Asia stocks dip on Dow drop, China data cuts loss

HONG KONG -- Most Asian stock markets dipped on Friday following a big sell-off on Wall Street but losses were limited by optimistic reports on China's economy.

KEEPING SCORE: Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index dropped 0.6 percent to 15,528.72 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.5 percent to 24,623.81. South Korea's Kospi was 0.2 percent lower at 2,071.75. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.4 percent to 5,554.40. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.2 percent to 2,205.40.

US SELL-OFF: Asian stocks are lower after U.S. markets had their worst day in months. Factors include weak corporate earnings from big companies such as Exxon Mobil as well as the approaching end of stimulus from the Federal Reserve. Economic sanctions on Russia that have increased tensions with the West also played a role, as did Argentina's debt default Wednesday. And there's also the general worry by investors that stocks are overpriced.

ANALYST VIEW: Desmond Chua of CMC Markets in Singapore said Asian markets fell despite healthy China manufacturing figures as investors took profits following strong rallies by many benchmarks over the past week or two. "Investors are sitting on sidelines and holding on to cash waiting for more events to unravel before buying on the dips," said Chua. While he expects a "slow and gradual climb" in Asian markets based on economic fundamentals, "we haven't seen a pullback in a long time and with valuations at such extensive levels I wouldn't be surprised if we get one in due time."

CHINA'S FACTORIES: Upbeat data on Chinese manufacturing helped put a floor under Asian stocks. Monthly surveys of manufacturing in China signaled that the world's second biggest economy perked up further in July thanks to recent mini-stimulus measures. An official purchasing managers' index rose to its highest in 27 months while a similar factory report by HSBC showed the strongest rate of improvement in a year and a half.

ECONOMIES IN FOCUS: Investors will get more clues about the state of the global economy with the release of a raft of economic reports later in the day, starting with manufacturing data for major eurozone economies. After that, reports are expected on U.S. employment, consumer spending and sentiment, construction spending and manufacturing. The forecast for the much scrutinized employment report is that U.S. employers added 225,000 jobs in July and that the unemployment rate remained at 6.1 percent, the lowest since 2008. In June, the economy added 288,000 jobs.

WALL STREET: The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.9 percent to 16,563.30, its worst one-day drop since February. The S&P 500 dropped 2 percent to 1,930.67, its biggest loss since April. The Nasdaq composite fell 2.1 percent to 4,369.77.

LOW ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude for September delivery slipped 15 cents to $98.02 a barrel in electronic trading in New York. The contract on Thursday fell $2.10 to close at $98.17, its lowest level since March 17. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils used by many U.S. refineries, edged 3 cents lower to $105.99 in London.

CURRENCIES: The euro drifted down to $1.3386 from $1.3391 late Thursday. The dollar rose to 102.93 yen from 102.78 yen.

Probe exposes flaws behind HealthCare.gov rollout

WASHINGTON -- Management failures by the Obama administration set the stage for computer woes that paralyzed the president's new health care program last fall, nonpartisan investigators said in a report released Wednesday.

While the administration was publicly assuring consumers that they would soon have seamless online access to health insurance, a chaotic procurement process was about to deliver a stumbling start.

After a months-long investigation, the Government Accountability Office found that the administration lacked "effective planning or oversight practices" for the development of HealthCare.gov, the portal for millions of uninsured Americans.

As a result the government incurred "significant cost increases, schedule slips and delayed system functionality," William Woods, a GAO contracting expert, said in testimony prepared for a hearing Thursday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The GAO is the nonpartisan investigative agency of Congress.

Spokesman Aaron Albright said the administration takes its responsibility for contract oversight seriously and has already started carrying out improvements that go beyond GAO's recommendations. The congressional investigators recommended a cost-control plan and other changes to establish clear procedures and improve oversight.

But Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the lawmakers who requested the investigation, said, "Millions of taxpayer dollars were wasted to build a website that didn't work, all because of bureaucratic incompetence."

Investigators found that the administration kept changing the contractors' marching orders for the HealthCare.gov website, creating widespread confusion and adding tens of millions of dollars in costs. Changes were ordered seemingly willy-nilly, including 40 times when government officials did not have the initial authority to incur additional costs.

The report faults the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service for ineffective oversight. Known as CMS, the agency is part of the Health and Human Services Department and was designated to administer Obama's health care law.

The GAO concluded:

— Contractors were not given a coherent plan, and instead jumped around from issue to issue.

— The cost of a glitchy computerized sign-up system for consumers ballooned from $56 million to more than $209 million from September 2011 to February 2014. The cost of the electronic backroom for verifying applicants' information jumped from $30 million to almost $85 million.

— CMS, representing the administration, failed to follow up on how well the contractors performed.

— A third contract, for fixes to the website, grew from $91 million in January to $175 million as of last month.

Two contractors initially took the lead building the system:

Virginia-based CGI Federal built HealthCare.gov, the consumer-facing portal to subsidized private coverage for the uninsured. The site serves 36 states, while the remaining states built their own systems, with mixed results.

QSSI, based in Maryland, was responsible for an electronic back office that helps verify personal and financial information to determine whether consumers are eligible for tax credits to help pay their premiums.

The consumer end of the system locked up the day it was launched, Oct. 1, and was down most of that initial month. The electronic back office had fewer problems.

A few months before the launch, the CMS agency notified CGI it was so dissatisfied that it would start withholding payments. Then it rescinded that decision.

CMS ultimately paid nearly all of CGI's $12.5 million in fees, withholding only $267,000, the report said. The agency later ended its contract with CGI. Another contractor, Accenture, was brought in to make website fixes.

