Alien life may be found in 40 years
Alien life beyond our solar system could be discovered within the next 40 years, a top astronomer from the United Kingdom has said.
According to Lord Martin Rees, the president of the Royal Society of London, developments in astronomy mean that astrophysicists could be able to
view images of distant planets outside of our solar system as soon as 2025, and potentially discover whether there is some form of life on them, the Daily Mail reported.
The question of whether earth is alone in supporting living organisms has puzzled scientists, philosophers for centuries. “We know now that stars are orbited by retinues of planets just as our sun is. We have learned this in just the last decade, essentially,” Rees said.
“Within 10 or 20 years we will be able to image other planets like the earth, orbiting other stars. That will be a really exciting subject to see if there is evidence for [extra-terrestrial] life or not,” Rees was quoted as saying by the paper.
Speaking at a debate on the meaning of life for the launch of Professor Stephen Hawking’s new show Grand Design, he added that finding out more about the “origin of life, the place where it exists, and whether aliens exist, is going to be crucial over the next four decades”.
“There may be some questions that our brains will never understand, in the same way that chimpanzees couldn’t understand quantum theory, that are just beyond human brains,” Rees added.
Last year Lord Rees had said it was possible that aliens were “staring us in the face” in a form that humans are unable to recognise. “I suspect there could be life and intelligence out there in forms we can’t conceive,” he added.
2012年9月8日星期六
2012年9月7日星期五
Adrift With a Tiger and the Film God
Adrift With a Tiger and the Film God
“YOU become the movie you are making,” the Oscar-winning director Ang Lee said in a recent telephone interview. Given that the movie in question is “Life of Pi,” based on the award-winning, fantastical novel about a boy and a Bengal tiger marooned on a boat for 227 days, Mr. Lee is feeling a bit more at sea than usual these days.
With this film Mr. Lee has not just defied the old showbiz adage “Never work with children or animals,” but he has also taken on a few more challenges — like water, 3-D, religion and the expectations of millions of rapt readers of the book, by Yann Martel. Although “Life of Pi” was just a few months away from release (it is set to open on Nov. 21), Mr. Lee was still in the editing room.
“I’m like Pi,” he explained. “I feel adrift over the Pacific. I haven’t locked the picture yet. There are lots of confusions, constant surprises. There are times you feel defeated. You feel like your faith is being tested. When you’re on the ocean, it’s spiritual. I look at God and ask, ‘Why?’ But it’s a happy why.”
Mr. Lee, who is gentle and soft-spoken in life, has always been fearless in his cinematic choices. In a career spanning 20 years he has continually jumped across genres. The Lee oeuvre includes a Jane Austen novel (“Sense and Sensibility”), a Chinese martial-arts epic (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), a comic-book adaptation (“Hulk”) and the deeply moving love story of two cowboys, for which he won the best director Oscar in 2006 — “Brokeback Mountain.”
Still, it took Mr. Lee two months before he agreed to take on Mr. Martel’s complex book, which charts Pi’s journey across the Pacific Ocean and his struggle with despair, faith and a ravenous tiger. Adapting “Life of Pi” had been considered by others since Fox Studios acquired the film rights to the book in 2003 (including M. Night Shyamalan and Alfonso Cuarón). Not only were there long stretches during which nothing happens, but the book is open to many interpretations, literal and metaphorical.
“I loved the book,” he said, “but it’s very hard to crack. I thought you can’t make a movie about religion but it can be a movie about the value of storytelling and how that brings structure and wisdom to life. This is a coming-of-age story. It’s about taking a leap of faith.”
This isn’t material that immediately screams 3-D, but Mr. Lee decided on that format before he started writing the script. His style has been described as “emotionally resonant (in human relationships) and visually splendid (in the natural world),” by Whitney Crothers Dilley, the author of “The Cinema of Ang Lee.”
The “Life of Pi” trailer features almost otherworldly visuals of animals, fish and starlit skies, but for Mr. Lee the key was to balance the spectacle with “the delicate moments.”
“There is a certain perception about 3-D, but just because nobody has made an intimate movie with it doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” he said.
The filming of “Life of Pi” began with a two-week shoot in India in March 2011. After 10 days in Pondicherry, where the story opens, Mr. Lee moved to Munnar, a sleepy small town in the hills of South India. Indian filmmakers, especially from the Tamil- and Malayalam-language industries, often shoot in Munnar, but these were the first 3-D cameras to arrive there. They created such a flutter that one day the local customs officer dropped by for a look. That day Mr. Lee seemed upbeat and smiling. He refused lunch (“This is war, I don’t need to eat”), then spoke intently of a “film god” who presides over every project.
“My ideas and not me are at the center of attention,” he said. “A movie seems to have a life of its own. You don’t create it, you initiate it because you get a call. It’s not about dictatorship. You have to be humble, you have to be tender, communicate sensitively, admit your shortcomings, share your dreams and allow them to be told.”
Mr. Lee’s actors seem to sense that for this director, making a film is almost a spiritual process. Irrfan, who plays the older Pi, described that experience in an e-mail as “a quest, a journey, an exploration.” He added, “Ang puts himself in the line of fire.”
The younger Pi is played by an unknown 17-year-old Indian teenager named Suraj Sharma, whose parents just happen to be mathematicians — a coincidence that gave Mr. Lee a big laugh. “What are the chances,” he asked, “that two mathematicians give birth to a kid who plays the lead in a film called ‘Life of Pi’?”
Before the shoot started, Mr. Sharma’s mother performed a small ceremony, which anointed Mr. Lee as Mr. Sharma’s guru. At the end of it Mr. Sharma, in the traditional Indian way, touched Mr. Lee’s feet. “There is no equivalent in Chinese,” said Mr. Lee, who was born in Taiwan but has lived in the United States for more than three decades. “I don’t have a superpower. I’m not a swami. But I took him in as my own son. I try to play the role of guru as best as I can.”
Mr. Sharma trained seven days a week for three months in Taiwan. This included learning how to swim because the film was extensively shot in a gigantic water tank built in a hangar in Taiwan.
As Mr. Lee tells it, the stress created a role reversal. Mr. Sharma became the “spiritual leader.” “The innocence, the effort,” Mr. Lee said, “we are all experienced and perhaps jaded a little bit. He reminded us about why we want to make movies. Every day was a miracle.”
Mr. Sharma said in an e-mail that the process never overwhelmed him because “Ang was always there.” He added, “I knew he would take care of me.”
