A look at statements about foiled terror plot

Published May 14, 2013

Associated Press

A look at the events and public statements surrounding an Associated Press story about a foiled plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner:

— May 2, 2012: Federal government officials ask the AP to delay publishing a story about a foiled plot by al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner, which the AP had recently discovered. They cite national security concerns. The AP agrees to temporarily delay publishing until national security concerns are allayed.

— May 7, 2012: Federal government officials inform the AP that the national security concerns have been allayed, but they still ask AP to withhold publishing the story until an official announcement planned for the following day. The AP declines and publishes the story. Later that day, John Brennan, then the president's chief counterterrorism adviser, conducts a teleconference with analysts to discuss the plot. He assures them the bomb was never a threat to the American public.

— Feb. 7, 2013: Brennan, during his nomination hearing to become CIA director, tells senators, "I said there was never a threat to the American public, as we had said so publicly, because we had inside control of the plot and the device was never a threat to the American public."

— May 14, 2013: Attorney General Eric Holder describes the disclosure of information about the foiled plot as "a very, very serious leak." Holder says: "It put the American people at risk. And that is not hyperbole. It put the American people at risk. And trying to determine who was responsible for that, I think, required very aggressive action." Holder does not specify how the disclosure of information about the foiled plot had endangered Americans.

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At what price glory? About $50G for Air Force One

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Federal officials at the General Services Administration are set to hawk an extraordinary item this week: a plane that once served as Air Force One.

The plane flew every president from Ford to George W., VPs and VIPs -- and it can be yours for as little as $50,000.

“It's not often we get to sell a piece of history like this, but GSA Auctions is selling this plane that flew Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton & Bush (as well as the Vice-President, First Lady, Cabinet secretaries, 4-star generals, admirals, foreign dignitaries and more), writes a GSA official on the department’s Facebook page.

“Anyone got $50K…?” wrote one wise-cracker in reply to the social-media-borne advertisement. “We could buy it and fly to work every day and avoid the Beltway or Metro!”

“Not sure I want to fly on a 40-year-old plane,” wrote one more. “If it would fit into my garage, I might have a dinner party on it on occasion.”

The auction – which includes the vessels, vehicles, space-shuttle parts, real estate, heavy machinery and scientific items now considered surplus, or excess, federal equipment -- is set to begin Wednesday at 11 a.m. (EST), with the minimum, or starting bid, pegged at $50,000, according to the GSA’s site.

 The DC9-32, with tail number N681AL, is currently stowed at Phoenix/Mesa Gateway Airport in Mesa, Ariz., although GSA officials caution that inspections of the property are “by appointment only,” and that the successful bidder better have a way of removing the plane from the site.

“Successful bidders are cautioned that they will be responsible for loading, packing and removal of any and all property awarded to them from the exact place where the property is located,” reads the advertisement on the GSA’s website.

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Israel wary quiet on Syrian front about to end

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  In this photo taken Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Gal Hirsch, a reserve Israeli General, stands at an army outpost overlooking Syria and Jordan in the Golan Heights. Against a breathtaking vista of green fields and a snowcapped mountain range, all is silent but for a strong gust of wind whipping across the landscape. The tranquility is suddenly interrupted by a burst of gunfire from beyond a newly built fortified fence: Jihadi rebels are battling with Bashar Assad's battered troops in a nearby Syrian village. Watching it all unfold are Israeli soldiers atop tanks - a sight unseen here in a generation - and the sounds of explosions from a large-scale Israeli drill are distinctly heard in the background. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)The Associated Press

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  In this photo taken Wednesday, April 24, 2013, a worker builds a security fence along the border between Israel and Syrian on the Golan Heights. Against a breathtaking vista of green fields and a snowcapped mountain range, all is silent but for a strong gust of wind whipping across the landscape. The tranquility is suddenly interrupted by a burst of gunfire from beyond a newly built fortified fence: Jihadi rebels are battling with Bashar Assad's battered troops in a nearby Syrian village. Watching it all unfold are Israeli soldiers atop tanks - a sight unseen here in a generation - and the sounds of explosions from a large-scale Israeli drill are distinctly heard in the background. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)The Associated Press

