FIESTA BOWL: Notre Dame, Ohio State have rare meeting

TEMPE, Ariz. - Think college football and these two storiedprograms are sure to come to mind: The Big Ten brutes of Ohio Stateand the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Just a couple of hundred miles apart, they have met only fourtimes - twice in the 1930s and twice in the '90s - and never in abowl game. Against that backdrop, the fourth-ranked Buckeyes face thefifth-ranked Irish at 4:30 today in the Fiesta Bowl.

"I think it adds a lot to this game," Ohio State Coach Jim Tresselsaid. "We've only played four times before in our history and the twogreat programs, here we are in one of the great settings in collegefootball. I think it adds a little something to the …

Bush's policies are destroying value of US dollar: Iran president

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed U.S. President George W. Bush's policies for the declining value of the U.S. dollar in a press conference Sunday.

"The US dollar has no economic value," he told a news conference, claiming that Bush's policies are causing inflation in other countries.

Ahmadinejad was speaking at the close of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' heads of state summit hosted by Saudi Arabia.

He added that OPEC finance ministers and foreign ministers had been tasked to study the effects of the weaker dollar.

The issue is important to OPEC countries who are losing money on oil sales …

Arban, (Joseph) Jean-Baptiste (Laurent)

Arban, (Joseph) Jean-Baptiste (Laurent), French cornetist, conductor, and pedagogue; b. Lyons, Feb. 28, 1825; d. Paris, April 9, 1889. He settled in Paris, where he studied trumpet with Dauverné at the Cons. (1841–15). He was active as a conductor in salon orchs. and at the Opéra. In 1857 he became prof. of saxhorn at the École Militaire. In 1869 he established the cornet class at the Cons., which he taught until 1874 and again from 1880 until his death. From 1873 he made annual visits to St. Petersburg as a …

Winter's coming--use freeze protection valves to keep lines flowing

These valves save piping, fittings, and equipment from freeze up and potential damage. Here are selection guidelines and calculation methods for sizing.

Freeze protection valves are effective in preventing freeze damage in process lines. Unlike steam or electric tracing, which require power and can cause water to overheat, freeze protection valves operate by simply draining or bleeding water as the temperature approaches freezing.

This prevents the formation of ice that can clog lines, shut off flow, and cause pressure within the line to build, cracking pipes, valves, and fittings, as well as damaging equipment (Figure 1). Damage due to ice formation can incur costs for …

Pioneer Baby Boom Community Turns 60

LEVITTOWN, N.Y. - In 1951, 7-year-old Louise Cassano couldn't imagine a better life than the one here, where she rode her bicycle past rows of cookie-cutter houses, kids held backyard campouts in makeshift tents and nobody locked their front doors.

"It was an absolute ideal community," said Cassano, whose love affair with Levittown never waned - she still lives in the Long Island town dubbed by some as America's first suburb.

Cassano is among the organizers of a huge 60th birthday party for the Nassau County town, set for Sunday and featuring high school bands, floats, local groups, war veterans and the fire department. Nearly two dozen original Levittown homeowners will …

UK to review combat ban for female troops

Britain's female soldiers could soon battle enemy forces in face-to-face combat, if a ban on women serving in the most dangerous warfare roles is lifted for the first time.

In keeping with a wider overhaul of equality laws in Britain, military officials are considering whether to allow female troops to be deployed with previously all-male units on perilous missions behind enemy lines.

Armed forces minister Bob Ainsworth said a new study will decide whether to lift a long-standing ban on female soldiers, sailors and air force personnel taking part in close quarter combat.

The review comes amid an examination of gender equality across British …

It's Best to Heed Guidelines on Vitamin Intake

Q. I am on a hectic schedule and can't eat properly, so I takevitamins daily, including 10,000 international units of vitamin A,1,000 milligrams of C, 1,000 international units of E and 1,200milligrams of calcium. My mother says I take too much. Pleasesettle this. I also take cod liver oil.

A. Your calcium intake is fine. The recommendation for vitaminA is 2,600 international units (IU) daily for a woman between 25 and50. For a man, the number is 3,330.

Vitamin A is one of the fat-storage vitamins. Dosages can buildup, causing headaches, vomiting and liver damage, and can interferewith bone metabolism.

Toxic doses of vitamin A are possible, if you take …

Venezuela's Chavez says his cancer is likely back

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez has raised serious doubts about whether he'll have the stamina for a successful re-election bid, revealing that he needs to return to Cuba to have a lesion removed that is probably malignant.

Chavez told Venezuelans on Tuesday that doctors in Cuba had over the weekend found a two-centimeter (less than an inch) lesion in the same place where they removed a cancerous tumor last year.

The socialist president, who hopes to extend his 13 years in power with another six-year term in the Oct. 7 elections, said the probability is high that the lesion is malignant and that he will likely need radiation therapy.

That will most likely …

US Ambassador: Chile devastated by earthquake

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the United States is ready to work "in solidarity" with the leaders of Chile to provide disaster assistance to the earthquake-stricken country.

Speaking to reporters while traveling in Montevideo, Uruguay, Clinton said the Chileans had asked for communications equipment and said she'll be bringing some with her when she travels to Santiago Tuesday.

Clinton said more likely will come after that, saying that "one of the reasons they have asked me to continue my trip is to assess whatever else they might need and immediately begin the process of providing it."

Earlier, …

AIDS status revealed, man sues Osco parent company

An AIDS patient filed a lawsuit Monday against the parent companyof Osco Drugs, claiming that the drugstore chain "recklessly"violated his privacy by publishing his health status in a companynewsletter.

The complaint, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, namedthe plaintiff only as John Doe to protect his privacy. Paul Levy, anattorney for the plaintiff, said he believed his client was in his50s.

The man lives part-time in Florida and in Evanston, Levy said.The lawsuit was filed in Milwaukee because the statute of limitationshas expired in Illinois, but not in Wisconsin.In 1996, the plaintiff began using a new drug called Norvir.His condition required him to …

Phillips putting 1-6 Cowboys in training-camp mode

IRVING, Texas (AP) — Wade Phillips is starting over.

After watching every game film from this season, plus several more from last season, Phillips concluded the Dallas Cowboys are 1-6 because of poor fundamentals. So he's putting them back in training-camp mode.

Phillips refused to specify on Monday what exactly that means. But he's bounced his plan off owner Jerry Jones and apparently has been told to go for it.

"Running, blocking, tackling, catching, covering, throwing — we're not as good as we were," Phillips said. "Every detail has to be covered. We have to be more precise in some of these things. I've said it before but we're going to stress it even more — not …

Russia to allow US weapon shipments to Afghanistan

A Kremlin aide says Russia will allow the U.S. to ship weapons across its territory to Afghanistan.

President Dmitry Medvedev's foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Medvedev and President Barack Obama are expected to sign a deal on the issue during their summit next week in Moscow.

Russia has been allowing the U.S. to ship non-lethal goods across its territory to help operations in Afghanistan. Prikhodko said the expected deal would enable the U.S. to ship lethal cargoes and would include shipments by air and land.

It is a significant goodwill gesture from the Kremlin before the summit, which both nations hope will put long-troubled ties back …

`Hubbard Street Dance Chicago'

Through May 2 Shubert Theatre, 22 W. Monroe Tickets: $12-45; (312)902-1500. Highly recommended

Both nature and human nature are in the spotlight in the third -and in many ways the most intriguing - of the mixed bills beingpresented by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in its ongoing Springseason at the Shubert Theatre.