The challenges, for Mr. Lee, at least, are not over yet. “Life of Pi” is an expensive film, which worries Mr. Lee. “We are doing something sensitive,” he said. “Normally you do it cheap. Sensitivity and money are like parallel lines. The don’t meet.”
In a landscape dominated by comic-book movies like “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” will viewers put down money to see an Indian boy on a literal and spiritual journey with a tiger? That question “stresses out” Mr. Lee.
The film had already forced him to grow up, he said. “I’m like Peter Pan,” he added. “I was not very mature in many ways, but I learned a lot of things. I had to take decisions that were more responsible.”
Now, he said, like Pi, he just wanted the journey to end. “I just want to survive it.”
“YOU become the movie you are making,” the Oscar-winning director Ang Lee said in a recent telephone interview. Given that the movie in question is “Life of Pi,” based on the award-winning, fantastical novel about a boy and a Bengal tiger marooned on a boat for 227 days, Mr. Lee is feeling a bit more at sea than usual these days.
With this film Mr. Lee has not just defied the old showbiz adage “Never work with children or animals,” but he has also taken on a few more challenges — like water, 3-D, religion and the expectations of millions of rapt readers of the book, by Yann Martel. Although “Life of Pi” was just a few months away from release (it is set to open on Nov. 21), Mr. Lee was still in the editing room.
“I’m like Pi,” he explained. “I feel adrift over the Pacific. I haven’t locked the picture yet. There are lots of confusions, constant surprises. There are times you feel defeated. You feel like your faith is being tested. When you’re on the ocean, it’s spiritual. I look at God and ask, ‘Why?’ But it’s a happy why.”
Mr. Lee, who is gentle and soft-spoken in life, has always been fearless in his cinematic choices. In a career spanning 20 years he has continually jumped across genres. The Lee oeuvre includes a Jane Austen novel (“Sense and Sensibility”), a Chinese martial-arts epic (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”), a comic-book adaptation (“Hulk”) and the deeply moving love story of two cowboys, for which he won the best director Oscar in 2006 — “Brokeback Mountain.”
Still, it took Mr. Lee two months before he agreed to take on Mr. Martel’s complex book, which charts Pi’s journey across the Pacific Ocean and his struggle with despair, faith and a ravenous tiger. Adapting “Life of Pi” had been considered by others since Fox Studios acquired the film rights to the book in 2003 (including M. Night Shyamalan and Alfonso Cuarón). Not only were there long stretches during which nothing happens, but the book is open to many interpretations, literal and metaphorical.
“I loved the book,” he said, “but it’s very hard to crack. I thought you can’t make a movie about religion but it can be a movie about the value of storytelling and how that brings structure and wisdom to life. This is a coming-of-age story. It’s about taking a leap of faith.”
This isn’t material that immediately screams 3-D, but Mr. Lee decided on that format before he started writing the script. His style has been described as “emotionally resonant (in human relationships) and visually splendid (in the natural world),” by Whitney Crothers Dilley, the author of “The Cinema of Ang Lee.”
The “Life of Pi” trailer features almost otherworldly visuals of animals, fish and starlit skies, but for Mr. Lee the key was to balance the spectacle with “the delicate moments.”
“There is a certain perception about 3-D, but just because nobody has made an intimate movie with it doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” he said.
The filming of “Life of Pi” began with a two-week shoot in India in March 2011. After 10 days in Pondicherry, where the story opens, Mr. Lee moved to Munnar, a sleepy small town in the hills of South India. Indian filmmakers, especially from the Tamil- and Malayalam-language industries, often shoot in Munnar, but these were the first 3-D cameras to arrive there. They created such a flutter that one day the local customs officer dropped by for a look. That day Mr. Lee seemed upbeat and smiling. He refused lunch (“This is war, I don’t need to eat”), then spoke intently of a “film god” who presides over every project.
“My ideas and not me are at the center of attention,” he said. “A movie seems to have a life of its own. You don’t create it, you initiate it because you get a call. It’s not about dictatorship. You have to be humble, you have to be tender, communicate sensitively, admit your shortcomings, share your dreams and allow them to be told.”
Mr. Lee’s actors seem to sense that for this director, making a film is almost a spiritual process. Irrfan, who plays the older Pi, described that experience in an e-mail as “a quest, a journey, an exploration.” He added, “Ang puts himself in the line of fire.”
The younger Pi is played by an unknown 17-year-old Indian teenager named Suraj Sharma, whose parents just happen to be mathematicians — a coincidence that gave Mr. Lee a big laugh. “What are the chances,” he asked, “that two mathematicians give birth to a kid who plays the lead in a film called ‘Life of Pi’?”
Before the shoot started, Mr. Sharma’s mother performed a small ceremony, which anointed Mr. Lee as Mr. Sharma’s guru. At the end of it Mr. Sharma, in the traditional Indian way, touched Mr. Lee’s feet. “There is no equivalent in Chinese,” said Mr. Lee, who was born in Taiwan but has lived in the United States for more than three decades. “I don’t have a superpower. I’m not a swami. But I took him in as my own son. I try to play the role of guru as best as I can.”
Mr. Sharma trained seven days a week for three months in Taiwan. This included learning how to swim because the film was extensively shot in a gigantic water tank built in a hangar in Taiwan.
As Mr. Lee tells it, the stress created a role reversal. Mr. Sharma became the “spiritual leader.” “The innocence, the effort,” Mr. Lee said, “we are all experienced and perhaps jaded a little bit. He reminded us about why we want to make movies. Every day was a miracle.”
Mr. Sharma said in an e-mail that the process never overwhelmed him because “Ang was always there.” He added, “I knew he would take care of me.”
The challenges, for Mr. Lee, at least, are not over yet. “Life of Pi” is an expensive film, which worries Mr. Lee. “We are doing something sensitive,” he said. “Normally you do it cheap. Sensitivity and money are like parallel lines. The don’t meet.”
In a landscape dominated by comic-book movies like “Marvel’s The Avengers” and “The Dark Knight Rises,” will viewers put down money to see an Indian boy on a literal and spiritual journey with a tiger? That question “stresses out” Mr. Lee.
The film had already forced him to grow up, he said. “I’m like Peter Pan,” he added. “I was not very mature in many ways, but I learned a lot of things. I had to take decisions that were more responsible.”
Now, he said, like Pi, he just wanted the journey to end. “I just want to survive it.”
2012年9月6日星期四
The ninth life of political cat Jean Charest
The ninth life of political cat Jean Charest
It's a testament to Jean Charest's reputation as a political survivor that on the day he announced his plans to get out, after three decades in public life, his peers were already abuzz about whether he might someday be pulled back in.
