Dr. Anthony S. Fauci was talk- shortfall was not the first. Since the government did a good job to Minneapolis, but the officials
ing with federal officials in Sep- the outbreak of the H1N1 swine in rapidly marshalling vaccine gave no immediate public com-
tember when it became clear flu in April, federal projections suppliers. The first doses were ments on what the pilots said.
they had a bigger problem than have been overoptimistic. As re- administered early this month, While some aviation experts
they had feared with supplies cently as July, the government faster than in any other countries have speculated that the pilots
of swine flu vaccine. “As we got predicted having 160 million dos- except China and Australia. might have been napping, offi-
closer and closer, they said, ‘Oh es by this month. But these experts say the gov- cials at Delta, which absorbed
my God, we’re not going to make The reasons for the receding es- ernment’s accomplishment is Northwest in a merger last
it,’ ” said Fauci, the director of the timates start with the fact that the being undermined by overly rosy year, said they were skeptical
National Institute of Allergy and H1N1 virus is not growing as fast projections. “They put out a very that the two men were asleep.
Infectious Diseases. as expected in the eggs used to high yield estimate early on,” The pilots had a layover of 17
Earlier this month, the govern- make vaccine. Some companies said Michael T. Osterholm, di- hours in San Diego, airline em-
ment was forced to announce that had production bottlenecks. And rector of the Center for Infectious ployees noted, and while stay-
only about 28 million doses would an Australian company satisfied Disease Research at Policy at the ing alert is a problem at some
be available by the end of this its own country’s needs first. University of Minnesota. “Every times, the idea that both could
month, about 30 percent below Federal officials argue, and time they had to back off, they lost fall asleep in the late afternoon
their previous prediction. But this some outside experts agree, that credibility.” (NYT) did not seem likely. (NYT)

Energy Department to Offer Research Money for Scientists on the Edge


WASHINGTON — The federal tive impact,” Energy Secretary crochips and the Internet. an organism that uses sunlight to
Energy Department will make Steven Chu said in an interview President George W. Bush convert carbon dioxide into sug-
good on a pledge for a bolder on Friday. The money will go for signed the agency into law in 2007 ars and another that converts the
technology strategy on Monday, projects at all stages of develop- but did not propose any money for sugars to gasoline and diesel.
awarding research grants for ment, including some that exist it. It got its first appropriation in The two can live in a “co-cul-
ideas like bacteria that will make simply as a smart idea. the stimulus act, $400 million over ture” in a thin latex film, accord-
gasoline, enzymes that will cap- The department will announce two years. On Wednesday, the ing to Lawrence P. Wackett, a
ture carbon dioxide to counter 37 grants totaling $151 million, Senate confirmed Arun Majum- professor of biochemistry, al-
global warming and batteries so mostly going to small businesses dar, a scientist at the Lawrence though much research remains
cheap that they will allow the use and educational institutions. Berkeley National Laboratory in to be done. “It’s not all worked out,
of solar power all night long. The new effort, directed by the California, to lead the agency. but that’s the spirit of ­Arpa-e,”
A new agency within the depart- Advanced Research Projects In the initial round, the grants Wackett said of the project. “It’s
ment will nurture these and other Agency-Energy, or Arpa-e, is average $4 million. One is going to not supposed to be things that are
radical proposals, most of which modeled on a Defense Depart- researchers at the University of 90 percent worked out, but more
will probably fail, but a few of ment program known as Darpa Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus what-if kinds of things.”
which could have “a transforma- that helped commercialize mi- who are working on developing  MATTHEW L. WALD
business Monday, October 26, 2009 4

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers in brief


SAN FRANCISCO — Com- long relied on others to innovate lists of all the tweets written by
panies big and small monitor for them. The photo-sharing site Hollywood celebrities or politi- Optimism in Asia
Twitter to find out what their cus- Flickr started as a small part of a cians, for example. Lists will help CHA-AM, Thailand — Asia’s
tomers like and what they want big online game. When the found- new users figure out whom to fol- leaders expressed cautious op-
changed. Twitter does the same. ers realized the photo-sharing low and help avid users filter their timism about the economy this
It started two years ago as a feature was more popular than overflowing streams of posts. weekend as they returned to
bare-bones service, offering lit- the game, they scrapped the Retweets grew out of the prac- the business of increasing trade
tle more than the ability to post game and built Flickr. tice of users who wanted to send within the region, lowering tar-
140-character messages. Then it Twitter, though, may rely on a post by another user to their iffs and discussing plans for a
outsourced idea generation to its user-generated innovation more own followers; they would write wider Asian free-trade zone.
users. The company watches how than any other company. “retweet,” which was shortened “Recovery has taken hold in
people use the service and which Early on, users started refer- to RT. Twitter is now testing an Asia,” Kasit Piromya, the Thai
ideas catch on. Then its engineers ring to others by typing the @ official retweet feature that will foreign minister, said Saturday
turn the ideas into new features. symbol before their name. For eliminate redundant posts, clar- at the end of a meeting of the
Twitter users will soon dis- example, Biz Stone, a Twitter ify who wrote the original post 10 leaders of the Association of
cover two new features, Lists and founder, recently wrote about his and prevent people from chang- Southeast Asian Nations as well
Retweets, that had the same user- wife: “Wow, @Livia just took her ing other people’s words. as China, Japan and South Ko-
generated beginnings. homemade vegan lasagna out of Depending on users’ ideas has rea. (NYT)
“Twitter’s smart enough, or the oven — I’m hungry!” Twitter been a learning process. Twitter’s
lucky enough, to say, ‘Gee, let’s has since added a section where founders did not like several user
not try to compete with our us- people can see every time they features immediately, yet ac- Eisner Video Deal
ers in designing this stuff, let’s are mentioned with the @ sym- cepted them once others adopted Bolstered by an investment
outsource design to them,’ ” said bol. It hyperlinks the names so them. When people started refer- from the Canadian media giant
Eric von Hippel, head of the in- others can click on them to see the ring to Twitter posts as “tweets,” Rogers Communications, the
novation and entrepreneurship subject’s profile page. Twitter resisted at first. But a few budding new-media mogul Mi-
group at the Sloan School of Man- In Lists, a new feature avail- months ago, it applied for a trade- chael Eisner is expanding his
agement at M.I.T. able to a small group now and to mark on the term. Web video studio. The studio,
Technology companies have all users soon, people can create  CLAIRE CAIN MILLER Vuguru, currently part of Eis-
ner’s media investment com-

