Recent revelations about the role of Nobel Prize winner Muhummad Yunus in the alleged misuse of $100 million by the Grameen Banks (and the cover-up of that misallocation) have begun to provoke overdue discussions on the value of microfinance in the developing world. Arguments against microfinance center around the claim that it is a development strategy increasingly forced on the poor, and that those who are claimed to benefit from it the most–poor women–are actually its chief victims. Critics have long sought a platform to reveal the weaknesses and explode the myths supporting microfinance.

The first myth is that microfinance requires no collateral. That is nonsense. Microfinance group leaders and NGO field officers take control of all the household assets of the borrower (land, home, jewelry, equipment, food reserves, animals, remittances, savings, furnishings, etc.), and force borrowers to convert those assets to cash if there is the slightest threat of default of any borrower within the group. Peer-group pressure is combined with the threat of being stripped of essential belongings, and becomes a powerful disciplinary. Borrowing households lose control over physical assets, the ability to determine its pattern of consumption, and use of labor, ceding them all to the community and the microfinance lending agency. Given a model like this, it is no surprise that those viewed as potential defaulters are harassed not only by the lenders, but by their peers, sometimes to the point of physical violence and suicide as has been the case in India.

The second myth is that microfinance empowers women. Women are often the target of microfinance programs, but they do not benefit in proportion to their numbers. A Grameen Bank loan officer in Tangail explained this in no uncertain terms: “Women are willing to make any sacrifice to repay the loans, even if it means sacrificing their own personal consumption. Don’t you know that all mothers do that? And it is easier to control women than men. Men could easily disappear after borrowing money, but women stay at home to take care of children.” If a woman defaults, it’s considered a failure of household management, and brings shame and dishonor on the families. Lenders mobilize the same forces that already oppress women, taking advantage of the inherent inequity of gender roles to apply peer-group pressure. This worsens, rather than improves, the situations of poor women. Children also suffer. In Bangladesh, many children drop out of school to assist their parents in making weekly loan repayments.

The third myth is that microfinance provides low-interest loans on reasonable terms. The nominal interest rate charged by NGOs is often much higher than that of local money-lenders. Real interests are even higher because group leaders and NGO officials withhold a percentage of the total loan amount, while at the same time charging interest on the full amount, in addition to the various fees and compulsory savings program. Nor are NGOs flexible in terms of repayment. Money-lenders regularly grant extended grace periods and often accept payments in kind. Microfinance fails to take the money-lenders out of the equation, and money-lenders regularly supplement NGO loans as well as functioning as their guarantors. This ensures that the wealthiest community members will retain financial control over the poor.

The fourth myth is that loan repayments correspond to increases in income and sustainable economies. They don’t. NGOs don’t care where their borrowers invest, and productive local enterprises are often undermined by cheap imports, indicating conflict between the theory of pro-poor microfinance, and the reality of free-market policies. The unsustainable nature of microcredit is evident in ever-higher rates of loan defaults. Far from making NGOs self-sufficient, and covering all their costs, gains from microcredit tend to be used to pay above-average salaries for NGO employees and expensive overheads. Donor organizations describe this as “credit pyramiding,” and NGOs resort to dubious practices and oppressive methods to cover up the shortfall, including using donated funds to cover losses, and moving money around in and between organizations.

Micro-finance can only be considered a temporary measure. It does not cure the problems of poverty, make communities self-sufficient, or empower women. It does provide an attractive cover for states and donors who wish to rationalize de-funding state social and economic programs for the poor, and allocating resources to support high-growth industries for the benefit of the rich. Feminists, especially, should be aware that their rhetoric has been hijacked by the very institutions that oppress women and enforce gender inequality, and that have increasingly feminized poverty.

More than micro-loans, what the poor need are investments in health, education, and the development of sustainable farm and non-farm related productive activities. Donors have decreased investments in health and education in favor of microfinance, and NGOs have been forced to adopt microfinance as a path to their own financial self-sufficiency. But microfinance cannot compensate for the decades of privatization and reduction of state investment in the public sector. Nor can borrowers meet larger social and economic needs through their meager incomes, so the end result is that the poor once again pay the price for the inadequacy of national and international institutions.

In the end, the microfinance industry looks less like aid, and more like the export of global capitalism. Microfinance demonstrates the creativity and power of neoliberal capitalism, using the misery of the poor to further the interests of the global financial system. It is time for the international donors to review the microfinance industrial complex to ensure microfinance will not exploit the poor and not substitute for investments in education, health and institution building.

Jude L. Fernando is an associate professor of International Development Department of International Development, Community, and Environment, at Clark University, (Worcester, Mass.) He is the author of “Microfinance: perils and prospects” (Routledge 2006), and “ The Political Economy of NGOs: State Formation in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh” (Pluto Press, April 2011).

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Summary: Debate over the value of microfinance in the developing world appears to be long overdue.


06/30/2016 AT 12:30 AM EDT

While on the set of her new film,

18-year-old actress shared a photo of herself in a bubble bath seemingly nude, surrounded by candles and what appeared to be a glass of red wine.

But before internet trolls could fill her comments section with criticism, Winter clarified the scene with her caption.

"Today's office... relax everyone it's cranberry juice and I'm wearing lady bit pasties. #DogYears #set #movie," the

While many recognize Ariel as the lovable and intelligent Alex Dunphy, she's been

to play an emotionally unstable young woman in

Winter's latest character has her outfitted with nose rings, tattoos and fiery red hair also sporting crop tops, booty shorts, piercings and bold makeup for the starring role opposite

This on-screen transformation comes amid her recently announced breakup. Winter took to social media to confirm she's no longer with boyfriend

. The pair started dating in late 2013, and had a brief split in 2015.

Summary: The Modern Family star was on set of her upcoming movie, Dog Years


Incoming S.F. supervisor Jane Kim has grand goals

Jane Kim's black belt in tae kwon do, a martial art emphasizing strength, discipline and self-defense, may come in handy in her new job as San Francisco supervisor in the sometimes bare-knuckles environment of City Hall politics.

Kim, a Boalt Hall-trained attorney practicing civil rights law, will take over the District Six seat representing the South of Market, Tenderloin and North Mission areas on Jan. 8.

She already has shown she can hold her own during her four-year tenure on the San Francisco Board of Education, the last year as president.

There, she earned a reputation not as an ideologue cemented in her left-leaning political roots but as someone willing to work with her more conservative colleagues to forge compromises - even if, in the end, the divisions remained.

There have been plenty of issues confronting the city's public schools: the school assignment process, the student discipline policy and whether the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program belongs in San Francisco schools.

Kim opposed the JROTC and favors alternatives to suspending and expelling students for bad behavior. The new school assignment system, supported by Kim, gives some preference for families hoping to enroll their children in neighborhood schools.

"She doesn't just pooh-pooh every idea that doesn't come out of her camp," said Hydra Mendoza, a school board colleague who described herself as a moderate and Kim as a progressive. "She's open to listening to ideas, but also will challenge me, wanting to know how I came to my position."

Kim has said her legislative priorities at City Hall will include building more affordable housing, improving pedestrian safety, beefing up the city's community policing program, combatting the bedbug epidemic, making it easier to open small businesses, and revitalizing blighted areas by offering businesses incentives to move into vacant storefronts.

She also supports efforts to generate more revenue for the city and backs hiking the city's parking lot tax and imposing a new fee on downtown business interests to help fund Muni service. She said the idea of enacting a local income tax is worth exploring.

Born and raised in Manhattan, Kim is the daughter of Korean immigrants who came to the United States in 1971, six years before her birth.

She grew up speaking Korean and English at home. At 14, she started serious training in the Korean martial art tae kwon do, a pursuit that, she said, made her stronger and more confident.

A single, 33-year-old electric bass player, she rents a condo near Mission Street and South Van Ness Avenue in a hard-to-define neighborhood that falls between Hayes Valley, the South of Market and the Mission. She owns a car and also gets around town on Muni and on foot.

Kim got her political start through community organizing. When she was a teenager, she worked at the Coalition on Homelessness in New York City. She moved west to attend Stanford University, where she majored in political science and Asian American studies, settled in San Francisco 13 years ago and was admitted to the State Bar last year.

She landed a job with the politically connected Chinatown Community Development Center, focusing on tenant rights, affordable housing, public safety, alleyway improvements and youth leadership training.

Kim helped organize the now defunct San Francisco People's Organization, a coalition of more than three dozen left-leaning groups that emerged as an offshoot of then-Supervisor Matt Gonzalez's unsuccessful run for mayor in 2003. She lost her first race for school board in 2004. She ran again two years later and finished first.

Like Gonzalez, Kim was a member of the Green Party. She registered as a Democrat after Barack Obama was elected president.

She is a close ally of Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, a former roommate who is deft at straddling the board's left and centrist flanks.

"I think you'll see Jane as a supervisor who will bridge divides," Chiu said.

Kim did not get the heavyweight endorsements of the left-leaning Bay Guardian nor the Democratic County Central Committee, which backed Debra Walker in the District Six race. Supervisor Chris Daly, who is termed out as District Six supervisor after serving as a torch-bearer for the left during his decade in office, didn't endorse Kim either.

Still, she built a winning campaign on her years as a community organizer, harnessing hundreds of volunteers and reaching the district's different constituencies with multilingual campaign materials and events tailored to various ethnic communities.

She was at ease in diverse settings and courted the broad spectrum of the district's residents, from the moneyed condo owners in South Beach to the single-room occupancy hotel tenants in the Tenderloin. She promises to have an open door to all her constituents.

"One advantage that I have," Kim said, "is that I get to come into office fairly independent."

The Chronicle has highlighted each of the incoming members of the Board of Supervisors who will be sworn in on Jan. 8.