After a lengthy career that spanned nine federal and provincial elections and a stormy nine-year run as Quebec premier, Charest announced Wednesday that he was "going home now."
His experiences as a Brian Mulroney cabinet minister, a referendum campaigner in 1995 and a provincial premier placed him at the forefront of many of the defining political events of a generation.
With a tear in his eye, Charest announced his exit bowed but not broken. After five provincial elections Charest had finally lost the popular vote in one of them — by a single percentage point Tuesday.
While Charest's Liberals were swept from office, and he lost the riding he has long represented, he was spared the sort of ignominious electoral death predicted so often for him, over so many years.
In a form of poetic symmetry, his defeat on Tuesday was 28 years to the day after he first won office as a young lawyer in Sherbrooke, Que.
He was repeatedly written off in the intervening years. A group of parliamentary reporters in Quebec City, gathered for dinner on the eve of the 2003 election call, chatted about his dismal poll numbers and burst out laughing when one quipped that Charest might turn it around because he was a good campaigner.
A few weeks later, he won a majority government. He won a minority four years after that. Then he won another majority, before losing by four seats this time.
The Liberals finished a surprise second in the Quebec election, defying pundits and pollsters who had predicted a meltdown.
Charest, 56, leaves his party as the official Opposition with a minority government across the aisle.
The party's outgoing leader presided over one last cabinet meeting in Quebec City on Wednesday afternoon. Several ministers were in tears as they emerged.
Standing in front of six Quebec flags in the foyer of the provincial legislature, Charest announced he would step down as party leader as soon the PQ officially formed its government.
"The big Quebec family gathered yesterday, Sept. 4, to choose a new government," Charest said in Quebec City.
"Amid that decision my immediate family also met for a consultation on our future. I announce to you a unanimous decision."
Charest spent the first part of his career as a protege of Mulroney and the wunderkind of the old Progressive Conservatives. He was the youngest cabinet minister in Canadian history at age 28 and was party leader by the time he turned 40.
He gained further national exposure while campaigning for the No side in the 1995 referendum. His fiery, passport-waving speeches were a mainstay of federalist rallies.
But he left federal politics in 1998 to take the helm of the Quebec Liberals, who were leaderless and fretful over the prospect of another referendum.
In much of English Canada, Charest was seen as sacrificing a bright career with the Tories for the sake of keeping the country together — he earned the tongue-in-cheek moniker of Captain Canada.
Quebec didn't easily warm to the prodigal son returned from Ottawa.
Charest won the popular vote in 1998, while losing to the PQ, and then he strung together three consecutive election wins — a feat unmatched since the 1950s. But he also suffered through record-low approval ratings through much of his tenure and faced massive popular unrest in recent months.
His political skill may have earned the respect of Quebec voters, but not everyone's love.
After voting in his home riding of Sherbrooke, Que., on Tuesday, a small crowd chanted "Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Goodbye." A few months ago, student protesters repeatedly gathered outside his family home in Montreal. At some protests, he was hung in effigy and people chanted about him being dead.
None of it, though, appeared to faze Charest.
"I loved every day I spent in office, including the most difficult ones," Charest said in his farewell speech Wednesday.
Charest's experience, in Quebec politics, has sometimes been compared to that of a cat with nine lives. So it was perhaps inevitable that his actual departure, when it was finally announced Wednesday, only prompted talk of his next improbable comeback.
Within moments of Charest announcing his decision, some federal Liberals were already inviting him into their tent.
Ontario's Liberal agriculture minister, Ted McMeekin, tweeted that he was "hearing from many that they would support this great and charismatic federalist to lead the Federal Liberals."
The interim federal Liberal leader, Bob Rae, expressed the hope that Charest not lose his desire to be politically involved.
"There's always a home for Mr. Charest in the federal Liberal party," Rae said. "But I take it from his decision today that he's not contemplating continuing in a political life. For some reason, I can understand that."
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who once served in Charest's cabinet and had a falling out with the premier, said Wednesday that his old boss is still young and has "a full career" ahead of him.
From a national perspective, Charest's defining achievement will likely be the nine years worth of relative constitutional peace he brought Canadians and Quebecers.
He was among the rare prominent voices for Canada after the federal Grits' electoral woes following the sponsorship scandal.
Charest showcased his unabashed love for Canada in his last speech as premier.
"We are all blessed to have been born in this country, to share its wealth and we're blessed to have each other," he said in English, after making a brief reference to Canada in French.
"I wish that, every day, each and every one of us could feel and understand how much of an opportunity it is for us to live here... There's no other place that I would want to be."
Charest's legacy within Quebec's internal politics is more uncertain.
He tried to move Quebec farther away from state intervention but faced howls of protest from the province's powerful unions.
He promised to cut income taxes, and he did, but later hiked user fees for services including health care and tuition.
He created a long-term program to pay down the debt, the Generations Fund, but the province's already-heavy debt swelled under his watch.
He entered office declaring that health care would be his priority and promised shorter hospital wait times. His opponents suggest Quebec's hospitals are comparably worse off today.
And he now describes the ambitious Plan Nord as key to his legacy but his foes call it a marketing gimmick. It doesn't take a premier to force mining companies to extract diamonds and other minerals, they say.
Charest created new transparency rules, tougher fundraising laws and a corruption inquiry. But this was after two years of controversies, one of which involved a Charest cabinet minister charged with fraud.
His last months in office were dominated by the tuition dispute that triggered huge protests and made international news last spring.
Charest fought an aggressive campaign against his critics.
Despite his ex-cabinet minister Tony Tomassi facing criminal charges, he defied his opponents on the campaign trail to prove his government was corrupt. The issue died down after the campaign's first week.
He also campaigned against his own protesters, calling upon a "silent majority" of Quebec voters to impose law and order. Judging by the final election score, the silent majority fell just a few decibels short of restoring him to office.
But in leaving politics, Charest exposed a softer side that may be unfamiliar to many Quebecers. As he spoke about how he would soon become a grandfather, he broke into tears.
"I'm going home now," Charest said as he wrapped up his speech. "And I thank you for having given me the privilege of being your premier."
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Jean+Charest+calls+quits+Quebec+Liberal+leader+after+years/7195299/story.html#ixzz25g10byKa
It's a testament to Jean Charest's reputation as a political survivor that on the day he announced his plans to get out, after three decades in public life, his peers were already abuzz about whether he might someday be pulled back in.