Watching the transcendent work of Spanish choreographer NachoDuato, you realize that a sense of nature is too often missing fromcontemporary dance.In "Jardi Tancat" ("Enclosed Garden"), one of his earliest pieces,three couples conjure an entire little farming village where prayer,the tilling of the soil, the chirping of birds and the interlockingof fates fill a day. Set to music by Maria Del Mar Bonet -entrancing songs and drumming from Spain's Basque region - the piecehas the smell of freshly turned soil and sunshine. The strikingdancers in Thursday night's performance were Meredith Dincolo, MaryNesvadba, Cheryl Mann, David Gomez, Joseph P. Pantaleon and JohnRoss.Kevin O'Day's duet, "To Have and To Hold" - one of this season'sworld premieres - is also about nature, as a couple explores weightand weightlessness, darkness and light, and as these physical forcesassume emotional qualities. Meredith Dincolo, a large-boned womanwho can project strength, maturity and an easy elegance - and who ismaking a real artistic breakthrough this season - was partnered witheffortless grace by Gomez.Among the pieces that explored human nature was another premiere -Harrison McEldowney's playful and witty "Group Therapy." On secondviewing, this comical study of four dysfunctional couples seemedricher and more complex in its movement. And its characters,mismatched and ripe with personality quirks, have great audienceappeal. The dancers, especially the acrobatic Kendra Moore (dancingto Chicago diva Kathy Santen's recording of the Gershwins' "Treat MeRough"), and the rubbery-limbed Ron De Jesus, were superb.Daniel Ezralow's "SUPER STRAIGHT is coming down," a starklydramatic, unpredictable look at the yuppie jungle, was superblydanced. So was Jiri Kylian's irresistible "Sechs Tanz" - themarionette madness set to Mozart that brought the evening to a zanyclose.

Dow ends day down 633 points, closes at 10,811; S&P and Nasdaq down more than 6.7 percent

NEW YORK (AP) — Dow ends day down 633 points, closes at 10,811; S&P and Nasdaq down more than 6.7 percent

Obama choice put to vote in `first dogs' exhibit

The election is not over for museum visitors weighing in on what President-elect Barack Obama calls a "major issue" for his transition: selecting the first family's dog.

Seventh-grader Mary Grace Moran, visiting the Newseum with her class from Louisiana, cast her vote for a poodle by dropping coins in a clear, plastic tube.

"I have a poodle, and my brothers have really bad allergies," the 12-year-old said, expressing concern for Obama's sneeze-prone daughter Malia.

Visitors are casting votes with pennies, quarters and a few dollar bills in a small exhibit on presidential pets at the Newseum, a museum about the news. (The museum, which announced a staff reduction this week, says it will use the cash for educational programs.)

Newseum is not without guidance on the puppy issue. Obama has said the family would like something hypoallergenic, and that the family likes the idea of rescuing a shelter dog, even though "a lot of shelter dogs are mutts like me." "Mutt" is American slang for a mixed-breed dog, and the next president has a white mother from Kansas and a black Kenyan father.

So the exhibit is offering the American Kennel Club's top five recommendations for allergy-sensitive breeds _ poodle, soft coated wheaten terrier, bichon frise, Chinese crested (caution: It's mostly hairless) and miniature schnauzer _ along with an unspecified shelter dog.

So far, a shelter dog appears to be the people's choice, followed by the bichon frise, a small, fluffy non-shedding breed, Newseum exhibits chief Cathy Trost said.

The exhibit, "First Dogs: American Presidents and Their Pets," opened Friday and also includes about 15 photographs and a video on presidential pets. It will remain open at least through the Jan. 20 inauguration.

If the Obamas are looking for doggy precedent, they could consider Scottish terriers, Labradors or mutts, all former first pets.

More than a few presidents brought odd critters with them, too. President Theodore Roosevelt and his family had a one-legged rooster and a pony named Algonquin that once rode in the White House elevator. President William Howard Taft had a Jersey cow named Pauline.

"Animals have always been a part of White House life," Trost said Monday. "More than 50 dogs have lived at the White House, along with alligators, goats, raccoons, parrots, you name it."

President Calvin Coolidge and his wife Grace were responsible for the pair of raccoons, along with 12 dogs in their small White House "zoo."

Journalists helped make some of the pets national celebrities, Trost said. Fala, the Scottish terrier who lived with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was said to have his own press secretary.

Other pets were experts in their own right. In his race against Bill Clinton and Al Gore, President George H.W. Bush said his dog Millie "knows more about foreign affairs than these two bozos."

The Obamas may not find a mutt with similar expertise, but experts at the Presidential Pet Museum in Williamsburg, Virginia, have recommended the Portuguese water dog for its "international appeal," noting that Sen. Edward Kennedy has two of them.

The American Kennel Club suggested a pair of toy poodle puppies that will be available in January. So far, though, spokeswoman Christina Duffney said they have not heard from the Obamas.

Or the president could take it from Mary Grace, who voted for the poodle based on experience with her brothers: "It doesn't do anything to their allergies."

___

On the Net:

Newseum: http://www.newseum.org/

American Kennel Club: http://www.presidentialpup.com

Presidential Pet Museum: http://www.presidentialpetmuseum.com

US travelers returning home after Thanksgiving find busy airports, but not long lines

Travelers heading home after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday weekend swarmed airports, but for the most part without the long lines and delays many had feared.

In Atlanta, home to one of the busiest U.S. airports, rainy weather delayed some incoming flights more than two hours, though lines were moving, said Herschel Grangent, spokesman for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Airport officials estimated about 1.8 million people would pass through Hartsfield during the long holiday weekend, including about 324,000 people on Sunday and 305,000 expected on Monday. That is about a 4.6 percent increase in holiday weekend traffic from last year, Grangent said.

The AAA car association said its surveys indicated a record 38.7 million U.S. residents were likely to travel 50 miles (80 kilometers) or more for the holiday period of Wednesday through Sunday, up about 1.5 percent from last year. About 4.7 million were expected to fly, and about 31.2 million travelers were likely to drive in spite of rising gasoline prices, AAA said last week.

In the congested New York area, the Federal Aviation Administration said delays into and out of John F. Kennedy and Newark Liberty airports were 15 minutes, while passengers had delays of about 40 minutes at LaGuardia.

Delays were minimal for the estimated 311,000 travelers passing through Chicago's Midway Airport and O'Hare International Airport on Sunday and few flights were canceled. ___

Associated Press writers Melissa Nelson in Pensacola, Florida, and Ashley M. Heher in Chicago contributed to this report.

'Her torturer': Mom who killed girl gets 39 years

Telling a judge "we all make mistakes," a Maine Township mother apologized Thursday for fatally beating her 5-year-old daughter after the youngster vomited in the family's apartment.

"I wanted to tell you I'm really sorry," 32-year-old Mila Petrov told Cook County Judge Garritt Howard. "I know that God forgives me. We all make mistakes."

The apology apparently did little to sway Howard, who sentenced Petrov to 39 years in prison for the March 13, 2007, beating that took Melanie Beltran's life.

Howard excoriated Petrov for her actions, citing a litany of prior abuse endured by the little girl before her death -- including repeated beatings by Petrov and other family members. "You failed miserably in living up to even a minimal standard of decency," Howard told Petrov as she sat somberly in the Skokie courtroom. "You turned out to be her torturer and ultimately the person who caused her death."

Melanie had burns, cuts and bruises indicating she had been tied up, as well as two black eyes at the time of her death, Cook County Medical Examiner Nancy Jones testified during the sentencing hearing. As Jones displayed photos depicting the injuries, Petrov kept her head down and her eyes averted from the gruesome images.

But burn scars and other marks on the 3-foot 3-inch-tall girl showed a long-term pattern of abuse, Jones said.

Petrov faced up to 100 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to first-degree murder. She escaped a harsher sentence because she took responsibility by pleading guilty, Howard said, adding he also didn't think the pregnant mother of eight young children meant to kill Melanie.

"I do not believe you were acting with a specific intent to kill. I think this was done out of anger," Howard told Petrov.

Prosecutor Rick Cenar described how an angry Petrov rammed Melanie's head into a wall after the little girl vomited. Petrov then struck her daughter again, banging her head against the floor.

When paramedics first questioned her about the girl's injuries, Petrov first blamed her 10-year-old daughter for harming Melanie, Cenar said.

Voluntary cooperative action--it works for Fannie and Freddie

SEIDMAN'S COMMENTARY

Freddie and Fannie set a good example of how voluntary action can avoid more complicated overnment regulation.

A couple of years ago, I worked with Freddie Mac on a group of voluntary public disclosures it was adopting. The main purpose of the disclosures was to indicate the interest rate risk of Freddie Mac's mortgage portfolios. Fannie Mae, somewhat reluctantly, went along with the voluntary program.

