BEIJING (AFP) –
China will allow over 2,700 Muslims to visit the holy site of Mecca this year, with pilgrims making the trip in 10 groups organised by the government, state press said Tuesday.

The pilgrims will come from the major cities in China's Xinjiang region including Urumqi, Yili, Kashgar and Hotan and will undergo training courses covering security concerns and basic language needs, Xinhua news agency said.

The government-run ethnic affairs commission will be in charge of the tour groups and accompany the travellers, it said.

More than 30,000 Chinese Muslims have made the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudia Arabia over the last 20 years, including 2,800 last year, the report said.

An increasing number of Chinese Muslims embarking on the holy pilgrimage reflects rising living standards in China, with the costs of such trips averaging about 40,000 yuan (5,850 dollars) a person, it said.

Clashes broke out in Xinjiang on July 5, leaving at least 197 people dead and over 1,600 injured in the worst ethnic violence to hit China in decades. The unrest began with a peaceful protest by Uighurs but proceedings quickly turned violent as Uighur mobs attacked members of China's dominant Han ethnic group.

Chinese authorities say most of the dead were Han and blamed the violence on extremist and separatist groups.

The unrest has put a spotlight on China's roughly eight million Uighurs, who have complained of religious and cultural oppression since the officially atheist Chinese communists came to power 60 years ago and tightened control on Xinjiang.

Many Uighurs say they are prevented from going on the hajj, the trip to Mecca which all Muslims are obliged to make in their lifetime if they have the means.

But the State Bureau of Religious Affairs earlier this month denied this in a statement to AFP, saying Muslims were allowed to go in specially-designated groups.

China routinely denies passports to Uighurs, apparently fearing they could join extremist groups abroad, Uighur businessmen have said.

The lucky few who get passports often must give police hefty deposits of up to 4,000 dollars -- a massive sum for most Uighurs -- to ensure that they return, several Uighurs said.

Adult Costumes

Christmas and Easter costumes typically portray mythical characters such as Santa Claus (by donning a santa suit and beard) or the Easter Bunny by putting on an animal costume. Costumes may serve to portray various other characters during secular holidays, such as an Uncle Sam costume worn on the Independence day for example.

Isadora Duncan made a great impact on dance costume today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries she “throws off the corset, bares her limbs, and dances barefoot” (Penrod 13). Duncan began a new look, inspired by the Greeks, of tunics and scarves. This simple costume inspired a new form of dance costume and new ways of moving (Penrod 13). This imitation of the Greek clothing freed the naturally beautiful lines of the human body and movement. This change in costume extended the dancer’s space, and caused the costume to be made to conform to the curves and shapes of the body as much as possible (Art of Production 57).

July 22 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama and
congressional Democratic leaders are trying to mend fissures
within their own party over plans to overhaul U.S. health care.

A rebellion over the cost of the legislation prompted Obama
to summon some Democrats to the White House for talks as a
congressional committee delayed drafting its bill and
Republicans sought to capitalize on the friction.

Negotiations over the most sweeping changes in health care
in more than four decades have proven so difficult that House
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer left open the possibility Congress
may fail to meet Obama’s August deadline for legislation.

“The seven of us can’t support the bill as it stands,”
said Representative Mike Ross of Arkansas, a leader of the Blue
Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats, speaking for a
group of lawmakers who met with Obama yesterday to voice concern
over a plan unveiled July 14 by House leaders.

Obama spent more than an hour talking with those lawmakers,
who are members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee,
which has yet to pass its part of the legislation.

To help win over the Blue Dogs, Committee Chairman Henry
Waxman agreed to include a provision to create an independent
commission to set reimbursement rates for Medicare providers
each year. Ross said such a body would take politics out of
decisions on the federal insurance program for the elderly.

Waxman, a California Democrat, postponed plans for his
panel to debate the legislation today so talks can continue.

‘Turning Point’

During the White House meeting, Obama asked lawmakers to
take “a favorable attitude toward his proposal” to set up the
five-member commission, Waxman said.

Acknowledging his own “personal misgivings,” Waxman said
such a panel would have a lot of power to cut health-care costs.
He said he couldn’t speculate on how much authority Congress
would ultimately surrender to a commission.

“The Blue Dogs members thought that committee made a lot
of sense,” Waxman said. He called the agreement to include such
a committee “a major turning point of discussions.”

Ross said the group arrived at the White House with 10 Blue
Dog demands and spent most of the time on two priorities:
producing a deficit-neutral measure and containing costs.

The current House plan would expand insurance coverage to
97 percent of Americans while adding $239 billion to the budget
deficit over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget
Office. The Blue Dogs say it doesn’t do enough to control the
spiraling costs of Medicare and Medicaid.

Airing Grievances

Indiana Representative Baron Hill, another Blue Dog
Democrat, said the group heard a great deal from Chief of Staff
Rahm Emanuel during the meeting at the White House.

