Wednesday August 30, 2006

The Final Word: “Cocktail Party Trivia Edition”

(The media experiment in which we conjoin the headline and last paragraph of each bylined article in the A-section of today's New York Times.)

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Bush Repeats Vow to Help New Orleans:

"No, ma'am," he replied, with a laugh and a pause. "Not again."

TV Watch: An Anniversary With Strong Images, Sorrow, Self-Congratulation and Blame:

"If you had been with us in the Superdome, Matt,'' the anchor of "The NBC Nightly News" replied, "this would be your cause."

110-Building Site in New York City Goes on Market:

"We're at about $1,400 now," said a woman named Evelyn, who declined to give her last name but described herself as a 77-year-old retired teacher who has lived with her husband in a three-bedroom apartment in Stuyvesant Town for 43 years. "If we die, whoever comes in will pay $3,500 or $4,000. This used to be a nice middle-income place. It's no longer that."

Census Reports Slight Increase in '05 Incomes:

Blacks made up 20.6 percent of those living in the bottom fifth, compared with 5.8 percent of those in the top fifth. Hispanics were 13.4 percent of the bottom group and 5.9 percent of the top one.

Broadcast Chief Misused Office, Inquiry Reports:

People who have seen the report said it noted that Mr. Tomlinson, on his lawyer's advice, ended an interview with investigators early. One person familiar with the inquiry said Mr. Hamilton ended the interview as the investigators began to ask about using the office for horse racing business. Mr. Hamilton would not comment about the interview.

Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices' Clerks:

Justice Frankfurter was not, however, ready to hire a woman when the dean of Harvard Law School strongly recommended a former star student in 1960. He turned down Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

In Chechen's Humiliation, Questions on Rule of Law:

"They were assimilated into North and South and never checked by prosecutors," she said. "Now they are more difficult to arrest."

Other News

U.S. Seeks Bigger China Role in I.M.F.:

Mr. Adams said that the current benign period has led to complacency, even as global capital flows and the risk of future problems increase. "Conceptually we're pretty much there," he said of the talks on I.M.F. governance. "But once you start negotiating the actual specifics, it's going to take a little time."

Leader of Polygamist Mormon Sect Is Arrested:

Steve Martinez, special agent in charge of the F.B.I.'s Las Vegas field office, said a search of the vehicle uncovered laptop computers, cellphones, the wigs and $50,000.

SAT Reading and Math Scores Show a Significant Decline:

Counselors in high schools where the SAT has long dominated, said more of their students were taking the ACT. Some have said that in the wake of the College Board's disclosure this spring that it had mis-scored more than 5,000 exams, they have urged their students to consider the ACT.

Census Figures Show Scant Improvement in City Poverty Rate:

New York is tied with Colorado for first in the highest proportion of people working in the information industry (3.5 percent). Connecticut ranks first in the proportion of people in management, business and finance (16.3 percent).

The Kings of the Cocktail Hour Once Again :

And you can be sure, as this fall's party season gets under way, that pigs in blankets will be on all the right trays and platters. "They used to be like a joke," said Ms. Blum, the party planner. "But everyone takes them seriously now."

Chef Settles by the Chesapeake but Keeps an Aussie Accent:

The next day, I consulted a text by Robert Parker, the Baltimore guru, who rated the wine at the stratospheric end of his 1-100 scale. No surprise there.

International

Britain Charges 3 More Suspects With Plotting to Bomb Airplanes:

The 17-year-old is too young to be identified by name under British court rules, but he is charged with "having in his possession a book on improvised devices, some suicide notes and wills with the identities of persons prepared to commit acts of terror, and a map of Afghanistan,'' The Press Association reported. His lawyer, Gareth Peirce, indicated during a court hearing on Tuesday that her client would deny the charges.

Iranian President Meets Press and Is Challenged:

"He is saying we want to talk, but Bush is refusing," said Mustafa el-Labbad, an expert in Iranian affairs based in Cairo. "He wants to embarrass him by saying, 'We are willing to negotiate, but he is refusing.' "

Rumsfeld Says War Critics Haven't Learned Lessons of History:

Mr. Rumsfeld, speaking just weeks before the fifth anniversary of 9/11, also took on criticisms of the administration's approach for combating terrorism outside Iraq, like the use of wiretaps without warrants. "This enemy is serious, lethal and relentless,'' he said. "But this is not well recognized or fully understood."