Recently, investors and the media have kicked up a good deal of fuss about the interest rate risk taken by Fannie Mae, the largest governmentsponsored mortgage purchaser. Fannie's monthly disclosure of its interest rate risk (measured by the match between its assets' and liabilities' maturity dates-the so-called duration gap) showed that it was at a historical high. Fannie Mae's normal gap does not exceed six months, but it was reported at 14 months.

Investors in both the equity and debt markets reacted immediately, sending Fannie Mae's stock price down sharply and thus increasing its borrowing costs.

The importance of timely Fannie Mae disclosures is that the market worked. Fannie Mae's management moved quickly to change its overall risk profile. Some weeks later, Fannie announced that its duration gap had narrowed considerably, down to six months, thereby reducing the market's penalties. Because the monthly disclosure triggered market discipline, governmental regulatory action was not required. The new voluntary disclosure system was effective. (Incidentally, the duration gap for the more conservative Freddie currently stands near zero.)

Fannie and Freddie are the only two large financial institutions in the world that publish this type of frequent, real-time financial disclosure to provide early warning signals to the market. Moody's Investors Service was so impressed with this voluntary disclosure that it commented at the time: "These financial and disclosure commitments by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac set new standards not only for them, but also for the global financial market. The leadership shown by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae could prove difficult for other firms to ignore...."

So far, Moody's was a bit too optimistic. Other large financial institutions-and their regulators-- have not followed the example set by Freddie and Fannie. To my knowledge, no other major financial institution provides a monthly report disclosing interest rate risks. That means that today, a major bank, insurance, or financial company could be experiencing similar interest rate risk problems, though the institution would be under no obligation to disclose these problems to the markets until some time next year. Because they have not followed Fannie's and Freddie's example, these institutions may see regulatory or legislative action in the future.

Also, Freddie and Fannie set a good example of how voluntary action can avoid more complicated government regulation. As the new Congress meets, it appears that privacy will be high on its agenda. The question of what financial institutions can do with a customer's personal financial information is one of large financial and political importance. Voluntary agreements by credit grantors could result in less complicated and restrictive government rules and regulations being enacted in the future. Freddie and Fannie provide a good example of the benefits of voluntary cooperation. But then, when have any large number of our independent-minded financial institutions ever agreed on much of anything?

[Author Affiliation]

L. William Seidman is a former chairman of the FDIC and RTC; chief commentator of CNBC Cable News; and publisher of Bank Director.

Rescuers reach epicenter of China quake

Rescuers arrived for the first time in the epicenter of China's massive earthquake, scouring flattened mountain villages for thousands of victims and distributing air-dropped supplies to survivors.

The official Xinhua News Agency said some 2,000 soldiers were sent to repair "extremely dangerous" cracks in the Zipingpu Dam upriver from the earthquake-hit city of Dujiangyan.

The government said late Wednesday that experts had inspected the dam and declared it safe, according to a statement broadcast on state TV and posted on the Sichuan government Web site.

Still, another report said the reservoir behind the dam was being emptied to relieve pressure on the structure.

"The flow is extremely swift, and the bottom of the reservoir can be seen, showing the riverbed," the state-sponsored Chinese business news magazine Caijing said in a report from the scene that was posted on its Web site.

Four-inch cracks had opened up on top of the dam, and landslides poured down on the hills on either side, the report said.

China's top economic planning body said that the quake had damaged 391 mostly small dams. He Biao, the director of the Aba Disaster Relief headquarters in northern Sichuan province, said there were concerns over dams close to the epicenter.

"Currently, the most dangerous problems are several reservoirs near Wenchuan," he said, according to a transcript on the CCTV Web site.

"There are already serious problems with the Tulong Reservoir on the Min River. It may collapse. If that happens, it would affect several power plants below and be extremely dangerous," he said.

Help also began to arrive by helicopter and on foot in some of the hardest-to-reach areas, where some victims trapped for more than two days under collapsed buildings were still being pulled out alive. But the enormous scale of the devastation meant that resources were stretched thin, and makeshift aid stations and refugee centers were springing up over the disaster area the size of Belgium.

The death toll of nearly 15,000 appeared likely to soar far higher.

Leveled hospitals forced doctors and nurses to treat survivors in the street. Helicopters dropped food and medicine to isolated towns. Mourners burned money before rows of bodies, believing their lost relatives could use it in the afterlife.

Xinhua quoted government officials as saying rescuers who hiked Wednesday into the city of Yingxiu in Wenchuan county _ the epicenter of the quake _ found only 2,300 survivors in the town of about 10,000, with another 1,000 badly hurt.

The official death toll rose Wednesday to 14,866, Xinhua said, but it was not immediately clear if that number included the 7,700 reported dead in Yingxiu. In Sichuan province alone, another 25,788 people were buried and 1,405 were missing, provincial vice governor Li Chengyun said, according to Xinhua.

Twelve Americans were found safe near the epicenter of the quake.

A spokeswoman for the World Wildlife Fund said the 12 members of the wildlife group were reached by satellite phone earlier in the day. The team was near the world's most famous panda preserve in Wolong, whose pandas were reported safe Tuesday.

Unlike previous natural disasters in China, official media have reported prominently on the quake and state TV canceled regular programming to run 24-hour coverage.

Scenes of destruction and death have been shown, along with prominent focus on Premier Wen Jiabao, who rushed Monday to Sichuan to oversee the rescue work. He has been shown crawling into collapsed buildings to urge survivors to hang on with impassioned pleas, and seen reassuring children who had lost parents.

Wen was there when one 3-year-old girl trapped for more than 40 hours under the bodies of her parents was pulled to safety Wednesday in Beichuan region, Xinhua said.

Rescuers found Song Xinyi on Tuesday morning, but were unable to pull her out right away due to fears the debris above her would collapse. She was fed and shielded from the rain until rescuers extricated her from the rubble.

Elsewhere, a 34-year-old woman who was eight months pregnant was rescued after spending 50 hours under debris in Dujiangyan.

"It's a miracle brought about by us all working together," said Sun Guoli, fire chief of the nearby provincial capital Chengdu, who supervised the rescue.

The show of official empathy was aimed at reassuring the public about the government's response and also showing the world the country is ready to host the Beijing Olympics in August. Wednesday's leg of the Olympic torch relay in the southeastern city of Ruijin began with a minute of silence.

Pope Benedict XVI said he was praying for the victims.

President Hu Jintao presided over an emergency meeting of the Communist Party's highest body, the second such meeting since the quake happened. Hu, also secretary-general of the party, urged the military, police and others to rush to the disaster area to help.

The death toll from the quake was expected to rise when rescuers reach other towns in Wenchuan county that remained cut off.

"The Communist Party Central Committee has not forgotten this place," Wen said after flying by helicopter to Wenchuan, adding that some 50 injured people had been airlifted from the area.

Relief efforts were aided in their third day by the clearing of storms that had prevented flights over some of the worst-hit towns. Military helicopters seen flying north over Dujiangyan, and Xinhua said some had airdropped food, drinking water and medicine to Yingxiu.

East of the epicenter in the town of Hanwang, the smell of incense hung over a crowd of sobbing relatives who walked among some 60 bodies wrapped in plastic, some covered with tributes of branches or flowers.

Nearby, rescuers carried more bodies out of a makeshift morgue at the Dongqi sports arena. People from the town and surrounding areas packed into blue tents provided by relief officials. A Western-style clock tower in the town center had stopped at 2:27 _ the time the quake hit.

The Mianzhu No. 3 Hospital was obliterated, and the seven-story main Hanwang Hospital collapsed. Surviving medical staff set up a triage center in the driveway of a tire factory, but could only provide basic care.

"The first day hundreds of kids died when a school collapsed. The rest who came in had serious injuries. There was so little we could do for them," said Zhao Xiaoli, a nurse at Hanwang Hospital.

Emergency vehicle sirens sounded every few minutes. An ambulance drove in, delivering a man pulled from the rubble and covered in dust.

"There will be a lot more people. So many still haven't been found," said Zhao.

Disorienting episodes added to the struggle for survival in much of the disaster zone. The Mianyang city government ordered its 700,000 residents to evacuate all buildings between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. because an aftershock was predicted.