“A few choice words were used,” Hill said.

Obama ramped up the pressure amid concern that deadlines
are slipping. He has asked the House and Senate to pass their
versions before their summer breaks. The House plans to adjourn
July 31, and the Senate intends to go home a week later.

The increasing likelihood that Congress won’t meet the
deadline was underscored by Hoyer, a Maryland representative and
the No. 2 House Democrat, when he said his members may leave
town without voting on the legislation.

“I don’t think staying in session” is “necessary to
continuing to work on getting consensus,” Hoyer said at a news
conference. “Obviously, members have concerns.”

Other Committees

The two other House committees with jurisdiction over
health care -- Education and Labor and Ways and Means --cleared
their parts of the plan on July 17 without Republican support.
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee
passed its legislation on a party-line vote on July 15.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus of Montana has
failed to reach a compromise with Republicans weeks after he
initially planned a vote, and Democrats are accusing Republicans
of trying to impede progress.

“The party of ‘No’ is hoping that we’ll trip and fall, and
they’re saying it publicly,” Senate Democratic Leader Harry
Reid told reporters in Washington. Both he and Hoyer cited a
comment by Republican South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint, that
“if we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his
Waterloo.”

Reid charged that Republicans “simply want to maintain the
status quo” and to keep the insurance industry “in charge of
health-care delivery.”

‘Slow Things Down’

DeMint defended his remark on Fox News, saying “the whole
purpose of the Senate is to slow things down and debate them.”
Obama “wants to take over health care just as he’s taken over
General Motors and Chrysler and our banking industry.”

North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad, one of seven senators
working on an agreement on the Finance Committee, said the group
may opt to tax insurers and employers who provide “Cadillac”
plans valued at more than $25,000 a year for a family of four.

While Obama has indicated he may be open to such a tax,
insurers objected.

The tax may end up “penalizing the employers and plans
that you want to be your economic engines” without getting at
the underlying causes of rising medical costs, said Elizabeth
Hall, vice president for public policy at Indianapolis, Indiana-
based WellPoint Inc., the largest U.S. insurer by enrollment.

To contact the reporters on this story:
Kristin Jensen in Washington at
kjensen@bloomberg.net ;
Nicole Gaouette in Washington at
ngaouette@bloomberg.net

WASHINGTON – Federal agencies are facing a severe shortage of computer specialists, even as a growing wave of coordinated cyberattacks against the government poses potential national security risks, a private study found.
The study describes a fragmented federal cyber force, where no one is in charge of overall planning and government agencies are "on their own and sometimes working at cross purposes or in competition with one another."
The report, scheduled to be released Wednesday, arrives in the wake of a series of cyberattacks this month that shut down some U.S. and South Korean government and financial Web sites.
The recruiting and retention of cyber workers is hampered by a cumbersome hiring process, the failure to devise government-wide certification standards, insufficient training and salaries, and a lack of an overall strategy for recruiting and retaining cyber workers, the study said.
"You can't win the cyber war if you don't win the war for talent," said Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, a Washington-based advocacy group that works to improve government service. "If we don't have a federal work force capable of meeting the cyber challenge, all of the cyber czars and organizational efforts will be for naught."
The study was drafted by the partnership and Booz Allen Hamilton as the Obama administration struggles to put together a more cohesive strategy to protect U.S. government and civilian computer networks.
The size of the government's cyber work force is largely unknown, because agencies often classify their employees differently. The Pentagon says it has more than 90,000 personnel involved with cybersecurity, while the non-defense department civilian cybersecurity work force has been estimated at 35,000 to 45,000. Intelligence community estimates are classified.
While President Barack Obama has declared cybersecurity a top priority, the White House so far has been unable to fill its new cyber coordinator position — a job regarded as critical.
The study recommends that the yet-unnamed federal cyber coordinator lay out a strategy to meet the government's work force needs, set job classifications, enhance training and lead a nationwide effort to promote technology skills, including through the use of scholarships.
The federal government's vulnerabilities have been underscored by cyberattacks that breached a high-tech fighter jet program and the electrical grid, although no classified material was compromised.
Earlier this month, unknown hackers knocked several U.S and South Korean government Web sites off line in a widespread and unusually resilient computer attack.
Ron Sanders, chief human capital officer for the national intelligence director's office, said it is difficult to draw a link between the work force shortages and the increased cyber threats against the government.
"It's hard to say that there is any cause and effect there," said Sanders, adding that the U.S. probably will have to live with the nearly constant attacks. But, he said, the intrusions have heightened awareness of the problem, forcing officials to focus on the hiring needs.
Experts inside and outside government, including officials at 18 federal agencies, were interviewed for the study. The consensus, the review said, is that a majority of managers are not satisfied with the quality or quantity of job candidates they get, forcing them to rely heavily on contractors.
The Homeland Security Department, for example, said in September that contractors accounted for 83 percent of its chief information officer's staff.
A full 75 percent of those surveyed said that attracting skilled cyber talent will be a high priority for the next two years.
Competition between federal agencies has fueled the staffing problems. According to Stier, the Scholarship for Service Program, a federal scholarship program aimed at attracting entry-level cyber specialists, can churn out about 120 graduates a year.
But federal officials say they need as many as 1,000.

