How Long Does Bill Murray Spend in Groundhog Day?

It seems like almost every day someone approaches me and asks, “How long did Bill Murray spend trapped in the film Groundhog Day?” And I always say, “Hmmm, that's not the most timely of questions, but I'll do my best to answer it.”

Actually, Groundhog Day was on TBS yet again and a wave of Geek OCD hit me. I was compelled to count the days and find just how many days Phil Connors spent in Punxsutawney. According to Harold Ramis, on the Groundhog Day DVD commentary, Bill Murray spent 10 years trapped in his own little corner of hell... Punxsutawney (I kid Tawney, I'm sure you're lovely). But this seems like an arbitrary number. We can do better than that.

There are, at least, 36 separate days shown in the movie including his multiple death scenes. There could be more, but it's hard to verify if some moments are simply later in the same day or an entirely different day. Additionally, in the scene where Bill Murray revealed he's a god, he stated, “I have been stabbed, shot, poisoned, frozen, hung, electrocuted, and burned.” Of those the movie only showed electrocution, so that brings it to a base line of 42 accountable days. However, there were many days not shown. We know from the scene when Billy Murray and Andy MacDowell are throwing playing cards into a top hat that it would take, “Six months. Four to five hours a day, and you'd be an expert.” So, we have a bare minimum of six months.

Follow up:

In the first half of the movie, the only other truly time consuming event was the the robbery. Let's give him at least a month to plan a proper bank robbery and memorize when wind gusts. This brings us to roughly 256 days by the time he decides he wants to be a better man. However, becoming a better man is the most time consuming part of Phil's journey! He needs to become an expert pianist, an ice sculptor, and learns French. The tough part about this is that is that no one learns these things at the same rate. He could be a very old piano wunderkind after all. Or it could take him 600 years to become a decent ice sculptor. For the sake of argument let's say it takes an average person 3 years to learn to play the piano. It also would take an average person 3 years to become a professional ice sculptor. However, we don't know how good Phil was at either... maybe, he just learned one song, or just how to sculpt Andy MacDowell's face. But for the sake of argument, let's say three years apiece. And he cannot do both at the same time because an ice sculpture is 8 hours of work, and he only has a small window each day to get a piano lesson. Learning French which is also subjective. It's safe to say it would take him, at least, 2 years to learn enough French to read French poetry.

Which puts us at the grand total of 3176 repeated Groundhog days, or 453 weeks, or 105 months, or 8.7 years. Precisely, 8 years, 8 months, and 16 days. So, in the end Harold Ramis was right and I wasted a Bill Murray length of my time. But I made the hash marks, and I was going to do the math!

Most U.S. Money Laced With Cocaine

AFP/File – A sheet of one dollar bills. The dollar sputtered Tuesday on the eve of a US decision on monetary policy, …

By: LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.

A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.

The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.

Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.

"To my surprise, we're finding more and more cocaine in banknotes," Zuo said.

Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks' currency-counting machines.

"I'm not sure why we've seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine," Zuo said.

Such studies are useful, he noted, because the data can help law enforcement agencies and forensic specialists identify patterns of drug use in a community.

Previous studies that have reported on cocaine traces on money have had several drawbacks, Zuo said. Some only sampled a small number of bills, while others destroyed the money in the process of testing.

Zuo and his colleagues used a modified instrument that allowed for faster, simpler and more accurate measurement of cocaine contamination than other methods, without destroying the currency.

The amounts of cocaine found on U.S. bills ranged from .006 micrograms (several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand) to more than 1,240 micrograms of cocaine per banknote (about 50 grains of sand).

The scientists found that larger cities like Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit had among the highest average cocaine levels. Washington, D.C., ranked above the average, with 95 percent of the banknotes sampled contaminated with the drug. The lowest average cocaine levels in U.S. currency appeared on bills collected from Salt Lake City.

Despite the high percentage of cocaine-contaminated banknotes, Zuo points out that the amount of cocaine found on most notes was so small that consumers should not have any health or legal concerns about handling paper money.

"For the most part, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange," Zuo said. "It also won't affect your health and is unlikely to interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.

Facebook 3.0 For iPhone Submitted. Now Let’s Count The Days Until It’s Available

by Michael Arrington on August 16, 2009

Facebook has submitted v. 3.0 of their iPhone application to Apple, Joe Hewitt says via Twitter: “Just uploaded Facebook for iPhone 3.0 to the App Store for review. :)”

Hewitt also says he’ll post screen shots and more detais on this Facebook page for the iPhone app next week, and that he’s looking forward to getting started on v. 3.1 tomorrow.

We’ve been tracking 3.0 since details first became available in July. A list of some of the much needed improvements is here. And as a bonus, Hewitt said he’d be able to include video uploads to Facebook from iPhone 3Gs phones as well. And from our most recent post (yes, Hewitt has been teasing this out for weeks):

That means that shortly, we’ll have access to the much-improved app which is scheduled to have features such as a News Feed that is more like the one on Facebook’s site, the ability to “like” items and a new customizable home screen. More importantly, it will also have video support for the iPhone 3GS, something which Hewitt threw-in at the last second, unexpectedly. And perhaps best of all, the app will have the ability to manage events, finally.

It’s likely Apple will approve this app in short order. Not only are they trying to avoid high profile app problems, there’s also not very much in the Facebook app that they or AT&T would take exception to.

If you haven’t heard it, make sure to listen to our interview with Joe Hewitt two years ago when Facebook first launched a special browser-based version of Facebook for the iPhone.