Confronted with a public relations disaster, the White House sent in a troubleshooter, management consultant Jeff Zients. He removed CMS as project leader, relegating it to a supporting role.

CMS administrator Marilyn Tavenner later personally apologized to Congress, saying, "The website has not worked as well as it should."

Zients' rescue operation got the site working by early December. Eventually, some 8 million people managed to sign up, far exceeding expectations.

Nonetheless, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius stepped down amid complaints by White House officials that the president was blindsided by the problems.

The original contractors testified to Congress that they did not have nearly enough time to test the system before it went live.

Indeed, Tavenner took the unusual step of signing the operational security certificate for HealthCare.gov herself, after CMS security professionals balked. The site has since passed full security testing.

The GAO's findings added to earlier conclusions in a report by Zients after his team got the website to work.

Beyond a maze of technical problems, Zients said he found "inadequate management oversight and coordination" that "prevented real-time decision making and efficient responses."

Obama has already weathered the worst storms from the bungled health care launch, so the report is unlikely to create major political problems for the White House and Democrats generally.

But it does shine a light on what was going on behind the scenes even as administration officials fostered the impression that signing up for health care would be simple, like shopping online.

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Online:

GAO report: http://1.usa.gov/XmOce5

Solid US job gains expected for 6th straight month

By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- With a host of reports this week pointing to a healthier U.S. economy, analysts expect Friday's monthly jobs report to send a similar message.

Economists predict that the government will say employers added 225,000 jobs in July, according to a survey by data provider FactSet. That would follow June's big 288,000 increase. And it would mark the sixth straight month of gains above 200,000, the longest such stretch since 1997.

The Labor Department will issue the jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.

This year's burst of hiring has lowered the unemployment rate to 6.1 percent from 6.7 percent at the start of the year. The rate is now the lowest it's been in six years.

Economists think the rate will remain at 6.1 percent for July, particularly if more people start looking for jobs. The government counts people as unemployed only if they're actively seeking work. So when more people start looking, the unemployment rate can rise or remain flat — even if hiring picks up.

More encouraging economic news could stoke fears among investors, though, that the Federal Reserve will decide to raise its benchmark short-term interest rate sooner than expected. Such fears likely contributed to Thursday's 317-point plunge in the Dow Jones industrial average — its worst day since February.

The economy strengthened significantly during the April-June quarter, the government said Wednesday, after contracting sharply in the first three months of the year. Last quarter's bounce-back assuaged fears that the economy hadn't been strong enough to support this year's rapid hiring.

The economy expanded at a 4 percent seasonally adjusted annual rate in the second quarter after a steep 2.1 percent contraction in the first quarter. Americans stepped up their spending, particularly on autos, furniture and other big-ticket items. Businesses also spent more on plants, office buildings and equipment.

Signs suggest that employers have kept hiring at a healthy pace. ADP, a private payroll provider, said Wednesday that businesses added 218,000 jobs in July, with most industries showing solid gains. (ADP's figures capture only private businesses and sometimes diverge from the government's more comprehensive numbers.)

In addition, far fewer Americans are seeking unemployment benefits, a sign that companies are cutting few jobs. The number of first-time applications for benefits fell two weeks ago to its lowest level in 14 years. The four-week average of applications is at an eight-year low. When companies are confident enough to retain their staffs, it suggests that hiring will pick up.

Americans are also slowly gaining confidence in the economy, which means spending could accelerate in coming months. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index jumped to its highest level in nearly seven years in July.

The Conference Board's survey also asks Americans whether they consider jobs "plentiful" or "hard to get." In July, the percentage who chose "plentiful" rose to 15.9 percent, the most since May 2008. Consumers' perceptions of the job market have been a generally reliable predictor of the unemployment rate.

Yet the pickup in hiring has yet to translate into larger paychecks for most Americans, thereby hobbling the recovery. Average hourly pay has risen just 2 percent in the past year, barely keeping pace with inflation. In a healthy economy, wages before inflation would increase 3.5 percent to 4 percent annually.

Weak pay gains are restraining the housing market, usually a key driver of growth. A measure of signed contracts to buy homes slipped in June, the National Association of Realtors said this week. That suggests that home sales will decline in coming months.

Home owned by Trump holdout auctioned for $530,000

She once called Donald Trump "a maggot, a cockroach and a crumb." This week, he remembered her as "an impossible person."

The woman who became a folk hero for resisting decades-long efforts by big-name developers like Trump to displace her Atlantic City boardinghouse is now 91 and, apparently, the victor.

Vera Coking has moved to California to be near her family. And the 29-room property she and her husband bought for $20,000 in 1961 and fought to hold onto is on the auction block Thursday for a $199,000 starting bid. The now-vacant property had been listed for $995,000 since September.

The long-running saga has paralleled the rise and fall of Atlantic City's real estate fortunes, which in recent months imploded. The decision to auction the property was made by Coking's family after they could not find a buyer in recent years, said Oren Klein of AuctionAdvisors, which is handling the sale.

The road to the auction block has been circuitous. Coking first took on Penthouse publisher Bob Guccione in the 1970s, who was reportedly so angered by her refusal to sell that he started building his casino above and around her property.

Trump, who bought Guccione's unfinished project, also tried to buy Coking's building to tear it down and use the land for his Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Coking battled with Trump and prevailed in a 1998 state Supreme Court case that blocked attempts by the state to use eminent domain to condemn the property.

Coking's one-woman battle was closely followed in the press and by the people of Atlantic City, where she and her property, sitting defiantly in the shadow of Trump's casino, have been a familiar sight for decades.