In Chengdu, water to some parts of the city was cut for repairs, touching off a rumor that the supply was contaminated. People began hoarding water and water pressure citywide dropped before a senior official went on TV to deny anything was wrong.

___

Associated Press writers Christopher Bodeen and Bill Foreman in Dujiangyan contributed to this report.

Slowey shuts down Tigers as Twins win

Kevin Slowey pitched seven shutout innings and Mike Lamb homered as the Minnesota Twins beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 Friday night.

Dontrelle Willis returned from a stint on the disabled list with a knee injury to toss an inning of relief for the Tigers, but otherwise it was another woeful night for one of the majors' most disappointing teams.

Last-place Detroit (20-28) scored 30 runs in a three-game sweep of Seattle, but Slowey (1-4) pushed them back into a slump. The Tigers had scored 14 runs in their previous seven games before clobbering the Mariners.

Slowey gave up four hits and three walks in six innings for his first win since Sept. 23.

Detroit's Armando Galarraga (3-2) struggled with his control for the second straight start, walking five batters while giving up five runs in six innings.

Willis replaced Galarraga in his first appearance since April 11. He allowed one run on a hit and two walks in one-plus innings.

Galarraga escaped after walking two in the first, but the Twins scored three in the second.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with no one out, and Brendan Harris hit an RBI groundout before Carlos Gomez and Joe Mauer added RBI singles.

Michael Cuddyer's run-scoring single put the Twins ahead 4-0 in the fifth before Lamb hit his first homer in the sixth.

Detroit had its best chance in the sixth, putting runners on second and third with two out, but Carlos Guillen grounded out.

As the Tigers took the field for the seventh, Tigers manager Jim Leyland got into an animated argument with third-base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt, apparently about a called strike on Guillen, and was ejected.

Ivan Rodriguez's two-run triple off Dennys Reyes made it 5-2 in the seventh, and Marcus Thames added an RBI double, but was out after sliding past the base.

That cost the Tigers a run when Gary Sheffield homered two batters later, but the Twins minimized the damage by scoring three runs in the eighth on Harris' RBI single and a two-run double by Justin Morneau.

Syrian attorney general resigns on video

BEIRUT (AP) — A Syrian attorney general has appeared on video declaring his resignation to protest President Bashar Assad's crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising, saying security forces killed hundreds of people in the restive city of Hama and arrested thousands of "peaceful protesters."

The video of Adnan Bakkour, attorney general for the central Hama province, appeared to show a high-ranking defection from the embattled regime. The state-run news agency said Thursday that "terrorists" had kidnapped Bakkour and forced him to make the recording, although Bakkour denied that in a second video.

In the first video, Bakkour says security forces killed 72 prisoners on July 31 and another 420 people during a military siege on Hama, the main city in the province of the same name, in August. He said Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar directed the offensive and said Syrian officials instructed him to blame gangs and gunmen for the killings.

"I am resigning from my position in Assad's regime and his gang," Bakkour said in the first video, looking composed in a light suit and tie, and reading from a sheets of white paper. In the second video, Bakkour denied he had been kidnapped and said he would give more details when he fled Syria soon.

"I am under the protection of the rebels and the people," he said. Both videos were posted online late Wednesday as security forces raided homes and made arrests in Hama.

Hama, a city of 800,000 people about 130 miles (210 kilometers) north of the capital, Damascus, was the scene of a massacre by Assad's late father and predecessor.

In 1982, Hafez Assad ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement. Hama was sealed off and bombs dropped from above smashed swaths of the city and killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.

The real number may never be known. Then, as now, reporters were not allowed to reach the area.

The Associated Press could not verify the authenticity of the Bakkour videos. Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local coverage, making it difficult to independently confirm events on the ground.

The United Nations estimates that 2,200 people have been killed in the crackdown on protests that erupted in mid-March. Amnesty International said this week that it believes at least 88 people, 10 of them children, have died in detention in Syria during the past five months.

The crackdown has led to international criticism and sanctions. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Wednesday that Assad has "done the irreparable." France and its allies want the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on the Syrian regime and its supporters, but ally Russia is reluctant to go so far.

The unrest in Syria shows no sign of abating. Protesters pour into the streets every week, despite the near certainty of meeting a barrage of shells and sniper fire. But the regime is in no imminent danger of collapse, setting the stage for what could be a drawn-out and bloody stalemate.

Process of elimination

Toyota's now development process minimized engineering changes during 2002 Camry redesign.

Toyota's product line-up is a microcosm of the company itself. Like the organization that builds them, the vehicles can be described as high quality, deceptively conservative and relentlessly successful in their market Camry, America's best-selling passenger car for the last four years running is a perfect example. It has defied economic downturn, survived market shifts toward trucks and SUVs and held a commanding sales lead in its segment even through the final year of its product cycle. The significance of Camry's achievement is not lost on Toyota or the program chief for its all-new 2002 successor. This is particularly true because chief engineer Kosaku Yamada not only headed the previous generation car, but has also guided Camry development for the past 10 years. So rather than alter the brand character of the car that is a proven, perennial best seller, Yamada has taken great care to keep the essence of Camry alive while at the same time making fundamental improvements to this fifth generation car.

"We now have success because Camry has proved for many years to be an excellent car," says Yamada. "The quality is high, the reliability also very high and it has strong resale value. That part will not change. But even though people like it and recommend it, there are too few who are emotional about it. Our goal is to make people love our car and say, 'wow' when they look at it and drive it."

Yamada is methodical in his approach to achieving that goal. And for clarity, he breaks the "wow" factor into two distinct categories. The first consideration is the nuts-and-bolts of the car, which includes styling, performance, efficiency, safety and comfort The other half of the equation is how the car looks "on paper." This aspect includes better specifications, a more attractive price and noticeably higher value.

While virtually every new car program has similar goals to Cary's, most companies' efforts to reduce price and increase value amount to little more than lip service or supplier squeezing. But Toyota took very calculated approach to pulling out cost. Unlike t he competition, Toyota took a critical look at its own process to find cost savings. In the end, it created new development tools, established new priorities, reduced labor costs and is taking Camry's U.S. domestic content from 85 to near 100 percent

New Development Process

Critical to understanding the merits of Toyota's new development and manufacturing process, is an understanding of the shortcomings of the old one.

Typically, the design concept stage determined hard points that were passed along to stylists for inclusion in the clay model. The approved shape went to development engineers who, working with suppliers, created detailed designs for components and systems. The CAD files then moved to suppliers to make prototype parts that were assembled at a lab by engineers. The prototype vehicles were tested, modified and the process repeated as necessary.

Although the team process was clearly in place, Toyota recognized that it was not maximized to its fullest extent There was still a hand-off of information on several levels and it was accepted that there would have to be engineering changes.

Dana Hargitt, Camry project manager at the Toyota Technical Center in Plymouth, Mich., says Yamada changed the process by pushing for what he called "perfect drawings." In Toyota speak, that's known as, "Zero EC," which simply means no engineering changes would be allowed after production drawings were released.

"It's the ultimate goal," says Hargitt "It sounds impossible, but focusing on a Zero EC target really energizes the manufacturing and production people early in the process. If you think you will not have a chance to change it later, you do your homework early and you speak up if there is any doubt. In terms of getting feedback at the drawing stage before tooling was cut, this system made a difference."

With so much input and information at an early stage, Toyota was able to make far better use of CAD/CAM tools to make changes electronically and do digital testing, rapid prototyping and test assembly Virtually every part on Camry was designed, fabricated and assembled prior to the production of a single prototype part This process cut the number of vehicle prototypes by 65 percent, halved the number of crash tests and analyzed human factors in the plant through use of digital assembly software.

Rapid prototype parts proved so accurate that in some cases production tooling was pulled forward and prototype tooling was never built.