Thanks for the tip, Matthew.

The Swiss Menace: health care reform

nytimes.com — The Democratic health care reform plan most resembles the system in Switzerland, despite comparisons to the approaches taken in Britain and Canada.

By PAUL KRUGMAN

Published: August 16, 2009

It was the blooper heard round the world. In an editorial denouncing Democratic health reform plans, Investor’s Business Daily tried to frighten its readers by declaring that in Britain, where the government runs health care, the handicapped physicist Stephen Hawking “wouldn’t have a chance,” because the National Health Service would consider his life “essentially worthless.”

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Paul Krugman

Professor Hawking, who was born in Britain, has lived there all his life, and has been well cared for by the National Health Service, was not amused.

Besides being vile and stupid, however, the editorial was beside the point. Investor’s Business Daily would like you to believe that Obamacare would turn America into Britain — or, rather, a dystopian fantasy version of Britain. The screamers on talk radio and Fox News would have you believe that the plan is to turn America into the Soviet Union. But the truth is that the plans on the table would, roughly speaking, turn America into Switzerland — which may be occupied by lederhosen-wearing holey-cheese eaters, but wasn’t a socialist hellhole the last time I looked.

Let’s talk about health care around the advanced world.

Every wealthy country other than the United States guarantees essential care to all its citizens. There are, however, wide variations in the specifics, with three main approaches taken.

In Britain, the government itself runs the hospitals and employs the doctors. We’ve all heard scare stories about how that works in practice; these stories are false. Like every system, the National Health Service has problems, but over all it appears to provide quite good care while spending only about 40 percent as much per person as we do. By the way, our own Veterans Health Administration, which is run somewhat like the British health service, also manages to combine quality care with low costs.

The second route to universal coverage leaves the actual delivery of health care in private hands, but the government pays most of the bills. That’s how Canada and, in a more complex fashion, France do it. It’s also a system familiar to most Americans, since even those of us not yet on Medicare have parents and relatives who are.

Again, you hear a lot of horror stories about such systems, most of them false. French health care is excellent. Canadians with chronic conditions are more satisfied with their system than their U.S. counterparts. And Medicare is highly popular, as evidenced by the tendency of town-hall protesters to demand that the government keep its hands off the program.

Finally, the third route to universal coverage relies on private insurance companies, using a combination of regulation and subsidies to ensure that everyone is covered. Switzerland offers the clearest example: everyone is required to buy insurance, insurers can’t discriminate based on medical history or pre-existing conditions, and lower-income citizens get government help in paying for their policies.

In this country, the Massachusetts health reform more or less follows the Swiss model; costs are running higher than expected, but the reform has greatly reduced the number of uninsured. And the most common form of health insurance in America, employment-based coverage, actually has some “Swiss” aspects: to avoid making benefits taxable, employers have to follow rules that effectively rule out discrimination based on medical history and subsidize care for lower-wage workers.

So where does Obamacare fit into all this? Basically, it’s a plan to Swissify America, using regulation and subsidies to ensure universal coverage.

If we were starting from scratch we probably wouldn’t have chosen this route. True “socialized medicine” would undoubtedly cost less, and a straightforward extension of Medicare-type coverage to all Americans would probably be cheaper than a Swiss-style system. That’s why I and others believe that a true public option competing with private insurers is extremely important: otherwise, rising costs could all too easily undermine the whole effort.

But a Swiss-style system of universal coverage would be a vast improvement on what we have now. And we already know that such systems work.

So we can do this. At this point, all that stands in the way of universal health care in America are the greed of the medical-industrial complex, the lies of the right-wing propaganda machine, and the gullibility of voters who believe those lies.

•

Correction: In Friday’s column I mistakenly asserted that Senator Johnny Isakson was responsible for a provision in a House bill that would allow Medicare to pay for end-of-life counseling. In fact, he is responsible for a provision in a Senate bill that would allow a different, newly created government program to pay for such counseling.

Roger Cohen is on vacation.

TomTom navigation for iPhone 3G and 3GS arrives

by Thomas Ricker

True, it's not the first app offering turn-by-turn driving instructions for the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS -- but it is from TomTom, an industry heavy-weight that is finally delivering on years of rumor and speculation. After starting with New Zealand a few hours ago, the iTunes App Store is now populated with region specific TomTom apps for NZ ($95), Australia ($80), US and Canada ($100), and Western Europe ($140). If that sounds expensive... it is; dedicated TomTom navigators start at $120. In other words, this isn't one of those knee-jerk 99 cent App Store purchases. Naturally, that price does not include the announced TomTom iPhone car kit (rumored to cost £113.85 (about $194) with bundled mapping software) that mounts and charges your iPhone 3G or 3GS while enhancing its GPS performance, speaker, and microphone. Our advice: wait for the reviews before dedicating your non multi-tasking iPhone to the dashboard for navigation duties.

Update: Recombu took the software for a spin and seem duly impressed by their ability to navigate streets with an iPhone taped to the dash (not a joke). They say that when a call comes in, the TomTom app "turns off but restarts as soon as you finish the call." Lame. See the video overview after the break.

Update 2: TomTom says the upcoming car kit dock / windshield mount will also work with the iPod touch and third-party apps -- it contains a faster, more accurate GPS chip than the one in the iPhone. Check a video of it after the break.

Gallery: TomTom for iPhone 3G and 3GS hits the App Store

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Read [Warning: iTunes link]

See more video at our hub!