The modest, three-story clapboard structure is a block from the famous Atlantic City boardwalk and adjacent to the casinos, that like Trump's, have sought to expand their parking facilities or outdoor footprint.

AuctionAdvisors has been stressing the boardinghouse's location just steps from a planned Bass Pro shop and adjacent to an outlet mall that the city advertises as a main attraction. Klein and his associates say that they are confident that Atlantic City will bounce back and that the Coking property is a great buy in one of the last affordable beachfront towns in New Jersey.

Since then, Atlantic City's real estate market and casino businesses have faltered. Trump Plaza may close in September, although Trump himself is largely divested.

The portrait of Coking as a principled holdout is wrong, Trump said, asserting that she had been willing to sell but that they could never agree on a price.

"She could have lived happily ever after in Palm Beach, Florida; instead, she was an impossible person to deal with," Trump told The Associated Press this week. In addition to millions of dollars, he said, he had offered Coking housing for the rest of her life in one of his properties.

The famously stubborn Trump laughed off a question as to whether he would bid on Coking's home — just to have the last word.

Coking's grandson, Ed Casey, previously told the Press of Atlantic City that it wasn't true his grandmother had once been offered millions. He said she wasn't opposed to selling but was proud to live in and fight for her longtime home.

Messages left at a California listing for Casey were not returned, and Klein said the family had told him they no longer wished to speak publicly about the matter. Information about Coking's health wasn't available.

But back in the day, Coking wasn't afraid to throw a zinger. At the height of their battle in 1998, the 70-year-old Coking said of Trump to the New York Daily News: "A maggot, a cockroach and a crumb, that's what he is."

"If Trump's thinking I'm gonna die tomorrow, he's having himself a pipe dream," she said then. "I'm gonna be here for a long, long time. I'll stay just to see he's not getting my house. We'll be going to his funeral, you can count on that."

Henry reported from Newark, New Jersey.

Raw Video: The President Takes a Walk Down Main Street

President Obama traveled to Kansas City, Missouri this week — where he grabbed some BBQ with Americans who had written him letters, and delivered a speech about how he's working to get things done for hardworking Americans even as Congress chooses not to act to move this country forward.

And before he left, the President took a walk down Main Street (literally), spending time with store owners, touring an antique watch shop, and chatting with customers at a local coffee shop.

We got it all on video, and we think you'll want to see it — watch, then pass it on:

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Dan Pfeiffer: "House Republicans Just Voted to Sue President Obama"

Today, Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer sent the message below to the White House email list. Didn't get it? Sign up for updates.

The House of Representatives just took a vote -- and it wasn't to raise the minimum wage, put in place equal pay, create jobs, or reform our broken immigration system.

Instead, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives just voted to sue the President for using his executive authority. This lawsuit will waste valuable time and potentially millions of taxpayer dollars.

This is the least productive Congress in decades. And instead of doing their job, they are suing the President for doing his.

The President is committed to making a difference for the millions of hardworking Americans trying to do right by their families and communities. While Republicans in Congress continue to waste taxpayer money, this President is going to keep doing his job.

If you’re doing your own job -- and you support President Obama doing his -- add your name.

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President Obama in Kansas City: “Let’s Get Some Work Done Together”

President Barack Obama talks with a youngster outside Arthur Bryant's Barbeque in Kansas City, Missouri, July 29, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Yesterday, President Obama traveled to Kansas City, Missouri for a short one-day trip to have dinner with several people who had written him letters, and to give a speech today on ensuring that the economy works for everyone.

Last night, the President had dinner at Arthur Bryant’s BBQ in Kansas City with four local residents who had written to him to share how they're working hard to get ahead in America.

Watch Press Secretary Josh Earnest call to invite the letter writers to dinner.

This is just the latest stop the President has made while on the road to meet with hardworking Americans who have written him, and to let them know he’s listening.

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The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Expansion: Giving More People a Chance

On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed both Medicare and Medicaid into law. Over the past 49 years, Medicare has provided comprehensive coverage to millions of seniors and people with disabilities, while Medicaid has provided coverage for millions of the most vulnerable Americans: low-income parents, children, and those with disabilities.

Because of the Affordable Care Act, states are expanding their Medicaid programs to cover more Americans, and today, Medicaid covers over 66 million Americans.

Bill Sheshko, a 55-year-old self-employed man from Fair Lawn, New Jersey, experienced the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion first hand. He’d been without health insurance for years, but with the Affordable Care Act, and because his state decided to expand Medicaid, he finally became eligible for Medicaid.

A few months ago, Bill began having difficulty breathing and noticed his legs and feet starting to swell. Because of his new coverage, Bill was able to make an appointment with his doctor and was subsequently diagnosed with congestive heart failure, high blood pressure, and high blood sugar. After a few scary days in the hospital, he is now home and working with his doctors to control his conditions with medication and diet. In a letter to the President, Bill wrote about the true meaning of his health coverage: “At least now I have a chance, all because of you.”

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Advance Estimate of GDP for the Second Quarter of 2014

Economic growth in the second quarter was strong, consistent with the recent further improvement in the labor market and other indicators. The economy could do even better if Congress does its part to help — starting with taking the steps needed to ensure that work on our roads and bridges is not brought to a halt this fall. But to make further progress, the President is pressing ahead on his own authority, taking action to facilitate investments in American manufacturing, energy, and infrastructure.

