Rodriguez Has His October Moment

His Homer Ties It, Teixeira’s Blast Wins It for Yanks : Yankees 4, Twins 3

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 — The debate ended. There is no more for and against, because with one swing and one home run on Friday night, every pinstripe-loving fan aligned on the same side of the argument, which basically means the argument is now over. On Saturday, New York will only have radio silence, dead talk show call-in lines, and abundant appreciation for A-Rod, conqueror of the clutch, master of the big moment.

It’s pointless now, dwelling on that stretch when Alex Rodriguez went hitless in 29 consecutive postseason at-bats with runners on, or noting how between 2005 and 2007 Rodriguez had a .159 October batting average. The new Rodriguez, who looks a lot like the regular season Rodriguez, is the central figure on a Yankees team that battles back, savors the drama, and performs best under pressure.
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GM agrees Chinese sale of Hummer

General Motors (GM) has agreed to sell its iconic Hummer brand to Chinese firm Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery for an undisclosed fee.

The two parties had been in talks about the sale for a number of months.

GM is in the process of selling and winding up a number of brands as it looks to reorganise after emerging from bankruptcy protection in July.

At the start of this month, the troubled carmaker announced it would be winding down its Saturn brand.

This was after the proposed sale to Penske Automotive Group collapsed.

GM has already announced that it is discontinuing the Pontiac brand, and is close to finalising the sale of its European brands Saab, Opel and Vauxhall.

GM plans to reinvent itself by concentrating on fewer brands following bankruptcy protection, made necessary after car sales plummeted during the downturn.
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Odd facts about Nobel Prize winners

It’s Nobel Prize announcement week, and if you had Carol W. Greider, Elizabeth Blackburn, or Jack Szostak in your office pool, you’re off to a good start (the trio will share this year’s Nobel Prize in Medicine). As we await news of the rest of the winners, here are some stories about past Nobel laureates.

1. Robert Lucas, winner of the 1995 Nobel Prize in Economics for his work on the theory of “rational expectations,” split his $1 million prize with his ex-wife.

If there were a Nobel Prize for Foresight or Timing, she should be nominated, based on a clause in their divorce settlement from seven years earlier: “Wife shall receive 50 percent of any Nobel Prize.” The clause expired on October 31, 1995. Had Lucas won any year after, he would have kept the whole million.

2. Physicist Lise Meitner, whose work helped lead to the discovery of nuclear fission, was reportedly nominated for the Nobel Prize 13 times without ever winning (though nominations are kept secret, so we don’t know for sure). This makes her the Dynasty of the Nobel Prize scene — that show was nominated for 24 Emmy Awards but never won. Other analogies we’d accept: The Color Purple (11 Oscar nominations in 1985, no wins), the Buffalo Bills or Minnesota Vikings (4 Super Bowl losses each without a victory) and William Jennings Bryan (three-time Democratic nominee for President, losing twice to McKinley and once to Taft.)
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Obama wins 2009 Nobel Peace Prize

US President Barack Obama has won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”.

The committee highlighted Mr Obama’s efforts to support international bodies and promote nuclear disarmament.

There were a record 205 nominations for this year’s prize. Zimbabwe’s prime minister and a Chinese dissident had been among the favourites.

The laureate – chosen by a five-member committee – wins a gold medal, a diploma and 10m Swedish kronor ($1.4m).

“Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the Norwegian committee said in a statement.
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How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect

In addition to assorted bad breaks and pleasant surprises, opportunities and insults, life serves up the occasional pink unicorn. The three-dollar bill; the nun with a beard; the sentence, to borrow from the Lewis Carroll poem, that gyres and gimbles in the wabe.

An experience, in short, that violates all logic and expectation. The philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote that such anomalies produced a profound “sensation of the absurd,” and he wasn’t the only one who took them seriously. Freud, in an essay called “The Uncanny,” traced the sensation to a fear of death, of castration or of “something that ought to have remained hidden but has come to light.”

At best, the feeling is disorienting. At worst, it’s creepy.

Now a study suggests that, paradoxically, this same sensation may prime the brain to sense patterns it would otherwise miss — in mathematical equations, in language, in the world at large.
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US spacecraft set for Moon crash

Nasa is set to crash two unmanned spacecraft into the Moon in a bid to detect the presence of water-ice.

A 2,200kg rocket stage will be first to collide, hurling debris high above the lunar surface.

A second spacecraft packed with science instruments will analyse the contents of this dusty cloud before meeting a similar fate.

The identification of water-ice in the impact plume would be a major discovery, scientists say.

Not least because a supply of water on the Moon would be a vital resource for future human exploration.

The existence of water-ice in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles had previously been postulated by scientists, but never confirmed.
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Mueller wins Nobel literary prize

German author Herta Mueller has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize for Literature, the academy in Stockholm has announced.

The Romanian-born writer follows last year’s French winner Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio, while British writer Doris Lessing won in 2007.

Mueller, born in 1953, is renowned for her depiction of the harsh conditions under Nicolae Ceausescu’s regime.

She said she was “stunned and still cannot believe it”.

The Swedish academy praised Mueller for both her poetry and prose.
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Ivanovic, Dokic enter Brisbane International

Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic says she will return to the tour at the Brisbane International starting in January.

Ivanovic pulled out of this week’s China Open and has called an early end to her season because of a respiratory illness.

Australia’s Jelena Dokic, American James Blake and Frenchman Gael Monfils have also confirmed they will play in Brisbane.

But organisers say they have not yet confirmed the attendance of former world number one Justine Henin, whose coach has said is likely to use the tournament as her comeback event.

Ivanovic, who took top spot in the rankings after winning the 2008 French Open but has now slipped to 12th, will also join US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the women’s draw at the January 3-10 event.

“I am very excited to go back to Brisbane,” Ivanovic said in a statement. “I really enjoyed playing there and I love competing in Australia.
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Dutch wary of improving Socceroos

Their minds are set on revenge, but the Dutch have arrived in Australia with a new-found respect for the Socceroos ahead of Saturday’s friendly at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The world’s third-ranked team has been unable to beat the Socceroos in two meetings, with Australia winning 2-1 in Eindhoven in September last year and drawing 1-1 in their only other clash in Rotterdam before the 2006 World Cup.

The Oranje, like Pim Verbeek’s men, have already qualified for next year’s World Cup and done so emphatically, winning all of their eight qualifiers so far.

They plan to keep that run going on Saturday night, but are not expecting an easy game against what should be a near full-strength Australia team.

Inter Milan midfielder Wesley Sneijder, who played in the 1-1 draw in Rotterdam three years ago, said Australian football was earning more and more respect in Europe.
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Folau succumbs to foot injury

Brisbane Broncos back Israel Folau will miss the Four Nations tournament with a foot injury.

Kangaroos coach Tim Sheens has declared that players must be 100 per cent fit if they are to tour.

“I’m definitely not going,” Folau said.

“It’s disappointing but I’ve got time on my side for future Australian teams.”

Folau’s place in the squad has been taken by St George Illawarra’s Brett Morris.

It gives the minor premiers some representation in the squad after they were snubbed initially.

There was better news for Parramatta forward Nathan Hindmarsh, who has been cleared by doctors despite needing shoulder surgery after the tour.
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