First Avatar Image Reveals Na'vi to Be Advanced Race of Tanning-Bed Addicts

Written by Seth Abramovitch

At long last, the Avatar-curious among you have something to look at besides leaked, unfinished production shots and set stills of the director aiming his custom-made, 3-D assault camera at star Sigourney Weaver after she delivered what he deemed to be a phoned-in line reading (or as he put it, “Look alive, Sigourney! This is Avatar, not ‘Miss Hathaway Vs. the Aliens!’”).

Via /Film, who ascertained it was 100% legit and would not be cruelly yanked from the fanboy blogosphere by Fox’s unfeeling intellectual property department, here is the first official glimpse of the film. It features Sam Worthington’s wheelchair-bound Marine Jake Sully, standing in front of his genetically engineered Na’avian host body, which lies peacefully unconscious and suspended in an artificial amniotic compound not unlike Barbicide. A few scenes later, he’s seen standing spread-armed on the back of a soaring winged velociraptor, jubilantly exclaiming that he’s “King of Planet Pandora!”

Download a Copy of The Pirate Bay Before It’s Gone

Written by Ernesto

In just a few days The Pirate Bay will be passed onto its new owners, marking the end of an era but not the end of BitTorrent. The nostalgic torrenters among us might want to download a copy of the site for archival purposes. It never hurts to have a backup of important data in place, especially when it’s free.

In common with music and movies, it’s not that hard to copy a website. It might take some serious server power to serve torrents to millions of people every day, but all the torrent files and site code don’t take up that much space.

In fact, every TorrentFreak reader can easily store a backup of The Pirate Bay on his or her hard drive. Everyone can download it straight from The Pirate Bay, conveniently packed into a massive torrent amounting to 21.3 Gigabytes of data.

The anonymous uploader who compiled this huge torrent told TorrentFreak that he wanted to have a backup of the site in case all torrents mysteriously disappear after the site is sold. “I suppose I want us to have assurances. If the TPB deal disappoints us, we can just put it up again,” he said.

The backup includes a mockup site and all of the 873,671 torrent files hosted on The Pirate Bay’s servers. As the uploader also notes, not all of the 2 million torrents tracked by The Pirate Bay are hosted on the site itself.

With this backup everyone can have their own Pirate Bay up and running in a few minutes. “The basic website supplied in the torrent is a working site, where you can browse the index. You just need a lot of hardware to run a database of this size at a decent speed. And thanks to openbittorrent.com, you don’t even need a tracker,” the uploader told us.

Those interested in grabbing a copy of the site have to be warned: patience is required. It might take a few days before the download completes with the seeder’s limited upload capacity, but good things come to those that wait.

London's Earliest Timber Structure Found During Belmarsh Prison Dig

ScienceDaily (Aug. 14, 2009) — London's oldest timber structure has been unearthed by archaeologists from Archaeology South-East (part of the Institute of Archaeology at University College London). It was found during the excavation of a prehistoric peat bog adjacent to Belmarsh Prison in Plumstead, Greenwich, in advance of the construction of a new prison building. Radiocarbon dating has shown the structure to be nearly 6,000 years old and it predates Stonehenge by more than 500 years.

---

Jacobs Engineering UK Ltd acted as the managing consultants, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice, and the work was facilitated by Interserve Project Services Ltd.

The structure consisted of a timber platform or trackway found at a depth of 4.7m (about the height of a double decker bus) beneath two metres of peat adjacent to an ancient river channel (image available). Previously, the oldest timber structure in Greater London was the timber trackway in Silvertown, which has been dated to 3340-2910 BC, c. 700 years younger.

Wetlands adjacent to rivers such as the Thames were an important source of food for prehistoric people, and timber trackways and platforms made it easier to cross the boggy terrain. The structure discovered at Plumstead is an early example of people adapting the natural landscape to meet human needs. The peat bogs which developed at Plumstead provided ideal conditions to preserve organic materials, which in other environments would have rotted away. The peat not only preserved wood, but also other plant matter - down to microscopic pollen grains - which can inform us about the contemporary landscape.

English Heritage, the government's advisor on the historic environment, provides planning advice in respect of archaeology within Greater London and was involved in the discovery at the Plumstead site.

Mark Stevenson, Archaeological Advisor at English Heritage said: "The discovery of the earliest timber structure in London is incredibly important. The timber structure is slightly earlier in date than the earliest trackways excavated in the Somerset Levels, including the famous 'Sweet Track' to Glastonbury, which provide some of the earliest physical evidence for woodworking in England.

"This large area of development has been the subject of extensive building recording of the old Royal Arsenal (East) site as well as detailed work to map the buried ancient landscape."

Archaeology South-East Senior Archaeologist Diccon Hart, who directed the excavation, commented: "The discovery of the earliest timber structure yet found in the London Basin is an incredibly exciting find. It is testament to the hard work and determination of those who toiled under very difficult conditions to unearth a rare and fascinating structure almost 6,000 years after it was constructed."

Other notable finds from the archaeological excavation include an Early Bronze Age alder log with unusually well-preserved tool marks made by a metal axe. This item has been laser scanned at UCL's Department of Civil, Environmental and Geometric Engineering and is currently undergoing conservation treatment prior to its display in Greenwich Heritage Centre, Woolwich (image available).

The study of the samples will continue for the next couple of years as the archaeological team learns more about this intriguing structure and the environment in which it was built.