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  In this photo taken Wednesday, April 24, 2013, an Israeli soldier looks through binoculars at a Syrian village from an army post on the border between Israel and Syrian on the Golan Heights. Against a breathtaking vista of green fields and a snowcapped mountain range, all is silent but for a strong gust of wind whipping across the landscape. The tranquility is suddenly interrupted by a burst of gunfire from beyond a newly built fortified fence: Jihadi rebels are battling with Bashar Assad's battered troops in a nearby Syrian village. Watching it all unfold are Israeli soldiers atop tanks - a sight unseen here in a generation - and the sounds of explosions from a large-scale Israeli drill are distinctly heard in the background. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)The Associated Press

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  In this photo taken Wednesday, April 24, 2013, Israeli soldiers stand next to a metal placard in the shape of an Israeli soldier, at an observation point on Mt. Bental in the Golan Heights, Against a breathtaking vista of green fields and a snowcapped mountain range, all is silent but for a strong gust of wind whipping across the landscape. The tranquility is suddenly interrupted by a burst of gunfire from beyond a newly built fortified fence: Jihadi rebels are battling with Bashar Assad's battered troops in a nearby Syrian village. Watching it all unfold are Israeli soldiers atop tanks - a sight unseen here in a generation - and the sounds of explosions from a large-scale Israeli drill are distinctly heard in the background. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)The Associated Press

Next Slide Previous Slide

ALONEI HABASHAN, Golan Heights –  Against a vista of green fields and snowcapped mountains, all is silent but for a gusting wind. Then comes a burst of gunfire from the Syrian civil war raging next door, where jihadist rebels are battling Bashar Assad's troops in a village.

Watching it all unfold from a few kilometers (miles) away are Israeli soldiers atop tanks behind a newly fortified fence, while a large-scale Israeli drill sends off its own explosions in the background.

This is the new reality on the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, for 40 years the quietest of Israel's front lines, a place of hiking trails, bird-watching, skiing and winery tour. The military predicts all that will soon change as it prepares for the worst — a power vacuum in Syria in which rogue groups could get their hands of the country's large stockpile of chemical weapons.

In many ways, a new era has already begun. The Syrian villages along the border change hands between military and rebel strongholds in daily battles. Their mortar shells and bullets frequently land on the Israeli side, including in in some cases narrowly missing soldiers and civilians. A Syrian army tank shell landed in the border community of Alonei Habashan in February.

Though Israel believes these have mostly been cases of errant fire, it has responded with firepower of its own on several occasions in the first round of hostilities since a long-term armistice took hold after the 1973 Mideast war.

"This area became a huge ungoverned area and inside an ungoverned area many, many players want to be inside and want to play their own role and to work for their own interests," said Gal Hirsch, a reserve Israeli brigadier general who is involved in the military's strategic planning and operations. "Syria became a place that we see as a big threat to Israel and that is why we started to work in the last two years on a strong obstacle, on our infrastructure, in order to make sure that we will be ready for the future. And the future is here already."

Officials say the military's present deployment on the plateau is its most robust since 1973, and its most obvious manifestation is the brand new border fence, 6 meters (20 feet) tall, topped with barbed wire and bristling with sophisticated anti-infiltration devices. The previous rundown fence was largely untested until it was trampled over last year by Syrians protesting on behalf of Palestinians.

The military would not detail other measures it is taking, but stressed it was actively defining the new border arrangement now, before it's too late.

On the other side of the frontier, the village of Bir Ajam is in rebel hands and Israeli troops report watching them successfully deflect Syrian military pre-dawn raids almost daily. In a village nearby, Syrian intelligence and commando forces are based in concrete, windowless structures.

At the triangle where the borders of Israel, Syria and Jordan meet along the Yarmouk River, a lone jeep is seen crossing uninterrupted from Jordan into Syria. In March, rebels kidnapped 21 Filipino U.N peacekeepers nearby. Thousands of refugees have used the route to flee the carnage into Jordan.

A few injured refugees have trickled into the Golan, and the military runs a field clinic to treat them. But there's no guarantee the trickle won't become a flood if Jordan in the south or Turkey in the north become unreachable.

"Syria right now is a kind of self-evolving system," Hirsch said. "No one can control or predict everything."

Israel, which borders southwestern Syria, has thus far been careful to stay on the sidelines of a civil war that has already claimed the lives of more than 70,000.