Major Madoff Investor Is Found Dead in His Pool pany, will become its own com-
pany, and Rogers will become
a minority stakeholder. Eis-
Jeffry M. Picower, a prominent investigated. According to the drew from their Madoff accounts ner, the former Walt Disney Co.
philanthropist accused of reap- police, emergency personnel re- over the years. The suit claimed chairman, said he expected Vu-
ing about $7 billion in profit from sponded at 12:09 p.m. Sunday to that the Picowers’ accounts with guru to generate 10 to 12 online
Bernard L. Madoff’s vast Ponzi a call from his wife, Barbara. She the Madoff firm were “riddled series in 2010, with the eventual
scheme, was found dead on Sun- said she had found him at the bot- with blatant and obvious fraud” goal of 30 a year. (NYT)
day in the swimming pool at his tom of the pool. He could not be re- that a finance professional like
mansion in Palm Beach, Fla. vived and was pronounced dead at Picower should have detected. It
In the last year, Picower’s life 1:30 p.m. at Good Samaritan Med- further asserted that he “knew or Capmark Bankruptcy
had become a tangle of litigation ical Center in West Palm Beach. should have known” that the large Capmark Financial Group,
arising from his disputed role William D. Zabel, a family law- and unusually reliable profits one of the nation’s largest com-
in the Ponzi scheme operated yer, said Picower, who was 67, from their Madoff accounts could mercial real estate lenders,
by Madoff, who was arrested in had Parkinson’s disease and a only have resulted from fraud. filed Sunday for bankruptcy
December and pleaded guilty in history of “cardiac issues.” The Picowers have emphati- protection amid mounting bad
March to operating a long-run- On May 12, the bankruptcy cally denied any knowledge of the debt. In its filing in Delaware
ning fraud that cost thousands of trustee seeking assets for Madoff Ponzi scheme, and Zabel has said bankruptcy court, the compa-
victims billions of dollars. victims sued the Picowers to re- they were deceived by Madoff. ny listed total debt of $21 billion
The cause of death is being cover at least $6 billion they with-  DIANA B. HENRIQUES and assets of $20.1 billion. (AP)

Internet Advertising Is Rallying, but Newspapers Are Not Seeing Benefits


It was a good day for newspaper ad space from many Web sites. hoo and Google, display advertis- sees the ad. Mercedes, for exam-
Web sites when Mercedes-Benz When Mercedes advertises ing revenue seems to be return- ple, plans to route its ads for its
USA introduced its updated E- more basic models next year, ing. Newspaper sites cannot seem basic cars to people with income
Class cars this summer. Mercedes it will largely avoid newspaper to catch that wave. The New York of more than $75,000 or those
bought space on the home pages sites and rely on networks, said Times Co. reported a decline in whose leases are about to expire
of The Washington Post, The Wall Beth Lange, digital media spe- ad revenue at its newspaper Web — a much more specific audience
Street Journal and The New York cialist for Mercedes-Benz USA. sites of 18.5 percent this quarter than, say, people visiting The
Times, and had the sites create Newspaper sites are the pat- compared with a year earlier. Washington Post auto site.
special 3-D ads for them, at an es- ent-leather stilettos of the online One reason newspaper sites do Adam Kasper, director of digi-
timated cost of $100,000 a site. world: they are used for special not appear to be bouncing back tal media for Havas Digital’s Me-
The days after were not as occasions, but other shoes get is price: after advertisers intro- dia Contacts, suggested newspa-
good. While Mercedes was happy more daily wear. The beneficia- duce splashy campaigns on news pers were in trouble. “There are
with the newspaper sites’ perfor- ries of this behavior are ad net- sites, they can follow up with things publishers can do to stem
mance, it shifted money to cheap- works like AOL’s Advertising. cheaper ads on networks. the tide, but I don’t think it’s com-
er, more tightly aimed ads bought com and Google’s DoubleClick. But price is not the only reason pletely within their control,” he
through networks, which bundle At nonnewspaper sites like Ya- — networks also focus on who said. STEPHANIE CLIFFORD
business Monday, October 26, 2009 5