---

enlarge

The structure consisted of a timber platform or trackway found at a depth of 4.7m (about the height of a double-decker bus) beneath two meters of peat adjacent to an ancient river channel. (Credit: UCL)

Why is there... a penguin...

The Corvette ZR1 was chasing a Lambo LP670-4 SV around Millbrook

by Jonny Lieberman

Corvette ZR1 chasing a Lamborghini Muricelago LP670-4 SV - Click above to watch video after the jump

On Monday we shared a very nifty video of the lads at Autocar and a fire-breathing Blue Devil corvette chasing something around the hill route at Millbrook. Obviously, speculation was rampant about what sort of car had the camera strapped to it. Some folks went ahead and checked out Autocar since it was their video, others simply guessed. Results: Some of you were right! Others, very wrong. But, like the good parents that we are, Autoblog loves all of you equally. Moving on.

I'm going to go a little inside baseball for a moment, so bare bear with me. Yes, Autocar revealed that the chase car was indeed a Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SuperVeloce about two weeks ago. Trouble was, the clip wasn't on YouTube, meaning that we couldn't share it with you here on Autoblog. A questionable decision, but a decision, nonethelss. Anyhow, look – a Chevy Corvette ZR1 chasing a Lamborghini Murcielago LP670-4 SV around a track!!!

This really is an unbelievable video. First of all, you got two of the hottest cars in the world. Second, the Lambo should be a bit quicker than the ZR1, right? It has around 30 more horsepower, weighs about 60 pounds less and has AWD, allowing it to exit corners more quickly. Plus, the Lamborghini has a factory driver at the helm while the Corvette is being piloted by (gulp) an auto journalist. Only thing is, well... watch for yourself, after the jump. One more thing – not counting the "joke's on you, rich people!" Reventon, the LP670-4 SV is Lambo's most expensive vehicle and the ZR1 is (obviously) Chevy's. Can you image a race between the two brands' cheapest vehicles? Aveo vs. Gallardo LP560-4 strikes us as very funny.

[Source: YouTube via Autocar]

Behind the Scenes of District 9

By Mark Wilson (Edit, to draft, Slurp)

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At least from audience response I've spotted on Twitter, District 9 may be the saving grace of mostly lousy summer science fiction. Here's a look behind the scenes compliments of Wired.

Director Neill Blomkamp shares his thoughts on his casual presentation of special effects while WETA Workshop designer Greg Broadmore talks about designing the aliens and their weaponry (specifically, why their weapons can be painted bright orange).

This clip isn't a hardcore look into the movie, but it's a nice bit of fluff to help you relive the alien invasion that you may have enjoyed last weekend. Or you could skip the clip and get back to work. Because that alternative sounds great. [Wired]

Foreign Talent Loads the Bases in Minor Leagues

More Visas Spur Deals From Haiti to India; Korean Teen Scores Big

By JOEL MILLMAN

BOISE, Idaho -- Like many teenagers spending this summer abroad, Hak-Ju Lee is immersing himself in a foreign culture, making friends and tasting exotic food like moose stew. Unlike most teens, however, he's getting paid three-quarters of a million dollars to do it.

Mr. Lee, 18 years old, is a shortstop, and the culture he is experiencing is American minor-league baseball, where major-league teams develop their talent in small towns across the country.

For decades, minor-league rosters seemed the essence of America's heartland. But thanks to growing numbers of foreign players like Mr. Lee, the minors are fast turning into a veritable United Nations.

The Boise Hawks' Imported Talent

View Slideshow

Sean Flanigan for the Wall Street Journal

Hak-Ju Lee is one of 18 international players on the Boise baseball roster.

The gangly infielder is one of three South Koreans playing this summer for the Boise Hawks, an affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Hawks' opening-day roster boasted 18 of 25 players from abroad -- mostly Venezuela and the Dominican Republic -- making it one of the most "imported" of all minor-league teams.

Recent changes in U.S. immigration law and growing competition in baseball for raw talent have allowed the minor-league farm system to flourish with imported players. It has been a home run for globalization, but bad news for U.S.-born players, who suddenly have much more competition. Across the minor and major leagues, the total number of foreign-born players is growing fast, to almost 3,500 of the 8,532 players under contract this summer, from 2,964 three years ago.

Boise Hawks' hitting instructor, Ricardo Medina, a native of Panama who translates at team meetings in what has become almost a bilingual program, notes that Mr. Lee and his Korean teammates are getting something else from their summer in Idaho. "I think they may be learning more Spanish than English," he jokes.

The three South Koreans on the Hawks' roster matches the total number playing at the major-league level. Today, 19 Koreans play in the minor leagues, compared with just seven five years ago.

This summer's crop of foreign players in the minors includes baseball's first-ever pros from India, two of them on the Pittsburgh Pirates' Gulf Coast league team. That league's rosters include players from Honduras, Haiti, Russia and the Czech Republic.

Minor League Baseball Becomes Melting Pot

2:33

As a result of unlimited work visas, minor league baseball is seeing a new influx of international players. Joel Millman reports from Boise, Idaho.

Eight teams have minor leaguers from Brazil, including Fábio Murakami, an outfielder for the Philadelphia Phillies' Williamsport, Pa., minor-league team, the Crosscutters. Mr. Murakami is one of several South Americans of Japanese descent in the minors, a list that includes Claudio Fukunaga and Lucas Nakandakare, both from Argentina and under contract to Tampa Bay.