Tuesday: District 10, Malia Cohen

Wednesday: District Two, Mark Farrell

Thursday: District Eight, Scott Wiener

Summary: Jane Kim's black belt in tae kwon do, a martial art emphasizing strength, discipline and self-defense, may come in handy in her new job as San Francisco supervisor in the sometimes bare-knuckles environment of City Hall politics.  Kim, a Boalt Hall-trained attorney practicing civil rights law, will take over the District Six seat representing the South of Market, Tenderloin and North Mission areas on Jan. 8.  [...] she earned a reputation not as an ideologue cemented in her left-leaning political roots but as someone willing to work with her more conservative colleagues to forge compromises - even if, in the end, the divisions remained.  There have been plenty of issues confronting the city's public schools: the school assignment process, the student discipline policy and whether the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps program belongs in San Francisco schools.  The new school assignment system, supported by Kim, gives some preference for families hoping to enroll their children in neighborhood schools.  Kim has said her legislative priorities at City Hall will include building more affordable housing, improving pedestrian safety, beefing up the city's community policing program, combatting the bedbug epidemic, making it easier to open small businesses, and revitalizing blighted areas by offering businesses incentives to move into vacant storefronts.  A single, 33-year-old electric bass player, she rents a condo near Mission Street and South Van Ness Avenue in a hard-to-define neighborhood that falls between Hayes Valley, the South of Market and the Mission.


Jeremy Smith is an attorney, who represents workers comp "applicants," i.e. workers, as their cases go through the appeals process. Here he goes through some court briefs prior to a court hearing at the Elihu Harris State Office Building. Photo by Michael Maloney / CHRONICLE

Jeremy Smith is an attorney, who represents workers comp "applicants," i.e. workers, as their cases go through the appeals process. Here he goes through some court briefs prior to a court hearing at the Elihu

WORKERS' COMPENSATION CRISIS / ATTORNEY / Injured workers' lawyer defends role

Rhetoric has done little to differentiate applicants' attorneys from cash-craving shysters who keep a backup supply of neck braces for their clients.

If it were only all that simple, Jeremy Smith said from his Shattuck Avenue office last week in Berkeley.

"I'm satisfied with the living I'm making, but if it's just about making money, there are much simpler ways," he said. "The work I'm doing brings a lot of stress with it. You're trying to get people to turn their lives around or recover. I feel a lot of responsibility there to steer them in the right direction."

Critics charge that applicants' attorneys -- named because they represent the injured worker, or "applicant" making a claim -- routinely gum up the system for their own benefit to keep employees off the job for as long as possible and ultimately drive up the costs of claims.

Smith's livelihood dictates otherwise, he said. "I have no interest in seeing (a claim) extended beyond what's necessary, because I don't get paid until the end of the case," he said. "I have four kids."

Reforms could make it far harder for Smith to argue on behalf of injured workers. California could change the expectation for treatment from one that cures and relieves a condition to one that either cures or relieves it, for instance. The distinction would be crucial in the future as Smith argues for further treatment for a client before a state review board.

That would hamper a worker's expectation to be treated fairly by the system, Smith said -- and only increase their need for help. "It's not fair for injured workers to not have the assistance of someone who does this on a regular basis," he said.

"Workers' comp still relates to ... less-educated people. They're already behind the eight ball to begin with," he continued. "The changes would push them back. Even my more educated clients have trouble understanding what's happening."

Title: Private practice applicants' attorney

Role: Representing injured workers as their cases navigate the system.

Friends: Democrats and advocates trying to preserve a significant role for attorneys in the process.

Enemies: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and others who say his profession is gaming the system.

Popular fiction: That applicants' attorneys charge fees that gobble large percentages of their clients' awards. State law allows attorneys to receive only 12 percent to 15 percent of an award; all fees must be approved by a judge.

At stake: His livelihood. Smith's specialty could be wiped out or drastically curtailed by reforms and be replaced by what his association president calls "cookie-cutter justice."

Summary: WORKERS' COMPENSATION CRISIS / ATTORNEY / Injured workers' lawyer defends role  Rhetoric has done little to differentiate applicants' attorneys from cash-craving shysters who keep a backup supply of neck braces for their clients.  Critics charge that applicants' attorneys -- named because they represent the injured worker, or "applicant" making a claim -- routinely gum up the system for their own benefit to keep employees off the job for as long as possible and ultimately drive up the costs of claims.  The distinction would be crucial in the future as Smith argues for further treatment for a client before a state review board.  Workers' comp still relates to ... less-educated people.  Democrats and advocates trying to preserve a significant role for attorneys in the process.


“CBS This Morning” launched in January 2012 with co-anchors Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Erica Hill and a mandate to cover hard news — while eschewing traditional morning-show staples (lifestyle segments, cute animals, stunts, etc.).

“We had a lot of doubters coming in, no question,” says King. “When we started they didn’t even mention us when talking about morning TV. We weren’t part of the conversation.”

In the past four years, “CBS This Morning” has steadily built its audience, posting 44 consecutive months of growth and averaging nearly 3.7 million viewers — a remarkable about-face for CBS, which historically struggled in the morning.

(Hill was replaced by Norah O’Donnell in September 2012.)

King, 61, spoke to The Post about the show’s success and (of course) her BFF Oprah Winfrey.

We’re clearly resonating with viewers and clearly delivering something they want to see. That’s the beauty of morning TV — there’s something for everyone. I’m friends with people [at ABC and NBC] and we all do things differently. What’s gratifying for me is that people are turning to us. I sort of feel like Sally Field [in her famous Oscar acceptance speech]: “You like us! You really like us!” Most people who sample us say, “Hey, I’m gonna come back tomorrow.” News in the morning doesn’t have to be dry and stale; there’s a way to present it in a very informative, dare I say entertaining, way — not turning it into a comedy routine. I never walk down the street and people say, “You guys suck!” I think that’s very cool. We’ve never wavered from our mission. Never. CBS News is legendary for great storytelling and I think “CBS This Morning” carries on that tradition.

It’s possible. This is a business, and everybody who works in the business wants to be Number One. It took “GMA” 17 years to catch “Today” and pass them. I feel like people “get” us and I get a sense they like the content they’re seeing … they’re responding to what they see between Charlie, Norah and I. We play off each other. I can’t fake it. None of us ever fakes it. I’ll give you an example: I remember saying to Charlie [on the air] one day, “Charlie, there should be a ‘Real Housewives’ marathon at your house” and he said “I think not” and kept on reading. Another person might have laughed and said, “Sure, Gayle, come on over ha ha ha” and my reaction [to Charlie] could have been, “Well, that’s embarrassing” but it wasn’t. I knew damn well he didn’t want to see a “Real Housewives” marathon but the way he handled it, without missing a beat, was so uniquely him. Never at any time do we have a phony moment.

We’re tight. It doesn’t bother me in the least. I’ve said this many times: I see myself in Oprah’s light, not in her shadow. Who doesn’t want to be her best friend? There’s no downside. We’ve been friends since we were 21 and 22 and we’re now 61 and 62. I never think, “Oh, wow, people just see me as Oprah’s best friend.” Anyone who knows me doesn’t see me that way. I’m like, “Yes, I am her best friend — how do you do?” I don’t run away from that.

Summary: “CBS This Morning” launched in January 2012 with co-anchors Gayle King, Charlie Rose and Erica Hill and a mandate to cover hard news — while eschewing traditional morning-show staples (lifest…


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

10 Ways to Avoid a Bad Hair Day

In the shower, sprinkle a small amount (quarter-size drop) of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda into your palm along with your favorite shampoo, and then lather as usual. The baking soda helps to remove the residue that styling products leave behind, so your hair is cleaner and more manageable. It really does make your hair feel super-soft.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

One hair trick is to work with your bangs. “I often sleep past my alarm and wake without time to wash my hair, so I’ll just wash my bangs,” says Aarti Mehta, a publicist. “This way, no matter how messy or blah my hair looks, perfectly washed bangs make it seem like I meant to do that. Also, washed bangs and messy hair in a ponytail is always adorable.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

"When I'm in a rush and don't have time to style my hair, I throw it in a bun and add a sleek black headband,” says Amy Reed, president and founder of ChickDowntown.com. Other times, Amy opts for “a hippie-style braided headband in loose, messy hair.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

“Here’s a quick and simple trick that always seems to do the trick: Bend your head forward, shuffle with fingers, spray or apply a fixative," says Rick Fogarty, owner of Plan B Salon in Boston. "After that, your hair will appear really big. Relax it with a scrunching motion. If all else fails, get back in the shower.”

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

Baby powder works great for making the oil in your hair disappear and pumping up the volume of limp locks. Simply sprinkle it onto your palms and run your hands through your hair to absorb the oils and give your style a lift.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

Most blah hair days start on the second day, meaning you shampooed your hair the day before and it behaved well. Want to be back to day-one gorgeous? “Tuck your hair into a shower cap and take your shower,” advises Sandy Taylor of Style Like a Pro, a company that sells hairstyling videos. The moisture inside the cap and the heat from the shower help to reconfigure your hair and make it more malleable for styling. Follow by aiming a blow-dryer at your roots to perk those locks back up.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

“For a blah day, I love a messy ballerina bun with fringe, pretty dangling earrings and lip gloss,” says Arlene Castro, celebrity hairstylist of Say It With Style. If you sleep in the bun, let it loose the next morning to create excellent “just out of bed” hair.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

This treatment will instantly add shine and sparkle to even the dullest, drabbest days. Just coat hair with a shine treatment, cover in plastic, leave it on for a half hour and rinse out. Our favorite pick at the moment is Global Goddess Coconut Amla Revitalizing Hair Treatment ($45 at GlobalGoddessBeauty.com).

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

Everyone has that moment sometimes-you roll out of bed, glance in the mirror and recoil. No doubt about it: You're having a bad hair day before you've even stepped out the door. Check out our 10 quick fixes.