FIVE KEY POINTS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE BUREAU OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

1. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased 4.0 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter of 2014, according to the advance estimate from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The second-quarter increase in GDP follows a first-quarter decline that was slightly less steep than previously reported. In the second quarter, growth in consumer spending and business investment picked up from the previous quarter, and residential investment increased following two straight quarters of decline. Additionally, state and local government spending grew at the fastest quarterly rate in five years. However, net exports subtracted from overall GDP growth, as imports grew faster than exports. Over the last four quarters, real GDP has risen 2.4 percent.

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President Obama: "Russia Is Once Again Isolating Itself from the International Community"

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This afternoon, President Obama spoke on the South Lawn about the situation in Ukraine, in the wake of the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 nearly two weeks ago.

"In the Netherlands, Malaysia, Australia, and countries around the world," he said, "families are still in shock over the sudden and tragic loss of nearly 300 loved ones senselessly killed when their civilian airliner was shot down over territory controlled by Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine."

Noting that those families and their nations are America's friends and allies, the President made clear that the U.S. "continues to do everything in our power to help bring home their loved ones, support the international investigation, and make sure justice is done."

President Obama then explained that Russia, along with its proxies in Ukraine, are neither cooperating with the investigation, nor pursuing a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine.

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Press Secretary Josh Earnest: "The President Wants to Meet You"

This summer, President Obama is traveling across the country to meet with everyday Americans who have written him about what's going on in their lives.

Ahead of the President's trip to Kansas City this evening, White House Press Secretary and Kansas City native Josh Earnest called a few people in the area and invited them out to dinner with the President.

Watch the Press Secretary give them a call, and hear their reactions -- we're sure you'll enjoy it:

Watch on YouTube

(And of course, if you want to write the President a note, you can do that right here.)

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New Report: The Cost of Delaying Action to Stem Climate Change

The signs of climate change are all around us. The average temperature in the United States during the past decade was 0.8° Celsius (1.5° Fahrenheit) warmer than the 1901-1960 average, and the last decade was the warmest on record both in the United States and globally. Global sea levels are currently rising at approximately 1.25 inches per decade, and the rate of increase appears to be accelerating.

The scientific consensus is that these changes, and many others, are largely consequences of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases that have led to a warming of the atmosphere and oceans.

The Council of Economic Advisers released a report today that examines the economic consequences of delaying implementing policies to reduce the pace and ultimate magnitude of these changes; the findings emphasize the need for policy action today. The report was written under the leadership of Jim Stock, who recently resigned as a Member of the Council of Economic Advisers to return to his teaching position at Harvard University.

KEY POINTS IN TODAY’S REPORT FROM THE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS

1. Immediate action substantially reduces the cost of achieving climate targets. Taking meaningful steps now sends a signal to the market that reduces long-run costs of meeting the target. Such action will reduce investments in high-carbon infrastructure that is expensive to replace and will spur development of new low- and zero-emissions technologies. For both reasons, the least-cost mitigation path to achieve a given climate target typically starts with a relatively low price of carbon to send these signals to the market, and subsequently increases as new low-carbon technologies are developed and deployed. An analysis of research on the cost of delay for hitting a specified climate target suggests that net mitigation costs increase, on average, by approximately 40 percent for each decade of delay.

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Unleashing Climate Data to Empower America’s Agricultural Sector

Today, in a major step to advance the President’s Climate Data Initiative, the Obama administration is inviting leaders of the technology and agricultural sectors to the White House to discuss new collaborative steps to unleash data that will help ensure our food system is resilient to the effects of climate change.

More intense heat waves, heavier downpours, and severe droughts and wildfires out west are already affecting the nation’s ability to produce and transport safe food. The recently released National Climate Assessment makes clear that these kinds of impacts are projected to become more severe over this century.

Food distributors, agricultural businesses, farmers, and retailers need accessible, useable data, tools, and information to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of their operations – from water availability, to timing of planting and harvest, to storage practices, and more.

Today’s convening at the White House will include formal commitments by a host of private-sector companies and nongovernmental organizations to support the President’s Climate Data Initiative by harnessing climate data in ways that will increase the resilience of America’s food system and help reduce the contribution of the nation’s agricultural sector to climate change.

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President Obama Awards the 2013 National Medals of Arts and Humanities

This afternoon, the President and the First Lady honored the 2013 National Medals of the Arts and Humanities recipients at the White House. The President told the recipients that their "accomplishments enrich our lives and reveal something about ourselves and our country."

This year's recipients consisted of a diverse array of indidivuals and groups who have done groundbreaking work in the arts and humanities, including architecture, choreography, East Asian Studies, and documentary filmmaking – all of whom have made significant contributions to the human experience.

When we read a great book or experience a powerful documentary, we are often transformed – and these experiences can help us understand the world around us just a little bit better. The President illustrated what these experiences mean to those who witness the great work of this year's honorees.

"The moments you help create – moments of understanding or awe or joy or sorrow – they add texture to our lives," the President said. "They are not incidental to the American experience; they are central to it – they are essential to it. So we not only congratulate you this afternoon – we thank you for an extraordinary lifetime of achievement."

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Delivering the Goods: A Labor of Love for UPS Driver Jay Valentin

Ed. note: This is cross-posted on the U.S. Department of Transportation's blog. See the original post here.

Like many Americans, when Jesus "Jay" Valentin – a UPS driver – goes to sleep at night in his New Jersey home, he's got a lot on his mind.

He thinks about tomorrow's deliveries and worries about what the traffic will be like and what the weather will mean for road conditions. He calculates how much next month's mortgage payment will leave his family – his wife Jenny and four kids – for savings. He wonders how he will pay for his daughter Tiffany’s college education – she’s 16 now and thinking toward the future.