Toyota also made many design changes that would reduce assembly man-hours and improve quality. In so doing, it identifled and eliminated operations that were difficult or that over time could lead to inury. For example, in one operation a 26pound carpet was redesigned into three pieces to protect workers' backs. In addition, overhead electrical work has been eliminated through use of pre-wired subassemblies and even engine bay work has been made simpler thanks to a removable, bolt-on radiator support that allows associ ates to walk inside the engine bay as opposed to leaning over a fender to work

Hargitt says many of the ideas relating to worker ergonomics and safety came through the participation of pilot line workers who helped with the prototype builds.

The Wow Factor

The obvious "wow" factor for the new Camry is styling. Boasting a lowest-in-class aerodynamic drag of just 0.28, the sleek new shape is functional as well as aesthetically pleasing. Crisp lines evoke an upscale image, while the fast windshield angle and chopped rear deck present a sporty character meant to appeal to a broader customer base.

The interior theme follows styling cues, with luxurious materials and options, but with more driver-oriented gauges, seats and controls. Among the long list of luxury features is an optional touch screen navigation system, choice of three premium audio systems, curtain side airbags, three-stage driver's airbag and optional full leather. Mid-year will mark the introduction of adjustable pedals as an option.

Yamada keeps the improvements coming with a new, 157 hp 2.4L 4cylinder base engine that is lighter, more powerful, cleaner and more economical than the 2.2L it replaces. Blessed with variable valve timing, the ULEV rated engine helps shave two seconds off zero-to-60 mph times with a manual transmission. A four speed automatic, now assembled in the U.S. and contributing to higher domestic content, is available as an option on the 2.4L engine and standard on the carryover 3.OL V-6.

Body stiffness is up roughly 25 percent, thanks to use of laser welded steel blanks on front rails, structural adhesives and an increase in the number of body welds. Toyota claims 4,300 individual spot welds on Camry, compared to fewer than 3,000 for some comparable cars. Stiffeners are added across the parcel tray, dash area, under seats and in the spare tire well to prevent booming. Floor panels are stamped curved, not flat, for the same reason. All pillars are foamed to reduce wind noise, and extensive use of asphalt sheet halts inputs from the road and engine.

The result? Carry is quiet and tight. (see CWN, pg. 20)

A relatively holdover chassis design benefits from the stiffer body, allowing more tuning at the corners and less transmission of noise and vibration. Front suspension is a conventional MacPherson strut design that offers additional wheel travel over last year. The rear uses Chapman struts with long lower control arms to minimize camber change. Optional four-sensor ABS with electronic proportioning can be upgraded to include skid control and traction control.

Electrical complexity is dramatically reduced through the use of multiplexed body electronics. The self-diagnosing system reduces the number of high current wires, connections and weight The reduction in solder also contributes to an environmental goal that was self imposed by Japanese OEMs - reducing the amount of lead in a vehicle to one-third of 1996 levels by 2005. Toyota has slashed Camry's lead content by reformulating undercoating, greases, bronze alloys and taking lead out of meter pointers, connections and heater cores.

Yamada's "wow" factor is deeply embodied in a vehicle that is longer, wider, faster, safer, more economical, cheaper, quieter, environmentally friendly and more stylish. In just 30 months, its chief engineer reinvented Camry, retaining all of the attributes that have made it a best seller, and none of the baggage that made it an appliance.

Practically all of North American-sold Camrys will be built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing in Georgetown, Ky. The Kyushu, Japan, plant also comes online at the same time, to supply other markets. Toyota's ramp up strategy: Flip the switch and go. Wow

[Sidebar]

Lexus ES 300

[Sidebar]

When Lexus introduced the IS 300 sedan and SportCross last year, it finally positioned itself to take a twopronged approach in the entry-level luxury market.

[Sidebar]

Prior to that, the ES 300 had to try to be all things to all buyers, placing half of its appeal on the luxury side and the other half on the performance side. As a result, it wasn't stellar at either end of the scale.

But with the new Camry-derived platform beneath it and a clearly defined focus during its development, the 2002 ES 300 has finally found its niche as the "little brother" of the LS 430 and a clear step up from its Camry stablemate.

"On the outside we have given the car simple, elegant and chiseled styling," says Kosaku Yamada (shown), chief engineer for both ES 300 and Camry. "But our biggest difference is the interior. It is designed to give a feeling of width and luxury. It has walnut wood accents on the doors and console panel and the same fine quality leather we use in the LS. There are just a few options, but they are things like the Mark Levinson audio system, so it is for purists. And we have also added a special sound insulation that absorbs rather than blocks sound, to increase the feeling of luxury."

[Sidebar]

To further set ES apart, Lexus makes its adaptive variable suspension (AVS) available. AVS, which continually changes the damping rate of shocks in response to road conditions, is a system more typically found on high-end luxury cars - not entry level.

The car also takes interior cues from the LS, including dual zone climate controls, air filtration, automatic sound leveling, navigation system, optional rear sunshade, heated seats, moonroof, CD changer and rain-sensing wipers. It even borrows the 430's water repellent side glass, which uses titanium silica to help water roll off.

The ES is built exclusively in Japan at the Kyushu and Tsutsumi plants. Annual volume target in North America is 50,000 units with a price that starts in the low $30,000 range. -GK

[Sidebar]

Supplier Involvement

[Sidebar]

Johnson Controls Inc.-Seats. Improved lumbar support and a greater range of seating positions are improvements over previous generation. Rear seats offer 60/40 fold down. Fabric and leather coverings.

Autoliv-Airbags. Drivers airbag is a three-stage design. Passenger bag is dual stage. Side curtain airbag triggers are in 13- C-pillars.

Denso-Starter, AC System, Gauges. Small, energy efficient units are state-of-the-art from long-time Toyota supplier.

ABS-Bosch. Four channel system has optional skid control and traction control.

Lear-Headliner. Electronics are built in to headliner to improve plant ergonomics.

Arvin Sango-Exhaust. Innovative two-way exhaust control reduces noise by 10 dB, back pressure by 40 percent.

Six Democrats Court Activists

The race for the Democratic presidential nomination moved into overdrive Saturday, as candidates scrambled to outdo each other to win over the Iowa activists who will leadoff the contest on Jan. 3.

Six Democratic rivals trotted out celebrities, filled the air with populist rhetoric and schmoozed party regulars in the most hectic day of a campaign that's been intense for months.

The city took on a circus-like atmosphere as candidates raced from forums to rallies to marches to receptions leading up to the Iowa Democratic Party's annual fundraising dinner, which draws up to 9,000 people.

The rivals used every opportunity during to preview their message.

John Edwards received rousing applause and a standing ovation from some of the hundreds of people attending a presidential summit on rural concerns when he said the nation's family farmers "need to give these people who are driving you out of business hell."

Edwards has made reaching out to rural Iowans a central part of his campaign, and says that unlike the other candidates seeking his party's nomination, he grew up in a small town and knows the challenges rural residents face.

"Sometimes I think (the other candidates) think of farmers and agriculture and rural America as a place you fly over when you're going from New York to California," he said.

Barack Obama billed himself as a change agent with a track record of fighting against special interests.

"The test of leadership isn't what you say, it's what you do," said Obama. "Voting records matter."

While Hillary Rodham Clinton has built a substantial lead in national polls, the race for Iowa's leadoff caucuses is much closer and more fluid less than two months before activists head to the caucuses.

"I think electability and results are important," said Christopher Dodd. "I think caucus-goers are getting more and more interested about electability, we need to win this election in November. We need to have a candidate who can win, who can bring Democrats, independents and Republicans who want change."

Not surprisingly, Dodd didn't look far to find his ideal candidate.

"I'm not as well known, I'm not as well financed as the others," said Dodd. "I know how to bring people together to win elections."

Obama said he sensed voter frustration with Washington as he campaigns.

"You're sending your message through, but sometimes you can't get through because there's a lobbyist who's already on the line," said Obama.

Clinton said she was the candidate who could end the divisions and partisan bickering.

"We're going to start listening to each other, working together and coming together to solve our problems," said Clinton. "I believe rural America has the answer to so many of our pressing problems."

Joe Biden was offering some advice to activists.

"Iowa deserves to be first in the nation and they take that seriously," said Biden. "But with that comes responsibility. They should recommend the best candidate, not just the one they think is going to win."

Iowa Democratic Chairman Scott Brennan said the dinner traditionally marks a point where campaigns begin to get serious and voters begin deciding.