After a lengthy career that spanned nine federal and provincial elections and a stormy nine-year run as Quebec premier, Charest announced Wednesday that he was "going home now."
His experiences as a Brian Mulroney cabinet minister, a referendum campaigner in 1995 and a provincial premier placed him at the forefront of many of the defining political events of a generation.
With a tear in his eye, Charest announced his exit bowed but not broken. After five provincial elections Charest had finally lost the popular vote in one of them — by a single percentage point Tuesday.
While Charest's Liberals were swept from office, and he lost the riding he has long represented, he was spared the sort of ignominious electoral death predicted so often for him, over so many years.
In a form of poetic symmetry, his defeat on Tuesday was 28 years to the day after he first won office as a young lawyer in Sherbrooke, Que.
He was repeatedly written off in the intervening years. A group of parliamentary reporters in Quebec City, gathered for dinner on the eve of the 2003 election call, chatted about his dismal poll numbers and burst out laughing when one quipped that Charest might turn it around because he was a good campaigner.
A few weeks later, he won a majority government. He won a minority four years after that. Then he won another majority, before losing by four seats this time.
The Liberals finished a surprise second in the Quebec election, defying pundits and pollsters who had predicted a meltdown.
Charest, 56, leaves his party as the official Opposition with a minority government across the aisle.
The party's outgoing leader presided over one last cabinet meeting in Quebec City on Wednesday afternoon. Several ministers were in tears as they emerged.
Standing in front of six Quebec flags in the foyer of the provincial legislature, Charest announced he would step down as party leader as soon the PQ officially formed its government.
"The big Quebec family gathered yesterday, Sept. 4, to choose a new government," Charest said in Quebec City.
"Amid that decision my immediate family also met for a consultation on our future. I announce to you a unanimous decision."
Charest spent the first part of his career as a protege of Mulroney and the wunderkind of the old Progressive Conservatives. He was the youngest cabinet minister in Canadian history at age 28 and was party leader by the time he turned 40.
He gained further national exposure while campaigning for the No side in the 1995 referendum. His fiery, passport-waving speeches were a mainstay of federalist rallies.
But he left federal politics in 1998 to take the helm of the Quebec Liberals, who were leaderless and fretful over the prospect of another referendum.
In much of English Canada, Charest was seen as sacrificing a bright career with the Tories for the sake of keeping the country together — he earned the tongue-in-cheek moniker of Captain Canada.
Quebec didn't easily warm to the prodigal son returned from Ottawa.
Charest won the popular vote in 1998, while losing to the PQ, and then he strung together three consecutive election wins — a feat unmatched since the 1950s. But he also suffered through record-low approval ratings through much of his tenure and faced massive popular unrest in recent months.
His political skill may have earned the respect of Quebec voters, but not everyone's love.
After voting in his home riding of Sherbrooke, Que., on Tuesday, a small crowd chanted "Na-Na-Hey-Hey-Goodbye." A few months ago, student protesters repeatedly gathered outside his family home in Montreal. At some protests, he was hung in effigy and people chanted about him being dead.
None of it, though, appeared to faze Charest.
"I loved every day I spent in office, including the most difficult ones," Charest said in his farewell speech Wednesday.
Charest's experience, in Quebec politics, has sometimes been compared to that of a cat with nine lives. So it was perhaps inevitable that his actual departure, when it was finally announced Wednesday, only prompted talk of his next improbable comeback.
Within moments of Charest announcing his decision, some federal Liberals were already inviting him into their tent.
Ontario's Liberal agriculture minister, Ted McMeekin, tweeted that he was "hearing from many that they would support this great and charismatic federalist to lead the Federal Liberals."
The interim federal Liberal leader, Bob Rae, expressed the hope that Charest not lose his desire to be politically involved.
"There's always a home for Mr. Charest in the federal Liberal party," Rae said. "But I take it from his decision today that he's not contemplating continuing in a political life. For some reason, I can understand that."
NDP Leader Tom Mulcair, who once served in Charest's cabinet and had a falling out with the premier, said Wednesday that his old boss is still young and has "a full career" ahead of him.
From a national perspective, Charest's defining achievement will likely be the nine years worth of relative constitutional peace he brought Canadians and Quebecers.
He was among the rare prominent voices for Canada after the federal Grits' electoral woes following the sponsorship scandal.
Charest showcased his unabashed love for Canada in his last speech as premier.
"We are all blessed to have been born in this country, to share its wealth and we're blessed to have each other," he said in English, after making a brief reference to Canada in French.
"I wish that, every day, each and every one of us could feel and understand how much of an opportunity it is for us to live here... There's no other place that I would want to be."
Charest's legacy within Quebec's internal politics is more uncertain.
He tried to move Quebec farther away from state intervention but faced howls of protest from the province's powerful unions.
He promised to cut income taxes, and he did, but later hiked user fees for services including health care and tuition.
He created a long-term program to pay down the debt, the Generations Fund, but the province's already-heavy debt swelled under his watch.
He entered office declaring that health care would be his priority and promised shorter hospital wait times. His opponents suggest Quebec's hospitals are comparably worse off today.
And he now describes the ambitious Plan Nord as key to his legacy but his foes call it a marketing gimmick. It doesn't take a premier to force mining companies to extract diamonds and other minerals, they say.
Charest created new transparency rules, tougher fundraising laws and a corruption inquiry. But this was after two years of controversies, one of which involved a Charest cabinet minister charged with fraud.
His last months in office were dominated by the tuition dispute that triggered huge protests and made international news last spring.
Charest fought an aggressive campaign against his critics.
Despite his ex-cabinet minister Tony Tomassi facing criminal charges, he defied his opponents on the campaign trail to prove his government was corrupt. The issue died down after the campaign's first week.
He also campaigned against his own protesters, calling upon a "silent majority" of Quebec voters to impose law and order. Judging by the final election score, the silent majority fell just a few decibels short of restoring him to office.
But in leaving politics, Charest exposed a softer side that may be unfamiliar to many Quebecers. As he spoke about how he would soon become a grandfather, he broke into tears.
"I'm going home now," Charest said as he wrapped up his speech. "And I thank you for having given me the privilege of being your premier."
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Jean+Charest+calls+quits+Quebec+Liberal+leader+after+years/7195299/story.html#ixzz25g10byKa
2012年9月5日星期三
Bahrain court upholds life sentences for activists
Bahrain court upholds life sentences for activists
A Bahrain court Tuesday upheld jail sentences against 20 opposition figures convicted of plotting to overthrow the Western-allied government, including eight prominent activists facing life in prison.