Last Friday, I had the chance to meet Jay and some of his coworkers at the UPS hub in Secaucus, New Jersey. It was an eye-opener in many ways.

(Photo via the U.S. Department of Transportation)

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Training a Workforce for Today’s and Tomorrow’s Jobs

It’s no secret that the American economy is changing, and some of the most in-demand skills today barely existed a generation ago. The average worker graduated high school around twenty years ago, when the personal computer was in its infancy, and only the most technical professions demanded a fluency in information technology (IT).

But times have changed, and some of the best ladders to well-paying, middle-class jobs are in IT fields across our economy. That’s because the average salary in a job that requires IT skills -- whether in manufacturing, advertising, hospitality, or banking -- is more than one and a half times higher than the average private-sector American job.

This week, the President and Vice President are announcing important reforms in the way Federal programs train and retrain workers. To meet the demand for IT and cybersecurity skills, we will also be kicking off a significant new effort focused on bridging the gap between workers, technology skills, and employers.

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Watch Live: Summit of the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders

Today, President Obama kicks off a three-day Summit of the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, the flagship program of the President’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI). The Washington Fellowship gives 500 of sub-Saharan Africa’s most prominent young leaders the opportunity to engage with U.S. government officials, entrepreneurs and civil society representatives, as well as leaders in international development.

Watch President Obama's town hall below -- and tune in for events throughout the week with First Lady Michelle Obama, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, and more.

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Nasrallah's nephew killed in Syria: reports

BEIRUT: Hezbollah Chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah's nephew was killed in Syria during battles with rebel groups, media reports said Saturday.

The resistance group issued a statement, saying Hamzah Yassine from the southern town of Abbasieh was killed while performing his "Jihadist duty defending Holy sites."

Local media reports including Al-Mustaqbal newspaper said Yassine was the son of Nasrallah's sister.

Hezbollah, alongside regime troops, have been engaged in fierce battles with rebel groups including Nusra Front in Syria and along Lebanon's border since May of last year, when the party announced its military role in the war-torn country.

On Friday, a Syrian jet strike on the border with Lebanon killed around 20 Syrian rebel fighters, security sources told Reuters. The strike hit just inside Lebanese territory in a barren area east of the town of Arsal.

Syrian rebel fighters have frequently crossed into Arsal, a Sunni Muslim town where residents have often been sympathetic to fighters trying to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is from Syria's Alawite minority.

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Ohio adds 244K jobs under Kasich; recovery slow

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ask politician, pundit and voter alike and they will tell you the same thing: The November election is about jobs.

Job growth is both a key economic indicator and an easy issue for politicians to talk about when campaigning. Yet when the claims of Republican Gov. John Kasich and Democratic challenger Ed FitzGerald conflict, Ohioans can be left baffled.

A look at some of the facts about Ohio jobs and the politics behind the debate:

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THE NUMBERS

Ohio's nonfarm employment was more than 5.3 million in June. That marked a gain of 243,900 since Kasich succeeded Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland in January 2011. Private employment also has risen, and new job starts, another important gauge of an economy's health, rose 1,270 from the first quarter of 2013 to the first quarter of this year.

Ohio's unemployment rate has fallen steadily since 2010, from 10.6 percent in January 2010 to 5.5 percent in May and June, the lowest rate since before the recession. The private sector has led the growth. Overall government employment fell from January 2011 to June, led by nearly 25,000 jobs lost in local government. Median incomes in Ohio have fallen about $7,000 over the past decade.

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THE CONTEXT

Kasich took Ohio's helm in the wake of a punishing national recession. From January 2007 to January 2010, Ohio had lost 430,000 jobs. Federal labor statistics show the downward trend had begun to reverse as Strickland and Kasich were facing off for governor in 2010. Four years out, the nation and about a third of individual states have fully recovered jobs lost during the recession; Ohio has recovered about 6 in 10 jobs.

The state often ranks in the top or bottom ranges of 50-state rankings that report raw numbers. Keep in mind that may relate to its large population.

It's also good to be aware that the unemployment rate is in some ways a fickle statistic. It measures the percentage of Ohioans who say they are jobless and looking, so the rate can seem to improve when people are discouraged and give up job-hunting, or it can appear worse when optimism abounds and previously discouraged workers start to try to re-enter the workforce. Since 2007, Ohio's overall workforce — the base from which the statistic is calculated — has shrunk from nearly 6 million to a little over 5.7 million, both from workforce dropouts and retiring baby boomers.

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THE CAMPAIGNS

Kasich points to tax changes and budget cuts as helping stimulate Ohio's economy. He frequently highlights not only newly added jobs but those the administration prevented from leaving the state or those relocated within the state.

FitzGerald, the Cuyahoga County executive, focuses his jobs talk on the impact of state budget cuts on schools and other local government employers. It is a natural strategy for two reasons: the job losses experienced by the sector; and Kasich's perceived vulnerability among unionized police, firefighters and teachers who remember the collective bargaining fight of 2011. He also points to declines in Ohio's median incomes, which Kasich notes are improving faster than the nation as a whole.

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THE PLANS

Kasich points to his economic successes and pledges to stay his course on tax cuts, spending controls and innovative cost-sharing and streamlining strategies if elected. He would like to eliminate Ohio's income tax eventually. FitzGerald is focused on restoring local government cuts and building broader access to education. He has proposed a college affordability plan and a blueprint for offering universal preschool, though with few details of how those would be paid for.