More from iVillage: Hair Inspiration Gallery: Layered Hairstyles Hair Inspiration: Curly Hairstyles Hair Inspiration: Hairstyles with Bangs Hair Inspiration: Trendy Short Bobs

Photo Credit: Courtesy of iVillage

Summary: Easy fixe


To make the blinking bacteria, for instance, Mr. Elowitz designed the biological equivalent of an electronic oscillator. It uses three genes that trump one another like the rock, scissors and paper in the children's game. Gene X makes a protein that turns off Gene Y. Gene Y makes a protein that turns off Gene Z. And Gene Z makes a protein that turns off Gene X.

So if Gene X is on, it will turn off Gene Y. But the absence of Protein Y allows Gene Z to turn on. Protein Z then turns off Gene X, allowing Gene Y to turn on, turning Gene Z off, and so on. So the three genes turn on and off in an endless cycle.

To make the bacteria blink, Mr. Elowitz programmed a gene for the production of a fluorescent protein to be turned on whenever Gene Z was off.

Some newer efforts involve trying to manipulate entire colonies of microbes to cooperate with one another. They take advantage of something called quorum sensing, a natural communications system that bacteria use to determine whether there are enough of them present to mount an attack.

The bacteria secrete a particular chemical into their environment that they and their brethren can detect. When many bacteria are present, the level of this chemical in the environment increases. The concentric circle bull's-eye pattern was made by engineering E. coli to respond to a quorum-sensing chemical from a different microbe.

Some bacteria were programmed to produce a green fluorescent protein at high concentrations of the chemical. Others were programmed to produce a red protein if exposed to a somewhat lower concentration.

The bacteria of both types were mixed together and spread on a surface. In the center were placed some microbes that emitted the chemical, which diffused away from the center. The bacteria closest to the center were exposed to a high concentration. Those programmed to respond to high concentrations turned green. Some of the bacteria further away turned red.

The work, published in Nature in April, was led by Mr. Weiss of Princeton and Professor Arnold at Caltech. Mr. Weiss, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and molecular biology, is now trying to use similar principles to help control the differentiation of stem cells into different types of tissues in different locations.

"That's how the body develops its organs," he said, "by relying on cell-to-cell communication."

The two scientists also published a paper in Nature the same month in which they used quorum sensing to control bacterial populations artificially, by engineering the microbes to turn on a suicide gene if the concentration of the quorum-sensing chemical grew too high. As soon as the first cells started killing themselves, the concentration of the chemical would drop, so the remaining cells could recover.

The demonstrations, however clever, also illustrate problems inherent in designing biological circuits, as opposed to silicon ones. One is that living things are always dividing and evolving.

Indeed, the population-control system breaks down within days because some of the bacteria mutate so that the suicide gene is not switched on.

Those bacteria, having a selective advantage, quickly take over the colony, said Lingchong You, lead researcher on the project at Caltech and now an assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Duke.

Another challenge is that the genes of the circuit can interact with the native bacterial genes in unexpected ways.

There is also great variability among living creatures. The blinking bacteria, for instance, do not light up in unison, but at greatly varying rates. Even a newly formed daughter cell will not blink in sync with its mother cell, despite being almost identical genetically.

"You write the same software and put it into different computers, and their behavior is quite different," Mr. You said. "If we think of a cell as a computer, it's much more complex than the computers we're used to."

For that reason, some scientists say, it might be difficult ever to make biological engineering as predictable as bridge construction.

"There is no such thing as a standard component, because even a standard component works differently depending on the environment," Professor Arnold of Caltech said. "The expectation that you can type in a sequence and can predict what a circuit will do is far from reality and always will be."

The unpredictability could lead to safety risks. What if the novel organisms were somehow to run amok? In addition, the same technology could be used to synthesize known pathogens based on their published DNA sequences.

Scientists have already created a poliovirus from scratch and more recently recreated the 1918 pandemic flu virus.

"It's quite clear this technology could be dangerous" if misapplied, Mr. Endy of M.I.T. said.

The field is starting to grapple with whether it should be regulated and, if so, how. Scientists set up a safety framework for research when genetic engineering was invented in the 1970's.

Much of the concern centers on efforts to make entire microbes. Some scientists call this synthetic genomics as opposed to synthetic biology, though there is considerable overlap. A big concern is making pathogens by synthesizing their DNA based on published DNA sequences.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has given $570,000 to M.I.T., the Venter Institute and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an independent policy research organization, to study the societal implications of synthetic genomes. The group hopes to have a report by midyear, said Gerald L. Epstein, senior fellow for science and security at the strategic studies center.

In March, the Health and Human Services Department set up the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity to give advice about research with potentially nefarious uses. That board in turn established a working group on synthetic genomics and synthetic biology that met for the first time in November.

David A. Relman, chairman of the working group, said the challenge was to weigh the promise of the field against the perils.

"We fully recognize the inherent beneficial and very positive attributes of all of this work," said Dr. Relman, an associate professor of medicine at Stanford, "and don't want to stifle it or curtail it or constrain it for no substantive reason."

Correction: January 25, 2006, Wednesday An article in Science Times on Jan. 17 about the new field of synthetic biology omitted the name of a scientist who helped design bacteria that blink on and off like lights. Besides Michael Elowitz, who was cited in the article, the work was also done by Stanislas Leibler, now of Rockefeller University.

Summary: Development and design of biological circuits that resemble electronic ones is in early stages of success; researchers say that synthetic biology applications are vast and may include ability to guard against cancer; current research that allows scientists to program bacteria to create patterns and emit glow described; funding for synthetic biology has come from variety of foundations, including Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grants; some scientists are calling for more regulation in field as it may also be used to create harmful biological weapons or bring about undesired biological events; photos; drawings (L)


The world’s tallest and fastest water slide, which has yet to open due to ongoing safety checks, has been tested by two brave men — and they survived to tell the tale.

The slide — named Verruckt, meaning “insane” in German — is located in the Schlitterbahn Waterpark in Kansas. It is 51.38 meters (17 stories) high, and looks terrifying.

The slide is 2.38 meters (8 feet) higher than the previous tallest slide, Kilimanjaro in Barra Do Pirai, Brazil, taller than Niagara Falls and the Statue of Liberty, and steeper than any ski slope.

When engineers first tested the ride with sandbags, the raft actually fell off the slide.

They later discovered the raft needed a minimum of 454 kilograms (1,000 pounds) to make it stable and they also added a net for safety, KSHB reported.

Verruckt was meant to be operating when the park first opened on May 23, but thrill-seekers were left disappointed. Park officials didn’t give a reason, but WXYZ reported that work was still being done.

A media preview was then canceled due to a problem with the slide’s conveyor belt, which carries 100-kilogram (220-pound) rafts to the top.

Waterpark innovator Jeff Henry, who developed the ride, and ride engineer John Schooley agreed to be the first to test the scary slide, and while a hat was lost along the way, both men managed to keep their lunches down.

The men first had to climb 264 steps just to get to the top of the ride.

Once there, riders are strapped into the giant raft with velcro and surrounded by netting, just in case of any possible falls or tumbles.

With a top speed of about 104 kph (65 mph), riders need a strong stomach as they experience two massive drops.

Schlitterbahn Waterpark spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said the site was putting safety ahead of an official opening date.

“I’d rather push it back than know we were skipping a single step in safety for our guests,” she told Fox two weeks ago.

“I would think this would increase your confidence. If anything, all of these calls we’re talking about, all these times we’re saying we’re not ready should make you feel better.”

Think you have what it takes to ride the Verruckt? Watch the test video and decide for yourself.

This article originally appeared on News.com.au.

Summary: The world’s tallest and fastest water slide, which has yet to open due to ongoing safety checks, has been tested by two brave men — and they survived to tell the tale. The slide — named Verruckt, m…


In the days after Mark David Chapman shot John Lennon on Dec. 8, 1980, the area around the gates of the Dakota, Lennon’s apartment building in New York City, quickly turned into a makeshift memorial. Flowers and signs from fans quoting Beatles lyrics were displayed alongside the more official remembrances, as world leaders made their way to honor an artist whose life had been ended too early.

The killing was shocking not only for its senselessness, but also because Lennon managed to escape many of other pitfalls of rock stardom. “He beat the rock-‘n’-roll life,” TIME’s remembrance quoted Steve Van Zandt saying the day after Lennon died. “Beat the drugs, beat the fame, beat the damage. He was the only guy who beat it all.”

So it makes sense that, as the story reported, flowers and signs were just the beginning of the aftershock:

Ringo Starr flew to New York to see Yoko. George Harrison, “shattered and stunned,” went into retreat at his home in Oxfordshire, England. Paul McCartney, whom Lennon plainly loved and just as plainly hated like the brother he never had, said, “I can’t tell you how much it hurts to lose him. His death is a bitter, cruel blow—I really loved the guy.” Having no wish to contribute to the hysteria that always follows the grief at such public mournings. McCartney, who has hired two bodyguards to protect himself and his family, said he would stay home in Sussex, England, even if there was a funeral. There was not. Lennon’s body was cremated in a suburban New York cemetery, and Ono issued a statement inviting everyone “to participate from wherever you are” in a ten-minute silent vigil on Sunday afternoon.

Before that, it had been a week of tributes. Radio stations from New Orleans to Boston cleared the air waves for Lennon and Beatles retrospectives. In Los Angeles, more than 2,000 people joined in a candlelight vigil at Century City; in Washington, D.C., several hundred crowded the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in a “silent tribute” that recalled the sit-ins of the ’60s. Record stores all over the country reported sellouts on the new Lennon-Ono album, Double Fantasy, their first record in five years, as well as the back stock of Lennon’s previous records.