One Red Sox farm team boasts an even more exotic tandem: the brothers Crew Tipene Moanaroa, called "Boss," and Hohua Moanaroa, called "Moko." Born in New South Wales, Australia, the Moanaroas are believed to be the first members of New Zealand's Maori tribe to play baseball professionally in the U.S. "Boss" is a first baseman. "Moko" plays outfield.

New Zealand's representative in the minors is Scott Campbell. He plays third base for the Blue Jays' Eastern League affiliate, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

The surge of young foreign players into the U.S. minor leagues began in 2007, a few months after then-president and former major-league team owner George W. Bush signed the Creating Opportunities for Minor League Professionals, Entertainers and Teams Act, known as the Compete Act. It freed the farm systems of major-league teams from having to compete with all U.S. employers seeking H2B work visas for foreign employees, the supply of which usually was exhausted each year by February. Now, teams can import as many prospects as they want.

"There is no longer a limit on work visas," explains Oneri Fleita, the Florida-born director of minor-league development for the Cubs. "So, yeah, you might see more foreign players getting an opportunity."

The Cubs, who signed Korea's Hak-Ju Lee right out of high school, have become one of the most aggressive signers of foreign players. In 2006, 86 players in the Cubs' major and minor-league system were foreign-born. This year, 142 Cubs are imports.

The changes pose a challenge to American teens hoping to make the big leagues. Instead of signing hundreds of U.S. amateurs out of high school -- the traditional business model for stocking minor-league rosters -- teams are drafting fewer U.S. kids and signing more so-called nondraft free agents, the vast majority of them teenagers from Latin America.

Foreign Exchange

See the statistics of the players mentioned in this story:

Hak-Ju Lee (South Korea), Boise Hawks

Fabio Murakami (Brazil), Williamsport Crosscutters

Claudio Fukunaga (Argentina), Gulf Coast League Rays

Lucas Nakandakare (Argentina), Gulf Coast League Rays

Crew Tipene Moanaroa (Australia), Gulf Coast League Red Sox

Hohua Moanaroa (Australia), Gulf Coast League Red Sox

Scott Campbell (New Zealand), New Hampshire Fisher Cats

Eduardo Figueroa (Venezuela), Boise Hawks

George Matheus (Venezuela), Boise Hawks

Eric Gonzalez (Canary Islands), Lake Elsinore Storm

This summer, major-league teams spent over $70 million signing nondraft free agents from outside the country. That is up from $54 million last year, and just under $30 million in 2006, the last year before the Compete Act.

Economics plays a huge role. U.S.-born players drafted out of high school rarely sign a contract to turn pro without a cash bonus, most in excess of $100,000. This summer, the Cubs have forked out more than $6 million in signing bonuses to 26 U.S. prospects, an average of nearly a quarter million apiece.

While some foreign players like Mr. Lee got hefty signing bonuses, the majority do not. Latin players in particular can be had for a lot less -- just $10,000 in the case of Venezuelan pitcher Eduardo Figueroa, one of Mr. Lee's teammates. Third baseman George Matheus, another Hawk from Venezuela, received $15,000 for signing.

Lifting visa limits creates an opportunity for players like Eric Gonzalez, a 22-year-old Spaniard in the San Diego Padres' farm system. Mr. Gonzalez was the last player drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2005, when he was a 17-year-old high-schooler in the Canary Islands. But under the work-visa cap then prevailing in baseball, the Braves would have had to release another foreign prospect to sign him, Mr. Gonzalez explains, "or else send me somewhere overseas to play, probably Australia."

So Mr. Gonzalez didn't get a shot, and instead polished his skills at the University of South Alabama. Signed by the Padres after graduating last year, he has already whipped through one level of minor-league competition, winning a promotion from the Fort Wayne TinCaps to the Lake Elsinore Storm in July. But the cash rewards will have to wait. "I signed for $1,000, before taxes," laughs Mr. Gonzalez, one of two Spaniards in the minors this year. "Basically, I signed in exchange for a plane ticket and a work visa."

In the past, visa restrictions meant many foreign prospects were sent to play for sister teams in places like the Dominican Republic and Australia, where they tried to get enough visibility to fill a coveted visa spot. Nowadays, teams figure they can train foreign talent personally, and give youngsters a chance to learn English and assimilate with U.S.-born teammates.

On both counts, South Korea's Mr. Lee is an enthusiastic student. "Stolen base! Slider! Fastball! Right down the middle!" the teenager recently shouted with a smile, demonstrating the English terms he's mastered since arriving in Idaho.

Much like in an exchange-student program, local families host foreign ballplayers, getting season tickets in return. Mr. Lee lives in a suburban home festooned with heads of antelope and deer and other hunting trophies. He has learned to play Rock Band with his 17-year-old host-family "brother," a ballplayer who is entering his senior year in high school.

His typical teenage observation about life in America: lack of sleep. "Bus ride after game from Vancouver?" he groans, feigning fatigue. "Thirteen hours! Oh, my God. Tired!"

Write to Joel Millman at joel.millman@

The 35 Best iPhone Apps Of The Year (So Far)

The 35 Best iPhone Apps Of The Year (So Far)

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'Lost': Mr. Eko wants to stage his comeback!

by Lynette Rice

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, aka former tailie Mr. Eko, has a message for Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse: “Fans of Eko should have hope.” Though Akinnuoye-Agbaje was the first castaway to vote himself off the island in season three, the British actor hopes to be one of the dead characters who makes a comeback in the drama’s final season. “I loved playing that character,” he told EW at the premiere of G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra, in which he plays Heavy Duty. “I loved working with that team and the reception I got from people was phenomenal. Even at Comic-Con this year I went to sign my action figure for G.I. Joe and people had tons of questions about Lost. It makes you feel good that you could be off a show for more than a year and still have people thinking about your character. It was a great part.