Assad is a bitter enemy, an ally of Iran and a major backer of Lebanese Hezbollah guerilla attacks against Israel. But like his father whom he succeeded as president, he has faithfully observed U.S.-brokered accords that ended the 1973 war. Israel worries that whoever comes out on top in the civil war will be a much more dangerous adversary.

Chief among Israeli concerns is that Assad's advanced weaponry could reach the hands of either his ally, the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, or Islamic extremist groups among the rebels trying to oust him.

"Syria is not a regular place ... it is the biggest warehouse for weapons on earth," Hirsch warned.

In an interview with BBC TV last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the rebel groups among "the worst Islamist radicals in the world."

"So obviously we are concerned that weapons that are ground-breaking, that can change the balance of power in the Middle East, would fall into the hands of these terrorists," he said.

This week, a senior Israeli military intelligence official said Assad used chemical weapons last month. After initial denials, American and British officials confirmed the assessment of Brig. Gen. Itai Brun, the head of research and analysis in Israeli military intelligence, that the lethal nerve agent sarin was probably used. U.S. President Barack Obama has warned that the introduction of chemical weapons by Assad would be a "game changer" that could usher in greater foreign intervention in the civil war.

For Israel, the specter of peace with Syria disintegrating adds to a growing sense of siege.

It saw the Gaza Strip fall to the militant Hamas movement in an election in 2006. And Egypt, the most populous Arab country and the first to make peace with Israel, is now ruled by the fiercely anti-Israeli Muslim Brotherhood. Israel has all but admitted that its warplanes destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles believed to be headed from Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon in January, and on Thursday it shot down a drone which it claimed was operated by Hezbollah. (Hezbollah denied launching it.).

Hirsch, who commanded an Israeli division in a monthlong war with Hezbollah in 2006, said war regional roles have since then been reversed. While once Syria used Hezbollah in Lebanon as a proxy against Israel, Hezbollah is now deterred from acting on Lebanese soil for fear of Israeli retribution and is preparing to use the instability in Syria as its future staging ground.

"The fighting in Syria gives them an opportunity to open a new front against Israel," said Hirsch. "We must be ready for turbulence. We must be ready for the Iranian involvement inside Syria. We must be ready to be able to fight against radical fundamentalist activities that will come from Syria, and that is what we are doing here."

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Follow Heller on Twitter (at)aronhellerap

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Records: Wis. mom was warned about leaving kids

MILWAUKEE –  A Wisconsin mom accused of locking three of her small children in a bedroom and leaving them unattended hours before they died in a fire had twice been warned by authorities not to leave them alone, according to court documents.

Angelica D. Belen, 24, made an initial court appearance Wednesday on three felony charges of child neglect resulting in death. A Milwaukee County court commissioner imposed a cash bond of $500,000.

Her 5-year-old daughter, Nayeli Colon, and 4-year-old twin sons, Adrian and Alexis Colon, died in a fire Thursday at their West Allis home. Belen told investigators she left the kids alone to start a new job and that she bolted their bedroom door shut because she didn't want them wrecking the house or getting outside where neighbors could see they were unattended.

She said she knew she wasn't supposed to leave the kids alone but she needed to go to work and couldn't find a babysitter, the criminal complaint said.

Belen's public defender, Reyna Morales, declined to comment on the case.

Prosecutors say Belen was first warned on Feb. 26, when a child-welfare worker was driving to Belen's home for a scheduled visit. The worker spotted Belen driving directly in front of her. The worker watched Belen and Nayeli get out of the car, and all three walked inside to find Adrian and Alexis crying and Belen's 1-year-old son in a high chair.

"There was a decision made to allow the defendant to keep her children in the house, but she was told not to leave them alone," the complaint said.

The child-welfare worker, identified as Jami Katarincic of the Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare, declined to comment Wednesday to The Associated Press.

The Bureau of Milwaukee Child Welfare referred calls to the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, which released a statement saying confidentiality issues prevented it from confirming or denying that the children were known to the child-welfare system.

"An official assessment of this case is ongoing and the Department does not have any further comment at this time," the statement said.

The second time Belen was warned about leaving her children unattended was on March 13, when she went to a store with Nayeli and left her twin sons and 1-year-old Wilfredo Belen alone in the car. A witness told investigators the twins got out of the car and started running around, and one was almost hit by a car. A second witness saw a car door open and the 1-year-old crying inside.

A responding officer said the twins were dirty and smelled of feces.