The decision is likely to deepen the nearly 19-month-long crisis between Bahrain’s Sunni rulers and Shi’ite-led protesters demanding a greater political voice in the strategic Gulf kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
The group on trial includes some of the most high-profile leaders. Among the eight sentenced to life is rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who staged a 110-day hunger strike earlier this year in protest. The other 12 have lesser prison terms, ranging from five to 15 years, with seven of them convicted in absentia.
The decision also could intensify street clashes that have occurred nearly nonstop since the Arab Spring-inspired uprising began in February 2011. More than 50 people have been killed in Bahrain’s unrest.
Hours after the court announcement, riot police outside the capital, Manama, fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters. Some demonstrators threw firebombs at security forces.
‘‘We totally reject today’s verdict, which is clearly not a step toward beginning to solve the issues in Bahrain,’’ said former Parliament member Abdul Jalil Khalil, a member of the country’s main Shi’ite political bloc, Al Wefaq.
Shi’ites represent about 70 percent of Bahrain’s more than 500,000 citizens, but complain they face systematic discrimination, such as being excluded from top government and security posts.
Bahrain’s Sunni rulers have set in motion a series of reforms, including giving more powers to the elected Parliament, but opposition leaders say the measures don’t go far enough to break the ruling family’s near monopoly over government control.
The antistate convictions against the 20 opposition figures were first handed down last year by a military-led tribunal created under temporary martial law-style rules. A retrial was granted, but only limited changes in some charges were made in the hearings, said Jalil al-Aradi, one of the defense lawyers.
The 13 defendants held in Bahrain did not appear in court, and family members were barred under tight security, Aradi said. The activists have previously said they suffered beatings and other abuses behind bars.
International rights groups have pressed Bahrain to free the group as a sign of outreach to opposition factions, alongside efforts to ease criticism about the government’s political crackdowns from key allies such as the United States.
Khawaja, who also has Danish citizenship, has been the focus of efforts by Denmark to secure his release.
Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal of Denmark called the decision to uphold the life sentence ‘‘very disappointing’’ and said he would discuss possible further international action from ‘‘the very broad range of countries that in the spring supported Denmark in the demand for the release of al-Khawaja and the other human rights and democracy fighters in Bahrain.’’
‘‘It is important that the international community maintains that Bahrain must respect fundamental human rights,’’ he said. ‘‘This includes not least the freedom of speech and assembly.’’
A government statement said the court ‘‘provided all assurances of a fair trial’’ and allowed defense attorneys full access to the defendants.
A Bahrain court Tuesday upheld jail sentences against 20 opposition figures convicted of plotting to overthrow the Western-allied government, including eight prominent activists facing life in prison.
The decision is likely to deepen the nearly 19-month-long crisis between Bahrain’s Sunni rulers and Shi’ite-led protesters demanding a greater political voice in the strategic Gulf kingdom, which is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
The group on trial includes some of the most high-profile leaders. Among the eight sentenced to life is rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who staged a 110-day hunger strike earlier this year in protest. The other 12 have lesser prison terms, ranging from five to 15 years, with seven of them convicted in absentia.
The decision also could intensify street clashes that have occurred nearly nonstop since the Arab Spring-inspired uprising began in February 2011. More than 50 people have been killed in Bahrain’s unrest.
Hours after the court announcement, riot police outside the capital, Manama, fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters. Some demonstrators threw firebombs at security forces.
‘‘We totally reject today’s verdict, which is clearly not a step toward beginning to solve the issues in Bahrain,’’ said former Parliament member Abdul Jalil Khalil, a member of the country’s main Shi’ite political bloc, Al Wefaq.
Shi’ites represent about 70 percent of Bahrain’s more than 500,000 citizens, but complain they face systematic discrimination, such as being excluded from top government and security posts.
Bahrain’s Sunni rulers have set in motion a series of reforms, including giving more powers to the elected Parliament, but opposition leaders say the measures don’t go far enough to break the ruling family’s near monopoly over government control.
The antistate convictions against the 20 opposition figures were first handed down last year by a military-led tribunal created under temporary martial law-style rules. A retrial was granted, but only limited changes in some charges were made in the hearings, said Jalil al-Aradi, one of the defense lawyers.
The 13 defendants held in Bahrain did not appear in court, and family members were barred under tight security, Aradi said. The activists have previously said they suffered beatings and other abuses behind bars.
International rights groups have pressed Bahrain to free the group as a sign of outreach to opposition factions, alongside efforts to ease criticism about the government’s political crackdowns from key allies such as the United States.
Khawaja, who also has Danish citizenship, has been the focus of efforts by Denmark to secure his release.
Foreign Minister Villy Soevndal of Denmark called the decision to uphold the life sentence ‘‘very disappointing’’ and said he would discuss possible further international action from ‘‘the very broad range of countries that in the spring supported Denmark in the demand for the release of al-Khawaja and the other human rights and democracy fighters in Bahrain.’’
‘‘It is important that the international community maintains that Bahrain must respect fundamental human rights,’’ he said. ‘‘This includes not least the freedom of speech and assembly.’’
A government statement said the court ‘‘provided all assurances of a fair trial’’ and allowed defense attorneys full access to the defendants.
2012年9月4日星期二
Resurrecting Kingfisher: Larger-than-life fantasy?
Resurrecting Kingfisher: Larger-than-life fantasy?
The Ajit Singh-led Civil Aviation Ministry has made it clear several times that the Government will not be seen asking Kingfisher Airlines to close down unless there is a safety concern or until the airline’s fleet size falls below five aircraft.
But from the outlook Chairman Vijay Mallya has given for his airline in the annual report for 2011-12, it sure appears that Mallya is not planning to wind up this business. Instead, he appears keen to bring it back to its original glory!
“Your company will take a phased and pragmatic approach to re-induction of capacity as well as further market expansion. The focus will be on maximising the nascent potential of the domestic Indian market and capitalising on strategic international routes,” Mallya said in the annual report. Not only has he not abandoned plans for expansion, it is clear that the airline hopes to restart international operations too.
So is this a sensible approach or is Mallya’s vision of resurrecting Kingfisher a larger-than-life fantasy?
Official sources have told Firstpost that they have received many feelers from the airline suggesting that the government begins the process of asking Kingfisher to wind up, but the ministry has not bitten the bait. “Why should we ease him out of his misery and in the process leave thousands jobless? Kingfisher’s continuation is in the interest of several stakeholders. Its not as if there are no operations, it is flying some aircraft and offering services on some routes,” said a senior official.
