NEW YORK — He awoke early, munched a light breakfast and a postprandial peppermint and then slipped out a back entrance into the warm New York sunshine for a morning constitutional.
Only months ago, he had been a relative unknown, a young athlete of modest success and largely untested promise. But two races had changed all that, likely forever.
The press tracked him everywhere now, even here, about 30 kilometres from the city, as he ambled down a muddy, tree-lined path, flanked by a dozen security guards. A brood of ill-tempered roosters clucked at him as he passed and he could hear the staccato clicks of the cameras, the photographers whispering his name in a kind of awed reverence, coaxing him to linger an extra second or two for a better shot.
He hadn’t yet learned the celebrity’s aversion to the paparazzi. In fact, he had always been intrigued by the attention. So he obliged, pausing within earshot of a couple of women who loitered at the entrance to the track, tittering over his physique – the sinewy shoulders, the riffle of his legs, the corded neck sloping into a broad sweep of back.
He took it all in his typically liquid stride, sauntering onto the oval, where several of his more skittish rivals had already assembled for a brief workout. Some strolled, others circled in a kind of lazy jog, and a few whirred past in a tangle of limbs and colours. But he preferred, to the chagrin of his newer fans, to stand off to one side for several minutes, surveying the scene.
His “connections,” as they call them in the business, would no doubt say he was scoping the competition and visualizing his upcoming race.
But Big Brown is just a horse. How could he know that he is on the verge of history, that if he reaches the winner’s circle Saturday afternoon at the Belmont Stakes – at a full mile and a half, the most gruelling of thoroughbred contests – he will become the first winner of the Triple Crown (winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont) since Affirmed in 1978?

globesports.com

That name can’t be found in the NFL standings, and the Giants helmets are emblazoned with a bold “NY” logo. But it was nevertheless proclaimed Thursday by New Jersey senators honoring this year’s Super Bowl champions.
“Whether you’re a football fan or not, I’m sure you found yourself caught up in the hype this past winter with the success of the New Jersey Giants,” said Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen. “I emphasize the New Jersey Giants.”
Sarlo’s district includes Giants Stadium, where the Giants have played since 1976 while retaining their New York moniker.
And though the Giants tell the world they’re from New York, Garden State senators said their come-from-behind attitude represented more of a Jersey mentality.
Sarlo said they resembled “gutsy New Jerseyans” and “what we are all about here in New Jersey.”
The Giants beat the heavily favored New England Patriots 17-14 in the Super Bowl, ending New England’s hopes for an undefeated season.
The Senate presented a ceremonial resolution to coach Tom Coughlin, who in turn gave Sarlo and Senate President Richard J. Codey new Giants helmets.
“You must be at your best when your best is needed, and certainly our football team was,” Coughlin said.
The Giants and New York Jets, who have played in Giants Stadium since 1984, are building a new stadium near Giants Stadium that’s scheduled to open in 2010.
The new stadium includes a new practice facility for the Giants, while the Jets are building a new headquarters in Florham Park.
“You’ll be totally New Jersey, just like the Jets,” Codey, D-Essex, told Coughlin.
The ceremony enlivened the usually reserved Senate, especially when Codey grabbed a football and unleashed a perfect pass across the Senate chamber to Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union.

usatoday.com

In the lukewarm of the night appears Norman Jewison, ready to air-kiss a Kennedy.
“I was inspired by your father, and now we are all inspired by you,” says he to Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The latter is standing on a staircase, the director sounds like a romantic lead and the whole thing twinkles and seems right out of a ? Norman Jewison film!
The scene unravelled last week at the celebrated Budman residence, in the quieter reaches above Eglinton. The younger Kennedy, in town then for the Green Living Show, was the man of the party. Burning almost the same fire as his dad — the ambient, cut-short hope of liberals everywhere — this RFK arrived, as he often does, in a Camelot-evoking skinny tie. Indeed, as the famous enviro-booster, known for taking on fat cats, said last year to New York mag, “I like to wear thin ties” and “I’m very happy to see that they’re finally coming into style ?”
But back to Jewison, who elicited applause that was anything but thin when he flattered the younggen Kennedy just so. In the process, he stitched together a nice bit of symmetry. As the Canadian director noted to moi that night, the elder Kennedy had been a huge supporter — a fan, in particular, of his seminal, race relations-stirring 1967 movie, In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier.
Actually, looking it up later, I learned that when the New York Film Critics gave Jewison the best picture award for that flick, the ceremony was held at Sardi’s –and there to present him with it was none other than Senator Robert Kennedy, from New York. As he presented it to the young lensman, he apparently whispered, “See, I told you the timing was right, Norman.”
Fast-forward to Toronto, 2008, when the timing was right for a party baked in nostalgia. Don’tcha just love a dinner that comes with institutional memory? Those salonistas — Michael Budman and Diane Bald — really do think of everything.