Some reaction was tragic. A teenage girl in Florida and a man of 30 in Utah killed themselves, leaving notes that spoke of depression over Lennon’s death.

Read more from 1980, here in the TIME Vault: When the Music Died

Summary: He was shot on Dec. 8, 1980


DURING the month of August so far, at least six children in the United States have died of hyperthermia after being shut up in a car on a warm day.

Mark Pelletier, a master electrician and a technician for a Coca-Cola bottling plant in Minnesota, has invented a car alarm that he thinks could save some of the dozens of children who die this way each year.

''It's a horrible death,'' Mr. Pelletier said. ''They wouldn't let a criminal who has committed a heinous crime die in this way.''

Small children, because of their size, are especially susceptible to dehydration and heat stroke, said George Askew, a pediatrician and the executive director of Docs for Tots, an advocacy organization in Washington. A child can heat up as much as five times faster than an adult. Heat stroke can occur when the body's internal temperature rises above 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

And the temperature in a closed car rises rapidly. According to a Web site on hyperthermia fatalities maintained by a professor at San Francisco State University (ggweather.com/heat/hyperthermia2004.htm), a car sitting in the sun on a 76-degree day can heat up to 100 degrees within a half-hour. ''On a hot day in an unventilated car, an infant could become dehydrated in a very short time,'' Dr. Askew said. Many carbound pets also perish every year from hyperthermia.

Sometimes children have been saved by passers-by who, by chance, saw them shut up in cars on warm days, leading some inventors to develop alarm systems that would call attention to the dangerous situation.

One of those is Mr. Pelletier, who after watching a television news report of a child's death several years ago, decided to focus on the problem, approaching the automobile as he would a piece of industrial machinery. He came up with a programmable circuit board that turns on motion-detecting sensors when a closed-up car reaches a certain temperature (say, 88 degrees). If motion is detected, an alarm goes off.

Mr. Pelletier says the circuit board resembles those already present in many cars to monitor engine temperatures or control automatic dome lights, and could be installed fairly cheaply.

Mr. Pelletier is not the only inventor focused on preventing hyperthermia deaths in cars. ''We get a lot of letters from inventors who have devices they would like to call our attention to,'' said Rae Tyson, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York, last year introduced in Congress a bill that would have required the secretary of transportation to assess technologies that might reduce the incidence of injury to children left unattended in cars. The bill is still in committee.

In 1997, Carolyn Thornton, then a junior at duPont Manual High School in Louisville, Ky., won a $10,000 Lemelson Foundation award for her heat-sensitive car alarm, which she patented. Several years ago, three NASA engineers developed a pressure-activated sensor for children's car seats. And in 2001, General Motors received national attention when it announced it had invented a low-energy radar system that would sound an alarm when children were shut up in a warm car.

The technology was supposed to be available in cars this year. A G.M. spokeswoman, however, said that the system was not yet ready for market. No automaker offers a car outfitted with such an alarm.

What is unique about his system, Mr. Pelletier said, is that it is designed to avert false alarms. The system turns on only when the car reaches a certain temperature and only if all doors are shut. If the system, which is sensitive enough to detect motion even from a sleeping baby, does not detect any movement within about an hour, it shuts itself off to conserve battery power.

''Remember the early car alarms?'' Mr. Pelletier said. ''You had so many erroneous alarms that people just ignored them or unplugged them. I don't want that to happen here.''

Terrill Struttmann, a founder of Kidsincars.org, an advocacy organization based in Missouri, said that ''the technology is there, it's just that the car companies haven't adopted it.''

Mr. Pelletier has sent letters to members of Congress, the secretary of transportation and the large automakers, telling them of his invention.

So far, his entreaties have been to no avail. ''It's frustrating,'' said Mr. Pelletier, echoing the sentiment of many an inventor struggling to bring an invention to market. If a piece of industrial equipment were involved in such deaths, he said, ''something would be done about it.''

Summary: Mark Pelletier patents car alarm intended to prevent small children from dying of hyperthermia when left in locked car on hot day; photo (M)


Photo: Tim Hussin, Special To The Chronicle

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the Shipyard, the new development at Hunters Point in San Francisco.

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the Shipyard, the new development at Hunters Point in San Francisco.

Erik Arana (left) and David Tejeda work on one of the homes being built at the Shipyard. The first homes are up for sale.

Erik Arana (left) and David Tejeda work on one of the homes being built at the Shipyard. The first homes are up for sale.

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Michael Brown sprays down the land at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the

Water is sprayed by Michael Brown to keep dust down at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Water is sprayed by Michael Brown to keep dust down at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the

Carpenter Siegan Keys sharpens his carpenter's pencil at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Carpenter Siegan Keys sharpens his carpenter's pencil at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting

A view from the welcome center at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

A view from the welcome center at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the

Carpenter Siegan Keys, left, cuts 4x4s for Charles Sullivan, right, at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Carpenter Siegan Keys, left, cuts 4x4s for Charles Sullivan, right, at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first

Neil Oosterbaan, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 50 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Neil Oosterbaan, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 50 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May

Journeyman carpenter Astrian Bluford, left, and scaffolding foreman D.J. McCray, right, are seen at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Journeyman carpenter Astrian Bluford, left, and scaffolding foreman D.J. McCray, right, are seen at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May

Freddie Carter, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 51 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units. Carter, who is a resident of the area, is a big advocate of including locals in the entirety of the project. "The thing I like to see at the end of the day is that they live here, they built these houses and now they can afford to buy one," Carter said.

Freddie Carter, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 51 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May

Freddie Carter, left, and Neil Oosterbaan, right, superintendents for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, look at the progress of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units. Carter, who is a resident of the area, is a big advocate of including locals in the entirety of the project. "The thing I like to see at the end of the day is that they live here, they built these houses and now they can afford to buy one," Carter said.

Freddie Carter, left, and Neil Oosterbaan, right, superintendents for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, look at the progress of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San

Journeyman carpenters Douglas Givens, left, and Gregory Hall, right, work on a new housing development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units. Hall, who is a Bayview resident, has been with the carpenter's union since 1979.

Journeyman carpenters Douglas Givens, left, and Gregory Hall, right, work on a new housing development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are

Charles Sullivan is a carpenter at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Charles Sullivan is a carpenter at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the

Carpenter Siegan Keys cuts 4x4s at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the shipyard with 10,500 units.

Carpenter Siegan Keys cuts 4x4s at the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. These are the first homes hitting the market at the

Freddie Carter, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 51 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May 13, 2014. Carter, who is a resident of the area, is a big advocate of including locals in the entirety of the project. "The thing I like to see at the end of the day is that they live here, they built these houses and now they can afford to buy one," Carter said.

Freddie Carter, superintendent for James E. Roberts - Obayashi Corporation, is in charge of lot 51 of the new development at the San Francisco Shipyard at Hunters Point in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, May

Hunters Point Shipyard transformation in home buyers' hands

Since 1997 Lennar Urban has been selling its vision of a revitalized Hunters Point Shipyard to everyone from Bayview district neighbors to union bosses to environmentalists.

Now the builder is ready to start selling to the one group that matters to its shareholders: home buyers.

With the wooden frames of 88 town houses and flats marching up the hillside off Innes Avenue, Lennar is putting the final touches on its "welcome center": a 3,500-square-foot industrial chic modular building with a fireplace, comfy seating and an expansive deck overlooking the bay.

While 88 homes is a modest number in a city with thousands of units under construction, it's important because it is the start of arguably the most ambitious real estate development plan in the city's history: a $7 billion, 750-acre project aimed at transforming an abandoned Navy complex into a neighborhood with 12,000 homes and millions of square feet of office and retail space.

At a time when the lack of affordable housing is among the city's most pressing political issues, Lennar says the Shipyard represents housing that, while still not cheap, is a good 30 percent less costly than the $1,100 per square foot developers are getting in areas like South of Market, the Mission and Hayes Valley.

Units will average in the low $600s per square foot, with flats averaging about $550,000 and town houses averaging just less than $700,000.

"You are getting the same finished product you are getting downtown at a price point many more San Franciscans can reach," said Alan Mark of the Mark Co., which is marketing the project.

The first 88 homes are broken into two clusters: Olympia, a 25-unit collection of town houses, and Merchant, a 63-flat building. Both open this year.

An additional 159 units will be available in 2015. The entire first phase of the Shipyard will have 1,400 units, 16 pocket parks and 25 acres of manicured parks and trails. The clusters of housing will feel like distinct neighborhoods, rather than a typical master-planned subdivision, said Sheryl McKibben, Lennar's vice president of sales and marketing.

"It's going to evolve like a city evolves and take on its own personality," McKibben said. "One building may have a hidden courtyard, another might have a rooftop deck. Some have fire pits at street level, some have them tucked into little alleyways."

Marketing the Shipyard has proved to be politically tricky for Lennar. When the developer unveiled its branding campaign in February, San Francisco Supervisor Malia Cohen objected that the developer had changed the name from Hunters Point Shipyard to simply the Shipyard. In a letter, Cohen said: "Your strategy of marketing these units as separate from the surrounding neighborhood fosters the perspective that the existing residents of Hunters Point are not intended to benefit from this development."

She suggested that the developer was looking to minimize association with a neighborhood that has struggled with poverty.

Mark says that the existing Bayview neighborhood, a traditional African American enclave with one of the highest rates of homeownership in the city, is in fact a primary selling point for the project.

"People like to move into an area that is up-and-coming but also a place where there is a great social fabric and history," Mark said.

Freddie Carter, a Bayview resident and construction superintendent with Obayashi Corp., said he doesn't mind the name change. Carter worked repairing boilers on some of the last ships stationed at Hunters Point and the memories are not great. "The jobs went away and we were left to stagnate," Carter said. "A lot of people started to migrate to the East Bay to be closer to jobs."