At a recent federal job fair, there were 69 job booths angling for the 120 graduates.

Right now, the scholarship program is funded at $12 million, but a proposed Senate bill would increase that amount to $300 million over five years, providing the 1,000 workers officials say they need each year.

The Pentagon and National Security Agency often outbid other federal agencies and snag many of the eligible applicants. Between 2006-2009, the Defense Department and the NSA hired 205 of the 407 eligible students.

Sanders acknowledged that the intelligence community has more flexibility and resources to attract computer specialists but said there is still an overall shortfall of U.S. citizens with the needed expertise who can also meet security clearance requirements.

"The labor pool is shrinking," he said, adding that the government must work to better coordinate hiring across all the agencies to ensure that there is healthy but well-managed competition.

___

On the Net:

Partnership for Public Service: http://www.ourpublicservice.org/OPS/

GUANGZHOU, China – An employee at a factory that makes iPhones in China killed himself after a prototype went missing. Apple Inc. offered its condolences Wednesday as the company waits for the results of an investigation.
The worker, Sun Danyong, 25, was a recent graduate in engineering who worked in product communications at Foxconn Technology Group. Foxconn is a Taiwanese firm that makes many Apple products at a massive factory in the southern city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.
The Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper said Sun — responsible for sending iPhone prototypes to Apple — noticed he was missing one of the 16 units he received on July 9. He reported the missing phone on July 13 and his apartment was searched by Foxconn employees, the Chinese-language report said.
Sun jumped to his death from the 12th floor of his apartment building July 16.
"We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death," said Jill Tan, an Apple spokeswoman in Hong Kong. "We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."
Apple is notorious for being extremely secretive about its new products, and Foxconn also has a reputation for being tightlipped about the goods it produces for its customers, which include some of the biggest brands in the technology industry.
Foxconn executive Li Jinming said in a statement that Sun's death showed that the company needed to do a better job helping its employees with psychological pressures.
"Sun Danyong graduated from a good school. He joined the company in 2008. He had an extremely bright future. The group and I feel deep pain and regret when a young person dies like this."
Local police would not respond to questions from The Associated Press.

KIEV, Ukraine – Vice President Joe Biden assured a nervous Ukraine that its interests won't be sacrificed as the United States tries to mend ties with Moscow.
Visiting Kiev two weeks after President Barack Obama attended a Moscow summit, Biden said Russia can claim no "sphere of influence" in its backyard. The U.S. vice president travels next to another former Soviet republic, Georgia, which lost a five-day war with Russia last year over separatist provinces that Moscow insists are independent states.
Russia has responded angrily to efforts by the pro-Western leaders of Ukraine and Georgia to distance their countries from Moscow and seek NATO membership.
As confrontation simmers between Moscow and the West over Ukraine's future, Biden signaled that Russia has no special rights in the region.
"We do not recognize — and I want to reiterate it — any sphere of influence," Biden said after meeting with pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko. "We do not recognize anyone else's right to dictate to you or any other country what alliances you will seek to belong to."
Before Biden even spoke, Russia had warned the United States to tread lightly when it courts Moscow's neighbors.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said all nations are free to choose their partners, but added: "It is important that this be done transparently, without under-the-carpet games and not at the expense of others' interests."
Nesterenko suggested Russia's traditional ties with Ukraine give it a bigger stake in the country's future, saying nations dealing with Ukraine should take regional context and "historical specifics" into account.
Biden reassured Ukraine that Obama's bid to "reset" relations with Russia would not hurt Ukraine's push for integration with the West, saying better ties with Moscow "will not come at Ukraine's expense."
"To the contrary, I believe it can actually benefit Ukraine," he said. "The more substantive relationship we have with Moscow, the more we can defuse the zero-sum thinking about our relations with Russia's neighbors."
The Russia-US summit on July 6-8 aimed to make a new start in relations, which reached post-Cold War lows after Russia's war with Georgia last August. Obama stressed that "NATO seeks collaboration with Russia, not confrontation."
Mindful of a rift within Ukraine about joining NATO, Biden said the U.S. would not dictate to the nation, but emphasized that "if you choose to be part of Euro-Atlantic integration — which I believe you have — that we strongly support that."
Polls have shown a majority of Ukrainians oppose NATO membership, and European allies have been more wary than the United States about bringing Ukraine into the alliance. While NATO has stressed that the door remains open, Russia's war with Georgia deepened concerns by hinting at the lengths Moscow is willing to go to keep neighbors out of the Western alliance.
The war also raised alarms in Ukraine about Kremlin intentions toward a nation many Russians see as inextricably linked to their own. Biden stressed that "the United States supports Ukraine's sovereignty, independence and freedom, and to make its own choices — its own choices — including what alliances they choose to belong."
Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, drily dismissed Biden's trip as "psychotherapy" aimed to comfort Ukraine and Georgia, and said neither has a chance of joining the alliance any time soon.
Welcoming Biden, Yushchenko called Ukraine a "European country where democracy rules" — seeking to set it apart from Russia, which has often-acrimonious relations with the European Union and has faced accusation of a retreat from democracy in the past decade.
"We are going forward, we have chosen a European path," Yushchenko said.
He also called for U.S. investment in upgrading Ukraine's natural-gas pipeline network, which carries large volumes of Russian natural gas to European consumers. Russia turned off the taps during a price dispute in January, leaving many Europeans without gas for two weeks and prompting the EU to step up efforts to find alternative supply routes.