The children again were allowed to stay with their mother. She was given another warning not to leave them alone, the complaint said.

Based on the two incidents, Belen was charged last month with six counts of misdemeanor child neglect. The charges carry a maximum combined penalty of 4½ years in prison and a $60,000 fine.

Authorities say Thursday's fire began when a faulty electrical connection ignited in the kitchen. The three charges of child neglect resulting in death are felonies, each carrying a maximum prison sentence of 25 years.

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Dinesh Ramde can be reached at dramde(at)ap.org.

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Republicans Wonder if Obama Outreach is Just About “Optics”

With President Obama working to open lines of communications with congressional Republicans, many in the GOP are wondering if it's real or just an act.

"This the same guy who just a few weeks ago was hammering us pretty good in his inaugural address and State of the Union on issues that he stands very firm on," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., today on "Power Play with Chris Stirewalt."

With his job approval ratings down sharply in the past week amid a bruising battle over automatic spending reductions, Obama is trying a different approach. Wednesday, he hosted 12 Republican Senators at The Jefferson Hotel just up the street from the White House. Over foie gras terrine and Colorado lamb açai, the president was hoping to thaw relations with his Republican opposition.

President Obama continued reaching out to Republican lawmakers by hosting lunch today with 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and the ranking Democrat Rep. Chris Van Hollen.

Womack, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, pointed out that even if you cut all discretionary spending, the government would still be running a deficit. Womack believes that balancing the budget is not possible without changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, a sensitive topic for Democrats.

Asked whether the president's recent overtures are sincere, Womack replied, "I hope it is genuine. At the end of the day it will be about what it resolves and whether or not it is just optics."

Womack represents Arkansas' 3rd District in the northwest which includes the headquarters of Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and the University of Arkansas.

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Republicans Wonder if Obama Outreach is Just About “Optics”

With President Obama working to open lines of communications with congressional Republicans, many in the GOP are wondering if it's real or just an act.

"This the same guy who just a few weeks ago was hammering us pretty good in his inaugural address and State of the Union on issues that he stands very firm on," said Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., today on "Power Play with Chris Stirewalt."

With his job approval ratings down sharply in the past week amid a bruising battle over automatic spending reductions, Obama is trying a different approach. Wednesday, he hosted 12 Republican Senators at The Jefferson Hotel just up the street from the White House. Over foie gras terrine and Colorado lamb açai, the president was hoping to thaw relations with his Republican opposition.

President Obama continued reaching out to Republican lawmakers by hosting lunch today with 2012 GOP vice presidential candidate Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee and the ranking Democrat Rep. Chris Van Hollen.

Womack, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, pointed out that even if you cut all discretionary spending, the government would still be running a deficit. Womack believes that balancing the budget is not possible without changes to entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security, a sensitive topic for Democrats.

Asked whether the president's recent overtures are sincere, Womack replied, "I hope it is genuine. At the end of the day it will be about what it resolves and whether or not it is just optics."

Womack represents Arkansas' 3rd District in the northwest which includes the headquarters of Wal-Mart, Tyson Foods and the University of Arkansas.

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New York professor apologizes for 'hypothetical' questions about rape

A University of Rochester professor has apologizes for a personal blog post in which he questions whether the rape of unconscious victims should be illegal.

“I am both sad and sorry that my recent blog post has distressed so many people so deeply, both on campus and off," economics professor Steven Landsburg said in a statement released Friday. "I am particularly sad because many readers got the impression that I was endorsing rape, while my intent was to say exactly the opposite—namely that the horror of rape is so great that we should rethink accepted principles of policy analysis that might sometimes minimize that horror."

The then suggested people read his follow-up post, where he "tried to say things more clearly."

"I very much wish I'd said them more clearly in the first place, and I do very much regret having caused any unnecessary offense," he said.

Landsburg came under fire from students at the university after he recently posted on the blog questions about rape — citing, in particular, the Stuebenville, Ohio, case in which two high school football players were convicted of raping an underage girl who was unconscious. 

On his blog, "Censorship, Environmentalism and Steubenville," Landsburg posed questions such as: "As long as I am safely (unconscious) and therefore shielded from the costs of an assault, why shouldn’t the rest of the world (or more specifically my attackers) be allowed to reap the benefits?" 

Landsburg also wrote: "If we legalize the rape of unconscious people, we will create an incentive to render people unconscious."