"It's clear they're gearing up because we're in the sprint home," said Brennan.

Obama, Edwards and Dodd were joined by Clinton, Biden and Bill Richardson in the crush of candidates, each getting a chance to make their pitch to some of the biggest crowds of the campaign.

Though polls have shown Clinton with a modest lead, both Edwards and Obama are close behind, and even the lesser-known candidates have devoted enormous time and energy to the leadoff state.

Dodd moved his wife and children to the state, enrolling his oldest daughter in the local school system.

"I'm an Iowan for the time being," said Dodd.

Edwards, sounding his increasingly sharp and populist theme, hammered at his ties to rural America.

"We have some good Democrats running for president, but you're looking at a Democrat who grew up in rural America," said Edwards. "We cannot lose our rural way of life, we cannot lose our family farmers."

"I have been fighting them, these big corporations that are driving you out of business, I have been fighting them my entire life," said Edwards. "We cannot replace a crowd of corporate Republicans with a crowd of corporate Democrats in Washington."

Hoping to lure activists to their events, the candidates were trotting out popular celebrities to draw a crowd. Obama was rallying with five-time Grammy award-winning musician John Legend, while Richardson brought out race drivers Bobby Unser Sr. and Al Unser Sr.

Advocates for various causes were holding news conferences seeking a slice of the heavy media attention. Anti-war activists were joined in a protest march by backers of former Sen. Mike Gravel and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who were not invited to the dinner because they don't have active campaign operations in the state.

___

Associated Press Writer Amy Lorentzen in Des Moines contributed to this report.

Daley offers heating assistance to low-income families

Mayor Richard M. Daley's new heating assistance program to help low-income people apply for home heating assistance at 25 free tax preparation sites was announced Monday.

"We want to make sure low-income residents get all the assistance they're entitled to," said Office of Budget and Management Director William F. Abolt.

"When you come in to get your taxes done, we also want to make sure you get signed up for heating assistance that may be available to you during this time of year," he stated during a press conference held at Harold Washington College.

Not only will the tax preparation staff help people fill out their tax forms but they will also assist them in applying for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which is a federal/state program that gives assistance to poor families.

"This program is very important this time of year when the furnace is running almost constantly and heating bills are growing," said Abolt.

Recently, Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, David Marzahl, executive director of the Tax Counseling Project and Rene Medina, a volunteer tax preparer from Bank One, held a press conference at the James R. Thompson Center, announcing the opening of 26 free tax assistance sites for low-income people.

All three said the tax preparation services are intended to help people claim federal and state Earned Income Tax Credits and Child Tax Credits.

According to Quinn, last year the Project's volunteers prepared over 14,000 returns in Illinois and brought back $19.5 million to low and moderate income workers.

Of the 14,000 returns prepared last year, he said 8,800 tax returns were completed in Chicago which brought in $11.8 million. Quinn and Marzahl expect the number of returns will increase by 15 percent, or 17,000 returns in Illinois.

To get more LIHEAP and taxpayer information, call: 1-800-252-8643, or the city's non-emergency number, 311.

Weak auto sales brake retail gain

WASHINGTON (AP) Retail sales rose 0.1 percent last month asstrength at department stores and furniture stores only partiallyoffset a big drop in auto sales, the government said yesterday.

The Commerce Department said sales totaled a seasonally adjusted$118.7 billion last month after a 0.1 percent decline in June.

While the monthly increases in retail sales have been somewhatlackluster this year, consumer spending has been one of the fewbright spots of the economy.

Economists explain the discrepancy by noting that the retailsales figures are reported without discounting for price changes.Since consumer prices have been declining for much of this year, thishas made sales look weaker.

The small July advance was in line with expectations of manyanalysts, who had been looking for a sluggish report because autosales were weak for the month.

Sales at auto dealers fell 1.7 percent, the steepest drop sinceMarch. Without this weakness, over-all retail sales would haveadvanced by 0.6 percent, the best performance in the non-autocategory since February.

"If you look beyond cars, consumer spending is still holdingup," said Sandra Shaber, consumer economist for Chase Econometrics, aforecasting firm. She predicted the pattern of sluggish auto salesbalanced against strength in appliance and home furnishing sales willcontinue in coming months.

Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige, however, predicted thatauto sales will rebound in response to renewed dealer incentives andthat this increase will bolster overall spending gains.

Jeff Shapiro, an economist with Wharton Econometrics, also wasoptimistic about retail sales in coming months. He predictedconsumers will soon begin to spend the savings they have achievedfrom dramatically lower energy bills.

Shapiro predicted the economy, as measured by the gross nationalproduct, will expand at a 3.2 percent annual rate in the final sixmonths of this year.

Sales of durable goods, items expected to last three or moreyears, fell 0.1 percent in July. The weakness came from the declinein auto sales.

Two categories tied to the booming housing sales market showedstrength during the month. Sales at furniture stores rose a solid1.6 percent and sales at hardware and building supply stores were up2.9 percent.

Sales of non-durable goods were up 0.2 percent in July withdepartment stores posting a 0.6 percent gain and sales at grocerystores rising 0.8 percent. Analysts said part of the increase atgrocery stores came from a jump in food costs last month.

No. 24 Vols Get 59-7 Win Over Lafayette

Tennessee needed a solid game before their final Southeastern Conference stretch.

The Volunteers got it in a 59-7 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Saturday.

In addition to rushing for a season-high 273 yards, the Volunteers (6-3, 3-2 SEC) added touchdowns on Antonio Reynolds' 70-yard interception return and a 20-yard blocked punt return by Antonio Wardlow.

The win was Tennessee's most lopsided since a 70-3 homecoming victory over Louisiana-Monroe in 2000.

After being criticized for giving up on the run early in their three losses, Tennessee coaches spread out the run game against Louisiana Lafayette (1-8).

Arian Foster and Lennon Creer both ran for touchdowns. Foster finished with 100 yards on 20 carries, propelling him just past the 2,000-yard career mark. He is the 12th Tennessee tailback to surpass that mark.

Creer finished with 109 yards on seven carries, and Montario Hardesty added 45 yards on nine runs.

The Vols also had success passing. Quintin Hancock caught a 5-yard pass from Erik Ainge with 7:59 in the third quarter. Ainge finished 16-for-23 for 125 yards. Daniel Lincoln also scored on a 24-yard field goal.

The win gave Tennessee the chance to work some reserve players in preparation for upcoming games against Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Kentucky. The Vols must win all three to play in the SEC championship.

Backup quarterback Jonathan Crompton threw his first TD pass of the season, a 49-yarder to Kenny O'Neal with 11:24 in the fourth after coaches decided to rest Ainge. Gerald Jones, a reserve wide receiver who played a few snaps at quarterback, ran 12 yards for a touchdown.

The Ragin' Cajun easily drove down the field several times, but struggled getting into the end zone. Michael Desormeaux threw an interception in Tennessee territory and Drew Edmiston came up short on a 49-yard field goal attempt.

Louisiana-Lafayette's only touchdown came after a 69-yard drive that took less than two minutes. Tyrell Fenroy ran 21 yards for the score early in the third quarter.

A homecoming matchup with a one-win team wasn't enough to put fans in the stands. The 96,197 attendance total was the smallest since Tennessee expanded Neyland Stadium in 1996.

The stadium seats 102,038 and was averaging 105,423 in attendance for the season.

The Case Formulation Approach to Cognitive-Behavior Therapy

The Case Formulation Approach to Cognitive-Behavior Therapy Jacqueline B Persons. New York (NY): The Guilford Press; 2008. 273 p. US$35.00

Reviewer rating: Excellent

Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy

Trainees new to cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) often worry about their capacity to do the technical interventions for which CBT is best known. How does one use a thought record to change key assumptions? What is an exposure hierarchy, and how is it made? What is the best way to carry out behavioural activation? When they begin treating patients with CBT, they soon discover that the tough part of CBT is not really technique, but rather the choices the therapist makes during the therapy: choosing what to target, choosing when to do so, choosing which interventions would be the most fruitful.