For Comcast, a Big Deal, but Not a Good One Cosby, in Sweater,
Content never became king — gling, but whose cable channels — unintended consequences. He
Has Gone Web 2.0
search did — but the notion con- CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, SyFy and cites the AOL-Time Warner deal, It is not unexpected today that a
tinues to lure otherwise careful USA — are profitable jewels. And in which the new company had to veteran comic would plant a flag
companies to the deal altar. at a time when video on demand sacrifice its proprietary messen- on the Internet: Shecky Greene
Sometime in the near future, is taking off, the enterprise would ger service, an asset that would has a Web site, and Shelley Ber-
Comcast, the nation’s largest have lots of audience and plenty have been golden for AOL. man has a Facebook fan page.
cable system operator, is likely to of studio product to show. Other stop signs are visible. In- But lately Bill Cosby has put
buy a majority stake from Brian Roberts, the chief vestors have already expressed them to shame. He has taken
General Electric in NBC The Media executive of Comcast, skepticism. And Roberts is send- the new-media plunge with both
Universal, a huge enter- Equation has never made a secret ing strong signals about his lack of feet: his Web site, billcosby.com,
prise with content assets of his desire to diversify. faith in Comcast’s core business. includes eight outlets to follow
in broadcast, cable and David Unfortunately for him, “Right now, they are in the most Cosby, including the micro-video-
film and on the Web. Carr his shareholders have the structurally advantaged busi- blogging site 12seconds; the au-
It’s just like the good old ability to diversify on their nesses there is in media,” Mof- dio streaming site blogtalk­radio.
days, when media titans strode own, and they’d like the company fett said. “People can talk all they com; MySpace; Facebook; and
the earth in search of the grail to stick to its core knitting. want about content being king, but Twitter. There is a Flickr feed
of synergy, a magical elixir that “Media moguls see it almost distribution has historically been as well as Facebook application
emerged from vertically inte- as a birthright to buy and sell a much better business because of that allows users to try on one of
grating seemingly disparate en- assets, but most of it clearly has the huge barriers to entry.” Cosby’s familiar sweaters.
terprises. We haven’t seen any- not worked out,” said Craig Mof- If Comcast is so determined to These vehicles were enlisted to
thing quite like it since the merg- fett, co-author of a Bernstein Re- go shopping, there is a company promote a new hip-hop compila-
er of Time Warner and AOL. And search report on the prospective out there that has been orphaned tion album, “Bill Cosby Presents
that turned out well, right? deal. “The value of the deal is the by the conglomerate that owned the Cosnarati: State of Emergen-
The Comcast deal is not without conceptual value of vertical inte- it, has demonstrated significant cy,” featuring songs conceived by
business logic. It’s not a bad time gration, and most of it is against growth, and whose stock has not Cosby in attempt to create social-
to buy NBC Universal, whose big the law as a regulatory matter.” only outperformed Comcast, but ly conscious hip-hop.
assets like the peacock network By attracting regulatory scru- also significantly outperformed All of this online promotion
and Universal Studios are strug- tiny, he said, Comcast could court the market: Time Warner Cable. was a bit much for a new-media
habitué like Pete Cashmore,
who runs the Mashable Web site
Big Cellphone Makers Shifting to Android System and posted last week that “Bill’s
‘people’ have determined that
Since 1996, Microsoft has been sung, LG, Kyocera, Sony Erics- is intended for modern screens Cosby needs to get involved with
writing operating systems for son — now also make Android de- you tap with a finger, while Win- this glitzy new ‘social media mar-
pocket-sized computers. It was vices. Motorola has dropped Win- dows Mobile was built for use keting’ thing the kids are all doing
a lonely business until Apple dows Mobile entirely in a switch with a stylus. Android has at- these days.”
introduced the Web-browsing, to Android. The four largest U.S. tracted far more applications for Cashmore also said he would
music-playing iPhone. But now carriers have agreed to offer An- consumers in the first year than wear a Cosby-style sweater in
that smartphones are popular, droid phones. When the first An- Windows Mobile has in a decade. his Facebook photo if Cosby re-
Microsoft’s system, Windows droid handset, the G1 from HTC, “A lot of manufacturers are sponded directly to his post using
Mobile, is foundering. More cell- was introduced last fall, only T- walking into our office and talk- 12seconds. About 12 hours later,
phone makers are turning to the Mobile offered it. Now Verizon is ing about how important Android Cosby responded in a grainy
free Android system made by Mi- putting a huge promotional push is becoming to them,” said Cole video, thanking Cashmore and
crosoft’s latest nemesis, Google. behind the Droid from Motorola. Brodman, the chief development telling him, “you look great in my
Cellphone makers that have Android is free, while Windows officer of T-Mobile. “It is going to sweatshirt.” So far, Cashmore’s
used Windows Mobile in their Mobile costs manufacturers $15 have a pretty significant impact.” Facebook photo has not been up-
smartphones — including Sam- to $25 a phone. Google’s software  SAUL HANSELL dated. NOAM COHEN

Hollywood Studios, on a Quest for Life After DVDs, Explore Digital Delivery
LOS ANGELES — Movie stu- studios are finally confronting an consumers play a video on vari- Apple will be a partner.
dios, desperate to return their uncomfortable reality: DVDs ous devices without letting them A consortium of other studios
home entertainment divisions to may never recover their sales share it on a pirate site — and the has joined with companies like
growth, are scrambling to shape power. To grow, studios need to reluctance of studios to cooperate Comcast and Intel to pursue a dif-
the post-DVD era. figure out digital distribution. too closely with rivals. ferent strategy. Their initiative,
Until recently, Hollywood Everyone is trying to solve one The Walt Disney Co. will in- called the Digital Entertainment
heavyweights were loath to problem: consumers, the indus- troduce a technology that essen- Content Ecosystem, involves
speak too openly about the prom- try believes, will be reluctant to tially tracks digital ownership, so coming up with a common set of
ise of digital entertainment — the pay for digital movies and TV people don’t have to buy the same standards and formats.
downloading and streaming of shows until they get more por- movie or television show multiple “We can start to develop a digi-
movies and television shows on tability and can watch the same times for different devices. Called tal service where it’s better than
computers, Internet-enabled content on several devices. Stu- Keychest, it would allow consum- free because it offers consumers
televisions and mobile devices. dios want to make consumers ers to buy permanent access to more convenience and choice,”
Nobody wanted to anger retail collect digital entertainment the digital entertainment that then said Mitch Singer, chief technol-
partners or do anything that way they would DVDs or books. could be watched on computers, ogy officer of Sony Pictures En-
might slow the DVD gravy train. Standing in the way are tech- cellphones and cable on-demand tertainment, which is leading the
But the business has shifted and nological hurdles — how to let services. Analysts speculate that effort. BROOKS BARNES
journal Monday, October 26, 2009 6