He added that if there is a sudden withdrawal of capacity from the market, other airlines will immediately raise fares and further distort the market. “Let Kingfisher fly till it can. We will not close it down. Till now, we have not found any safety concern,” this official added.
Kingfisher continues to face manpower issues with pilots refusing to fly on some sectors due to salary delays, leading to flight cancellations. From 67 aircraft (scheduled and non scheduled operations) it operated till November 2011, fleet was reduced to 55 by March 2012. And instead of flying 9 Airbus 320 aircraft and 8 ATRs – as it had promised in the summer schedule – Kingfisher is now flying only 6 A 320 and 5 ATRs. So fleet is down to just 11 aircraft. Headcount was already down to 5,696 in March from 7,317 in the previous fiscal but is sure to be even lower with continuous exit of pilots and other staff.
Also, Mallya has himself said in the annual report that as part of cost rationalisation, the airline has completely removed expat pilots from the A320 and ATR fleet (since expat pilots are paid more than Indians). Besides, the airline has optimised headcount of cockpit and cabin crew to fleet count. It has even begun to benchmark the number of meals which are put on each departing flight to control catering costs.
Kingfisher continued to focus on other major cost control initiatives too last fiscal. So the airline went on to reduce distribution costs, implement fuel optimisation systems and processes, improve aircraft utilisation, optimise headcount and re-negotiate general contracts in order to enforce cost competitiveness.
Then, not just pilots and engineers but even the airline’s top management has begun to disintegrate. The Executive VP Commercial Manoj Chacko quit earlier this week and there are rumours about at least one more top level resignation being in the offing.
Manpower issues apart, Mallya has also acknowledged in the annual report that Kingfisher is now on a “member-elect” status with the Oneworld Alliance. Had Kingfisher managed to gain entry, its operations would have got a big boost.
With domestic operations severely curtailed, international operations suspended and no clarity from the Government on whether it will allow foreign airlines to pick up stakes in Indian carriers, what options remain before Mallya to keep Kingfisher afloat?
Diageo Plc is expected to pick up to 27 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya‘s United Spirits (USL) for a total amount of Rs 3,000 crore ($640 million), Firstpost reported on Monday. It also said that this amount would be used to pay off debts which have Mallya’s personal guarantee, especially the ones extended to Kingfisher Airlines.
A consortium of banks which extended loans of Rs 7,000 crore to the airline is learnt to have told the management that if it needs fresh infusion of funds, then it should raise at least half of the Rs 2,200 crore it needs immediately to stay afloat. Perhaps Diageo may prove to be the knight in shining armour needed to rescue a dying Kingfisher.
The Ajit Singh-led Civil Aviation Ministry has made it clear several times that the Government will not be seen asking Kingfisher Airlines to close down unless there is a safety concern or until the airline’s fleet size falls below five aircraft.
But from the outlook Chairman Vijay Mallya has given for his airline in the annual report for 2011-12, it sure appears that Mallya is not planning to wind up this business. Instead, he appears keen to bring it back to its original glory!
“Your company will take a phased and pragmatic approach to re-induction of capacity as well as further market expansion. The focus will be on maximising the nascent potential of the domestic Indian market and capitalising on strategic international routes,” Mallya said in the annual report. Not only has he not abandoned plans for expansion, it is clear that the airline hopes to restart international operations too.
So is this a sensible approach or is Mallya’s vision of resurrecting Kingfisher a larger-than-life fantasy?
Official sources have told Firstpost that they have received many feelers from the airline suggesting that the government begins the process of asking Kingfisher to wind up, but the ministry has not bitten the bait. “Why should we ease him out of his misery and in the process leave thousands jobless? Kingfisher’s continuation is in the interest of several stakeholders. Its not as if there are no operations, it is flying some aircraft and offering services on some routes,” said a senior official.
He added that if there is a sudden withdrawal of capacity from the market, other airlines will immediately raise fares and further distort the market. “Let Kingfisher fly till it can. We will not close it down. Till now, we have not found any safety concern,” this official added.
Kingfisher continues to face manpower issues with pilots refusing to fly on some sectors due to salary delays, leading to flight cancellations. From 67 aircraft (scheduled and non scheduled operations) it operated till November 2011, fleet was reduced to 55 by March 2012. And instead of flying 9 Airbus 320 aircraft and 8 ATRs – as it had promised in the summer schedule – Kingfisher is now flying only 6 A 320 and 5 ATRs. So fleet is down to just 11 aircraft. Headcount was already down to 5,696 in March from 7,317 in the previous fiscal but is sure to be even lower with continuous exit of pilots and other staff.
Also, Mallya has himself said in the annual report that as part of cost rationalisation, the airline has completely removed expat pilots from the A320 and ATR fleet (since expat pilots are paid more than Indians). Besides, the airline has optimised headcount of cockpit and cabin crew to fleet count. It has even begun to benchmark the number of meals which are put on each departing flight to control catering costs.
Kingfisher continued to focus on other major cost control initiatives too last fiscal. So the airline went on to reduce distribution costs, implement fuel optimisation systems and processes, improve aircraft utilisation, optimise headcount and re-negotiate general contracts in order to enforce cost competitiveness.
Then, not just pilots and engineers but even the airline’s top management has begun to disintegrate. The Executive VP Commercial Manoj Chacko quit earlier this week and there are rumours about at least one more top level resignation being in the offing.
Manpower issues apart, Mallya has also acknowledged in the annual report that Kingfisher is now on a “member-elect” status with the Oneworld Alliance. Had Kingfisher managed to gain entry, its operations would have got a big boost.
With domestic operations severely curtailed, international operations suspended and no clarity from the Government on whether it will allow foreign airlines to pick up stakes in Indian carriers, what options remain before Mallya to keep Kingfisher afloat?
Diageo Plc is expected to pick up to 27 per cent stake in Vijay Mallya‘s United Spirits (USL) for a total amount of Rs 3,000 crore ($640 million), Firstpost reported on Monday. It also said that this amount would be used to pay off debts which have Mallya’s personal guarantee, especially the ones extended to Kingfisher Airlines.
A consortium of banks which extended loans of Rs 7,000 crore to the airline is learnt to have told the management that if it needs fresh infusion of funds, then it should raise at least half of the Rs 2,200 crore it needs immediately to stay afloat. Perhaps Diageo may prove to be the knight in shining armour needed to rescue a dying Kingfisher.