nationalpost.com

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr. – 7 hours ago
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — Vernon Gholston heard the crowd chanting his name while the New York Jets were on the clock, deliberating over their first-round draft selection.
A few minutes later, the notoriously critical Jets fans welcomed the Ohio State defensive end to their team with satisfied cheers.
“It was crazy,” Gholston said with a smile Saturday night at the Jets’ headquarters, a few hours after being selected with the No. 6 overall pick. “When they got to the sixth pick and I was still on the board, they started chanting my name and everything. I guess they anticipated it.”
And, the Jets hope Gholston will further improve their pass rush in a big way. The speedy and powerful defensive end is expected to play outside linebacker in New York’s 3-4 defense, which registered just 29 sacks last season.
The 6-foot-4, 264-pound Gholston set an Ohio State record with 14 sacks last season despite facing double teams regularly. In the 3-4, he’ll be asked to stand up as a linebacker more after playing mostly from a three-point stance in college.
“That’s something I’ve done at Ohio State,” said Gholston, wearing a gray, pinstriped suit and a green and white Jets cap. “I’m pretty sure I won’t have problems with it.”
The Jets added another first-round selection when they traded their second-round pick and a fourth-rounder (No. 113) to Green Bay for the No. 30 pick. The fans who cheered a few hours earlier for Gholston at Radio City Music Hall booed loudly when New York took Purdue tight end Dustin Keller, thinking the Jets might take a wide receiver or quarterback.
“I think it’s going to be a really good fit,” Keller said during a conference call from a suite in the press box at Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium.

ap.google.com

On Monday, March 31, the new contract for over two million German public sector workers employed by federal and local government was announced. Its main purpose is to prevent the pay struggle in the public and private sectors from developing into a broader movement against the government, which could challenge the policy of redistributing wealth from those at the bottom of society to those at the top.
Set against the loss in real wages that public sector workers have had to accept in recent years, the new contract is little more than a drop in the ocean. The trade union Verdi has promoted it as a great success, but that is a sham.
The contract includes a rise in basic rates of around €50 plus a 3.1 percent increase this year. According to Verdi, this equates to a 5.1 percent average rise. Verdi has dropped the original demand for an increase of €200 in basic rates, which would have improved wages considerably for low-income earners. In the coming year, there will be a one-off payment of €225 and a further 2.8 percent rise. To a large extent, however, this will be balanced out by extending working hours in the West German municipalities from 38.5 to 39 hours a week.
In the course of two years, average incomes will thus rise by just over 5 percent. At best, this would barely keep pace with a rapidly rising inflation rate, but it in no way compensates for the pay freeze of the last three-and-a-half years, let alone the cutbacks of the past one-and-a-half decades, which have eradicated a third of the jobs in the public sector.
The public sector employers have been clear for a long time that they would not make any concessions to their workforce this year as far as wages were concerned. In view of rising growth rates, growing potential tax sources, high company profits and the exorbitant salaries of top managers, the pent-up anger of public sector workers—who have had to accept a pay freeze or pay cuts for many years—was simply too great. Verdi, the union that had negotiated this pay freeze, has been losing members hand over fist.

wsws.org

“War and imperialism are Siamese twins joined at the hip. Each thrives off the other. They cannot be separated. Imperialism is the single-greatest cause of war, and war is the midwife of new imperialist acquisitions.” Chalmers Johnson
While other nations realize it full well, Americans do not want to accept that the United States dominates the world through military power. Due to the extreme secrecy of the present administration, the American people are completely ignorant of the fact that the United States “garrisons the globe.” There is a huge network of military bases in more than 150 countries. It is called the new empire. It is the American Empire. Our government employs more than half a million soldiers, spies, technicians, teachers, dependents and civilians as well as civilian contractors all over the world. In addition to officially listed bases, the US has numerous secret bases not to be found on any government listing. Some of these bases are engaged in listening to people all over the world, including American citizens – keeping track of what they are saying, faxing and emailing.
This Empire began back in the 19th century, when the US declared Latin America as being under its “sphere of influence,” and proceeded to enlarge its territory while ignoring or slaughtering those who stood in the way; i.e., the indigenous peoples of North, Central and SouthAmerica. Today we have a similar group of imperialists in power who, under the guise of the “war on terrorism” are expanding American bases all over the world, particularly in Middle Eastern countries.
It was after World War II that America emerged as the richest nation and became a natural successor of the British Empire, which floundered economically due to the heavy costs of the war. The Cold War of the 1970s justified the US government creating scores more bases, all to fight the communist threat. Government officials of course denied that the bases indicated global imperialism.