Letter From Thailand: Saving Thai Democracy: Will the Cure Kill the Patient?:

In the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is herself the product of people power, moving into the presidency when Mr. Estrada was forced out. She has disappointed the public, and so she too has become the target of people who want to push her from office.

Pressures Increase on Pakistan's Government:

"We think they are afraid of the public backlash,'' he said. "The people knew Bugti as a political leader, and a father figure, so I don't think things will get easy for the government.

Nurses and Doctor Again Face Execution in H.I.V. Trial in Libya:

The Bulgarian authorities have said that if the nurses are again found guilty and sentenced to death, they will ask Libya to commute their sentences to life imprisonment and allow them to serve their sentences in Bulgaria. It is not clear who would intervene on behalf of the Palestinian doctor.

U.S. Envoy in Sudan Fails to Get Accord:

Sudan has resisted the force, proposing instead to have a weak and ill-equipped African Union force that is already in Darfur strengthened and to use 10,000 of its own troops to fight rebels who refused to sign the peace agreement reached in May with one of the rebel factions.

Lift Blockade of Lebanon, Annan Urges:

"It's a constant balancing act in Lebanon," he said. "You have to make sure that while you try to help them, you don't destabilize them. When people say the army should go and disarm Hezbollah, you're asking for civil war."

A Flick of a Lighter Kills Scores of Gas-Looting Iraqis:

In 2002, he sought clarification from the Justice Department as to the legal limits on the force that could be used on terrorist suspects in captivity. His query led to a much-disputed memorandum from the department that said torture could be said to occur only when the subject was in imminent danger of organ failure and that Mr. Bush as president could sanction coercive interrogation techniques in the name of national security. That definition was eventually renounced.

Italy's Peacekeeping Offer Signals Shift in Its Foreign Policy:

"Now we have to prepare the minds and the souls for that," he said.

National Report

First Source of C.I.A. Leak Admits Role, Lawyer Says:

Mr. Woodward was a late player in the legal drama when he disclosed last November that he had the received the information and testified to a grand jury about it after learning that his source had disclosed the conversation to prosecutors.

Sorry, Zinfandel, Maybe Next Term:

"While we were crushed by the veto, the governor will find no sour grapes in our office," said the bill's author, State Senator Carole Migden, Democrat of San Francisco. "Next year we will press on."

Leader of Aryan Brotherhood Deserves to Live, Lawyer Says:

In a recent taped telephone conversation that will be entered as evidence, Mr. Mills can be heard talking to an old friend about "the same kind of human things that you and I talk about," Mr. Steward said. Topics included getting older and contending with stiff joints, sports, family issues and finances.

Governor Gives Contest to Replace DeLay a New Twist:

Boyd Richie, the Texas Democratic Party chairman, called the decision "simply too little, too late, for a district that has that been without representation in Congress longer than any other Texas district in the last 100 years."

Effort to Ease Election Spending Rules Fails:

Current campaign financing law, upheld by the courts, still allows the groups to advertise, he said, but they must comply with the same strict limits on contributions as everyone else running campaign advertisements.

F.A.A. Memo on Controllers Wasn't Followed in Lexington:

In October 2001, a Cessna pilot took a wrong turn at Linate Airport in Milan and collided with an MD-80. The collision killed 114 people on the two planes and four more in a baggage-handling building.

Prosecutor Defends Actions After Ramsey Case Falls Apart:

"I feel like we need closure on this case," she said. "My husband thought he didn't do it, but I was hopeful."

Hit and Runs Leave 1 Dead and 13 Injured:

A bomb squad vehicle was later called to inspect the black S.U.V., as onlookers and rows of police cars lined the sidewalks. Shattered glass was strewn in the street, and the vehicle's front end was heavily damaged.

Floridians, Some With Leftover Damage, Await New Storms:

Gov. Jeb Bush said 200 National Guard troops had been deployed and 15 shelters had opened in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.

Improved Weather May Allow Shuttle Launching Next Week:

Shuttle managers had said earlier that it would take eight days to prepare the Atlantis for another launching attempt if it rolled back to the hangar. But Mr. Leinbach said Tuesday that the reversal would shorten that preparation time, since much normal preflight work had already been done.

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