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OHIO VOICE

In Warren, Barb Allen's story helps illustrate the complicated nature of jobs statistics. The 50-year-old Allen has been employed, laid off, re-employed and jobless in a single year's span. Allen says the living she made at General Electric's Ohio Lamp Plant, where she worked as a mechanic for 17 years, allowed the single mother to raise three kids and buy her own house. With overtime, there were years she pulled in $94,000. When the plant's closure and layoffs were announced in August, "it was devastating," she says.

She landed a new job at an organizing cooperative, but it didn't last. At the last job fair she attended for a new hotel, she listed $15 an hour as her target wage, less than half what she was making at GE. The surprised recruiter said no jobs were available for more than $10 an hour. Allen says: "We can't support a family anymore on what they're willing to pay here in Ohio. It affects everyone: the parents, the children, the families."

The first of a series of stories ahead of the November election that looks at the health of Ohio's economy.

At Stanford, summer work goes beyond football

STANFORD, Calif. -- For most major college football programs, summer is a time for players to load up on classes and concentrate on conditioning for the upcoming season.

Not at Stanford.

Cardinal players are cashing in on a one-of-a-kind resource run by the football office. About 50 to 70 work as paid interns in the offseason as part of The 12th Man Summer Jobs Program, which connects players with employers.

Players land jobs throughout Silicon Valley in everything from technology startups, law firms, venture capital firms, banks, medical research, insurance agencies and hotels to tutoring services and public policy work. The program helps players afford to stay near campus so they can participate in voluntary offseason workouts.

"Everybody's doing some pretty cool things. And everybody's pretty busy," said wide receiver Jordan Pratt, who is working with an investment management firm this summer after two previous internships in energy and engineering. "There's a good chunk of guys wearing dress clothes as they're running into the locker room trying to make the lifting session or the run."

The internship program has been going on for decades at Stanford but has become more structured and more widely used in recent years.

Part of the reason the program has flourished is the university's proximity to Silicon Valley's many companies. Stanford also has been more aggressive about transforming its tough admissions standard from a burden to a benefit, a recruiting strategy that started under former coach Jim Harbaugh and has been carried on and eclipsed by David Shaw and his staff.

Stanford director of football operations Matt Doyle, who oversees the jobs program, meets with players individually a few weeks after the season ends each January. He talks to them about what work they've done and what work they want to do before coaching them through the resume-writing process.

All the while, Doyle is a de facto headhunter who is in contact with companies seeking summer interns. By the end of spring practices, players are going through interviews. They all have jobs by June.

Doyle specifies strict guidelines to employers to make sure they comply with NCAA rules: players must make the same amount of money as other interns (typically $10 to $20 an hour), they can't get paid for work not performed and they can't get the job simply because they're a Stanford football player.

"They have to go through the wringer just like everybody else," Doyle said.

Players usually complete internships in six weeks and work anywhere from 20 to 40 hours a week.

Chase Beeler, an All-American center as a senior in 2010, interned for two law firms and a venture capital firm while at Stanford before bouncing around a few NFL practice squads. Now he works as an analyst at Altamont Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Palo Alto with more than $1 billion in capital. Beeler met his boss during an internship as a student.

"Summer was an opportunity to build your network, and that's frankly indispensable once your football days are over," Beeler said.

Andrew Luck, drafted No. 1 overall by the Indianapolis Colts in 2012, interned with Major League Soccer's San Jose Earthquakes in 2009 — learning the ins and outs of a pro sports franchise. The partnership between Stanford and the Earthquakes has continued since.

Completing an internship during offseason conditioning still creates a hectic schedule.

Fifth-year senior defensive end Henry Anderson, who is wrapping up his most recent internship at a private equity firm, described a typical day like this: wake up at 8 a.m., at work by 9 a.m., out of work by 3:30 p.m., working out with teammates at Stanford at 4:30 p.m. and heading home about 8 p.m.

"We look forward to summer when the season ends. But the funny thing is, once we're in summer we're working just as hard if not harder," Anderson said.

Not every player comes to Doyle because they need help landing an internship.

Pratt, who played baseball in the minors before starting his Stanford football career, is majoring in energy and design engineering. He landed internships in the energy field himself the previous two summers but decided to go through Doyle this year so he could stay closer to campus, get some business experience and have more flexible hours.

"It's just a lot easier when you have a middle man kind of sticking up for you and communicating to companies how much time football consumes," Pratt said.

Doyle said players are attractive candidates to companies — many of which already employ Stanford alums — because of the school's strong academics and players' experience working on a team, performing under pressure and juggling assignments.

Doyle also credits the internship program for Stanford's accolades on the field and in the classroom. Stanford has won two straight Pac-12 championships while graduating 100 percent of its players.

"There's no coincidence that's why we've been successful," he said. "They're establishing the work ethic in the summer that it takes to be successful in the fall — and in life."

Weekly Address: Closing Corporate Tax Loopholes

President Barack Obama tapes the Weekly Address in the Map Room of the White House, July 25, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

In this week’s address, the President continued his call for our nation to rally around an economic patriotism that says rather than protecting wasteful tax loopholes for a few at the top, we should be investing in things like education and job training that grow the economy for everybody.

The President highlighted the need to close one of the most unfair tax loopholes that allows companies to avoid paying taxes here at home by shifting their residence for tax purposes out of the country. The President has put forth a budget that does just that, and he has called for business tax reform that makes investment in the United States attractive, and creates incentives for companies to invest and create jobs here at home. And while he will continue to make the case for tax reform, the President is calling on Congress to take action and close this loophole now.