biddho.com

The calendar keeps track of months and years. There is no record of calendars and the way people calculated dates in the pre-Achaemenian era. After the Achaemenids, however, two kinds of calendar were created.
The first calendar was found in Persepolis inscriptions. It consisted of twelve months, probably beginning in autumn. This calendar was a solar calendar, including leap years.
The second calendar was the Avesta calendar which was the origin of the current Iranian calendar.
In ancient Iran lunar months were used in a different way. The week, which was one of the bases of the Semitic calendar, did not exist. Instead, the month was divided into thirty days, each month having a specific name.
The year in the Avestaian calendar was comprised of 365 days which made up twelve 30-day months. The five remaining days were called “Panjeh”.
In the old Persia, the time of the king’s coronation was considered the beginning of the calendar and the years were named after the kings. For example, they said, ‘the fifth month of Ardeshir’s seventh year of rule’. In 247 B.C., beginning with the Parthian era, the origin of the calendar was changed. Beginning with the Sassanid dynasty, again the calendar was changed to that used in the Achaemenian era.
At the time of Yazdgerd, the last Sassanid king, the year 631 A.D. was chosen as a new beginning for the Iranian calendar. Since no king ascended the throne after him, that calendar remained in use as the Yazdgerdi calendar.
In the Sassanid era, collecting taxes by the government started at Nowruz (the first day of the new year). After the Arab invasion of Iran, when Persians were converted to Islam, the tradition of collecting taxes and many other Persian traditions were adopted by the Abbasid caliphs. However, since they did not take the leap year into account, each year the time of Nowruz changed. They then decided to take the leap year into account, as the Persians had nit he pre-Islamic era. Thus originated the Motavakkeli calendar and Mo’tazedi history.

nation.ittefaq.com

4 dead in NYC crane collapse…Dextre’s stubborn bolts…New delegate numbers
NEW YORK (AP) A construction company official calls the New York crane collapse “an absolute freak accident.” He says a piece of steel fell and cut one of the ties holding the crane to a building, causing it to come crashing down. The mayor says at least four people were killed and at least 10 others were injured.
international space station (AP) The international space station’s gigantic new robot, Dextre, has risen like the Frankenstein monster from its transport bed. Spacewalking astronauts are attaching the robot’s 11-foot arms. It wasn’t easy getting started. Some anchoring bolts wouldn’t budge at first.
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) Barack Obama has gained more ground on Hillary CLinton. He’s picked up more than half the 14 delegates allocated to John Edwards on the basis of Iowa caucus night projections. Counting new figures from Iowa and California, an Associated Press delegate tally shows Obama with 1,617 delegates to Clinton’s 1,498.
Washington (AP) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the Democratic Party will be harmed if its leaders buck the will of national convention delegates picked in primaries and caucuses. The statement to be aired Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” is a boost for Barack Obama, who leads in pledged delegates.

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March 13, 2008 — The woman for whom Gov. Spitzer tossed away his political career, reputation and, perhaps, his family finally has a face.
Ashley Alexandra Dupre, a 22-year-old aspiring singer from the Jersey Shore, is the high-priced hooker at the heart of the sordid, sex-filled drama. Her name was revealed on the same day Spitzer resigned from office.
Until now, she has been publicly known only as "Kristen" - a woman the love gov ordered from the skin peddlers at Emperors Club VIP for a tryst at a Washington hotel on Feb.13.
But a relative said Dupre - born Ashley Youmans and raised in Belmar, NJ - and Kristen are one and the same.
"I love her. I am by her side. I found out from her," her brother, Kyle Youmans, told The Post. "The family is supporting her. She is fine."
He referred all other questions to his sister's lawyer, Don Buchwald, who would not confirm his client's involvement in the scandal.
Dupre earlier told The New York Times - which said she has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury - that the stress of being at the heart of the scandal was wearing on her.
"I just don't want to be thought of as a monster," she said. "This has been a very difficult time. It is complicated."

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The fall of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer holds many lessons, and the press will surely be examining them in coming months. But don’t expect the press corps to delve into the biggest lesson of all — its own role as his enabler.
Journalists have spent the past two days asking how a man of Mr. Spitzer’s stature would allow himself to get involved in a prostitution ring. The answer, in my mind, is clear. The former New York attorney general never believed normal rules applied to him, and his view was validated time and again by an adoring press. “You play hard, you play rough, and hopefully you don’t get caught,” said Mr. Spitzer two years ago. He never did get caught, because most reporters were his accomplices.
Journalism has many functions, but perhaps the most important is keeping tabs on public officials. That duty is even more vital concerning government positions that are subject to few other checks and balances. Chief among those is the prosecutor, who can use his awesome state power to punish, even destroy, private citizens.
Yet from the start, the press corps acted as an adjunct of Spitzer power, rather than a skeptic of it. Many journalists get into this business because they want to see wrongs righted. Mr. Spitzer portrayed himself as the moral avenger. He was the slayer of the big guy, the fat cat, the Wall Street titan — all allegedly on behalf of the little guy. The press ate it up, and came back for more.

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