But as construction started in July, Carter found himself back at the shipyard as the first superintendent on the job. Carter said he hopes it might be a place his grandkids could call home.

"They could be living in a place that Grandpa built," he said. "This is going to be a great opportunity for the younger guys. ... The guys working on this job are making good wages - there is no reason why they couldn't qualify."

Trent Zhu, a real estate broker focused on the Bayview, said the neighborhood is seeing increasing traffic from buyers who have been priced out of neighborhoods like Bernal Heights and the Mission. While there are multiple offers on every property, prices are still averaging about $500,000, which is 25 percent below the highs reached before the market crashed in 2008. "The Bayview is the last neighborhood in San Francisco that is still well below its previous price point," he said. "It still has room to grow."

The opening of the sales office comes as Lennar has won final approval to build a 60,000-square-foot artists building with 130 studios, a gallery, kilns and spray rooms.

The studio building will provide work space for about 150 artists displaced from a collection of older buildings that will be demolished.

Hunters Point artist Karen Slater said Lennar and the city delivered on their promise to build studios for artists "who would otherwise have been displaced. It's really important for San Francisco and we are very excited about it," she said.

But while artists have work space in the new Shipyard, Slater said she is disappointed the plan did not include affordable housing set aside for artists.

"The new studios are great, but if nobody can afford to live anywhere close to San Francisco, it's going to be a problem," she said. "We are losing artists left and right. Of the artists who make a living making art, I can't imagine more than a handful could afford (the Shipyard)."

J.K. Dineen is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jdineen@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SFjkdineen

Summary: Hunters Point Shipyard transformation in home buyers' hands  Since 1997 Lennar Urban has been selling its vision of a revitalized Hunters Point Shipyard to everyone from Bayview district neighbors to union bosses to environmentalists.  With the wooden frames of 88 town houses and flats marching up the hillside off Innes Avenue, Lennar is putting the final touches on its "welcome center": a 3,500-square-foot industrial chic modular building with a fireplace, comfy seating and an expansive deck overlooking the bay.  While 88 homes is a modest number in a city with thousands of units under construction, it's important because it is the start of arguably the most ambitious real estate development plan in the city's history: a $7 billion, 750-acre project aimed at transforming an abandoned Navy complex into a neighborhood with 12,000 homes and millions of square feet of office and retail space.  At a time when the lack of affordable housing is among the city's most pressing political issues, Lennar says the Shipyard represents housing that, while still not cheap, is a good 30 percent less costly than the $1,100 per square foot developers are getting in areas like South of Market, the Mission and Hayes Valley.  The clusters of housing will feel like distinct neighborhoods, rather than a typical master-planned subdivision, said Sheryl McKibben, Lennar's vice president of sales and marketing.  The opening of the sales office comes as Lennar has won final approval to build a 60,000-square-foot artists building with 130 studios, a gallery, kilns and spray rooms.


Slate, the Microsoft Corporation's new political and cultural magazine published on the Internet's World Wide Web, has been widely anticipated as an attempt to define a new medium.

But even as Microsoft was scrambling yesterday to meet technical problems and unexpectedly heavy demand for its new electronic journal, the company also described plans to publish it on paper as a conventional magazine.

Many established magazines and newspapers have branched out with electronic versions on the Internet, hoping to reach the World Wide Web's attractive demographic base of educated and affluent users. Microsoft is one of the first to go the other way, moving a Web publication into print. The shift puzzled some observers.

"I thought the whole idea of publishing a Web 'zine was avoiding paper and printing and distribution," said Lorne Manly, editor in chief of Folio: First Day, a newsletter that covers the publishing industry. "It begs the question, why did they go to the Internet in the first place?"

Slate, which is edited by Michael Kinsley, the former editor of The New Republic, made its debut Monday afternoon with the equivalent of nearly 30 pages of features and articles by prominent writers and journalists. And in an acknowledgment that most households do not have personal computers, and that most households with computers do not have access to the Internet's World Wide Web, Microsoft intends to publish a version of Slate on paper, appropriately called Slate on Paper.

For $29 a year, Slate on Paper will be mailed to subscribers who do not have computers or who simply prefer reading paper. An operator at the Slate on Paper telephone subscription order desk said yesterday that business was "fantastic."

While it is receiving general praise for its content, Slate is getting mixed reviews for its use of Internet technologies, including interactive discussion forums and sound clips. Many readers reported problems in gaining access, and others complained that once connected to Slate's Web site it took 30 seconds or more to flip from electronic page to electronic page.

"It was taking my computer forever to download, which was frustrating," Mr. Manly said. "It actually froze my computer."

Technical problems with new Web sites are common, of course, especially for those as ambitious as Slate. And John B. Williams, Slate's 31-year-old publisher, seemed to regard the heavy traffic as happy chaos.

Mr. Williams said the access problems arose because he underestimated the demand for the on-line magazine, and that Microsoft moved quickly to add additional server computers to handle the load.

But it is the heavy effort to promote and distribute Slate on Paper that seemed to be raising the most questions about Microsoft's media intentions. Although people can buy annual subscriptions to the paper version, single copies of Slate on Paper will be sold exclusively at more than 700 Starbucks coffee shops in the United States. Each copy of Slate on Paper will cost $2.95, and will contain selected articles and features from the on-line version.

In still another unusual tactic, selected articles from Slate will also be published in Time magazine. Mr. Williams said both the Starbucks Corporation and Time, a unit of Time Warner Inc., approached Microsoft earlier this year to propose the deals.

"Some people have accused us of copping out," Mr. Williams said. But he added, "In terms of our efforts, we are very much focused on the on-line version and making sure that it remains the flagship product."

Mr. Williams said the decision to publish Slate on paper was intended "to introduce the magazine and brand concept to people who are potential readers of the on-line version." "Hopefully," he added, "we can convince them that the on-line product is a better experience."

Microsoft said Slate will be free to Internet users until Nov. 1, when subscribers will be charged $19.95 a year.

In its inaugural issue, the top article was a discussion entitled "Is Microsoft Evil?" Mr. Kinsley, Slate's editor, said the discussion was an "attempt to put a stake in the ground" and assert the magazine's editorial independence.

However, Mr. Kinsley said readers should not expect the magazine to emphasize issues related to computers or the Internet. "In fact, we're going to be downplaying Web issues in general," he said. "It's not what we're about."


SAN DIEGO -- SeaWorld and California workplace regulators have reached a settlement over allegations that the park failed to train workers to safely interact with its killer whales.

The settlement, which still needs approval from the California Occupational Safety and Health Appeals Board, would dismiss all four worker safety citations and related fines, but require the park to adhere to strict guidelines on how whales and trainers interact, according to the San Diego Union Tribune, which first reported the story.

The proposed agreement would ban surfing on, swimming under and standing on orcas. The citations claimed the park didn't keep employees aware of hazards involving the orcas.

A park spokesman said SeaWorld is pleased with the settlement.

The company already had ended the practice of having trainers share the water with the whales following the 2010 death of a trainer at its Orlando marine park. Trainer Dawn Brancheau was interacting with the killer whale Tilikum before a live audience in a pool at Shamu Stadium when Tilikum grabbed her and pulled her off a platform into the pool, then refused to release her before she drowned.

The Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission later found that the park had violated a federal workplace safety law.

Seaworld also has been struggling to recover from a PR hit arising from the 2013 documentary film "Blackfish," which featured Tilikum and suggested the treatment of captive orcas provokes violent behavior. The release of the film hurt attendance.

Lawmakers, Activists Underwhelmed by SeaWorld Plan to End Orca Show

SeaWorld has indicated it is transitioning away from having the marine mammals perform acrobatic pool stunts. CEO Joel Manby told investors in November that the park's San Diego show — "One Ocean" — will end next year and be replaced in 2017 with an "all new Orca experience" that will emphasize the "natural behavior of whales."

Summary: SeaWorld and California regulators have reached a settlement over allegations that the park failed to adequately train workers to work with orcas.


In last Sunday’s edition, a Daily Mail story described British Labour MP Liz Kendall as a “slinky brunette” who “maintains her lithe figure by jogging 20 miles a week.” As if that wasn’t enough, the writer quizzes Kendall on the cost of her “emerald green suede high heels,” speculates on her weight and points out that she shops at the same stores as the Duchess of Cambridge.

Meanwhile, things were looking only marginally better for female politicians here in the U.S. On Monday, Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) reportedly said that “the gender card alone isn’t enough,” implying that Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign lacks substance.

In honor of what’s turning out to be a banner week for sexism here and across the pond, Fortune takes a look back at the five most sexist moments in recent American and British politics.

Prime Minister David Cameron famously used this phrase to tell Labour MP Angela Eagle to cool it during a House of Commons exchange. While he tried to pass it off as a popular “humorous remark” at his alma mater Oxford University, Eagle didn’t buy it. “I’ve been patronized by better people than the Prime Minister,” she quipped to the BBC.

“The bangs. The headbands. The hair flip. The paillettes.”

Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.Photograph by Scott Olson — Getty Images

Fortunately for Americans everywhere, US News decided to publish a 2012 article called, “Hillary Clinton’s Long-time Hairstylist Shares Secrets Behind The Diplomat’s Ever-Changing Hair.” Whatever would our nation do without the essential knowledge that “the Secretary of State has grown her hair longer, even putting it up in hasty ponytails”?

“Well, ma’am, I never met a presidential candidate with pink nail polish on.”

Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.Photograph by Laura Segall — Getty Images

This keen observation was made about Carly Fiorina by Paul Bedard of the Washington Examiner. “Well, there’s always a first,” was Fiorina’s reply. Incidentally, Fiorina was also the first woman to lead a Fortune 20 US company, but apparently Bedard was more interested talking polish than business.

“A good wife doesn’t disagree with her master in public and a good little girl doesn’t lie about why she quit politics.”