2012年9月3日星期一
Life Insurance: Lose weight, save premium
Life Insurance: Lose weight, save premium
Our weight is an indication of how healthy we are and is one of the significant criteria that a life insurance company keeps in consideration while deciding the insurance premium that one has to pay. If one is overweight, the insurance company charges a loading, which is an extra charge over and above the basic premium. The reason why insurance companies apply loadings or charges extra premium due to being overweight is because of—
The increased risk of health complications such as diabetes, hypertension or high blood pressure that comes with being overweight.
They classify or categorise people into underweight, normal, overweight and obese. Medical research over the years have shown that obesity is a precursor to a plethora of diseases and this means that you are a higher insurance risk for life insurers to underwrite and that they will charge you more to make sure that they can cover their expenses when they have to pay a claim made by you.
The higher premium in other words is to allow for the fact that you are more likely to die young than a rightly built person
Even though your overall health is perfect but if you are overweight, you will have a difficult time getting affordable life insurance. Being overweight does not only affect your way of life and health, but it can also influence your policy approval rate and insurance premium.
Let us evaluate that how does your weight affects your life insurance premium. Your physical built is directly proportional to your life insurance premium. In order to be considered for preferred life insurance rates it is important to keep your BMI i.e your height to weight ratio under check. Losing that extra 20 kilos can considerably lower your life insurance premium. If you are considering to buy life insurance policy for yourself then the advise would be to lose the extra weight. Life insurance companies use different health ratios to determine rates, therefore, shopping around may uncover both potential savings and better coverage. In order to save on your life insurance premium and get the best possible rate for term life insurance when purchasing it on your own, you need to fall under the “preferred” category. The preferred category is someone who is low risk, basically healthy, and a non-smoker. Most life insurers in India today have preferred rates. Once the premium is set, that’s what you pay for the rest of your term.
Our weight is an indication of how healthy we are and is one of the significant criteria that a life insurance company keeps in consideration while deciding the insurance premium that one has to pay. If one is overweight, the insurance company charges a loading, which is an extra charge over and above the basic premium. The reason why insurance companies apply loadings or charges extra premium due to being overweight is because of—
The increased risk of health complications such as diabetes, hypertension or high blood pressure that comes with being overweight.
They classify or categorise people into underweight, normal, overweight and obese. Medical research over the years have shown that obesity is a precursor to a plethora of diseases and this means that you are a higher insurance risk for life insurers to underwrite and that they will charge you more to make sure that they can cover their expenses when they have to pay a claim made by you.
The higher premium in other words is to allow for the fact that you are more likely to die young than a rightly built person
Even though your overall health is perfect but if you are overweight, you will have a difficult time getting affordable life insurance. Being overweight does not only affect your way of life and health, but it can also influence your policy approval rate and insurance premium.
Let us evaluate that how does your weight affects your life insurance premium. Your physical built is directly proportional to your life insurance premium. In order to be considered for preferred life insurance rates it is important to keep your BMI i.e your height to weight ratio under check. Losing that extra 20 kilos can considerably lower your life insurance premium. If you are considering to buy life insurance policy for yourself then the advise would be to lose the extra weight. Life insurance companies use different health ratios to determine rates, therefore, shopping around may uncover both potential savings and better coverage. In order to save on your life insurance premium and get the best possible rate for term life insurance when purchasing it on your own, you need to fall under the “preferred” category. The preferred category is someone who is low risk, basically healthy, and a non-smoker. Most life insurers in India today have preferred rates. Once the premium is set, that’s what you pay for the rest of your term.
2012年9月1日星期六
Life without Luck: No. 21 Stanford sloppy in 20-17 victory against San Jose State
Life without Luck: No. 21 Stanford sloppy in 20-17 victory against San Jose State
Following No. 21 Stanford's season-opening 20-17 victory over San Jose State, the second-year coach had little patience trying to explain one of the most frustrating games of his tenure. At one point, a reporter asked him if this season might be more fun without No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck, considering the room for growth his young team could make.
"Fun?" Shaw asked. "For whom?"
Certainly not for the coach.
The post-Luck era got off to a disappointing debut, with former backup Josh Nunes throwing for 125 yards and a touchdown, and struggling to move the offense in the running game before getting bailed out by Jordan Williamson's rejuvenated right foot.
Williamson kicked a career-long 46-yard field goal and the go-ahead score from 20 yards to save Stanford from what would've been a stunning start to this season.
"It was real close," senior running back Stepfan Taylor said. "But close will get you beat in a heartbeat."
Almost did.
Williamson, who missed three field goals _ including a potential game-winner in regulation _ in a 41-38 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, might have been the only one with a reason to hold his head down following that fantastic effort from both sides.
Now he might be the only Stanford player who should hold his head high after a shaky start this season.
Nunes finished 16 for 26 with no interceptions in place of Luck, but the offense stalled when it counted most _ and it almost cost the Cardinal (1-0) dearly against the Spartans (0-1).
"We were close to doing a lot of really good things tonight," Nunes said. "But close doesn't always win football games."
It usually loses them.
The David Fales-Blake Jurich quarterback combo gave Stanford fits until De'Leon Eskridge fumbled in Spartans territory late in the third quarter. That set up Williamson's tiebreaking kick, giving the redshirt sophomore a small stroke of redemption after months of public silence and tissues and tears back home.
"That shows the kind of person he is," said Taylor, who ran for 116 yards and a touchdown. "That's a lot of pressure, and missing them in the Fiesta Bowl you know all the pressure is going to be on him. He's cold blooded."
So was San Jose State's passing game.
Fales threw for 216 yards with one touchdown and an interception that landed in the hands of Ed Reynolds with 71 seconds remaining to seal Stanford's victory. Jurich ran for 32 yards and a score.
The fight Stanford showed so many times behind Luck dissolved.
With the two-time Heisman Trophy finalist now with the Indianapolis Colts, the Cardinal converted only 2 of 13 third downs (although it was 2 for 3 on fourth downs) and allowed the Spartans to move methodically at times down field. San Jose State outgained Stanford 288 to 280 in total yards.
Stanford beat San Jose State 57-3 last year and has won five straight meetings.
"Since we got our butts kicked here last year, we could have won every game since," third-year San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre said. "So we're making progress. We're getting bigger, stronger and faster. We're making strides. But in no way, shape or form is this a moral victory. We're a better football team, but we have to finish it off."
Taylor ran for 38 yards almost untouched until a defender tackled him on the game's first drive. Remound Wright converted a fourth-and-1 from the 10-yard line, and Taylor dived over the pile for a 1-yard TD on fourth down to give Stanford a 7-0 lead.
