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Sure it's bizarre - it's economics

To say that economics is not as exact a discipline as physics isonly stating the obvious. But I maintain there are some physics-likeprinciples involved in the dismal science. If some of the effects ofOsgoodian economics seem bizarre and appear not to make a whole lotof sense, all I can say is that Einstein's relativity seems to fly inthe face of logic and experience, too.

Einstein's constant (C for short) is the speed of light, whichis always exactly the same, 186,000 miles per second. That is aspeed limit, by the way. No object can move faster than that withoutlosing its mass and disappearing completely. If you were travelingat 186,000 miles per second, I'll bet you …

Clinton pushes Afghan reconciliation

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday encouraged Afghanistan's wary leadership and civic leaders to keep up Taliban reconciliation efforts and boost counterterrorism cooperation with Pakistan as the Obama administration presses ahead with troop withdrawal plans.

On an unannounced visit to Kabul, Clinton told civic leaders the U.S. would not abandon Afghanistan and pledged that reconciliation would not come at the expense of women's and minority rights. Later she was to see President Hamid Karzai and other top Afghan officials to repeat that message.

Clinton assured women's rights activists, educators and politicians that their …

Violence erupts on Greek riot anniversary

Masked youths hurled firebombs and chunks of marble at police during a march in Athens to mark the first anniversary of the police shooting of a teenager whose death sparked massive riots.

Police fired volleys of tear gas to disperse the youths in running street battles Sunday in the center of the capital as several thousand demonstrators commemorated the death of 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos. The teenager's death sent youths rampaging through cities for two weeks last December.

On Sunday, the rioters smashed bank windows, overturned trash bins and set them alight as they hurled rocks and fire crackers at riot police. Authorities said 177 people were …

To find a good travel agent, do your homework

Check this spot every Wednesday for quick getaway ideas, traveltips and more.Finding a good travel agent can seem daunting, but he or she can bethe difference between the trip of a lifetime and the trip from hell.

Start by asking friends, relatives and colleagues for arecommendation, says Steve Loucks, spokesman for the American Societyof Travel Agents, which has 27,000 members nationwide. "Find outwhat kind of travel that person helps them with. Is it leisure?Business?"

"If you have time, stop by and check it out. Is this the kindof place you want to give your business to?"Check the agent's professional affiliations. For example,Alexandria, Va.-based ASTA is …

[When the romance ended: leaders of the Chilean left, 1968-1998]

Katherine Hite

New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. xxii + 246 pp.

Alejandro Rojas, University of British Columbia

This is an important, caring and respectful book documenting the evolution of ideological perspectives and political attitudes within the Chilean left during the period 1968-1998. It describes both the elements of continuity and change in the ideological landscape and political attitudes of a group of carefully chosen left-wing political leaders. Positioned within the study of identity politics, the book explores how historical events, organizational and social structures and biographies interact in forming the identity of "political thinkers," …

ECB head says inflation will linger

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet warned Wednesday that euro nations are already seeing the first signs of an inflation price spiral, calling on governments to take care not to grant wage hikes that could fuel further price rises.

The ECB's governing council "is strongly concerned that price and wage-setting behavior could add to inflationary pressures," Trichet told the European Parliament. "First signs are already emerging in some regions of the euro area."

He said current inflation levels were "worrying" and warned they were set to stay high before cooling gradually next year.

He said indexation …

Dreams for India ; The potential to become a far more powerful and prosperous nation existed back then, and it exists now. What it requires, as management guru C.K. Prahalad writes so eloquently in our cover story, is not analysis but imagination.

Something profound happened to India over the past few years. Itcaught a glimpse of the greatness it could achieve. It was in therise of IT triumvirate (TCS, Infosys and Wipro) as the world'spreferred vendors, Tata Steel's acquisition of Corus, BhartiAirtel's radical new model in telecoms, ICICI Bank's success inretail banking and, perhaps, even in Lakshmi Niwas Mittal'sspectacular emergence as the world's unquestioned steel czar.Suddenly, a lumbering India gathered pace, the world took itseriously and, most importantly, Indians took themselves seriously.

Therefore, it's a little sad to see the pace at which India's new-found confidence is giving way. Since January this …

Technology

Wireless tech with a quickness by Michele D. Thomas

Attention handheld-lovers! Motorola's new Accompli 009 two-way messenger is the talk of the town-even before it's release. Send and receive e-mails, check your calendar, take notes, save your addresses and more, with 8MB of Flash memory, 1 MB of RAM, wireless messaging, high-speed Internet access, phone and …

Massa returns after losing F1 title

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa failed to make an impact Wednesday in his return to the track for the first time since losing the Formula One title.