Shut up Menschkin.A good wife doesn't disagree with her master in public and a good little girl doesn't lie about why she quit politics

— Austin Mitchell (@AVMitchell2010) October 29, 2012

When Tory MP Louise Mensch resigned as an MP, she explained she was stepping down because she wanted to move to New York with her American husband Peter Mensch. But that wasn’t good enough for Labour MP Austin Mitchell, who tweeted about it in the most sexist way possible. (Mitchell is out of office now. Related?)

Finally, there’s this classic: Then-New York Senator Hillary Clinton was addressing a crowd in Salem, New Hampshire, when she was interrupted by a man chanting, “Iron my shirt!” and holding up a sign with the same words. We can’t help but wonder where this man is today and whether he’s managed to resolve his wrinkled shirt dilemma. After all—Hillary’s a little busy right now.

Summary: Hillary Clinton and British Labour MP Liz Kendall may be the latest female politicians to face sexism, but they certainly aren't the first.


PARIS— THE Georges Pompidou Center is justly celebrated for its 20th-century art, its rich permanent collection as well as its blockbuster exhibitions. When it was founded in 1977, however, it was given a much broader mandate, one that also embraces architecture, industrial design, experimental dance, electro-acoustical music and avant-garde cinema. And it is this multidisciplinary vocation that equips it to identify and explore cultural movements that define an epoch.

Of course, it can also be risky to draw parallels between diverse art forms in different countries when the connections are not obvious. In its latest exhibition, ''Les Années Pop, 1956-1968,'' which runs through June 18, the Pompidou has assumed that risk. It has laid out a cultural smorgasbord from the United States, Britain and France to support its case that Pop Art was part of a larger international phenomenon including architecture, design, movies and music.

Yet some French critics have seen in this a revisionist attempt to inflate France's role in the 60's. Are they being unfair?

For today's generation, Pop Art may well be remembered principally for the comic strip images and celebrity icons bequeathed by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, but at its height it involved far more. Many people might be surprised to learn that what seemed like a quintessentially American art movement was in fact born in Britain. (This was underlined in ''Pop Art: U.S./U.K. Connections, 1956-1966,'' which just closed at the Menil Collection in Houston.) So, why not? Perhaps the French role has also been overlooked.

Catherine Grenier, the curator of the Pompidou show, admits that she called it ''Les Années Pop'' (''The Pop Years'') because, strictly speaking, French artists did not do Pop Art. Instead, in 1960, thanks to the French art critic Pierre Restany, artists like Arman, César and Jean Tinguely became known as the Nouveaux Réalistes. Nonetheless, they had much in common with their British and American colleagues: the French artists, too, were responding to mass-produced throwaway objects and their television advertising images; they, too, believed that by isolating the new detritus of daily life, they were holding up a mirror to society.

It's no surprise, then, that this show is not divided into national groups, because that would emphasize their different approaches; rather, it is organized chronologically into three periods, with visual-art galleries followed in every case by space devoted to architecture, design and cinema. Pop music also accompanies the visitor, much of it from 60's groups like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Beach Boys and the Who, along with the evergreen Bob Dylan. (Here, at least, French singers, even the still-rocking rocker Johnny Hallyday, are noticeably absent.) In all these genres, artists seemed convinced that the future was nigh.

Indeed, this show begins in 1956 because in that year an exhibition called ''This Is Tomorrow'' was organized at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in London by a so-called Independent Group of artists. Their display also included what is now recognized as the inaugural work of Pop Art, Richard Hamilton's small collage ''Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing,'' with its Charles Atlas figure surrounded by the trappings of modernity, a vacuum cleaner, a tape recorder, a television set, a tin of ham, a comic book poster and the like. Soon afterward, the British critic Lawrence Alloway coined the term Pop Art, and it quickly caught on.

In a letter to friends in 1957, Mr. Hamilton even dared offer a definition of what he, Peter Blake, David Hockney and other Britons were up to. He wrote, ''Pop Art is: popular (designed for a mass audience); transient (short-term solution); expendable (easily forgotten); low cost; mass-produced; young (aimed at youth); witty; sexy; gimmicky; glamorous; big business.'' He added, ''This is just a beginning.'' It certainly was.

While France's Nouveaux Réalismes had César crushing cars, Christo wrapping consumer hardware and Tinguely building motor-driven mechanical contraptions, the late 1950's in the United States signaled the end of Abstract Expressionism. Now came Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Robert Indiana and Larry Rivers, artists who, in a nod to Marcel Duchamp and the Dada movement, began addressing the symbols of daily life. The exhibition seems to overlook no one; Mr. Johns's emblematic ''Flag,'' his Stars and Stripes oil of 1958, is naturally included.

Architects and designers, however, were going their own way, creating futuristic furniture in plastic, using the new space age to suggest that science fiction was no longer fiction. The house of the future was variously portrayed as inflatable, in capsule form, in prefabricated modules. ''Fun Palace,'' which Cedric Price designed for the English stage director Joan Littlewood with mobile halls and stages, was never built, but the architectural drawings are in this show. It is hard not to recognize ''Fun Palace'' as a precursor of the Pompidou Center itself, with its inside-out, refinerylike design.

''Les Années Pop'' turns more directly to Pop Art in its second section, where Lichtenstein makes his appearance with ''Look Mickey,'' Warhol with ''Shot Sage Blue Marilyn,'' ''Early Colored Liz (Turquoise)'' and ''Shopping Bag'' (with an image of a can of Campbell's Soup), and Martial Raysse with ''High Tension Painting.''

The Pompidou has also reunited most of the dispersed elements of ''The Store,'' Claes Oldenburg's room-size installation of furniture and everyday objects variously made of metal, rubber, plaster and wood. By the mid-1960's, the center of gravity of Pop Art had clearly moved to New York. Films made by Warhol's Factory carry some of the mood to Paris today.

In France, the Nouvelle Vague was flourishing, and some images from movies like François Truffaut's ''400 Blows'' and ''Jules and Jim'' and Alain Resnais's ''Last Year in Marienbad'' are included here. Yet while the new French cinema undoubtedly represented a break with the past, it is less apparent that it formed part of a new popular culture: its films were made by and for intellectuals. Indeed, then as now, Britain was always more populist in its culture and, as such, maintained a two-way flow of influences with the United States: pop music even offered an example of how a music style imported from the United States was then re-exported by British groups back to the United States.

The final section of this show is called ''Dream and Conflict.'' Here, though many of the earlier themes continue to be explored, the mood clearly darkens as a certain innocence is shattered by the shadow of the Vietnam War and the rise of the drug culture. George Maciunas revisits Mr. Johns's ''Flag,'' but this time the stars are skulls and the stripes include lines like ''U.S.A. surpasses all genocide records!'' Mr. Hamilton's silk-screen series ''Swinging Sixties'' in turn shows Mick Jagger hiding his face as he is driven away by the police after being arrested for drug possession.

By 1968, with the May student uprising in Paris and the urban riots and antiwar protests in the United States, ''Les Années Pop'' were well over. By the end of this show, the case also seems to have been made that 1956 to 1968 did mark a period of artistic and social liberation in Europe as well as the United States.

Less clear, perhaps, is whether different art forms were responding to one another sufficiently to represent a true cultural movement. And, in truth, France's role still looks fairly peripheral. France, on the other hand, is infamous for looking back. To judge by ''Les Années Pop,'' it seems to be enjoying the 60's today as much as it did at the time.

Photos: ''Ringo Starr,'' a 1967 poster by Richard Avedon, above, and ''High Tension Painting,'' 1965, by Martial Raysse. (Collection of Alain Weill); (ADAGP)(pg. 35); ''Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing,'' a collage by Richard Hamilton, in ''Les AnnÃ©es Pop, 1956-68'' at the Pompidou Center in Paris. (ADAGP)(pg. 33)

Summary: THE Georges Pompidou Center is justly celebrated for its 20th-century art, its rich permanent collection as well as its blockbuster exhibitions. When it was founded in 1977, however, it was given a much broader mandate, one that also embraces architecture, industrial design, experimental dance, electro-acoustical music and avant-garde cinema. And it is this multidisciplinary vocation that equips it to identify and explore cultural movements that define an epoch.    Of course, it can also be risky to draw parallels between diverse art forms in different countries when the connections are not obvious. In its latest exhibition, ''Les AnnÃ©es Pop, 1956-1968,'' which runs through June 18, the Pompidou has assumed that risk. It has laid out a cultural smorgasbord from the United States, Britain and France to support its case that Pop Art was part of a larger international phenomenon including architecture, design, movies and music.


Numerous interruptions due to bad weather have played havoc with the schedule at the US Open Golf.

The 116thÂ edition of the tournament is being held at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania. It is the ninth time Oakmont has played host to the event.

Play had to be called off on Thursday, with only nine players having completed their first rounds.

Sixty-nine players had been unable to complete their first rounds, while 78 others were unable to tee off at all, including world number one Jason Day.

Some players suffered up to three interruptions in their rounds. Englishman Lee Westwood summed up the feelings of many of the competitors, saying: "It's frustrating having to keep coming off but there's nothing you can do about the weather."

The remainder of the tournament, however, is expected to take place in dry and largely sunny weather.

Summary: Rain and thunderstorms interrupted the schedule of the US Open Golf, held at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.


In turn, she ought to listen to them. The anxious voices criticising her are more than the sexist last gasps of some crusty, bewigged buffoons. The fact is, lawyers are anxious about the integrity of the justice system. Why? Because of a bunch of botched reforms brought in by Chris Grayling, the first Lord Chancellor appointed for over 400 years who had never been a lawyer (and incidentally, one under whom Lord Faulks served dutifully).