This book focuses on the "decision-making tasks"1' l(1 the therapist must make in the course of therapy. The case formulation approach to CBT is in contrast to the manual ized CBT protocols featured in research trials (those same trials, it must be said, that have established the evidence of CBT's efficacy in emotional disorders). Research trials typically treat highly selected groups with a single diagnosis, while the average therapist in practice is faced with patients with comorbidity, not otherwise specified diagnoses, or diagnoses for which there are no protocols. Further, the burgeoning number of treatment approaches to common disorders makes it hard for any therapist to know how best to treat their patient.

The case formulation approach involves making a comprehensive list of the patient's problems, and developing hypotheses about how these problems relate to each other and to putative underlying mechanisms. These hypotheses are derived from the principles of the cognitive, learning, and emotion theories which currently underpin most empirically supported treatments for emotional disorders. The case formulation chosen will then guide the treatment targets and interventions, and guide the therapist in the management of the minute-to-minute interactions in therapy. An example: the case of lateness for a session can be understood in many different ways, depending on the person's case formulation. The patient with underlying beliefs relating to worthlessness ("my needs don't matter") may have found it difficult to break away from a telephone conversation that will make her late for her appointment (cognitive theory). Another patient whose therapist tends to be late, responds to the lack of reinforcement of punctuality by being late himself (learning theory). Or the overwhelmed person whose last session was intense, responds with emotional avoidance by arriving late in a detached frame of mind (emotion theory). Whether cognitive restructuring, attention to behavioural consequences, or emotional engagement strategies are called for in response will be dictated by the understanding of the problem.

Persons is the world's expert in CBT case formulation. This volume is a welcome update to her first book on this topic, Cognitive Therapy in Practice: A Case Formulation Approach, published in 1989, which quickly became a classic. The depth of knowledge and understanding she displays in the field of CBT is impressive - reflecting her years as a clinician, writer, researcher, and teacher. (She is also the editor of the Guides to Individualized EvidenceBased Treatment Series, an excellent series of texts on CBT for a number of disorders.) Persons effortlessly summarizes key research findings in the cognitive, learning, and emotional literature, and their clinical implications. She integrates these findings with the many kinds of CBTs available today, including dialectic behavioural therapy for borderline personality disorder, behavioural activation for depression, cognitive-behavioural analysis system of psychotherapy for chronic depression, acceptance and commitment therapy, and emotional processing therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder. Her treatment of disparate approaches is even-handed, and her message is refreshing in this time of competing psychotherapy approaches: there are many ways to conceptualize a patient's difficulties, and they do not necessarily conflict. In fact, if interventions based on one formulation are not bearing fruit, go back to the data and come up with another formulation hypothesis to retest.

Well written, well laid out, organized, adequately detailed, and full of interesting illustrative examples, I am hard pressed to find fault with this book. Persons says in her introduction: "My goal is to help clinicians do effective work that is responsive to the situation at hand, guided by clear thinking, and evidence based. "pv" Absolutely.

[Author Affiliation]

Review by Gail Myhr, MD, CM, MSc, FRCPC Montreal, Quebec

Red Sox Top Texas to Earn Series Split

BOSTON - A late lineup addition made the biggest difference for the Red Sox. Eric Hinske had a bases-loaded triple and Dustin Pedroia hit a two-run double as Boston's bats came alive in a 7-3 victory over the Texas Rangers on Monday night.

Hitting just .119 with runners in scoring position while scoring only eight runs in their previous four games, the Red Sox were searching for a key hit. Hinske, inserted into the lineup after Kevin Youkilis was scratched was a sore left quadriceps during batting practice, provided the key drive.

When Hinske arrived at the ballpark, he didn't know he'd be starting.

"I was told during batting practice," he said. "I just tried to …

From Peruvian guinea pig farmers to xylophone lessons for prisoners - the crackpot causes they've wasted your money on.

Byline: EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY

IN THE ten years since it was set up, the National Lottery has distributed nearly [pounds sterling]17 billion to 180,000 so-called good causes around Britain. Here, EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY offers a guide to the highs and lows of Lottery Britain.

COMMUNITY FUND

(now part of the Big Lottery Fund, see below)

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.8 billion Most ridiculous handout: [pounds sterling]340,000 for the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, a body that helped terrorists and Islamic extremists, and described the then Home Secretary David Blunkett as 'colluding with terrorism'.

Most politically correct donation: [pounds sterling]7,500 to support the Northern Ireland Filipino Community and its touring dance troupe.

Silliest overseas handout: [pounds sterling]420,000 to the Cusichaca Trust to help fund its bid to breed giant edible guinea pigs in Peru.

Final insult to the public: Lady Brittan, who presided over this appalling fund, was made a dame by a grateful government when she retired.

Best project turned down: [pounds sterling]200,000 for a new boat for Britain's only independent lifeboat crew, who have saved 158 lives over the years, refused because they do not help the 'disadvantaged'.

MILLENNIUM COMMISSION

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.33 billion Biggest mistake: The Dome, which Tony Blair said would be a triumph of 'confidence over cynicism', but with only half of the predicted 12million visitors turning up, the Dome cost the Commission [pounds sterling]600 million.

Most complete failure: The Earth Centre in Doncaster, 'the United Kingdom's first landmark millennium attraction', costing [pounds sterling]36million of Lottery cash, which closed last year after attracting only 20 per cent of its estimated visitor numbers.

Least popular attraction: The National Faith Centre in Bradford, which cost [pounds sterling]2.3million and closed after less than a year. It received only 62 visitors in its first week.

Worst continuing disaster: The recreated Roman spa in Bath, which has cost the Millennium Commission [pounds sterling]8 million so far, hasn't opened yet, is three times over budget and, when last heard of, had run out of water.

Biggest surprise: Even the Millennium Commission had one success, the Eden Project in Cornwall, where tropical plants grow within giant domes.

ARTS

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.76 billion Rudest assessment: The National Audit Office looked at the 15 largest projects given money by the Arts Council: two had gone broke, five more were experiencing severe financial difficulties, 13 were over budget, and four had been finished more than a year late.

Worst white elephant: The National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, which received [pounds sterling]11 million in Lottery money, was predicted to have 400,000 visitors a year, but managed only 80,000 and went broke.

Cultural lowpoints: A [pounds sterling]20,000 grant to teach prisoners how to use Indonesian gongs and xylophones, [pounds sterling]30,000 for a civil servant to promote cultural diversity in Plymouth, and another [pounds sterling]30,000 for an arts festival for homeless people.

Poorest investment: Encouraged by the Government, the Film Council put [pounds sterling]100 million of Lottery money into 11 British movies.

Ten of them were financial failures, one was a thriller about a paedophile and another was described as 'bad almost beyond belief'.

HERITAGE

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.96 billion Most elitist grant: [pounds sterling]78 million for rebuilding and refurbishing the Royal Opera House, where the best tickets cost [pounds sterling]150 each.

Heritage lowpoints: [pounds sterling]39,000 for a gay heritage trail in Manchester, [pounds sterling]25,000 in Peterborough to tell young travellers more about their history and [pounds sterling]1million to a pottery museum in Stoke-on-Trent to tell the history of the lavatory.

Most expensive painting: A grant of [pounds sterling]11.5 million to help the National Gallery buy Raphael's Madonna Of The Pinks (total cost [pounds sterling]22 million) from the Duke of Northumberland, despite questions about its authenticity.

Most grasping beneficiary: Sir Winston Churchill MP, who sold his grandfather's papers to the nation for [pounds sterling]13 million in Lottery money, when most observers believed that the state owned the papers anyway.

SPORT

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.82 billion Most expensive grants: Each of our 30 athletics medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics cost an average of [pounds sterling]2.85 million in Lottery grants.

Biggest risk taken: An early commitment of [pounds sterling]120million to the financing of the new Wembley Stadium, which was nearly a disaster. If it hadn't gone ahead, the Lottery would have lost all of its investment.

Biggest failure: Since the Lottery started, the percentage of Britons taking part in sport has not increased at all.

Worst impending disaster: A [pounds sterling]1.5 billion commitment to set up a new fund to help pay for London to host the 2012 Olympics, and even worse, a blank cheque promise to pay half of any cost overruns.