“I’m here for them,” Akinnuoye-Agbaje continues. “Adewale is open for business. We have had talks about some things they might do for the final season and there are other dead folks coming back allegedly but at the moment it is still a maybe. A strong maybe but I have not shot anything yet or signed any contracts. But I’m hoping.”

The executive producers declined to comment but they did tell attendees at Comic-Con last month that the show will allow for dead or presumed-dead characters to return. Definites include Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), Claire (Emilie de Ravin), Juliet (Elizabeth Mitchell) and Boone (Ian Somerhalder). What do you think? Should Mr. Eko be among the dearly departed who’s allowed to stage a comeback? – With additional reporting from Carrie Bell

Photo Credit: Mario Perez/ABC

Hit and Run Hula Ambushes the Apple Store

It's been a busy day for the Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu Dancers, who started their Hit and Run Hula at Pier 39 this morning, bused over to the Ferry Building, made their way to the stage at Union Square, stopped at the Apple Store, the Cable Car Turnaround, were kicked out of the Westfield Mall food court by security (figures), and quickly ambushed the BART station instead. They spent this afternoon at Dolores Park, the Castro, Academy of Sciences, and should be on their way to Ocean Beach for a picnic right about now.

SFist caught up with them at the Apple Store, and it was quite a delight. The employees were thoroughly surprised and the customers highly entertained. The dancers all have such pretty smiles on their faces when they dance, which makes everyone around them happy.

Let us know if you caught a glimpse of the Hit and Run Hula at some point today!

Hong Kong's Air Pollution Problem (PIC)

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20070917AHKG02 HONG KONG CHINA : (COMPOSITE) A composite photo showing two views of the Hong Kong skyline taken from the same viewpoint in Tsim Sha Tsui district of Kowloon; the top image taken at 6pm on 20 June 2007, when Hong Kong`s `Air Pollution Index` reading was `Low`; the lower image taken at 6pm on 17 September 2007 when Hong Kong`s `Air Pollution Index` reached `High to Very High`, 17 September 2007, Hong Kong, China. A new study released Monday by Hong Kong think tank `Civic Exchange` stated that drastic action needs to be taken to reduce air pollution in the city to attract and retain foreign investment, as well as protect public health.

5 national parks to see before you die

Our national parks exert a primal pull on visitors from around the world who come by the millions to drink in the natural wonders. The astounding beauty of these wild places, preserved for the benefit of future generations, is almost spiritual for many. In addition, the parks offer limitless possibilities for outdoor adventures such as hiking, rafting, kayaking, fishing, camping, rock climbing, horseback riding and wildlife spotting.

There are 58 national parks in the United States. Each offers a unique experience, and a visit to any is worthy. But some are worthier than others. Here are my picks for five essential national parks that you must see before you die.

-- Debbie K. Hardin, Travel Muse, distributed by Tribune Media Services

Yosemite (AP photo / August 15, 2009) For scenery that will take your breath away, Yosemite National Park (nps.gov/yose) in central California is unmatched. Iconic granite cliffs such as the picturesque Half Dome and El Capitan, expansive vistas of glacier-carved valleys such as Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite Valley, and the thunderous waters of Yosemite Falls and Bridalveil Fall act like balm to city-weary souls. One of the best ways to see these jaw-dropping scenes is aboard a raft, floating along the gentle Merced River. But the rafting season depends on the water level, which drops off in late summer. So hit the river in late spring through midsummer. Bring your own raft, or rent small inflatable boats at the Curry Village Recreation Center. Landlubbers can rent bikes to explore the paved paths that follow the river's route, or hike one of the dozens of trails that crisscross the park. Avid rock climbers know that Yosemite also offers world-class climbing opportunities. And camping enthusiasts will find a handful of campgrounds, which, though often crowded, offer better proximity to Yosemite attractions than the somewhat pricey in-park lodges.

Yellowstone (MCT photo / August 15, 2009) This geological hot spot that stretches across the western portion of northern Wyoming and southern Montana is the best place in the world to check out the spewing geysers, bubbling mud pots and gently stewing hot springs. In addition to the park's superstar, Old Faithful, geyser gazers will find hundreds of thermal features in the surrounding Upper Geyser Basin and nearby Midway Geyser Basin, site of the gloriously colorful, nearly 370-foot-wide Grand Prismatic Spring. Yellowstone (nps.gov/yell) also is one of the best places in the lower 48 to spot wildlife. Bring binoculars or telescopes to look for massive buffalo herds moving slowly across the grasslands, lone grizzly bears galumphing along mountain ranges, stealthy wolves hunting beside waterways, and rival elk bucks crashing their massive antlers.

Grand Canyon (Tribune file photo / August 15, 2009) A mile-deep gorge that stretches nearly 300 miles across northern Arizona, the Grand Canyon (nps.gov/grca) is ablaze with the fiery colors of eons of rock layers that tell the history of the geological world. Brightly hued rock outcroppings, ethereal stone spires, massive plateaus and innumerable hidden interior canyons offer hikers a lifetime of exploring via the several trails that lead into the heart of the abyss. But for real adventure, book a multiday white-water rafting tour that takes hearty guests through virgin stretches of the Colorado River as it courses along the canyon floor.