China, Where the Bureaucrats Hold Sway and Odd Edicts Rule
HUANGPING, China — All the students burden children with such a requirement one county in Hubei Province in northern
at Luolang Elementary School, a yellow- rather than install speed bumps, others China drew nationwide ridicule after offi-
and-orange concrete structure off a winding insisted. cials ordered civil servants and employees
mountain road in southern China, know the This is hardly the only nation where local of state-owned companies to buy a total of
key rules: Do not run in the halls. Take your bureaucrats sometimes run a bit too free. 23,000 packs of the province’s brand of ciga-
seat before the bell rings. Raise your hand But in China, where many local officials are rettes every year. Departments whose em-
to ask a question. less than well trained and only the party ployees failed to buy enough cigarettes or
And oh, yes: Salute every passing car on can eject them from office, local govern- bought other Chinese brands would be fined,
your way to and from school. ments’ dubious edicts are common enough the media reported.
Education officials promoted the saluting that skewering them has become a favorite County officials said the increased rev-
rule to reduce traffic accidents and teach pastime of China’s netizens. Even the state- enue from the cigarette tax would buoy the
children courtesy. Critics, who have posted run media joins in, although they rarely local economy. After several weeks of em-
thousands of negative comments about the report who was behind the rules or suggest barrassment, Gongan County officials post-
policy on China’s electronic bulletin boards, that they indicate a lack of competence to ed a short message on the government’s
beg to differ. “This is just pitiful,” wrote one govern. Web site that read: “We have decided to
in a post last year. Only inept officials would Often, the skewering gets results. In April, remove this edict.”
Officials of Hanchuan, a city in Hubei
crossword Edited By Will Shortz Province, tried a similar ploy, with the
same effect. Determined to boost the local
PUZZLE BY MIKE NOTHNAGEL brand of baijiu, a sinus-clearing distilled
ACROSS 41 Party giver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 white liquor, they ordered state workers to
1 John of colonial 42 U.S. military vet
Jamestown buy about $300,000 worth in a year. Report-
43 Ancient Greek 14 15 16
6 The first “A” in city with a ers calculated that each employee would
N.A.A.C.P.: Abbr. mythical lion 17 18 19 have had to buy three bottles a day to meet
10 Bag 45 Learn the quota. The rule was later rescinded.
secondhand 20 21 22
14 “Tosca,” for one
Another county in Guizhou Province in
15 “Get out of here, 47 Having insurance
fly!” 50 Large, at
23 24 southern China compelled state workers
16 Surrounding glow Starbucks 25 26 27
last year to help inflate the number of tour-
17 Completely uses 51 Twigs for baskets ists visiting the ruins of an ancient village.
up, as a credit 52 “If I may …” 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 Every government office was ordered
card, with “out” 55 Owner of the farm
18 Dana Scully’s
to organize field trips to the site so the
where Woodstock 35 36 37 38
sci-fi partner took place county could report 5,000 visitors within two
20 Prowling feline 57 Contest 39 40 41 42 months.
22 Nissan sedan submission The involuntary visitors had to take sev-
23 Letter-shaped, 58 Writer James
43 44 45 46
threaded fastener
eral buses to get to a village 20 miles from
59 Vases
24 Washed-up
47 48 49 50 the county seat. From there, they hired mo-
60 Have the wheel
person of a car 51 52 53 54
torbikes to carry them another nine miles
25 Course in which 61 Transmit down dirt roads, the Guangzhou Daily news-
to conjugate
“amo, amas,
62 Jab between the 55 56 57 paper reported.
ribs, say The Guizhou Commercial News reported
amat …”
63 Mob 58 59 60
27 “We ___ please” that some government offices were left un-
28 Dull pain 61 62 63 attended while state employees served as
29 Autumn
DOWN
1 Capital of Italia tourists. That order, too, was repealed the
31 When repeated,
bygone 2 Milky white gem
10/26/09 (No. 1026)
next month.
newsboy’s cry 3 “Superman” 8 “Red” or “White” 27 It acquired 42 Take away from, But a 2003 regulation that bars male of-
villain baseball team Reynolds Metals as profits
35 Con’s opposite
in 2000 ficials in Sichuan Province from hiring fe-
36 Mystery quality 4 Something for 9 Courteous 44 Goof
nothing rejection to a 30 Sighed with 46 Tangle up (in)
male secretaries may still be on the books.
… or what 18-
and 55-Across 5 Start of a woman satisfaction 47 Unconscious
China Youth Daily reported then that the
and 3- and billboard 10 House style with 32 Cowboy who states official who authored the regulation wanted
32-Down have? catchphrase a long pitched sang the title 48 Missouri river or “to ensure that work can be carried out.”
38 Snakelike fish meaning “close roof in back song from “High Indian
39 H. Ross ___, to the highway” Noon”  SHARON LaFRANIERE
11 Actor Murphy of 49 Reindeer teamed
candidate of 6 Equally plump old westerns 33 ___ Park with Prancer
1992 and 1996 7 Photographed (Queens
12 Middle of an Oreo 50 Esther 8:9 is the
neighborhood) longest one in
13 Designer Donna
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE 34 A, in Arabic the Bible
19 Coat named for
an Irish province 36 Nissan S.U.V. 52 Play a practical 620 Eighth Avenue, New York, NY 10018
B L U R A Y D I S C S T O P joke on, slangily •
21 Steep drop-off 37 None of the
T I N A T U R N E R M A N O above, on a 53 Talking horse of Tom Brady, Editor
E D D I E M O N E Y E X E S 24 Sword handles survey ’60s TV e-mail: digesteditor@nytimes.com
A D I N A N I S E W I L T 25 Northern 40 Like two jacks 54 Brontë’s Jane •
M E E S E E N T R E R I M Scandinavian in a deck of 56 Miracle-___ TimesDigest Sales Office
S D S A N D G O X T I N A 26 Field unit cards (plant food) phone: (212) 556-1200
T R E O S S P A D E R fax: (646) 461-2364
J A C O B I N B E R S E R K For answers, call 1-900-289-CLUE (289-2583), $1.49 a minute; e-mail: timesdigest@nytimes.com
O I L G U N F E T E S or, with a credit card, 1-800-814-5550. •
B R O A D T A D A S S O D Online subscriptions: Today’s puzzle and more than 5,000 past
For advertising information
C D S S C E N T S H E R A puzzles, nytimes.com/crosswords ($39.95 a year). and to request a media kit
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S S T S P E T E S E E G E R Read about and comment on each puzzle: nytimes.com/wordplay.
opinion Monday, October 26, 2009 7