Transcript | mp4 | mp3

Nebraska organic farm tours set Aug. 16

ABIE, Neb. -- Cover crops as part of a diverse cropping system will be part of the discussions during organic farm tours next month.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension says the first tour will begin at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Larry Stanislav farm two miles north of Abie in eastern Nebraska's Butler County. Stanislav will discuss his cropping system and how he's reduced tillage and managed weeds by using a roller crimper and flamer.

The next tour begins at 3:30 p.m. at Randy Fendrich's farm nearby.

After the tours, the Fendrich family will serve a free dinner at 5 p.m. Reservations are needed. Call 402-584-3837 to RSVP or for more information about the tours or to get directions.

TD Ameritrade invests $1.25M in financial planners

OMAHA, Neb. -- TD Ameritrade plans to invest $1.25 million over the next decade in helping students prepare for careers as financial planners.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based online brokerage says it hopes more students will consider studying financial planning because the demand for financial advice is growing.

Ten students recently received $5,000 scholarships to help them pursue bachelor's degrees in financial planning, and the group got to visit Wall Street and ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange.

In addition to scholarships, TD Ameritrade awarded a $50,000 grant to the University of Georgia and a $25,000 grant to Texas A&M University to help the schools develop and strengthen programs focused on financial planning.

Father-son chefs prepare meals for seniors in home

MADISON, Wis. -- Like many of the best business ideas, the one behind Chefs for Seniors came from the personal experience of Barrett and Nathan Allman, the company's father-son founders from Sun Prairie.

Chefs for Seniors, a first-of-its-kind grocery shopping and in-home meal preparation service exclusively for senior citizens in the Madison area, will finish its first year of serving clients in August.

Aimed at helping older people live longer on their own, the business started as a winning entry put together by Nathan Allman, now 21, in last year's Burrill Business Plan Competition at UW-Madison, the venerable annual contest recognizing outstanding student entrepreneurship across campus.

But Nathan, who has one semester left to earn a double major in finance and marketing, had been thinking about the idea that would drive the new business longer than that — ever since he and other relatives noticed about six years ago that his great-grandmother, Virginia McIlwain, wasn't eating enough.

Living alone in her home in Rockford, Illinois, she was forced at age 85 to make a change after it became clear she could no longer cook for herself.

"She went kicking and screaming into an assisted living facility," Nathan Allman recalled. "She had been living in her home for 60 years and had kids scattered all over. We looked around at different resources (to get help with meals) and there really wasn't anything good."

"Senior nutrition is a big issue and often an overlooked issue," he added, "and it's one that I hope our company can shed some light on and help solve."

"We wondered why there was not a service available that would prepare customized, nutritious meals for seniors in their homes," agreed Barrett Allman, 46, a professional chef and restaurant owner for the past 14 years who most recently operated a cafe in Monroe.

Channeling their frustration over needed senior services into a new business endeavor — while doing something they both found enjoyable — made sense for the Allmans as a family. But it also was a savvy business decision to target older customers, based on demographic studies for the U.S. population.

The huge baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are reshaping the face of housing, health, consumer and other services to an unprecedented degree — promising both outsized need and business opportunities.

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At the same time, one thing that hasn't changed is the importance of eating well. Eating enough and eating nutritiously are as vital for seniors as they are for anyone else, even as the realities of growing older seem to conspire against it happening.

Betty Abramson, deputy director of the Wisconsin Institute for Healthy Aging, has seen the grim downward spiral that can occur with food issues.

"For a lot of older adults, the nutrition of their food, and therefore their health, declines enormously as they age," she said, "either because of arthritis or some other condition that prevents them from cooking the way they used to, or from getting out to get the groceries, and, most important, because of eating alone, for some people. Particularly older men, after their spouse dies and they don't have anybody to eat with or cook for — it gets really lonely and they don't eat well or at regular times anymore."

"They don't like eating without somebody," agreed Michelle Neeb, who runs a personal services business for seniors in the Madison area that includes meal preparation for some clients. Neeb sits down and shares some of the meals she makes for clients.

"I primarily focus on their nutritional needs, but sometimes they want that companionship, so we'll sit together then and eat a meal I make," Neeb said. "I think there is an extreme need out there for people to spend more time with the aging population."

Carving out time to socialize with clients during business visits to their homes is easy to do for Barrett Allman, who closed his Monroe cafe at the end of 2012 to work full time with his son starting last year.

"I always found that my favorite customers in my restaurants were the seniors," he said. "I'm just one of those people that really enjoys listening to a senior talk about their memories. I literally can do it all day long."

"A lot of people stand in their kitchens and tell us what we're doing wrong," Nathan added. "We love that. It's really a two-way street. The service is at its best when our clients are opinionated and there's give and take."

At a recent appointment in the home of Sharon Hanson, a Verona client, the Allmans spent more than an hour making a variety of dishes, including salmon cakes, pork tenderloin with apples and thyme, a Mediterranean-style pasta dish and pumpkin pancakes.

While they cooked, Hanson watched and casually joked and chatted with Barrett, whom she's known for many months. She wasn't shy about grading him on his entrees, either, at one point noting she didn't like the gravy and biscuits that he made last time but did like the banana nut pancakes and wanted more of those.

"It's always kind of a surprise when I open the fridge and see what he's made," said Hanson, who first hired the company to make meals for her in January, after a total knee replacement at the end of December left her unable to shop or do much cooking of her own.

Unlike many other clients, Hanson still works a full-time job, in addition to being a resident manager at the Verona senior apartment building where she lives.

"It was very nice," she said. "All I had to do was take care of myself. Now it's a nice convenience. I just pop the food in the microwave. I know how important it is, too — for the hours I work, I have to eat properly."