Massa finished 10th out of 11 drivers at the Jerez circuit with a best lap of 1 minute, 20.490 seconds. The Brazilian driver was more than two seconds slower than Sebastien Buemi, who topped testing for the second straight day with Toro Rosso.

Massa won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix but was then forced into an agonizing wait as the title came down to the cars behind him, as Lewis Hamilton overtook Timo Glock to finish fifth and become Formula One's youngest champion by one point.

Massa and …

Memories returning to Historical Society

Chicago's memory is partly back in business at Clark and North.

The Chicago Historical Society, recovering from a recent flood,opened its third-floor research facilities to the public yesterdayfor the first time since July 11.

The third floor houses the library, archives, manuscripts andprints and photography collection.

Librarian Janice McNeill said that her staff continued answeringwritten queries during the shutdown, but that some people checkingtheir family histories may have shifted their delving to the NewberryLibrary, 60 W. Walton.

The rest of the floors will reopen Aug. 30, and the nextexhibit, "Louis Sullivan: The Function of Ornament," …

Beijing Appoints New Bishop

BEIJING - China's state-controlled Catholic Church installed a cleric well-regarded by the Vatican as bishop of Beijing on Friday in a move that officials say should help ease their tense relations.

Joseph Li Shan was appointed to the influential post in China's capital at a ceremony at the city's 400-year-old Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception attended by several hundred priests, nuns, officials and ordinary Chinese …

Musharraf resists calls to quit, but says he won't accept ceremonial role

Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf held out Saturday against rising calls for his resignation, but indicated he would quit if a hostile parliament slashes his powers and leaves him feeling like a "useless vegetable."

Musharraf has clung to power and retained the support of U.S. President George W. Bush despite his plummeting popularity and the defeat of his supporters in February elections. Recent media reports have suggested he was ready to go into exile.

The former army strongman, a stalwart ally in Washington's war on terror, insisted Saturday that he would not quit under pressure. His arch-foes are calling for him to be impeached and tried …

Ya, Sweden; For one of New York City's culinary stars, Scandinavian cuisine is just good homecooking.

In the rarefied world of haute cuisine, a black executive chef is indeed an anomaly. Rarer still is Marcus Samuelsson, one who is not only the co-owner of an acclaimed Scandinavian restaurant in New York City, but also author of a definitive cookbook: Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine (Houghton Mifflin Company, $45.00, October 2003, ISBN 0-618-10941-2).

Not since the heyday of Tavern on the Green's celebrated Patrick Clark has a black chef captured the accolades and esteem of the culinary community. Under Samuelsson's direction, Restaurant Aquavit has earned three-star reviews from the New York Times, and he has garnered Rising Star Chef and Best Chef awards from the prestigious James Beard Foundation. He also recently opened a second Big Apple eatery, Riingo.

Samuelsson, at 32, is a master of a style of cuisine largely unfamiliar to many Americans. "I was raised around this type of food, so it's not unusual to me," Samuelsson explains. "But, one of the great things about New York City is that it's an incredible melting pot of different cultures and cuisines, and it gives you a real opportunity to experiment."

When he was three years old, Samuelsson's birth parents died in a tuberculosis epidemic in his native Ethiopia. He and his sister were adopted by a Swedish couple and raised on the west coast of Sweden, where Samuelsson learned the basic principles of cooking from his adopted grandmother, who worked as a private cook for a wealthy family.

"We'd do things like go hunting for mushrooms, or go out fishing on our own when I was nine," Samuelsson recalls. "By spending time with her and being raised around food and nature, I didn't just learn how to cook, I learned where food comes from, how to identify different things and combine ingredients to create unique flavors."

A summer job in a bakery as a teenager led to a formal education at a Swedish culinary school by day and stints in restaurants at night. After completing apprenticeships in Switzerland and Austria, then working as a chef aboard a cruise ship, Samuelsson was selected by the owner of Aquavit for an eight-month apprenticeship in 1991.

Then he left the States and worked as a chef in France before being asked, in 1994, to return to Aquavit and work under Jan Sandel, then executive chef. When Sandel died unexpectedly, the 24-year-old Samuelsson took charge. "I was ready," he says. "New York is a tough town, and I worked hard to get where I am. No one handed anything to me on a silver platter. I've been cooking professionally since I was a teenager, so I feel that I earned my success.