e di t o r i a l s o f t h e t i m e S paul krugman

The Cover-Up Continues After Reform Passes


The Obama administration has clung for so tration is in the process of appealing a sound So, how well will health reform work after
long to the Bush administration’s expansive federal appellate court ruling last April in a it passes?
claims of national security and executive civil lawsuit by Mohamed and four others. All There’s a part of me that can’t believe I’m
power that it is in danger of turning President were victims of the government’s extraordi- asking that question. After all, serious health
George W. Bush’s cover-up of abuses com- nary rendition program, under which foreign- reform has long seemed like an impossible
mitted in the name of fighting terrorism into ers were kidnapped and flown to other coun- dream. And it could yet go all wrong.
President Barack Obama’s cover-up. tries for interrogation and torture. But the teabaggers have come and gone, as
We have had recent reminders of this dis- In that case, the Obama administration has have the cries of “death panels” and the dem-
maying retreat from Obama’s passionate repeated a disreputable Bush-era argument onstrations by Medicare recipients demand-
campaign promises to make a break with that the executive branch is entitled to have ing that the government stay out of health
Bush’s abuses of power, a shift that denies lawsuits shut down whenever it makes a blan- care. And reform is still on track. Right now it
justice to the victims of wayward govern- ket claim of national security. The ruling re- looks highly likely that Congress will, indeed,
ment policies and shields officials from ac- jected that argument and noted that the gov- send a health care bill to the president’s desk.
countability. ernment’s theory would “effectively cordon Then what?
In Britain earlier this month, a two-judge off all secret actions from judicial scrutiny, Conservatives insist (and hope) that reform
High Court panel rejected arguments by first immunizing the C.I.A. and its partners from will fail, and that there will be a huge popu-
the Bush team and now the Obama team and the demands and limits of the law.” lar backlash. Some progressives worry that
decided to make public seven redacted para- The Obama administration has aggressive- they might be right, that the imperfections of
graphs in American intelligence documents ly pursued such immunity in numerous other reform — what we’re about to get will be far
relating to torture allegations by a former cases beyond the ones involving Mohamed. from ideal — will be so severe as to undermine
prisoner at Guantánamo Bay. The prisoner, We do not take seriously the government’s public support. And many critics complain,
Binyam Mohamed, an Ethiopian-born Brit- claim that it is trying to protect intelligence with some justice, that the planned reform
ish national, says he was tortured in Pakistan, or avoid harm to national security. won’t do much to contain rising costs.
Morocco and at a C.I.A.-run prison outside Ka- The objective is to avoid official confir- But the experience in Massachusetts,
bul before being transferred to Guantánamo. mation of wrongdoing that might be used in which passed major health reform back in
He was freed in February. lawsuits against government officials and 2006, should dampen conservative hopes and
To block the release of those paragraphs, contractors, and might help create a public soothe progressive fears.
the Bush administration threatened to cut its clamor for prosecuting those responsible. Like the bill that will probably emerge from
intelligence-sharing with Britain, an inappro- Obama calls that a distracting exercise in Congress, the Massachusetts reform mainly
priate threat that Secretary of State Hillary “looking back.” What it really is justice. relies on a combination of regulation and sub-
Rodham Clinton repeated. But the court con- In a similar vein, Obama did a flip-flop last sidies to chivy a mostly private system into
cluded that the actual risk of harm to intelli- May and decided to resist orders by two federal providing near-universal coverage. It is, to
gence-sharing was minimal, given the close courts to release photographs of soldiers abus- be frank, a bit of a Rube Goldberg device — a
relationship between the two countries. The ing prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. Last complicated way of achieving something that
court also found a “compelling public inter- week, just in time to avoid possible Supreme could have been done much more simply with
est” in disclosure, and said that nothing in the Court review of the matter, Congress created a Medicare-type program. Yet it has gone a
disputed seven paragraphs had anything to do an exception to the Freedom of Information long way toward achieving the goal of health
with “secret intelligence.” Act that gave Secretary of Defense Robert insurance for all, although it’s not quite there:
The Obama administration has expressed Gates authority to withhold the photos. according to state estimates, only 2.6 percent
unhappiness with the ruling, and the British We share concerns about inflaming anti- of residents remain uninsured.
government plans to appeal. But the court American feelings and jeopardizing soldiers, This expansion of coverage has tremendous
was clearly right in recognizing the impor- but the best way to truly avoid that is to dem- significance in human terms. Even those who
tance of disclosure “for reasons of democratic onstrate that this nation has turned the page probably would have been insured without re-
accountability and the rule of law.” on Bush’s shameful policies. Withholding the form felt “peace of mind knowing they could
In the United States, the Obama adminis- painful truth shows the opposite. obtain health coverage if they lost access to
their employer-sponsored coverage.”
Oklahoma vs. Women To be sure, Massachusetts isn’t fully rep-
resentative of America as a whole. And the
Anti-abortion activists found great encour- probing. state has a tradition of strong insurance regu-
agement in 2007, when the Supreme Court’s The law’s purpose is political. Its real aim is lation, which has probably made it easier to
conservative majority abruptly departed from to persuade doctors to stop performing abor- run a system that depends crucially on having
the high court’s recent precedents and upheld a tions by placing new burdens on their practice, regulators ride herd on insurers.
federal ban on a particular method of abortion. to intimidate and shame women, and to stig- So national reform’s chances will be better
Soon, they began looking for other inventive matize a legal medical procedure that one in if it contains elements lacking in Massachu-
restrictions on reproductive rights for testing three women have at some point in their lives. setts — in particular, a real public option to
in the courts. Fortunately, last Monday, the Center for keep insurers honest. We can only hope that
In May, Oklahoma state lawmakers ap- Reproductive Rights succeeded in obtaining reports that the Obama administration is try-
proved a beaut: a law requiring abortion pro- a temporary restraining order from a state ing to block a public option are overblown.
viders to fill out a 10-page questionnaire for judge that blocks this new flanking maneuver Still, if the Massachusetts experience is
each procedure, and for details of abortions to on abortion from going into effect on Nov. 1. any guide, health care reform will have broad
be posted on a public Web site. What persuaded the judge was not the af- public support once it’s in place and the scare
Among other things, the intrusive question- front to women’s rights, but a technical defect: stories are proved false. The new health care
naire asks three dozen questions about the the law addressed disparate issues in one bill system will be criticized; people will demand
woman’s reasons for having an abortion, in- in violation of the state’s Constitution. Still, the changes and improvements; but only a small
cluding details about her relationship with the victory for reproductive freedom is hearten- minority will want reform reversed.
father that the government has no business ing. This thing is going to work.
sports Monday, October 26, 2009 8