In an interview earlier this week with FoxNews.com, Landsburg acknowledged that his remarks on an ongoing academic discussion could have been better worded, saying, "This was not one of my better blog posts."  

"The whole reason it's an interesting question is that is seems so obvious to me that it should not be allowed," he said. 

"The reason I’m asking a question is because my personal strong feelings run so counter to what would seem to follow from the standard principles of policy analysis. Those standard principles say that if there's no harm perceived than the action should be allowed." 

University spokesman Bill Murphy said in a statement Thursday that: "The University of Rochester is committed to the academic freedom of our faculty and students. Their views are their own; they do not speak for the University."

"In his personal blog, Professor Landsburg poses some hypothetical questions about an unconscious rape victim," Murphy said. "He asks whether such rapes should be illegal. The University’s answer is that rape is abhorrent.  It is and should be a crime."

When asked whether disciplinary action would be taken against Landsburg, Murphy said, "Not on the basis of what we now know."

FoxNews.com's Cristina Corbin contributed to this report.

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Job is about to get much tougher as Dan Gavitt embarks as new NCAA tourney head

Published March 20, 2013

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS –  Dan Gavitt is ready to start on the hardest part of his new job — actually running the NCAA tournament.

Gavitt is no newcomer to putting on a good show. He ran the Big East men's tourney for the past seven years, ran the athletic department at Bryant University, even ran his own sports marketing firm before being hired in June as the NCAA's executive vice president for men's basketball championships.

But it's the first time the son of Big East founder and longtime commissioner Dave Gavitt has gotten an inside look behind the closed doors — and he knows it certainly won't be easy.

Following Wednesday night's final two first-round games, he'll head to Atlanta where he'll monitor all 48 games over the next four days.

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Fox News Poll: New pope gives optimism about Catholic Church

By Dana Blanton

Published March 20, 2013

FoxNews.com

Fox News Poll: New pope gives optimism about church

Catholics worldwide celebrated last week when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was chosen as the new pope.  Nationally, most Catholics say the election of Pope Francis makes them more optimistic about their church.

Pope Francis was elected on March 13 and formally installed as pope at a Mass on Tuesday.

Fully 76 percent of Catholics say Pope Francis makes them feel better about the future of the Catholic Church, according to a new Fox News national poll.  Only three percent say his election makes them feel worse.  Another 14 percent say the new pope doesn’t change how they feel.

Practicing Catholics who attend mass weekly are just as excited as Catholics who worship less regularly: 79 percent say Pope Francis makes them feel better about the church, two percent say worse and 13 percent feel the same.

CLICK TO VIEW THE POLL

The new poll, released Wednesday, also asked about Pope Francis being the first pope from outside Europe in more than a thousand years:  61 percent of Catholics say that represents a big change for the church, while 36 percent feel it isn’t a big deal.

Two-thirds of practicing Catholics say it is a big change (66 percent), while 30 percent downplay it.

Among all American voters, 54 percent say the new pope makes them feel better about the future of the Catholic Church, while five percent feel worse.  For about a third of voters the new pope’s election does not change how they feel (30 percent).

Voters split over whether the pope being from Buenos Aires is a big change for the Catholic Church (49 percent) or not a big deal (43 percent).

The Fox News poll is based on landline and cell phone interviews with 1,002 randomly chosen registered voters nationwide and was conducted under the joint direction of Anderson Robbins Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R) from March 17 to March 19.  The full poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.  Among Catholics the poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5.5 points and among practicing Catholics plus or minus eight points.

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Pope captivates crowds with 1st words about peace

VATICAN CITY –  Before they even saw his face, Pope Francis had already won over the Roman masses.

The announcement that he would be known by the same name as St. Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy, sent the crowd into ecstasy.

He did even better with his first words, when the 76-year-old Argentine said the cardinals had reached to the "end of the earth" to find the bishop of Rome — recalling the beloved Pope John Paul II, a Polish cardinal who told his first crowd in 1978 that cardinals had called him "from a far country."

The former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio is the son of an Italian immigrant and his Italian is only lightly accented.

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Column: Everybody else cares about the World Baseball Classic. Can Americans be far behind?

Bringing the world closer together through baseball sure sounded like a good idea.