Accompanied by Yushchenko, Biden placed flowers at a memorial to victims of a deadly 1932-33 famine engineered by Soviet leader Josef Stalin's government — the focus of one of several disputes between Ukraine and Russia over history. Yushchenko is seeking international recognition of the famine that killed millions of Ukrainians as genocide, while Russia adamantly argues that Ukrainians were not specifically targeted.

Biden later met with Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, a former Yushchenko ally who is now a bitter foe and chief challenger in January's presidential election. He also met with opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and former parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who also plan to seek the presidency.

Biden urged the feuding leaders to put disagreements behind them and get down to fixing the country's devastated economy. "Working together, especially in times of crisis, is not a choice, it's an absolute necessity," he said. "Compromise ... is not a sign of weakness, it is evidence of strength."

The rivalry has played into the hands of Yanukovych, who has warmer ties with Moscow and is popular in Ukraine's largely Russian-speaking east.

Biden on Wednesday visits Georgia, whose strategic location along a key energy route has made it a geopolitical battlefield between Moscow and the West.

Russian forces quickly crushed the Georgian army last August after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili launched an offensive targeting the Moscow-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia to try to bring it under control.

Russia has defied the West by deploying thousands of troops in South Ossetia and another separatist province, Abkhazia, and recognizing both regions as independent nations.

___

Associated Press writers David Nowak and Steve Gutterman contributed to this report from Moscow.

Los Angeles (E! Online) –
Well, Stephen Baldwin's lack of fundraising prowess on Celebrity Apprentice is starting to make sense. 

Less than a month after they came thisclose to losing their house, the Baldwin bro and his wife, Kennya, have filed for Chapter 11, the Wall Street Journal's Bankruptcy Beat blog reported Tuesday.

Taxes, two mortgages and the great American equalizer—credit card debt—are the culprits, according to the petition filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.
Apparently the Baldwins' Upper Grandview home is worth $1.1 million, but they owe the bank $1.19 million and have outstanding debts of $890,000 to the IRS, $194,527 in unpaid state income tax and more than $70,000 to the credit card companies.

Their foreclosed-upon home was scheduled to be auctioned off Wednesday, according to the Lower Hudson Journal, which reported earlier this month that Baldwin was granted a 30-day postponement while he explored ways to make good on his defaulted mortgage.

A rep for Baldwin has not yet commented, so it's unclear whether his 1.4-acre residence is still up for grabs, courtesy of the Rockland County Courthouse.

"Stephen is presently going through a legal situation regarding his mortgage and that situation is still in process. No auction will be happening and all things related to this matter are being handled by his legal representation," rep Brad Taylor told People on June 15.

The auction was then scheduled for June 24.
________

Things are going better for Stephen's brother, Alec, who's included in our 2009 Emmys: Notable Nominees gallery.