Biggest white elephant: Clissold Leisure Centre in Hackney, which received [pounds sterling]10million in Lottery money, opened three years late and, after just two years, had to be shut down because of major design defects.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FUND (now part of the Big Lottery Fund, see below) Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.67 billion Most bizarre grant: [pounds sterling]3.8 million to fund aromatherapy and massage sessions, tai chi lessons and interior design classes for drug addicts in Scotland.

Worst educational investment: [pounds sterling]25 million to send problem teenagers on day trips to seaside resorts and leisure attractions such as Alton Towers.

Most cynical replacement of public spending: [pounds sterling]6million to pay for defibrillators (for heart attack victims) for ambulance services.

BIG LOTTERY FUND

(new in 2004, including the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund)

Amount distributed: Has access to around [pounds sterling]600million a year.

Silliest government-sponsored idea: Providing [pounds sterling]45 million for a School Foods Trust to 'give independent support and advice to schools and parents' when the money would be far better spent on quality ingredients.

Most deserving cause turned down: [pounds sterling]300,000 for a building to house 120 volunteers for the Samaritans in Sheffield, refused because it failed to do enough to meet the needs of 'target groups'.

Most wasteful grant: [pounds sterling]360,000 for the UK Network of Sex Work Projects, a group that campaigns to legalise prostitution and brothels.

Most politically correct handout: [pounds sterling]428,498 for Student Action for Refugees, an organisation that runs lobby groups in universities, encouraging students to write to MPs and ministers in support of asylum seekers.

Biggest gimmick: Promising the public a say over how the good causes money is distributed, and then doing so through a tawdry TV programme that gives them control of only 1.3 per cent of the good causes money, leaving unelected quangocrats to hand out the rest.

From Peruvian guinea pig farmers to xylophone lessons for prisoners - the crackpot causes they've wasted your money on.

Byline: EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY

IN THE ten years since it was set up, the National Lottery has distributed nearly [pounds sterling]17 billion to 180,000 so-called good causes around Britain. Here, EDWARD HEATHCOAT AMORY offers a guide to the highs and lows of Lottery Britain.

COMMUNITY FUND

(now part of the Big Lottery Fund, see below)

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.8 billion Most ridiculous handout: [pounds sterling]340,000 for the National Coalition of Anti-Deportation Campaigns, a body that helped terrorists and Islamic extremists, and described the then Home Secretary David Blunkett as 'colluding with terrorism'.

Most politically correct donation: [pounds sterling]7,500 to support the Northern Ireland Filipino Community and its touring dance troupe.

Silliest overseas handout: [pounds sterling]420,000 to the Cusichaca Trust to help fund its bid to breed giant edible guinea pigs in Peru.

Final insult to the public: Lady Brittan, who presided over this appalling fund, was made a dame by a grateful government when she retired.

Best project turned down: [pounds sterling]200,000 for a new boat for Britain's only independent lifeboat crew, who have saved 158 lives over the years, refused because they do not help the 'disadvantaged'.

MILLENNIUM COMMISSION

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.33 billion Biggest mistake: The Dome, which Tony Blair said would be a triumph of 'confidence over cynicism', but with only half of the predicted 12million visitors turning up, the Dome cost the Commission [pounds sterling]600 million.

Most complete failure: The Earth Centre in Doncaster, 'the United Kingdom's first landmark millennium attraction', costing [pounds sterling]36million of Lottery cash, which closed last year after attracting only 20 per cent of its estimated visitor numbers.

Least popular attraction: The National Faith Centre in Bradford, which cost [pounds sterling]2.3million and closed after less than a year. It received only 62 visitors in its first week.

Worst continuing disaster: The recreated Roman spa in Bath, which has cost the Millennium Commission [pounds sterling]8 million so far, hasn't opened yet, is three times over budget and, when last heard of, had run out of water.

Biggest surprise: Even the Millennium Commission had one success, the Eden Project in Cornwall, where tropical plants grow within giant domes.

ARTS

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.76 billion Rudest assessment: The National Audit Office looked at the 15 largest projects given money by the Arts Council: two had gone broke, five more were experiencing severe financial difficulties, 13 were over budget, and four had been finished more than a year late.

Worst white elephant: The National Centre for Popular Music in Sheffield, which received [pounds sterling]11 million in Lottery money, was predicted to have 400,000 visitors a year, but managed only 80,000 and went broke.

Cultural lowpoints: A [pounds sterling]20,000 grant to teach prisoners how to use Indonesian gongs and xylophones, [pounds sterling]30,000 for a civil servant to promote cultural diversity in Plymouth, and another [pounds sterling]30,000 for an arts festival for homeless people.

Poorest investment: Encouraged by the Government, the Film Council put [pounds sterling]100 million of Lottery money into 11 British movies.

Ten of them were financial failures, one was a thriller about a paedophile and another was described as 'bad almost beyond belief'.

HERITAGE

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.96 billion Most elitist grant: [pounds sterling]78 million for rebuilding and refurbishing the Royal Opera House, where the best tickets cost [pounds sterling]150 each.

Heritage lowpoints: [pounds sterling]39,000 for a gay heritage trail in Manchester, [pounds sterling]25,000 in Peterborough to tell young travellers more about their history and [pounds sterling]1million to a pottery museum in Stoke-on-Trent to tell the history of the lavatory.

Most expensive painting: A grant of [pounds sterling]11.5 million to help the National Gallery buy Raphael's Madonna Of The Pinks (total cost [pounds sterling]22 million) from the Duke of Northumberland, despite questions about its authenticity.

Most grasping beneficiary: Sir Winston Churchill MP, who sold his grandfather's papers to the nation for [pounds sterling]13 million in Lottery money, when most observers believed that the state owned the papers anyway.

SPORT

Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.82 billion Most expensive grants: Each of our 30 athletics medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics cost an average of [pounds sterling]2.85 million in Lottery grants.

Biggest risk taken: An early commitment of [pounds sterling]120million to the financing of the new Wembley Stadium, which was nearly a disaster. If it hadn't gone ahead, the Lottery would have lost all of its investment.

Biggest failure: Since the Lottery started, the percentage of Britons taking part in sport has not increased at all.

Worst impending disaster: A [pounds sterling]1.5 billion commitment to set up a new fund to help pay for London to host the 2012 Olympics, and even worse, a blank cheque promise to pay half of any cost overruns.

Biggest white elephant: Clissold Leisure Centre in Hackney, which received [pounds sterling]10million in Lottery money, opened three years late and, after just two years, had to be shut down because of major design defects.

NEW OPPORTUNITIES FUND (now part of the Big Lottery Fund, see below) Amount distributed: [pounds sterling]2.67 billion Most bizarre grant: [pounds sterling]3.8 million to fund aromatherapy and massage sessions, tai chi lessons and interior design classes for drug addicts in Scotland.

Worst educational investment: [pounds sterling]25 million to send problem teenagers on day trips to seaside resorts and leisure attractions such as Alton Towers.

Most cynical replacement of public spending: [pounds sterling]6million to pay for defibrillators (for heart attack victims) for ambulance services.

BIG LOTTERY FUND

(new in 2004, including the Community Fund and New Opportunities Fund)

Amount distributed: Has access to around [pounds sterling]600million a year.

Silliest government-sponsored idea: Providing [pounds sterling]45 million for a School Foods Trust to 'give independent support and advice to schools and parents' when the money would be far better spent on quality ingredients.

Most deserving cause turned down: [pounds sterling]300,000 for a building to house 120 volunteers for the Samaritans in Sheffield, refused because it failed to do enough to meet the needs of 'target groups'.

Most wasteful grant: [pounds sterling]360,000 for the UK Network of Sex Work Projects, a group that campaigns to legalise prostitution and brothels.

Most politically correct handout: [pounds sterling]428,498 for Student Action for Refugees, an organisation that runs lobby groups in universities, encouraging students to write to MPs and ministers in support of asylum seekers.

Biggest gimmick: Promising the public a say over how the good causes money is distributed, and then doing so through a tawdry TV programme that gives them control of only 1.3 per cent of the good causes money, leaving unelected quangocrats to hand out the rest.