Of course, that was before most Americans found out how much other countries actually cared about beating them at their national pastime. First, Taiwan got caught trying to smuggle a few scouts disguised as umpires into a game to spy on South Korea before the start of the World Baseball Classic, nearly touching off an international incident. Then Canada and Mexico staged a full-scale brawl in the ninth-inning of their WBC encounter Saturday in Phoenix.

While the Taiwanese-South Korea tiff melted away following a diplomatic apology, not so the rumble between the neighbors on either side of the U.S. border. Video of the brawl went viral almost immediately, and while it may not have been the kind of publicity Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig had in mind when he started the WBC in 2006, it's created more attention on these shores for this year's event than the two previous tournaments combined. Suddenly, it's game on.

"Amazing, wasn't it, the way that woke everybody up around here?" said Bobby Valentine, who's managed three MLB clubs — Rangers, Mets and Red Sox — as well as Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines on two different occasions.

Valentine happened to be in Japan during the weekend, where interest in the two-time defending champions — Japan beat Cuba in the inaugural WBC and South Korea in 2009 — is already off the charts. More than a third of the nation tuned in to watch the host's opening-round win over China. And many of those same fans were still trying to decipher the underpinnings of the Canada-Mexico brawl three days earlier.

"It's the same game everywhere, but a different experience watching over there," Valentine added. "Baseball has so many unwritten rules that we — meaning Americans — just take nuances like hitting a batter for granted. But once you see it played elsewhere, and see it played with the same kind of passion but a different perspective on some things, you start to wonder, 'Who writes those so-called unwritten rules? And who bothers to read them?'"

Certainly not the Mexican team.

Canada led off the ninth ahead 9-3, but because the WBC employs run-differential as a tiebreaker, the Northerners were still looking to pad their margin. Catcher Chris Robinson, who had already been bounced around in a collision at home plate, led off by bunting down the third-base line. The tactic so infuriated Mexico third baseman Luis Cruz, who thought the Canadians were trying to show his team up, that he locked eyes with his pitcher, Arnold Leon, then pointed to his side and basically instructed his pitcher to plunk the next batter.

Leon complied, though he needed three pitches to finally hit Canada's Rene Tosoni. That cleared both benches. At one point, as punches and throwdowns continued on either side of him, former major league player and current Canadian first-base coach Larry Walker found himself trying to restrain Alfredo Aceves, the Boston Red Sox pitcher who was moonlighting as a member of the Mexican staff.

"I had a hold of him, and I think I saw Satan in his eyes," Walker said afterward. "It was scary. I was just hoping he wasn't going to throw punches at me, because that would've been trouble."

Unnecessary trouble at that.

Mexico manager Rick Renteria conceded afterward his players probably had no idea that the run-differential rule was in place, and if WBC officials are smart, they'll replace it with a less-combustible tiebreaker as soon as it's practical. At least those same officials didn't exacerbate the bad feelings by handing out suspensions, which would have proved meaningless. Mexico was eliminated in that loss and the Canadians got bumped in their next game by the United States.

Yet while fans over here were suddenly scouring the TV listings to figure out when the U.S. team plays next — Tuesday, against Puerto Rico in Miami — those in Japan were still fixated on the brawl. Over there, fights at baseball games are exceedingly rare, while bunting for a hit and stealing a base are part of every game, no matter the score.

Japan head coach Masataka Nashida said if a brawl broke out in one of his team's games, his "players will say, 'Run!'"

"We just have to look at the size of those guys, and we'll stop in our tracks for fear," he said.

What Nashida isn't worried about, though, is what takes place between the white lines. His squad has already booked a place in the WBC championship round, March 17-19 in San Francisco, and with traditional power Cuba already eliminated — by the Netherlands, no less — Japan's path to a third straight WBC title game looks clearer.

"You can't imagine how big the game is there," Valentine said. "When I was managing in 2006, we lost something like nine players to the national team, then had to wait an extra week or two before they came back for games because they had to be congratulated by the prime minister. Imagine letting guys go for that long over here. MLB would be apoplectic."

It won't happen anytime soon. That's part of the reason the U.S. team had little success in the first two installments of the WBC and why American fans have been lukewarm about the tournament since.

"People here just figured we were going to be like the Dream Team at the Olympics, like we should win every game by the mercy rule. And when that didn't happen, we came up with excuses like, 'We didn't really try' or whatever," Valentine said. "So the reaction this time will be interesting because there's no longer any question about how much everybody else in the world is trying."