··· THEY SAID WHAT? Get today's most commented stories now at www.eonline.com

Is the U.S. flag planted on the moon 40 years ago still standing? That's just one of many questions researchers hope will be answered this year by new pictures of old Apollo landing sites.
A plan to photograph the historic lunar locations with NASA's new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), revealed yesterday on SPACE.com, should be a boon to lunar archaeologists who aim to solve some longstanding mysteries and also get a historic-landmark designation for the Apollo 11 touchdown site.
The first moon landing by the Apollo 11 crew took place July 20, 1969.
The new photos, expected in coming days, weeks and months, will be of keen interest to archaeologists involved in the Lunar Legacy Project. They contend that Apollo 11's Tranquility Base should be seen as an anthropological site and deserves preservation for all present and future inhabitants of the Earth.
"Even after our research, I still think we don't know exactly what is on the Tranquility Base site and how it is placed," said Beth O'Leary in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.
O'Leary created the NASA-funded project to make the Apollo 11 Landing site on the moon as a National Historic Landmark.
The idea of cultural resource management in space is also highlighted in a new book, "The Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology and Heritage" that she co-edited with Ann Darrin of Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland.
What is the condition of Tranquility base after 40 years? Was the American flag blown over on the Eagle's ascent and is it now a bleached skeleton? What are the relatively long term effects of the lunar environment on human artifacts?
All good questions, O'Leary pointed out.
"We need to know where our material culture resides on the moon. Many parts and pieces of our time, certainly in the era of the early robotics on the moon, are missing from the database," O'Leary told SPACE.com.
Although the process of taking high resolution images is intensive and costly, O'Leary said, the possibility exists to locate humankind's lunar leftovers precisely, assess their condition and most importantly decide then what and how to preserve this record for future generations.
"We have a chance to assess the totality of our time on the moon so far and plan for the future now," O'Leary concluded.
GALLERY: Apollo 11 Flight in Pictures
SPECIAL REPORT - The Moon: Then, Now, Next
Video: The Meaning of Apollo
Leonard David has been reporting on the space industry for more than four decades. He is past editor-in-chief of the National Space Society's Ad Astra and Space World magazines and has written for SPACE.com since 1999
Original Story: Is the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Flag Still Standing?SPACE.com offers rich and compelling content about space science, travel and exploration as well as astronomy, technology, business news and more. The site boasts a variety of popular features including our space image of the day and other space pictures,space videos, Top 10s, Trivia, podcasts and Amazing Images submitted by our users. Join our community, sign up for our free newsletters and register for our RSS Feeds today!

The word golf derives from the Dutch kolf meaning stick, club or bat (see: Kolven). Flourishing trade over the North Sea during the Middle Ages and early Modern Period led to much language interaction between Scots, Dutch, Flemish and other languages. There are reports of even earlier accounts of golf from continental Europe.

These, along with health and cost concerns, have led to significant research into more environmentally sound practices and turf grasses. The modern golf course superintendent is often trained in the uses of these practices and grasses. This has led to some mitigation in the amount of chemicals and water used on courses.

http://www.hiousa.com/

WASHINGTON – The Defense Department frequently awards no-bid work to small contractors for repairs at military bases under the new economic stimulus law, costing taxpayers millions of dollars more than when businesses compete for the work, according to an Associated Press analysis of 570 such contracts.
The Pentagon saves more than three times as much money when companies compete, the AP analysis showed. Yet more than $242 million in federal contracts — representing more than one-fourth of the military's stimulus contract spending so far — has been awarded under the recovery program through no-bid contracts for repairs and maintenance.
President Barack Obama promised last month to save money through competition.
"By ending unnecessary no-bid contracts and reforming the way government contracts are awarded, we can save the American people up to $40 billion every year," Obama said, as he announced new procedures to increase competition.
In many of the cases, the military bases are eager to spend the stimulus money. Speed is an important element of the Obama administration's effort to jump-start the economy. Bidding and its delays can be avoided by federal rules that permit contract awards to small and disadvantaged businesses without competition, said Navy Cmdr. Darryn James, a Pentagon spokesman.
Across the government, more than $543 million in federal contracts have been awarded so far without competition under Obama's $787 billion stimulus program.
Much of the spending is for common construction work at a time when contractors crippled by the recession are offering steep discounts. State governments are taking advantage, reporting millions in savings as road and construction contracts come in under budget after making companies bid for the work.
The Defense Department can do that, too, and "ensure that we're getting the best deal possible," said Scott Amey of the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group that tracks government spending and waste.
"It's not surprising because of the economic times, that guys are actually taking jobs at a loss," said Eric Moore, who helps run Vanguard Construction in Arroyo Grande, Calif. The company has received competitive and no-bid stimulus contracts for maintenance work at Edwards Air Force Base.
Obama's recovery program includes about $7.4 billion for military construction, repairs and improvements at bases put off in recent years because of wartime expenses. The Defense Department also is seeing big savings in its construction contracts, but it is saving far more money when making businesses compete.
The AP reviewed project estimates and actual contract amounts for $420 million in stimulus projects given to contractors hired by military bases. Military bases have awarded about 1,445 contracts totaling $955 million for maintenance and repairs, but only $420 million could be readily compared to earlier Defense project estimates sent to Congress.
The 570 projects reviewed by the AP included $284.4 million in competitively bid contracts and $135.5 million in no-bid contracts.
The work that was competitively bid saved $34 million, with contract costs coming in about 11 percent less than budget estimates. The no-bid work saved $4.4 million, with contract costs coming in about 3 percent less than estimates, the AP's analysis shows.
Military bases have a long list of undone maintenance projects, and some used smaller contractors already working for them or already approved for no-bid work to spend stimulus money efficiently and effectively, said James, the Pentagon spokesman. Some bases also assigned the maintenance work without competition to eligible small contractors before Congress approved the stimulus program, he said.
Small businesses are receiving the bulk of the construction work, and most of that work is being awarded to the lowest bidder, James said.
The Pentagon doesn't have to rely on no-bid contracts to help small businesses. About $138 million of military maintenance contracts awarded through some type of competition went to small, disadvantaged or minority businesses, saving about $22.7 million, or 14 percent, the AP analysis shows.
The difference between some contracts is striking.
_Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska estimated spending $9.2 million on paving jobs, but approved $9.4 million in contracts without competition. Arnold Air Force Base in Tennessee estimated its paving work at $650,000, and awarded $400,815 in contracts after receiving competing bids, or about 38 percent under estimate.

_Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida figured it would spend $638,000 in sewer repair work and awarded the contract without bids for $629,118, slightly under its estimate. Travis Air Force Base in California estimated a sewer repair job at $3.7 million, and awarded a $2.5 million contract after bids, or about 32 percent under estimate.

_Glendale Luke Air Force Base in Arizona estimated it would spend $2.7 million on a heating and air conditioning conversion job but awarded the contract without bids at $3.1 million, or about 17 percent over estimate. The base estimated two other electrical jobs to replace and repair transformers to cost $440,000, but the actual contract was awarded through competitive bids at $454,990, slightly over its estimate.

Some agencies may follow the military's lead — turning to approved small businesses that can win contracts without bidding — so they can meet a requirement of Obama's stimulus program to spend the federal money fast, said Michael Pain, a lawyer who heads the federal construction practice of Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman in Philadelphia.

"The agencies are under some pressure to get this out as quickly as possible," he said.

But that shouldn't lead to waste, said Amey, with the watchdog group.

"There is a premium paid for working with these small companies," Amey said. "But that's where, to the extent possible, the government should entice as much competition as possible."

TURNBERRY, Scotland – These kind of things usually don't end well, no matter how much we might want them to. Golf is a tough enough game for even the youngsters playing in this British Open, and 59-year-olds have no business getting in the way — no matter what their pedigree might be.
But then Tom Watson starts talking about feeling something spiritual out on the links, and you start wondering. He calls the golf course "she," like Turnberry is an eccentric old aunt, and says he feels a serenity when he is with her.
On Thursday, he went out underneath a retro argyle sweater with a 16-year-old as one of his playing partners and shot a 5-under 65 that was as remarkable as it was improbable. It matched the score he posted in the final round on the same course in 1977 to beat Jack Nicklaus by a shot and win the claret jug trophy in what would live in golf lore as the "Duel in the Sun."
The ease with which it came made a lot of his fans — and there are many in Britain, where his success has been great — want to believe. But he's at an age where the supreme confidence of one day can mysteriously disappear by the next.
The day before, he had teased reporters by telling them what a great story it would be if he might somehow win, then laughed at the silliness of it all. He didn't mention anything about the text messages wishing him good luck from a woman named Barbara, who just happens to be married to the man he beat 32 years ago.
He doesn't have many other secrets, because Watson has always been an open book, at least when it comes to golf. He's played on the public stage in four different decades now, and his five British Open wins, second only to Harry Vardon, would testify to a brilliant career even if he had never done anything else.
But win a sixth just nine months after undergoing hip surgery? Against a field that includes Tiger Woods and a host of 20-somethings who hit the ball long and far?
Not likely. Not at an age when nerves fray quicker and muscles ache longer.
Golf may be the one sport that can be played competitively at a comparatively old age, but that age comes with a burden. The oldest player to win one of the four major championships was Julius Boros, who won the 1968 PGA Championship at 48, and the oldest to win the British was Old Tom Morris himself at 46 — and that was 142 years ago.
So how about it, Old Tom Watson? What if it somehow, some way, it came true?
"It would be amazing," Watson said. "You can put all kinds of superlative adjectives and all sorts of things to it. It would be amazing."
Indeed, the whole thing is way too crazy, something Watson seems to know but won't just come out and say. Not when the competitive juices are flowing and the game that can sometimes be so humiliating is fun again, at least for a day.
He's been in a similar position before, and it didn't end well. That was the 2003 U.S. Open outside Chicago where the then-53-year-old opened with a 65 before fading and ending up in a tie for 28th.
On his bag for that tournament was longtime friend and caddie Bruce Edwards, who had been diagnosed earlier that year with Lou Gehrig's disease. The cheers that day as they walked up the 18th hole were for both men: a golfer who was playing beyond his years and his dying caddie, who was struggling just to walk.
"If I shoot 90 tomorrow, I don't care," Watson said after that round.
Thursday's round at Turnberry didn't carry that kind of emotion, and Watson isn't a lot for sentimental reflection. But he can recite every shot he hit in his famous showdown with Nicklaus, and every hole at Turnberry brings back some different memory.
He beat Nicklaus in 1977 and won the 2003 Senior British Open with a final round 64. And there was the near miss in 1994, when he and Nicklaus had some dinner and a few bottles of wine after the final round, then sneaked on to play the adjoining par-3 course in the dark. A security guard came to shoo them away, only to find the greatest player ever and a five-time British Open champion engaged in a bit of fun.
Golf hasn't been as much fun lately, and Watson knows time is running out, so that makes the round that left him just a stroke behind Miguel Angel Jimenez so special. British Open champions once had a lifetime pass to the tournament, but the age limit is now 60, meaning next year's tournament at St. Andrews will be his last.