Some of Mr Grayling’s reforms were so bad that as soon as Michael Gove was handed his job last year, he set about reversing them. Mr Gove, hardly known as a bleeding heart Leftie, quickly called a halt to the introduction of a damaging new procurement system for court litigators and suspended additional cuts to the legal aid budget, making economies elsewhere instead.

He also stopped reforms that would require criminals to pay for courts, overturned a ban on books for prisoners and abolished a new initiative that aimed to sell UK government legal expertise to the highest bidder. And all of that in just over a year in office, before he self-destructed in the race for leadership.

Meanwhile, as parliamentary committees ground into gear, disturbing facts began to emerge about Mr Grayling’s legacy. In May this year, the Public Accounts Committee found that despite the cuts, the justice system isn’t delivering value for money. Instead, costs are being shunted around and court time wasted by false economies. Over two years, the average time that victims and witnesses have to wait just to see a case transferred from the Magistrates’ Court to the Crown Court has risen from just over three months to nearly five.

Summary: With a ruffling of his brocade robes and a flick of his wig, he was off.


For now, much of the positioning is going on relatively quietly. Yet potential candidates are already making moves to help pave their paths. Most obvious is Mr. Cruz, who has landed a prime speaking spot at the convention despite several nasty scrapes this year with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Cruz has created two nonprofits to serve his political ambitions and maintain his donor database. He has also installed a veteran political operative who worked on his campaign as his new chief of staff, a move the senator’s associates said was done to make the office less a miniature think tank and more a presidential incubator.

And his political allies, including Senator Mike Lee of Utah, staged an insurrection on the convention floor on Monday as part of a failed attempt to change party rules that would have been more advantageous for Mr. Cruz’s future political ambitions (one of the changes: mandating that only registered Republicans can participate in presidential caucuses and primaries).

Mr. Cruz has been aggressively pushing legislation that would help his political agenda, including a recent bill that would place mandatory minimum sentences on illegal immigrants who return to the country.

“My focus now is fighting for the very same conservative principles in the United States Senate that were at the heart of our presidential campaign,” Mr. Cruz said.

Mr. Cotton, 39, is also trying to seduce early-state Republicans while playing nice with his colleagues.

He was the keynote speaker in March at the Silver Elephant Dinner for rising stars among South Carolina Republicans, and he won a speaking role at the Iowa Economic Forum lunch with convention delegates here.

Mr. Cotton was one of five freshman senators who traveled to Arizona in support of Senator John McCain, who is facing a tough re-election fight there. He attended a Republican dinner in Missouri for Senator Roy Blunt, who is also in a tough race.

In August, Mr. Cotton will travel the country, including a stop in Nevada to campaign for Representative Joe Heck, a Republican, who is running for the seat being vacated by Senator Harry Reid, the minority leader.

Like Mr. Cruz, Mr. Cotton is attempting to establish himself on the right flank of the potential primary field over one of the most galvanizing issues among conservative activists. “I think the fact of the matter is that right now, we have too much immigration,” Mr. Cotton said.

Mr. Rubio decided to run for his Senate seat in Florida after repeatedly denying that he would. But his colleagues have noted that he has become far more engaged in Senate business over the past few months than over the past two years, taking the lead on fighting for funding for combating the Zika virus, for example.

For his part, Mr. Kasich is making the most of his home-state convention, though he is not scheduled to speak. With the governor under attack by Mr. Trump’s campaign for not endorsing the party’s standard-bearer, allies of Mr. Kasich struck back aggressively in a way that could well position him for the future with the many Trump skeptics in the party’s ranks.

Mr. Kasich has been ubiquitous this week. He addressed the N.A.A.C.P. in Cincinnati and appeared at fund-raising events in Cleveland for the committees dedicated to electing Republican governors, House members and senators. He will also appear at a foreign policy seminar and a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event.

Bridging the gap between the hard-right wing of the party and the pragmatists is the House speaker and convention chairman, Paul D. Ryan, whom many Republicans tried to lure into challenging Mr. Trump at the convention.

Mr. Ryan has threaded the needle by supporting Mr. Trump while also openly disagreeing with him on some issues. But he will soon be pressed about whether he intends to make a career of the speakership or position himself for a presidential bid if Democrats take the White House and Senate.

As the speaker, he has a natural friend-making apparatus in his fund-raising operations. Since he became the speaker, his political organization has raised nearly $38 million, with more than $25 million used to help re-elect House Republicans. His campaign committee, Ryan for Congress, has $9.75 million in cash on hand, the most for any member of the House.

This month, he will have an opportunity to swell those coffers and make new friends for a future presidential run when he appears at the Koch organization’s summer gathering at the Broadmoor resort in Colorado.

Mr. Ryan left little doubt about how he wanted to rebrand the party should Mr. Trump lose.

“The Republican Party is a ship floating on populism right now,” Mr. Ryan said. He criticized those who “profit off anger, outrage and dark emotions for short-term goals.”

Gaming out policy implications, let alone promising candidates, can be folly in volatile political times. After all, few in the party at the last convention could have ever imagined Mr. Trump emerging as their nominee in 2016. And should he fall short in November, his example may only inspire a cast of imitators four years from now.

“Are there more Mark Cubans out there who say, ‘Well, this is easy, and I’m not a nut, so I may even be successful’?” said Dave Carney, a longtime Republican strategist, referring to the wealthy Dallas Mavericks owner and ubiquitous media presence. “Trump has given them a road map.”

Summary: A number of aspirants are taking steps to position themselves for a presidential bid in 2020 in the event that Donald J. Trump loses in November.


As the calendar prepares to turn to August, competition for MLB teams is heating up everywhere across the league -- and that doesn't just refer to what's happening on the diamond.

With the Detroit Tigers entering Wednesday's showdown in Boston 3.5 games behind the Red Sox for the AL's final wild card spot, they knew there would be some pretty high stakes at play. So the squad set the tone even before the game started.

Check out this video from Justin Verlander's Instagram account, showing middle infielders Ian Kinsler and Jose Iglesias doing battle in a special edition of rock-paper-scissors:

That's how you get hyped to take the field.

In fairness, it seems that the move paid off for the Detroit players involved. Kinsler and Iglesias led off the game with a pair of hits, both eventually scoring in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. From there, the Tigers closed out a 4-3 win to become the first team to sweep Boston all season, moving within 2.5 games of the Sox for that coveted final playoff spot.

More Locker Room Banter: -- Oklahoma State Engages In Shenanigans During CWS Rain Delay -- Titans' Bernard Pollard's Pre-Game Routine: Extensive Locker Room Nudity -- Avery Johnson Dances To Young Thug With His Team After Big Win

Detroit Tigers, humor, Ian Kinsler, Jose Iglesias, Locker Room, MLB, pre-game

Summary: In the locker room before facing off against the Red Sox, the Tigers found a way to take rock-paper-scissors to a whole new level.


Voters of the United Kingdom have chosen to leave the European Union by a margin of 52% to 48%.

While many voters believed they were voting against immigration and E.U. regulations, there will be no change in these policies for at least two years but they have set in train a series of consequences which will dominate public life in the U.K. for the foreseeable future.

Summary: The referendum is already sending tremors around the British Isles and Europe


Vlada Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine ipak je odustala od izmjena pravilnika kojim se uvode novi nameti na primanja zaposlenika u tom bh. entitetu. Pod pritiskom javnosti, ali i predstavnika radnika i poslodavaca, primjena dokumenta punog naziva Pravilnik o izmjeni Pravilnika o primjeni Zakona o porezu na dohodak zapravo je prolongirana.

Već na jutrošnjoj izvanrednoj sjednici Ekonomsko-socijalnog vijeća Federacije BiH Jelka Milićević, federalna ministrica financija, potvrdila je da će se primjena spornog pravilnika prolongirati do 3. listopada, dakle samo dan nakon lokalnih izbora u BiH.

Sve to znači da će najavljivana nova porezna opterećenja pričekati druga vremena, čime će i primanja zaposlenika, pogotovo u dijelu isplate toplog obroka, regresa i drugih stavki koje su po novom trebale biti oporezovane, ostati u dosadašnjim okvirima.

Predloženo je bilo da je oporezuje topli obrok iznad 8,5 konvertibilnih maraka (4,35 eura), a do sada je taj iznos bio dvostruk, te da se uvedu nova pravila u oporezivanju regresa. Do sada je bio neoporezovan regres u iznosu od 70 posto od plaće zaposlenika u posljednja tri mjeseca, a po novom prijedlogu regres ne podliježe oporezivanju samo ako je niži od 50 posto prosječne plaće u Federaciji BiH u posljednja tri mjeseca. Prevedeno, svaki regres iznad 200 eura podlijegao bi oporezivanju.

Izmjenama su bila obuhvaćena i službena putovanja, korištenje privatnog automobila za poslovne svrhe, naknade za smještaj i odvojeni život, no sve se to odnosilo na manji dio onih koji ionako imaju visoka primanja i brojne druge beneficije. No, oni koji zarađuju prosječnu plaću (u Federaciji BiH ona iznosi 425 eura) ili rade za „crkavicu“ s pravom su bili zabrinuti.

Iz krugova poslodavaca, od kojih je Al Jazeera pokušala dobiti odgovore na pitanja o novim nametima, te koliko su spremni izaći u susret radnicima, posljednjih dana su se neslužbeno mogle dobiti potvrde da će primjena spornog pravilnika biti odgođena. To se, na kraju, i dogodilo.

No, oni sami su davali jasne signale da će oporezivanje toplog obroka i regresa koje je trebala donijeti izmjena Pravilnika o primjeni Zakona o porezu na dohodak ići na teret radnika. Uz to, i drugi dodaci na plaću trebali bi biti oporezivani što je Ekonomsko-socijalno vijeće Federacije BiH nagnalo na akciju, te je uslijedio zahtjev da se oporezivanje odgodi.