Nunes quickly led Stanford down field again and tossed a perfect ball in the corner on a stop-and-go route by Drew Terrell for an 11-yard score and his first career touchdown pass.
The first-game hiccups eventually surfaced, though, and bubbling later than expected until they almost completely popped Stanford's season.
Game-clock management became an issue on Stanford's final drive of the first half, tossing a short pass over the middle to tight end Zach Ertz, then throwing incomplete and running on third down to settle for a field goal. Williamson, who tore a groin muscle last October and was never the same when he returned, made his career-high 46-yarder as time expired to extend Stanford's lead to 17-3.
"I feel like I finally put everything from the past in the past and now I can focus on the future," a smiling Williamson said. "It was a tremendous feeling."
All the same problems that plagued the Cardinal defense in losses last year to Oregon and Oklahoma State _ no cornerback coverage, poor open-field tackling and quarterback pressure when it counts _ looked even worse with two new starting safeties.
Jurich ran for a short touchdown on San Jose State's first possession of the third quarter and Fales floated a 21-yard touchdown pass to Noel Grigsby to tie the score at 17-all late in the third quarter.
Fales, who transferred from Monterey Peninsula Community College in the spring, redshirted at Nevada in 2009 but quickly had San Jose State in position for the season's first shocking upset.
One mistake ended all that.
Reynolds stripped Eskridge on a pitch play, and Usua Amanam recovered the fumble at San Jose State's 38-yard line. Stanford's offense stalled again, and Williamson made his second field goal.
San Jose State stuffed Taylor on fourth-and-1 with fewer than 7 minutes to play, sending MacIntyre jumping and high-fiving all over the sideline and on the field. Fales and the offense failed to even get a first down on the next two possessions and Reynolds stepped in front of his final pass to close out San Jose State's rally.
Following No. 21 Stanford's season-opening 20-17 victory over San Jose State, the second-year coach had little patience trying to explain one of the most frustrating games of his tenure. At one point, a reporter asked him if this season might be more fun without No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck, considering the room for growth his young team could make.
"Fun?" Shaw asked. "For whom?"
Certainly not for the coach.
The post-Luck era got off to a disappointing debut, with former backup Josh Nunes throwing for 125 yards and a touchdown, and struggling to move the offense in the running game before getting bailed out by Jordan Williamson's rejuvenated right foot.
Williamson kicked a career-long 46-yard field goal and the go-ahead score from 20 yards to save Stanford from what would've been a stunning start to this season.
"It was real close," senior running back Stepfan Taylor said. "But close will get you beat in a heartbeat."
Almost did.
Williamson, who missed three field goals _ including a potential game-winner in regulation _ in a 41-38 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2, might have been the only one with a reason to hold his head down following that fantastic effort from both sides.
Now he might be the only Stanford player who should hold his head high after a shaky start this season.
Nunes finished 16 for 26 with no interceptions in place of Luck, but the offense stalled when it counted most _ and it almost cost the Cardinal (1-0) dearly against the Spartans (0-1).
"We were close to doing a lot of really good things tonight," Nunes said. "But close doesn't always win football games."
It usually loses them.
The David Fales-Blake Jurich quarterback combo gave Stanford fits until De'Leon Eskridge fumbled in Spartans territory late in the third quarter. That set up Williamson's tiebreaking kick, giving the redshirt sophomore a small stroke of redemption after months of public silence and tissues and tears back home.
"That shows the kind of person he is," said Taylor, who ran for 116 yards and a touchdown. "That's a lot of pressure, and missing them in the Fiesta Bowl you know all the pressure is going to be on him. He's cold blooded."
So was San Jose State's passing game.
Fales threw for 216 yards with one touchdown and an interception that landed in the hands of Ed Reynolds with 71 seconds remaining to seal Stanford's victory. Jurich ran for 32 yards and a score.
The fight Stanford showed so many times behind Luck dissolved.
With the two-time Heisman Trophy finalist now with the Indianapolis Colts, the Cardinal converted only 2 of 13 third downs (although it was 2 for 3 on fourth downs) and allowed the Spartans to move methodically at times down field. San Jose State outgained Stanford 288 to 280 in total yards.
Stanford beat San Jose State 57-3 last year and has won five straight meetings.
"Since we got our butts kicked here last year, we could have won every game since," third-year San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre said. "So we're making progress. We're getting bigger, stronger and faster. We're making strides. But in no way, shape or form is this a moral victory. We're a better football team, but we have to finish it off."
Taylor ran for 38 yards almost untouched until a defender tackled him on the game's first drive. Remound Wright converted a fourth-and-1 from the 10-yard line, and Taylor dived over the pile for a 1-yard TD on fourth down to give Stanford a 7-0 lead.
Nunes quickly led Stanford down field again and tossed a perfect ball in the corner on a stop-and-go route by Drew Terrell for an 11-yard score and his first career touchdown pass.
The first-game hiccups eventually surfaced, though, and bubbling later than expected until they almost completely popped Stanford's season.
Game-clock management became an issue on Stanford's final drive of the first half, tossing a short pass over the middle to tight end Zach Ertz, then throwing incomplete and running on third down to settle for a field goal. Williamson, who tore a groin muscle last October and was never the same when he returned, made his career-high 46-yarder as time expired to extend Stanford's lead to 17-3.
"I feel like I finally put everything from the past in the past and now I can focus on the future," a smiling Williamson said. "It was a tremendous feeling."
All the same problems that plagued the Cardinal defense in losses last year to Oregon and Oklahoma State _ no cornerback coverage, poor open-field tackling and quarterback pressure when it counts _ looked even worse with two new starting safeties.
Jurich ran for a short touchdown on San Jose State's first possession of the third quarter and Fales floated a 21-yard touchdown pass to Noel Grigsby to tie the score at 17-all late in the third quarter.
Fales, who transferred from Monterey Peninsula Community College in the spring, redshirted at Nevada in 2009 but quickly had San Jose State in position for the season's first shocking upset.
One mistake ended all that.
Reynolds stripped Eskridge on a pitch play, and Usua Amanam recovered the fumble at San Jose State's 38-yard line. Stanford's offense stalled again, and Williamson made his second field goal.
San Jose State stuffed Taylor on fourth-and-1 with fewer than 7 minutes to play, sending MacIntyre jumping and high-fiving all over the sideline and on the field. Fales and the offense failed to even get a first down on the next two possessions and Reynolds stepped in front of his final pass to close out San Jose State's rally.
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