He seems resigned to that and says he doesn't want to play when he has no chance to win. But he feels he still has a few rounds left in him, and believes there is something magical here that he can't quite explain.

"I feel inspired playing here," Watson said. "It doesn't feel a whole lot out of the ordinary from 32 years ago except that I don't have the confidence in my putting as I had 32 years ago. But, again, a few of them might go in."

They just might, assuming the cosmic gods of golf want it that way.

This is, after all, a love affair between a man and a course.

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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) –
Manchester United cancelled the Indonesian leg of their pre-season tour to Asia after a bomb exploded at the Jakarta hotel where they were due to stay next week.

"Following the explosions in Jakarta -- one of which was at the hotel the team were due to stay in -- and based on advice received, the directors have informed the Indonesian FA that the club cannot fulfil the fixture in Jakarta on the 2009 Asia tour," the club said in a statement.

They were due to fly to Jakarta after their match in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday evening and play an Indonesia XI in front of a sell-out 100,000 crowd.

The club said it was trying to reorganise that leg of the tour, which also includes matches in South Korea and China.

"We are working on a revised itinerary outside Indonesia with the promoters and we will make a further announcement when these decisions have been made," the statement added.

"We are deeply disappointed at not being able to visit Indonesia and thank the Indonesian FA and our fans for their support. Our thoughts go to all those affected by the blasts."

It would have been the first ever trip to the sprawling country by the team which was booked into the Ritz-Carlton hotel.

But the hotel, along with the JW Marriott, was hit by explosions that have left at least nine people dead and more than 40 injured, many of them foreigners, police said.

Two blasts shook the Ritz-Carlton and the nearby Marriott in the upscale Mega Kuningan business district in the centre of the city around 8:00 am (0100 GMT), sending a huge plume of smoke into the sky.

A third explosion was reported near a shopping complex in the north of the Indonesian capital several hours later, but police later denied initial reports that it was also caused by a bomb.

The team have a huge following in Asia, with everyone from poor street vendors to wealthy businessmen donning Red Devils shirts.

The huge fan base and the commercial opportunities it offers makes their visit as much about business as football, and a chance to play in Indonesia for the first time was earlier cited by Ferguson as important for the club.

"Our fans in Asia generate money for the club, there are no two ways about it," said United chief executive David Gill before they left Manchester.

Ferguson has brought a 22-man squad, but a glaring omission was Park Ji-Sung.

The South Korean was not on the team list on United's website and was not seen arriving in Kuala Lumpur. No reason was given for his absence.

Also missing was defender Nemanja Vidic. Again, United gave no reason for the Serbia international's absence although an ankle injury forced him out of a World Cup qualifier against the Faroe Islands last month.

The only other familiar face not to travel was Brazilian full-back Rafael Da Silva, although he too was suffering with an ankle problem.

Other than that United has a strong squad, with Michael Owen set to make his debut after his shock move from Newcastle earlier this month.