Yankees Beat Angels to Clinch A.L. Pennant in brief


When they were new stars at ada and Andy Pettitte, who won The Angels had scored in the Bradford Done for ’09
an old park, the baseball season Game 6, this is their seventh third, when Bobby Abreu drove
The Heisman Trophy-winning
rarely ended until they were World Series team in New York in Jeff Mathis, who had doubled
Oklahoma quarterback Sam
done playing. Now the Yankees’ and first since 2003. for the fifth time in the series. But
Bradford said Sunday that he
core is older, the park is new and It is the first for Alex Rodri- that was all they got off Pettitte,
would have season-ending sur-
the World Series is no longer a guez, the sixth-year Yankee, who who earned his 16th postseason
gery to his right shoulder in
birthright. But the stage is theirs hit .429 with three home runs in victory, breaking the record he
hopes of entering April’s N.F.L.
again. the series. shared with John Smoltz.
draft.  (NYT)
After a five-year absence, Rodriguez reached base five Pettitte’s postseason perfor-
Derek Jeter and the Yankees are times in Game 6, and his sublime mance, as a whole, is not much
back in the World Series, van- postseason has shattered the no- different than his track record Johnson Holds Lead
quishing the Los Angeles Angels tion that he wilts under pressure. in the regular season. Of course, MARTINSVILLE, Va. — Den-
on Sunday, 5-2, to win the Ameri- He forged that reputation by fiz- the opponents are tougher, and ny Hamlin won the Tums Fast
can League Championship Se- zling as the Yankees dropped the memorable moments shine Relief 500 on Sunday, but Jim-
ries, four games to two. first-round series in 2005, 2006 brighter, and Pettitte has suc- mie Johnson finished second
It is the 40th pennant for the and 2007. But poor pitching was ceeded elsewhere, too. to widen his lead in Nas­car’s
Yankees, who will host the de- also at fault. He has been to the World Series Sprint Cup Series with four rac-
fending champion Philadelphia The Yankees’ new ace, C.C. Sa- more recently than Jeter, Rivera es left. (AP)
Phillies in Game 1 of the World bathia, throttled the Angels twice and Posada, starting once for
Series in the Bronx on Wednes- this series. Sabathia undoubtedly Houston in 2005. Pettitte has con-
day. Mariano Rivera was on will oppose the Phillies’ Cliff Lee sidered retirement since then, ESPN Fires Phillips
the mound when the Yankees in the World Series opener, a re- but keeps returning, hoping for ESPN fired Steve Phillips on
clinched, getting Gary Matthews match of the Yankee Stadium one more chance at a title. Sunday after a report that he
Jr. for the final out. opener on April 16, when Lee This is probably his best had had an affair with a 22-year-
For Jeter, Rivera, Jorge Pos- pitched for Cleveland. chance.  TYLER KEPNER old production assistant. The
New York Post story on the af-
fair between Phillips, a base-
Late Favre Turnovers Lead to Vikings’ First Loss ball analyst, and the assistant,
Brooke Hundley, became a na-
PITTSBURGH — Brett Keisel later, another Favre turnover was ond most of his career, and drove tionwide story, embarrassing
grew up idolizing Brett Favre, returned for a touchdown as the the Vikings to the Pittsburgh 26 the network. (NYT)
so he knew that Favre hops as he Steelers handed the Vikings their with two minutes left. But he then
pump-fakes to draw a safety to first loss of the season, 27-17. threw a lightning-fast short pass nFl scores
a spot that will leave a receiver “It’s one of those slow-motion to Chester Taylor that bounced off Sunday’s Games
open. But that move also gives moments that’s a joy in this busi- Taylor’s hands and into the grasp New England 35, Tampa Bay 7
defenders another split second to ness, depending on what end of it of linebacker Keyaron Fox, who Pittsburgh 27, Minnesota 17
get to Favre. you’re on,” Steelers Coach Mike raced 82 yards for a touchdown Houston 24, San Francisco 21
On Sunday, Keisel, all grown up Tomlin said. that sealed the win for the Steel- Indianapolis 42, St. Louis 6
as a defensive end for the Pitts- Somewhere, Jets fans were ers (5-2). San Diego 37, Kansas City 7
burgh Steelers, took advantage probably nodding in recognition. The game ended when Favre Green Bay 31, Cleveland 3
Buffalo 20, Carolina 9
of that extra moment late in the The turnover-prone Favre who was brought down hard by James
Jets 38, Oakland 0
game against the Minnesota Vi- emerged during the Jets’ collapse Harrison as time ran out. For Dallas 37, Atlanta 21
kings and swatted the ball out of of 2008 had not been seen since he Favre, who had been enjoying New Orleans 46, Miami 34
Favre’s hand. The fumble was re- joined the Vikings (6-1). But this a turn-back-the-clock season, it Cincinnati 45, Chicago 10
turned 77 yards for a touchdown game presented the yin and yang was a hard jolt of reality. “I would Arizona 24, Giants 17
by Steelers linebacker LaMarr of the 40-year-old quarterback. have felt a lot better had we won,” Open: Denver, Seattle, Detroit,
Woodley. Less than five minutes He had 34 completions, the sec- he said. JUDY BATTISTA Jacksonville, Baltimore, Tennessee