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Jim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org and follow him at Twitter.com/JimLitke.

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5 hotel health risks you never knew about, and how to avoid them

Let’s face it: Traveling can bring out the inner germaphobe in even the most adventurous of us, and for good reason. There are lots of health risks encountered in your hotel room that you won’t necessarily find at home, from mold to industrial cleaning product residue. Didn’t even cross your mind ’til now? Well, fear not — more and more hotels are offering solutions, so your next hotel stay can be cleaner and safer than ever before. Read on to find out what to be wary of — and what you can do about it.

The Orchard Hotel in San Francisco uses chemical-free cleaning products.

The Risk: Chemical Cleaning Products

The chemicals in cleaning products used in many hotel rooms can make you sick — and routine exposure (road warriors, take note) can be life-threatening. Exposure to the carcinogens in cleaning products can increase cancer risk, while endocrine disruptors found in many pesticides, detergents, and disinfectants can confuse body hormones and cause fertility problems or even miscarriages.

The Solution: Chemical-Free Cleaning Products

Eco-friendly hotel initiatives are growing increasingly popular, and these days many hotels are being recognized for their efforts by organizations such as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). So don’t be afraid to ask hotel staff about the cleaning products they use. One of our favorite LEED-certified hotels is The Orchard Hotel, which was at the forefront of this movement. Among the very first LEED-certified hotels in San Francisco, the Orchard uses chemical-free cleaning products — among many other impressive green practices.

The Koa Kea Resort in Kauai offers twice-daily housekeeping service.
 

The Risk: Bathroom Mold

Not only is bathroom mold gross, it can be dangerous, causing respiratory issues and other problems.

The Solution: Ventilation Fans and Frequent Cleaning

Ventilation fans in the bathroom are key to preventing the moisture issues that allow mold to flourish, as is frequent cleaning. Many hotels, such as the Koa Kea Resort Hotel at Poipu Beach, keep their bathrooms spic and span in order to avoid any “ick” factor. To be aware of any potential cleanliness problems ahead of time, make sure to look at Oyster.com’s honest hotel photos — if there’s mold, we’ll show you.

The Grand Hyatt Seattle offers special hypo-allergenic rooms with air purifiers.

The Risk: Air Pollutants

Air pollutants such as ozone particles (which make up smog) can cause wheezing and shortness of breath for anyone, not just allergy sufferers. And many people have had the experience of checking into a supposedly non-smoking room that smelled otherwise — a particular annoyance for those sensitive to cigarette smoke.

The Solution: Air Purifiers

Hotels such as the Grand Hyatt Seattle — and indeed all hotels in the Hyatt brand — offer special hypo-allergenic rooms that have air purifiers and go through a special cleaning process to reduce allergens on fabrics such as the carpet and upholstery. The Four Seasons Denver also has heavy-duty air ionizers that can be brought into the room upon request.

The Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto offers hypo-allergenic pillows and bedding upon request.

The Risk: Feather Allergies

For those with feather allergies, staying in a hotel room with down bedding and feather pillows can be downright unpleasant: itchy eyes, runny nose, and sneezing are only a few of the possible reactions. That down duvet may look plush and inviting to some, but for those with feather allergies it’s a bout of hay fever waiting to happen.

The Solution: Hypo-Allergenic Pillows and Bedding

Luckily, many hotels — such as the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto — offer alternative hypo-allergenic pillow and bedding options for allergy sufferers.

The Sebastian Vail offers in-room humidifiers.

The Risk: Dry Skin and Itchy Eyes

It’s ski season, and those traveling during winter –particularly to locations with high altitudes — are likely to encounter cold, dry air. Dry skin isn’t fun for anyone, and neither are itchy eyes, particularly when you’re trying to get comfortable in your hotel after a day on the slopes.

The Solution: Humidifiers

If you thought humidifiers were exclusively an at-home luxury, think again. No, you don’t have to lug your humidifier onto the plane — plenty of hotels, such as  The Sebastian Vail, provide them upon request.

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AUTO PACKAGE: Cars as stars: Drivers, fans, manufacturers rave about NASCAR's redesigned cars

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. –  NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow is a thing of the past.

Designed primarily to improve driver safety following the death of Dale Earnhardt in the 2001 Daytona 500, the car has been kicked to the curb, left in the rearview mirror and turned into scrap metal.