HONG KONG – Asian stocks jumped Thursday after China's economic growth quickened and U.S. companies posted stronger-than-expected results, boosting faith in a global recovery. European shares lagged in early trade.
The move higher in Asia followed a rally on Wall Street and marked the region's third straight day of gains after a string of losses amid anxiety the market had overestimated the economy's prospects and earnings season would disappoint.
But worst-case fears about U.S. earnings haven't played out, at least not yet.
Intel Corp., the world's biggest chipmaker, helped confidence with results that topped expectations and a robust outlook for the second-half of the year. The news came after Goldman Sach Group Inc.'s quarterly profit comforted investors the day before.
China, meanwhile, said its economy accelerated in the second quarter, expanding by 7.9 percent, amid a surge in consumer spending and factory output on the back of massive government stimulus measures.
Analysts said the quicker expansion, above most market forecasts, put the world's third-largest economy within reach of the government's 8 percent full-year growth target. It offered yet more assurances for global investors who, thrilled by China's ability to keep its economy growing as other countries slump, have already driven Shanghai's stock market up nearly 75 percent this year.
"This should give people confidence that China's economy is on strong footing and that there are a lot better days ahead," said Alan Landau, Hong Kong-based president of Marco Polo Pure Asset Management, which oversees about $120 million in mostly mainland Chinese equities.
"All the signs point to expansion in China. Sentiment is very positive toward China. Where else in the world right now can you find that kind of growth?"
Early going in Europe, benchmarks in Britain and Germany were off about 0.3 percent, with France's index down about 0.1 percent. U.S. futures pointed to losses Thursday: Dow futures were down 35, or 0.4 percent, at 8,508 and S&P futures were off 3.9, or 0.4 percent, at 923.30.
Every major Asian benchmark opened green, though many traded off their highs by the afternoon as caution began to set in after U.S. market futures dropped and as struggling U.S. lender CIT Group Inc., which was denied a government bailout, headed for bankruptcy.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average gained 74.91 points, or 0.8 percent, to 9344.16 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was up 103.21, or 0.6 percent, at 18,361.87.
South Korea's Kospi added 0.8 percent to 1,432.22. Australia's index advanced 1.8 percent, and Singapore's stock measure was higher by 0.5 percent.
In mainland China, the Shanghai benchmark was unable to hold its advance, losing 0.2 percent to 3,183.74. The country's markets are still largely closed to outside investors, so often move out of sync with global bourses.
Among the day's best performing stocks, Mazda surged 6.2 percent in Tokyo on news Toyota may providing its key hybrid technology in a tie-up. In Australia, mining giant Rio Tinto gained 4.6 percent.
Despite their ascent this year, Chinese shares still trade far below their highs. Shanghai's index, for example, is about half its peak above 6,000 in 2007.
But a number of investors believe it's a only matter of time before mainland equities hit fresh highs.
With Beijing's central planners bent on sustaining growth, they'll want to keep the asset markets healthy and worry less about speculation than about creating wealth, said Robert Howe of asset manager Geomatrix in Hong Kong.
"They're succeeding with the economic stimulus plans against really daunting odds," Howe said. "There's certainly hope for higher highs, and we think it's quite possible the Shanghai market will make a new high."

On Wall Street Wednesday, markets surged with investors cheered by earnings, as well as a more positive assessment of the economy from the U.S. Federal Reserve and manufacturing figures that pointed to an easing in the recession.

The Dow jumped 256.72, or 3.1 percent, to 8,616.21, its biggest gain since March 23.

Oil prices gave up some early gains in Asian trade, with benchmark crude for August delivery down 37 cents at $61.17 a barrel. The contract surged $2.02 overnight, taking its cue from Wall Street.

The dollar weakened to 93.62 yen from 94.23 yen. The euro fell to $1.4076 from $1.4099.

WASHINGTON – With the help of Hollywood, those historic, grainy images of the first men on the moon never looked better. NASA unveiled refurbished video Thursday of the July 20, 1969, moonwalk restored by the same company that sharpened up the movie "Casablanca."
NASA lost its original moon landing videotapes and after a three-year search, officials have concluded they were probably erased. That original live video was ghostlike and grainy.
NASA and a Hollywood film restoration company took television video copies of what Apollo 11 beamed to Earth 40 years ago and made the pictures look sharper.
NASA emphasized the video isn't "new" — just better quality.
"There's nothing being created; there's nothing being manufactured," said NASA senior engineer Dick Nafzger, who's in charge of the project.
But some details seem new because of their sharpness. Originally, Armstrong's face visor was too fuzzy to be seen clearly. The refurbished video shows his visor and a reflection in it.
The $230,000 refurbishing effort is only three weeks into a months-long project, and only 40 percent of the work has been done. But it does show improvements in four snippets: Armstrong walking down the ladder, which includes the face visor image; Buzz Aldrin walking down the ladder; the two astronauts reading a plaque they left on the moon; the planting of the flag on the moon.
The original videos beamed to earth were stored on giant reels of tapes that each contained 15 minutes of video, along with 13 other channels of live data from the moon. In the 1970s and 1980s, NASA had a shortage of the tapes and erased about 200,000 of those tapes and reused them. That's apparently what happened to the famous moon landing footage.
Nafzger praised the restored work for its crispness. The restoration company, Lowry Digital of Burbank, Calif., also refurbished "Star Wars" and James Bond films, along with "Casablanca."
The company noted that the latter film had a pixel count 10 times higher than the moon video, meaning the moon footage was fuzzier than that vintage movie and more of a challenge in one sense.
But the moon video also was three continuous hours, not chopped up like movies are, which made some of the work easier, said Lowry president Mike Inchalik.
Of all the video the company has dealt with, he said, "This is by far and away the lowest quality."
The restoration used four video sources: CBS News originals; kinescopes from the National Archives; a video from Australia that received the transmission of the original moon video; and camera shots looking at a TV monitor.
Both Nafzger and Inchalik said they went to extremes to enhance the video as conservatively as possible.
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On the Net:
NASA restored video: http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11.html