WEATHER Houston
Kansas City
81/ 54
61/ 48
0
0
74/ 68 T
55/ 44 C
72/ 52 PC
59/ 40 PC
Cape Town
Dublin
74/ 61 0
57/ 52 0.02
66/ 55 T
59/ 50 C
72/ 55 PC
61/ 55 Sh
High/low temperatures for the 20 hours ended at 4 p.m.
yesterday, Eastern time, and precipitation (in inches) Los Angeles 81/ 63 0 88/ 60 S 75/ 57 PC Geneva 60/ 48 0 61/ 45 PC 63/ 45 PC
for the 18 hours ended at 2 p.m. yesterday. Expected Miami 88/ 73 0 89/ 75 PC 89/ 78 PC Hong Kong 86/ 75 0 82/ 72 S 81/ 73 PC
conditions for today and tomorrow. Mpls.-St. Paul 48/ 45 0.03 47/ 37 C 52/ 37 PC Kingston 89/ 81 0.04 88/ 79 T 88/ 79 S
New York City 61/ 51 0 62/ 46 S 61/ 49 C Lima 66/ 63 0 68/ 61 C 68/ 61 C
Weather conditions: C-clouds, F-fog, H-haze, I-ice, PC- Orlando 83/ 64 0 88/ 66 C 88/ 73 PC London 64/ 52 0.04 63/ 50 PC 66/ 55 C
partly cloudy,R-rain, S-sun, Sh-showers, Sn-snow, SS- Philadelphia 62/ 50 0.17 64/ 42 S 63/ 44 C Madrid 73/ 50 0 73/ 57 S 73/ 57 PC
snow showers, T-thunderstorms, Tr-trace, W-windy. Phoenix 87/ 63 0 86/ 61 S 89/ 57 S Mexico City 69/ 51 – 75/ 52 C 75/ 50 C
Salt Lake City 49/ 34 0 58/ 34 PC 43/ 37 Sh Montreal 52/ 46 0.18 48/ 30 PC 52/ 36 R
U.S. CITIES San Francisco 76/ 53 0 68/ 54 S 67/ 52 W Moscow 39/ 36 0.16 41/ 32 C 48/ 41 R
Yesterday Today Tomorrow Seattle 48/ 37 0 52/ 45 Sh 51/ 40 C Nassau 87/ 75 0 91/ 79 S 91/ 79 S
Atlanta 65/ 42 0 68/ 47 C 62/ 53 Sh St. Louis 65/ 50 0 59/ 49 R 61/ 48 Sh Paris 62/ 48 0.06 64/ 48 PC 63/ 46 PC
Albuquerque 63/ 46 0 57/ 39 S 64/ 35 PC Washington 62/ 49 0 65/ 46 S 61/ 49 Sh Prague 57/ 36 0 59/ 43 PC 56/ 41 C
Boise 52/ 30 0 62/ 39 C 45/ 37 C Rio de Janeiro 87/ 73 0 86/ 72 T 77/ 70 R
Boston 67/ 54 0.13 57/ 44 S 57/ 44 PC FOREIGN CITIES Rome 73/ 54 0 72/ 57 PC 72/ 57 S
Buffalo 54/ 43 0 58/ 37 PC 59/ 45 PC Yesterday Today Tomorrow Santiago 74/ 48 0 81/ 46 PC 84/ 48 PC
Charlotte 60/ 48 0 65/ 42 C 61/ 52 C Acapulco 94/ 77 0 88/ 73 PC 88/ 73 PC Stockholm 46/ 43 – 46/ 41 C 46/ 37 Sh
Chicago 61/ 39 0 59/ 47 Sh 59/ 43 C Athens 68/ 64 0.05 75/ 61 T 75/ 59 C Sydney 71/ 64 0 64/ 57 Sh 64/ 57 Sh
Cleveland 60/ 36 0 66/ 42 PC 64/ 44 PC Beijing 69/ 52 0 66/ 48 S 64/ 45 PC Tokyo 62/ 55 0.31 70/ 61 R 72/ 57 PC
Dallas-Ft. Worth 75/ 55 0 59/ 55 T 70/ 50 PC Berlin 52/ 41 Tr 54/ 46 C 55/ 48 C Toronto 54/ 39 Tr 54/ 43 C 59/ 46 C
Denver 44/ 34 0 52/ 24 S 54/ 33 PC Buenos Aires 71/ 45 0 68/ 50 S 82/ 61 PC Vancouver 46/ 37 0 54/ 43 R 50/ 41 C
Detroit 59/ 34 0 63/ 43 PC 61/ 47 C Cairo 89/ 66 0 88/ 72 PC 90/ 73 PC Warsaw 51/ 46 0.24 52/ 45 C 50/ 46 C
sports journal Monday, October 26, 2009 9