Redwood (Handout photo / August 15, 2009) Stand in awe alongside the tallest living organisms in the world at Redwood National Park (nps.gov/redw), in coastal northern California. This lush park, which also encompasses three state parks, preserves the remnants of a 2-million-acre forest of giants. Don't miss the chance to hike the Coastal Trail, in the Prairie Creek State Park section, a day hike through redwoods that offers spectacular views of the ocean.

Denali (Robert K. Elder / Tribune file photo / August 15, 2009) The crown jewel of Denali (nps.gov/dena) in central Alaska is the perpetually snowcapped Mount McKinley (named Denali by Athabaskan tribes). The tallest mountain in North America stretches more than 20,000 feet skyward. Visitors will find this park wilder and less congested (and less accessible) than most other national parks. The beautiful yet rough terrain and inhospitable climate (prohibitive for humans in all seasons except summer) and limited roadways (most of which are accessible only via park-operated tour buses) encourage wildlife to claim the park as their own. Mother grizzlies frolic with cubs as snow-white Dall sheep with whimsical whorling antlers scramble along rocky cliffs -- all seemingly oblivious to the presence of people. For a peek at tamer animals, visit the park kennels, which house the sled dogs that make winter transportation possible for park rangers. During the summer, animal handlers conduct three demonstrations a day with these Alaskan huskies.

See the original image at msnbc.msn.com Manson follower Squeaky Fromme released from prison

Manson follower spent decades in prison for trying to shoot President Ford

The Associated Press

Manson follower goes free
Aug. 14: "Squeaky" Fromme, who spent decades in prison for trying to shoot President Gerald Ford, was released from prison Friday. NBC's Ann Curry reports.

Nightly News

FORT WORTH, Texas - Three decades after basking in the national spotlight as "Squeaky" the infamous Charles Manson disciple who tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford, the now 60-year-old woman slipped quietly out of a federal prison Friday after being released on parole.

Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme eluded the media as she left Fort Worth's Federal Medical Center Carswell in one of the many cars streaming in and out of the front gate Friday morning. She previously refused interview requests, and prison officials would not say where she planned to live or what she planned to do after more than 30 years behind bars.

It was a far cry from her antics that captivated the nation's attention in the 1970s: shaving her red hair and carving an "X" into her forehead after Manson was convicted of orchestrating a mass murder, wearing a red robe when she pulled a gun on Ford, and being carried into her trial courtroom by marshals when she refused to walk.

In September 1975, Fromme pushed through a crowd, drew a semiautomatic .45-caliber pistol from a thigh holster and pointed it at Ford, who was shaking hands with well-wishers while walking to the California State Capitol in Sacramento. Secret Service agents grabbed her and the gun, and Ford was unhurt.

Fromme was a college student before joining Manson's "family," where she reportedly got her nickname because of her voice. She was never implicated in the 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and eight others, for which Manson is serving a life term in Corcoran State Prison in California. By many accounts, Fromme took over the group after that because Manson had always relied on her.

During her own trial, Fromme either refused to attend or had outbursts. Her attorney John Virga argued that she simply wanted to call attention to environmental issues and Manson's case and never meant to kill Ford. A few bullets were in the gun but not in the chamber.

"She was very articulate and soft-spoken ... but you could see a noticeable change in her demeanor when you mentioned Manson," Virga told The Associated Press on Friday. "I think she was an example of a young woman who was led astray and got caught up in someone she shouldn't have."

Fromme was convicted and got a life term, becoming the first person sentenced under a special federal law covering assaults on U.S. presidents, a statute enacted after President John F. Kennedy's 1963 assassination.

She later was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was tacked onto her life term for threats against the president, after escaping in 1987 from a women's prison in West Virginia. She was recaptured two days later a few miles away after a massive search. Fromme had said she escaped to be closer to Manson after hearing rumors that he was dying.

Fromme was granted parole in July 2008 for "good conduct time" but was not released until Friday because of the additional time for her escape, prison officials said.

She will be on supervised release for two years, where general conditions include reporting regularly to a parole officer, not associating with criminals or owning guns or leaving the area, said Tom Hutchison, a U.S. Parole Commission spokesman. He declined to say where Fromme will live or if she will have to meet additional conditions sometimes imposed on parolees, depending on their crimes.

Future unknown
It's unclear if Fromme will return to California. Some of her relatives who still live there did not immediately return calls to The AP on Friday. Virga, who has not communicated with Fromme since the trial, said relatives did not attend the trial but that Fromme always spoke highly of her mother and siblings.

Fromme had been at the Fort Worth prison since 1998. The facility specializes in providing medical and mental health services to female offenders and also has a maximum-security unit, a minimum-security camp and an area for low-security inmates, said Carswell spokeswoman Dr. Maria Douglas, declining to say where Fromme had been housed.

Prison officials previously said she was placed in the maximum-security unit for inmates who have escaped or been involved in assaults.

Fromme started out at the West Virginia prison, then was transferred to the prison at Pleasanton, California, in 1978 after officials said she had become a "model inmate." But she was sent back to West Virginia in 1979 as punishment for hitting another inmate with a hammer while the two tended a garden on the prison grounds. She later was moved to Lexington, Kentucky, and then to Marianna, Florida.

Fromme declined a recent interview request from The AP.