Ogledni primjer za izračun primanja u BiH [Izvor: Revicon]

Logično se, iako pomalo banalno jer je odgovor unaprijed poznat, postavlja i pitanje jesu li poslodavci spremni izaći u susret radnicima, odnosno jesu li spremni zadržati istu razinu neto primanja te na svoju štetu povisiti plaću u bruto iznosu.

„Kada su u pitanju reakcije na izmjene, tu ne postoje pravila. Zavisi u velikoj mjeri od poslodavaca, ali i od vrste nameta koji je promijenjen. Načelno, promjena u stopi poreza na dohodak ne bi povećala troškove poslodavca nego bi utjecala na iznos koji se radniku uplati na račun“, ukazuje Marko Dmitrović, savjetnik u Računovodstveno financijskom portalu Revicon.

Napominje kako poslodavci mogu, ako to žele, preuzeti na sebe teret eventualnih većih opterećenja, ali je, po njemu, „to vjerovatno više izuzetak nego pravilo“. Ukazuje i kako se u Federaciji BiH planira smanjenje stopa doprinosa na plaću, što bi na kraju dovelo do smanjenja troškova poslodavca, a ne bi utjecalo na visinu plaće radnika.

O opterećenjima na plaće, pogotovo na činjenicu da će značajno utjecati na kućne proračune, sami zaposlenici nerado javno pričaju. Al Jazeeri se pod uvjetom anonimnosti, u vrijeme dok je primjena novog pravilnika bila izvjesna, javila zaposlenica jedne manje sarajevske tvrtke. Ona je jednostavnom računicom došla do spoznaje da bi po tome, uz oporezovani topli obrok i druge dodatke, mjesečno dobivala 150 konvertibilnih maraka (77 eura) manje što uz sniženi iznos regresa. Izračunala je da bi godišnje ostala uskraćena za približno 1.000 eura. Isto toliko izgubio bi i njezin suprug, koji također radi kod privatnika.

„Za malu firmu od desetak zaposlenih, vlasniku je jednostavnije za taj iznos koji bi trebao više davati svakome od nas da zaposli novog radnika. I to mu je neprihvatljivo, pogotovo da sav teret uzme na sebe, pa će uvijek biti na štetu radnika“, ukazuje ona.

Podsjeća i kako će se svaki poslodavac ograditi na prozivke, te uputiti radnike entitetskih ili državnim vlastima da tamo traže svoja prava.I jedna zaposlenica u financijama jedne velike bh. tvrtke, koja priprema obračun srpanjskih plaća, uvjerava kako je „oduvijek bilo da poslodavac želi uzeti što više od radnika, a pružiti mu što manje“. Svjesna je i kako poslodavci sebi mogu dozvoliti takvo izrabljivanje radnika, kako ga naziva, jer im do dozvoljavaju i zakonska rješenja, ali i situacija u gospodarstvu i na tržištu rada.

„Jednostavno kažu: 'takva su pravila i ako ih ne prihvatiš, možeš po radnu knjižicu, a na tvoje mjesto doći će već neko drugi'. I zato ljudi pristaju raditi makar dobivali i minimalac te uplaćene doprinose“, objašnjava.

U međuvremenu je stigla potvrda o prolongiranju primjene novog pravilnika o oporezivanju. Dotične zaposlenice prihvatile su tu vijest s olakšanjem, ali je jedna od njih znakovito poručila: „Svejedno će nam to doći na naplatu vjerovatno od jeseni. Taman nakon novih izbora, jer svaki je glas bitan“.

Summary: Federalna ministrica finansija Jelka Milićević potvrdila je da će se primjena pravilnika prolongirati do 3. oktobra.


Take Cover and jockey David Allan won the King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.

The 8-1 shot led almost from the off after a strong start and held off the challenge of Washington DC to win the race for the second time.

The nine-year-old, trained by David Griffiths, also won the race in 2014.

Earlier on, favourite Franklin D and jockey Ryan Moore won the Betfred Mile by a head from 20-1 outsider Master of the World.

Allan, speaking about the victorious Take Cover, said: "He's just got raw speed and he really battles to the finish.

"He loves to get on with it, but when something comes at him in the finish, he doesn't half dig in. He's still improving, I think."

Cornelius Lysaght, BBC horse racing correspondent:

"There's no more fabulous a spectacle than a front-running speedster like Take Cover blasting out of the starting stalls, straight into the lead, at an unfeasible looking fast pace, and managing to keep it up all the way to the finishing line. Here, the winner clung on in 56.86 breathless seconds.

"That thrilling style and a longevity which sees Take Cover still going strong at nine - he's been second in this, beaten a head, as well as successful twice - only adds to the popularity of this type of horse. A real credit to a little-sung trainer, David Griffiths, and his team."

Summary: Take Cover and jockey David Allan win the King George Stakes at Glorious Goodwood.


HAVANA — Cuba is a land of architectural splendors, stunning scenery, warm, welcoming people and some of the world's worst hotels.

Communist states aren't known for their hotel management, and I've heard and lived a string of hotel horror stories since I moved here in 2014: inedible food, rude staff, sewage leaks in kitchens, glass doors collapsing into shards onto guests as they shower.

So when American hotel giant Starwood announced a deal to manage the Fifth Avenue Hotel run by the Cuban military in the upscale Miramar section of Havana, I was intrigued. Would Starwood be able to upgrade a facility that guests had lambasted online for crickets, cockroaches and dirty carpets?

A lot's riding on the answer.

Tourism rose 20 percent last year after Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama declared detente. Commercial flights from the U.S. begin in September, bringing another surge in visitors. With patron Venezuela collapsing, Cuba needs tourists' money.

But there's a shortage of decent hotel rooms even in facilities labeled as five-star. U.S. chains hope to help solve that problem and get back into a one-time American playground that's slowly reopening its economy after a half-century of communism.

If American companies can expand and improve Cuba's state-run hotel industry, there could be a lot of winners.

So I made a reservation.

Using Starwood's website, I booked a "Classic Room" with king bed for two for $250. Testing Starwood's invitation for special requests, I asked for extra pillows, water and a map upon arrival.

Starwood has been retraining staff at the Fifth Avenue, which it's renamed Four Points by Sheraton Havana. The training shows: Check-in was remarkably smooth for a Cuban hotel. Front-desk clerks were solicitous and spoke fluent English. My fiancée and I got our key and headed to our room. It had two single beds instead of a king, and no water, extra pillows or map. The front desk quickly changed us to a room with a king.

But the rest of our experience was pretty unpleasant. The hotel had been rebranded with great fanfare a month earlier, including promised amenities like Starwood's comfortable "signature beds." But our mattress was saggy, with a stained decorative cover and flat sheet tucked over the sort of squeaky rubber pad used for bed-wetting children. When I investigated why a bedside lamp wasn't working (due to a missing bulb), I realized that the entire wall-mounted light was loose and balanced in the sole position that kept it from collapsing.

The hallways carpets looked new and the paint looked fresh, and our room did have a new-looking hairdryer, showerhead and bathroom tiles. But the walls were scuffed and dirty. Tables looked like someone had scraped stickers off them with a piece of sharp plastic. The minibar door hung loose on its hinge, with drinks inside in a pool of room-temperature water.

The coffee maker came with two packs of coffee, a teabag and a sign: "Coffe-Te NOT INCLUDED." In-room internet was $5 an hour.

Dispirited, my fiancée and I headed to the pool. The front desk clerk said it was open 'til 7 p.m. but added graciously, "You can swim until 9 or 10."

We arrived at 6:30 p.m. It was closed. A worker treating it with chemicals from a plastic bucket told us to come back after two hours.

We went to the spacious terrace for cocktails and snacks. The shrimp cocktail wasn't terrible: a handful of shrimp doused in Russian dressing in a martini glass filled with lettuce. But the menu dated to around the hotel's opening in 2010, when it was run by the Spanish hotel chain Barcelo. How do I know? Because someone had taped a little piece of paper with the "Four Points by Sheraton" logo on the front. When I pulled it back, it said "Barcelo."

Unwilling to try our luck with entrees, we fled for an excellent privately run restaurant nearby, then stopped in the lobby for a nightcap.

I asked for an Absolut vodka, soda water and lime. I don't know what came, but it wasn't Absolut. It tasted of paint thinner and curdled my mouth.

When I complained to the bartender, she tasted and agreed it wasn't Absolut but showed me the bottle and insisted no one at the hotel had filled it with a cheaper brand or adulterated liquor. She opened a fresh bottle of Finlandia and poured me a drink that tasted as advertised.

I headed to the men's room but fled the moment I opened the door, driven back by the smell of raw sewage. We headed for our room.

Our stay ended the next morning on its lowest note.

The complimentary buffet looked inedible and was: a series of warming pans containing two-toned scrambled eggs, greasy sausages and swollen boiled hot dogs floating in tepid water. To accompany the spread, a mix of stale and fresh bread rolls and puckered chunks of guayaba, papaya and watermelon.

I tried a grayish sausage patty and spit it out. It was colder than room temperature. I washed it down with coffee that was thin and bitter with a chemical aftertaste.

We checked out and headed home to recover.

Pablo Casal, the hotel's manager, appears to be working furiously to upgrade the rundown facilities he took over from Gaviota, the tourism arm of the Cuban military. Asked for comment about our experience, he said that all hotel conversions take time and guests should expect rapid improvements in coming months, including the arrival of new, Sheraton-standard mattresses and bed linens by the beginning of September.

"If you stay right now at the hotel, you can have a good experience. It's not the experience that we want," he told me. "We want to have all the standards in place."

I believe he'll be able to improve his hotel dramatically in coming months. But until then, those expecting international standards from the first U.S.-run hotel in Cuba in more than 50 years may go home disappointed.