Bengals’ Benson Punishes Bears for Release NFL STANDINGS


AMERICAN CONFERENCE

Cedric Benson got his revenge start in franchise history, and John Kasay missed two field- East W L T Pct PF PA
on Chicago, all right. The rest of opened the game with a 16-play goal attempts, and the Panthers N. England 5 2 0 .714 198 98
the Bengals’ offense had a good drive for a touchdown. But Matt (2-4) saw their two-game winning Jets 4 3 0 .571 152 104
time, too. Ryan had his streak of 142 passes streak end. The Bills’ Jairus Byrd Buffalo 3 4 0 .429 113 138
Carson Palmer threw five without a sack ended with take- had two interceptions for the sec- Miami 2 4 0 .333 146 152
touchdown passes — four of them downs on consecutive plays in the ond week in a row. South W L T Pct PF PA
in a dominant first half — and first quarter. He was sacked four A Laugher, Times Three Indianapolis 6 0 0 1.000 179 77
Benson ran for a career-high 189 times, threw two interceptions ¶ Aaron Rodgers threw three Houston 4 3 0 .571 167 158
yards and a touchdown against and lost a fumble. touchdown passes, Ryan Grant Jacksonville 3 3 0 .500 120 147
the franchise that let him go, ¶  Near the end of the Jets’ first rushed for 148 yards and the Tennessee 0 6 0 .000 84 198
North W L T Pct PF PA
shocking visiting Chicago with a victory this October, Coach Rex Packers warmed up for Brett
Cincinnati 5 2 0 .714 163 128
45-10 victory Sunday that will go Ryan grabbed his quarterback, Favre’s first visit back to Lam- Pittsburgh 5 2 0 .714 167 129
down as one of the worst days in Mark Sanchez. Together, they beau Field next week with a 31-3 Baltimore 3 3 0 .500 169 130
Bears history. drenched Bill Callahan with a laugher over the Browns, who got Cleveland 1 6 0 .143 72 179
The Bengals improved to 5-2 for cooler full of Gatorade. over the flu but could not shake West W L T Pct PF PA
the first time since 2005, when a Callahan coordinates the Jets’ their other problems. It would Denver 6 0 0 1.000 133 66
fast-strike offense got them to the rushing attack, which topped 300 have been understandable if the San Diego 3 3 0 .500 161 143
playoffs. There was a strong re- yards for the second straight Sun- Packers (4-2) had overlooked an Oakland 2 5 0 .286 62 177
semblance in the first half, when day. The Jets became the sixth inferior opponent like the Browns Kansas City 1 6 0 .143 105 181
Cincinnati scored on all five pos- team in N.F.L. history and first (1-6), who had a dozen players
sessions and went ahead, 31-0. since 1975 to deliver such consec- miss practice last week with the
NATIONAL CONFERENCE
In that half alone, Chad utive performances, resulting in flu. Cleveland gained only 139
Ochocinco had 103 yards receiv- a rare shower for an assistant. yards and failed to score a touch- East W L T Pct PF PA
ing and Benson had 98 yards rush- The Jets snapped their three- down for the fourth time in its Giants 5 1 0 .833 178 119
ing as the Bears (3-3) gave up game losing streak by pounding seven games. Dallas 4 2 0 .667 159 119
more points than they had in any the Raiders, 38-0, and delivering ¶ LaDainian Tomlinson rushed Phila. 3 2 0 .600 136 99
game all season. Palmer finished the most lopsided home loss in for a season-high 71 yards, and his Washington 2 4 0 .333 79 96
20 of 24 for 233 yards and was one Oakland history. But the victory 36-yard run got his team rolling South W L T Pct PF PA
shy of his career high for touch- came at a steep price, as the Jets on its first touchdown drive in the New Orleans 6 0 0 1.000 238 127
down throws. lost Leon Washington for the sea- Chargers’ easy 37-7 win against Atlanta 4 2 0 .667 144 114
Carolina 2 4 0 .333 94 145
Cowboys Pull Away son with a broken right fibula. the Chiefs.
Tampa Bay 0 7 0 .000 96 203
¶ The Cowboys (4-2) roared out ¶ The Bills trailed badly in ¶ Peyton Manning completed North W L T Pct PF PA
of their bye with their most im- nearly every statistical category passes to eight receivers but did Minnesota 6 1 0 .857 206 148
pressive win of the season, a 37-21 but still beat the Panthers, 20- not throw enough of them to tie Green Bay 4 2 0 .667 161 96
victory over the visiting Falcons. 9. Buffalo (3-4) won on the road the league record with his sixth Chicago 3 3 0 .500 129 144
It was Dallas’s first win against a despite being outgained, 425-167. consecutive 300-yard game in the Detroit 1 5 0 .167 103 188
team with a winning record. Tony Carolina led in first downs (20- Colts’ 42-6 victory over the Rams West W L T Pct PF PA
Romo threw three touchdown 9) and held the ball for nearly 35 in St. Louis. Manning finished 23 Arizona 3 2 0 .600 112 92
passes, including two to Miles minutes. But Jake Delhomme for 34 for 235 yards and 3 scores. San Fran. 3 3 0 .500 133 122
Austin. The Falcons (4-2) came in was intercepted three times, He was not sacked and was rarely Seattle 2 4 0 .333 118 109
looking to keep pace with the best Kenny Moore fumbled a punt, touched.  (AP) St. Louis 0 7 0 .000 60 211

Pittsburgh Eyes Automatic Bowl Championship Series Berth


When Pittsburgh was picked in Lewis and the efficient quarter- struggled to describe the loss to is threatening to challenge Tony
the preseason to win the Big East, back Bill Stull, Wannstedt is being Pittsburgh, in which the Panthers Dorsett’s team record for rushing
Panthers Coach Dave Wannstedt more vocal about his team and the scored on all five first-half pos- yards by a freshman (1,686).
never mentioned it to his team. Big East title. His No. 16 Panthers sessions. “They just whooped us,” Lewis’s success has seemed to
With a senior-laden team that are 7-1 for the first time since 1982, Leavitt said. surprise even Wannstedt, who had
returned 14 starters, he did not when they were last ranked No. 1 Pittsburgh is off this week be- envisioned using a three-player
believe much needed to be said. and had Dan Marino. fore downtrodden Syracuse (3-4) rotation this season to replace
Wannstedt had already made his With games remaining against visits on Nov. 7. It then hosts No. tailback LeSean McCoy, a second-
expectations known with white No. 5 Cincinnati (7-0, 3-0) and at 25 Notre Dame (5-2) before play- round pick in the N.F.L. draft.
signs with blue and red lettering No. 20 West Virginia (6-1, 2-0), ing West Virginia and Cincinnati “I was just hoping to somewhat
and the Big East logo that read, Pittsburgh (7-1, 4-0 ) is squarely to close the regular season. run the ball,” Wannstedt said.
“Big East Champs.” They are in the hunt for the league’s auto- “We’re going to have a chance,” When Wannstedt first saw vid-
subtly placed in the locker room, matic Bowl Championship Series said Wannstedt, who joked that his eotape of Lewis playing as a junior
meeting rooms and above door berth. team lacked household names un- at Blair Academy in Blairstown,
frames of the team’s football fa- “When you get to this point in til a few weeks ago. N.J., he watched four plays before
cility. the season, you start talking about That is hardly the case anymore. deciding to offer him a scholar-
“It’s a little subliminal mes- whether you’re a pretender or a Lewis has established himself as ship.
sage,” he said in a telephone inter- contender,” Wannstedt said. “At the nation’s top freshman running “I saw just what you see now,”
view. this point, we’ve got to look at back and one of college football’s Wannstedt said. “He’s got the
But with Pittsburgh’s crushing ourselves now that we might be a best at his position. He is second breakaway speed, he can make
41-14 victory over South Florida on contender if we keep taking care in the Football Bowl Subdivision you miss and he is very powerful.
Saturday behind the shifty fresh- of business.” with 1,029 rushing yards and also He can break a lot of tackles. He’s
man running back sensation Dion South Florida Coach Jim Leavitt has 11 rushing touchdowns. He got it all.” THAYER EVANS

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