"I wanted to keep the identity of Aquavit in the book, but the recipes are different from what we do in the restaurant," explains Samuelsson. "They're more adaptable to cooking at home, and I reworked many of the recipes with the American palate in mind."

Apart from the use of an occasional exotic ingredient, the recipes are short, manageable and accompanied by large, lush photographs. He offers more than 100 recipes, ranging from his interpretations of Swedish meatballs and Gl�gg (a spiced wine) to creative twists on roasted red snapper with lemongrass and crispy potatoes coated in Japanese breadcrumbs.

Samuelsson's new restaurant, Riingo, features Japanese-American cuisine. Says Samuelsson, "The book took three years to complete, the new restaurant took many years to get going, so I don't have plans to start any other projects in the near future. Creatively, I'm where I want to be."

Photograph (Marcus Samuelsson)

EU approves Renault taking 25 percent of Avtovaz, Russia's largest automaker

The European Union on Wednesday approved a US$1 billion (euro640 million) deal which gives Renault SA a 25 percent stake in the producer of Russia's Lada cars.

The European Commission says the agreement with Russia's OAO Avtovaz company, will not threaten open competition in the European car market. The EU clearance on Wednesday gives the French care manufacturer breakthrough access to one of the world's fastest growing markets through a well-established brand.

The Commission said in a statement the deal "would not give rise to competition concerns" in the EU and would hardly influence Renault's share outside Russia.

Renault beat out General Motors and Italy's Fiat for the stake of Avtovaz.

Under the deal, Renault gets three of the 12 seats on the Avtovaz board and will share engines and technologies with the Russian company as it develops a new generation of Ladas. The Lada trademark will be preserved.

Despite a 6 percent increase in domestic sales for Avtovaz last year, there is a growing concern that the company won't be able to keep pace with Russian demand for automobiles, as foreign competition tries carves out market share in a booming economy. Renault has emphasized that Lada would remain a distinctly Russian brand.

Worries about pets, poison, warts and all The only thing we have to fear is just about everything

The sun is shining like a clever simile in the sky, spunky tulipsare nudging their way out of the dirt, animated bluebirds are singingin my ear, and quite frankly, it's distracting me from all the miseryin the world.

This is not a good thing. It's nature's flashy way of saying,``Look! A butterfly! Pay no attention to the eroding soil thatthreatens the future of our planet.''

Every minute we spend frolicking with bunnies is a minute thatwould have been better spent worrying about all the awful tragediesthat might-but probably won't-befall us.

Many people will tell you it's pointless to worry. They make upquotable sayings about how worrying accomplishes nothing. But thoseof us who fear say, smallpox, on a regular basis will simply bebetter prepared when the disease strikes us. It's those grinning``Don't worry, be happy'' fools who are going to be caught shortwithout a vaccine handy. And if the smallpox doesn't kill them, theshock of us triumphantly screeching ``I knew it!'' will.

Besides, don't the people telling us not to waste time worryingworry about wasting their time on us? Ponder that, and ponder theseconcerns of mine. Apply them to your own life where possible:

If the globe is warming, why are Chicago winters still somiserable?

Should I have this mole

removed?

What if I'm drafted to fight in a country I think is near Turkeybut I'm not sure?

What if somebody miscalculated the Y2K bug and the nation'scomputers crash on the Fourth of July?

Can I get cancer of the big toe?

What if I'm not gaining weight-what if I'm just swollen?

How will the decline in male sperm count affect me?

Am I exploiting my cleaning woman?

Is it too late to be discovered by a Hollywood agent?

Should I have started lying about my age five years ago?

Am I pro-genetically modified crops or anti-genetically modifiedcrops?

Is it wrong to enjoy the smell of

gasoline?

Are fisheries being exhausted? If so, where is my dad going to geta new hobby?

Have I been mispronouncing my name?

Where are you supposed to recycle batteries again?

What if they discontinue my favorite lipstick?

What if I'm not as smart as I think I am? Or worse, what if I'msmarter than I think I am, and I've been squandering my genius?

How long does it take second-hand cigar smoke to kill you?

In a crisis situation, I'll be the stereotypical whimperingcoward, won't I?

Did my new teak endtable contribute to the demise of therainforest?

Can you get lead poisoning from No. 2 pencils?

What if I missed my true calling-to be a dancer?

Are our pets just patronizing us?

Is ketchup considered a natural resource, and are we almost out ofit?

How can you tell if pesticides are in your food? And what ifscientists discover Cool-Ranch Doritos are bad for you?

What if I've lost my mind and I just don't realize it?

Can I really get warts from worrying?