The redesigned replacements — at least so far — are a huge hit with drivers, owners, auto manufacturers and fans.

The new cars, dubbed "Generation 6," look considerably closer to the ones sold on showroom floors. It's NASCAR's way of putting the "stock" back in stock-car racing and possibly making the cars stars once again.

"It matters because it's the image we portray," defending Sprint Cup champion Brad Keselowski said. "I wear a fire suit with a helmet and a full seat around me. You can't see me. What you are seeing is this car going around the race track and the sponsors and the car construction, styling, etc. So that is what you see as a fan or as an ambassador of the sport. Absolutely it matters."

Cars used to be as iconic as drivers in NASCAR.

In the mid-1950s, race cars were virtually indistinguishable from production vehicles. Sure, they had some rudimentary safety equipment and numbers on the doors, but they often still had license plates and working headlights.

Against other real production cars, the very first Chrysler 300 was dominant. That set the stage for the next five decades of racing.

Fireball Roberts and his No. 22 black and gold Pontiac Catalina were mainstays in Victory Lane in the early 60s. Richard Petty's blue Dodge Charger was a series staple.

The Charger became so important to Petty that NASCAR extended the car's eligibility through the 1977 season, an unprecedented move for the sanctioning body. And few have forgotten Bill Elliott's sleek Ford Thunderbird or Earnhardt's stylish Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS in the late 1980s.

"People want that kind of connection with the car they're driving," NASCAR team owner Chip Ganassi said.

NASCAR hasn't had that in years.

The CoT debuted in 2007 after extension research and development. The driver's seat moved more toward the center of the car, which was longer and wider.

The result was a boxy car that was indistinguishable from make to make; NASCAR needed just one template to check every car during inspections. Maybe more troubling was that it was considerably less racy than its predecessor.

Drivers hated it, fans ripped it and NASCAR officials dismissed the backlash while continuously pointing to the car's safety record.

"It was something that's never happened in history, where manufacturers were basically treated like mushrooms — kept in the dark and under a pile a crap by the organizing bodies," said Lee White, president and general manager of Toyota Racing Development. "Now it's an opportunity for the manufacturers to become front and center."

Indeed.

With Chevrolet leading the way, and fellow manufactures Ford and Toyota gladly following its lead, the auto giants demanded change. By some accounts, Chevy even threatened to leave NASCAR if the on-track cars didn't become more relevant.

NASCAR listened, and allowed the three manufacturers to develop unique versions of the Gen-6 car. That led to cars that closely resemble the Chevrolet SS, the Ford Fusion and the Toyota Camry.

Grills and body lines are similar. Silhouettes are within millimeters of their showroom counterparts.

"This is stock-car racing," said Mark Reuss, president of General Motors North America. "Everything is supposed to be stock or at least as close as you can get to stock. NASCAR knew it. The manufacturers knew. The fans knew it. Everyone could feel things were off. We're trying to appeal to a whole new generation of people, and when the car's not relevant, it gets really hard because everyone starts aging. We did this as much for the sport as we did for the brand."

Still, the ol' "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" mantra is what auto makers really would like to get back to.

"It's been a long time coming, and it's finally here," said NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick, who owns car dealerships across the country. "I've never seen this much energy about the car. We have the drivers as stars, and we used to have the cars as stars. Now I think we've got them both again, and I think that's the neatest part of this deal."

Feedback has been purely positive after two tests in January and through the first few days of Speedweeks.

Still, complete results won't really be known until the car makes its debut at superspeedways, short tracks and the all-important 1 1/2 mile ovals.

"The previous car was the ugliest car of all time," driver Jamie McMurray said. "I thought it was horrible. I think this is the best looking car we've ever been in. ... It's cool that we have some brand identity. If you're a Chevy fan, you have something to pull for. Before, the cars just had different decals on them. They are actually different now, which is cool."

And NASCAR isn't done making the race cars more closely mimic those on the streets.

The sanctioning body moved to ethanol-blended fuel in 2011 and then replaced carburetors with fuel-injection systems last year. Electronic power steering and glass dashboards could be next.

"It's our job to bring racing to fans in a format they can understand, that's relevant and not based on the past, but on the future," Reuss said.

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Follow Mark Long at https://twitter.com/APMarkLong and http://racing.ap.org/

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