In 2005, Fromme responded to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's interview request with a 35-line letter in elegant cursive handwriting, the newspaper reported. At the time she had not sought release, although she became eligible for parole in 1985.

"I stood up and waved a gun (at Ford) for a reason," she wrote. "I was so relieved not to have to shoot it, but, in truth, I came to get life. Not just my life but clean air, healthy water and respect for creatures and creation."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32416452/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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© 2009 MSNBC.com

The first guest on NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" will be ... Jerry Seinfeld.

Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno (Getty)

Comedian booked for Sept. 14 premiere

By Nellie Andreeva and Matthew Belloni

An NBC spokesman confirmed that Seinfeld will appear on the premiere of "Jay Leno" on Sept. 14. He is expected to sit down for a chat with Leno as well as do stand-up.

Seinfeld, who appeared on "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" six times, has always been a marquee draw for late-night talk shows.

"The Tonight Show" featuring the cast of "Seinfeld" the night of the series' finale in 1998 drew 15 million viewers, the show's third-largest audience ever.

This time, Seinfeld is expected to promote his stand-up act at Caesars Palace on Dec. 26 and 27 as well as a "Seinfeld"-themed story arc on the next season of Larry David's HBO comedy "Curb Your Enthusiasm," which premieres Sept. 20.

Additionally, Seinfeld has a reality series for NBC, "The Marriage Ref," slated for midseason.

It is not clear yet if Seinfeld would participate in any of the new segments on the show. With his background as an avid car collector, Seinfeld might be tempted to take a spin on the show's track for "Green Car Challenge," where celebrities will race alternative-fuel vehicles.

On the first "Leno," Seinfeld will be joined by previously announced musical guests Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West.

Red-Band Trailer For 'Legion' is Intense

This is the red-band trailer for Legion, starring Paul Bettany, Charles S. Dutton (who has actually killed a man), Dennis Quaid, and Adrienne Palicki. It was directed by Scott Stewart, co-founder of the FX company The Orphanage, which has an amazingly solid track record. It opens looking pretty cool, but then it flashes the Screen Gems logo and I’m like, “Uh oh,” because most Screen Gems movie are old smelly ox cock. But if I’m honest, I have to admit I almost pissed myself in terror a couple times during this. Towards the end, an old lady comes in Roc’s restaurant and she’s all like, “Your baby’s gonna burn,” and everyone’s like, “What?” and then OH MY GOD SHE BIT THAT GUY ON THE NECK KILL IT WITH FIRE KILL IT WITH FIRE!!!

After God loses faith in humanity, the archangel Michael (Paul Bettany) is the only one standing between mankind and the apocalypse. He leads a group of strangers who must protect a woman who is pregnant with Christ in his second coming.

It’s post apocalyptic… because God hates you. Nice. I like the twist. And it’s been a long time since a trailer ripped my face off and effed the nostril hole like this one. Legion, rated P for pants sh*tting.

[via /Film]

Bugatti Unveils The Grand Sport Sang Bleu At Pebble Beach

By Nelson Ireson

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December 31st, 1969 The Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir is still one of the most iconic of the limited-edition Veyrons, but today it gets some in-brand competition: the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu. Just as the Sang Noir followed its name to a black-on-black theme, the Sang Bleu uses blue carbon fiber to invoke its namesake color. Designed as an homage to the marque's heritage during its 100th anniversary celebrations, the Sang Bleu is also far more exclusive than the 15-car Sang Noir run, since it's a one-off exercise. Accenting the blue carbon fiber is a wide expanse of polished aluminum along each front fender and door. Bugatti calls this approach a 'new dimension of « Art – Forme – Technique »', the company's core values statement. The alloy wheels are inspired by the rims of the Grand Sport Roadster, and feature a Midnight Blue and Diamond Cut two-tone finish. Inside, the car gets a Pebble Beach-special design, with Gaucho leather trim accenting the exterior's materials. Like all Veryons, the Sang Bleu features a potent 1,001-horsepower W-16 quad-turbocharged engine and all-wheel-drive powetrain. It shares the rest of its technical specification with the Grand Sport on which it's based. Stay on the lookout for live shots from Pebble Beach, coming shortly. Until then, enjoy the official studio image gallery below. [Bugatti] Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu

Enlarge Photo

The Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir is still one of the most iconic of the limited-edition Veyrons, but today it gets some in-brand competition: the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu.

Just as the Sang Noir followed its name to a black-on-black theme, the Sang Bleu uses blue carbon fiber to invoke its namesake color. Designed as an homage to the marque's heritage during its 100th anniversary celebrations, the Sang Bleu is also far more exclusive than the 15-car Sang Noir run, since it's a one-off exercise.

Accenting the blue carbon fiber is a wide expanse of polished aluminum along each front fender and door. Bugatti calls this approach a 'new dimension of « Art – Forme – Technique »', the company's core values statement.

The alloy wheels are inspired by the rims of the Grand Sport Roadster, and feature a Midnight Blue and Diamond Cut two-tone finish. Inside, the car gets a Pebble Beach-special design, with Gaucho leather trim accenting the exterior's materials.

Like all Veryons, the Sang Bleu features a potent 1,001-horsepower W-16 quad-turbocharged engine and all-wheel-drive powetrain. It shares the rest of its technical specification with the Grand Sport on which it's based.

Stay on the lookout for live shots from Pebble Beach, coming shortly. Until then, enjoy the official studio image gallery below.

[Bugatti]

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang Bleu

Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport Sang BleuGallery

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Don't Speed in Sweden

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