---

Chefs for Seniors now boasts 34 clients, with five chefs hired for the operation in addition to Nathan and Barrett Allman, who each still see a handful of clients. They hope to expand into Rockford by the end of the year.

The Allmans said they begin their service by taking an inventory of a new client's kitchen and then meeting with them to learn about special dietary needs they may have, as well as personal likes and dislikes. Some clients prefer their own recipes, while others are more open to trying new dishes.

The Allmans charge an hourly rate of $30 for the time they're in a home cooking, and a flat $15 fee for grocery shopping.

One cost-saving technique they use is making several meals from one main ingredient. For example, cooking a whole rotisserie chicken and dividing it up to make a stir fry, chicken salad and a pasta dish with chicken and fresh vegetables. Or using lean ground beef to make a meatloaf, meatballs with marinara sauce and a shepherd's pie.

"It saves time and money, and it's important that there is no unused product that would have to be stored," Barrett Allmann said. "It also gives the chef an opportunity to introduce new ideas and be creative."

---

It typically takes a couple of hours to prepare meals for a week or two for most clients, the Allmans said, adding that they can work within most seniors' budget by varying the number and frequency of meals.

Like most professional chef companies, the service includes chefs putting prepared food into reheatable containers, labeling them and storing them in the refrigerator. The chefs also use their own cooking equipment and clean up after themselves before they leave, the Allmans said.

Nathan Allman's business plan for the company took fourth place in the Burrill contest, winning the pair $1,000 for start-up costs. Those have been minimal, they said, because they don't have to rent a storefront or pay outside utilities, running the business from the family home and cooking in clients' homes.

It has also gone smoothly because Nathan Allman, who will spend his last semester this fall earning an environmental studies certificate, devoted time to figuring out how the company could be best operated for the business plan contest, said John Surdyk, a faculty associate at UW-Madison who runs the contest.

"What really stood out (about Nathan's plan) is that he had clearly been thinking about this long enough to answer the important questions of what it would take to deliver the service effectively and cheaply," he said.

Barrett Allman also credited his son's work on the plan for the company's success, noting he's found it "incredibly rewarding" to blend his own years of practical experience in food preparation with his son's knowledge of the latest business management trends and techniques through his education at UW-Madison.

"The fact that (Nathan's) idea is meeting a need is what makes it such a good idea," Barrett Allman said. "It changes lives. It's a business that solves a problem."

---

Information from: Wisconsin State Journal, http://bit.ly/1h0h8BG

This is an AP Member Exchange shared by the Wisconsin State Journal

This Date In Baseball

July 27

1918 — Brooklyn rookie Henry Heitman completed one of the shortest careers in major league history. Heitman appeared on the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals, gave up four consecutive hits and then left the game, never to play a major league game again.

1930 — Ken Ash of Cincinnati got his last major league victory by throwing one pitch. Ash came into relieve in the fifth inning and got Chicago's Charlie Grimm to hit into a triple play. Ash was removed for a pinch hitter and the Reds beat the Cubs 6-5.

1946 — Rudy York of Boston hit two grand slams and drove in 10 runs as the Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns 13-6.

1950 — Del Ennis of the Philadelphia Phillies drove in seven runs in the seventh and eighth innings of a 13-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Ennis doubled with the bases loaded in the seventh and hit a grand slam in the eighth.

1959 — New York lawyer William Shea announced the formation of the Continental League. New York, Houston, Toronto, Denver and Minneapolis-St. Paul were the five cities named and Branch Rickey was named league president.

1978 — Duane Kuiper of Cleveland tied a major league record by becoming the third player in the 20th century to hit two triples in a game, Both came with the bases loaded as the Indians beat the New York Yankees 17-5.

1984 — Montreal's Pete Rose passed Ty Cobb for the most singles in a career with No. 3,053, against the Philadelphia Phillies.

1986 — Two 300-game winners faced each other as Don Sutton hurled six strong innings to outpitch Tom Seaver and give the California Angels a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

1996 — The San Diego Padres pounded the Florida Marlins, 20-12. Wally Joyner led the way with five RBIs, while John Flaherty hit a grand slam. The Padres were the sixth club to score 20 runs in a game this season. The last time that happened was 1929.

2008 — Oakland reliever Brad Ziegler recorded six outs to set a major league record with 27 scoreless innings to begin his career. Ziegler broke the previous mark of 25 innings set by Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan in 1907.

2009 — Washington's Josh Willingham became the 13th player to hit two grand slams in a game, achieving the feat in the Nationals' 14-6 win at Milwaukee. Willingham's eight RBIs were the most in Nationals history and tied the franchise mark.

2009 — Nick Swisher homered from both sides of the plate for the New York Yankees in an 11-4 win over Tampa Bay.

2011 — Major League Baseball acknowledged umpire Jerry Meals made the wrong call in Atlanta's 4-3, 19th-inning win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates filed a formal complaint hours after the longest game in team history, and MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Joe Torre said it appeared Meals got the call wrong.

2011 — Ervin Santana pitched the first solo no-hitter for the Angels in nearly 27 years, striking out 10 and leading Los Angeles over Cleveland 3-1. Santana allowed two runners — an error on the leadoff batter that resulted in a first-inning run and a walk in the eighth. It was the Angels' first complete-game no-hitter since Mike Witt's perfect game on Sept. 30, 1984, against Texas. Mark Langston (7 innings) and Witt (2 innings) combined to hold Seattle hitless on April 11, 1990.

2011 — Seattle snapped its 17-game losing streak as Ichiro Suzuki and rookie Dustin Ackley led a 17-hit attack in a 9-2 win over the New York Yankees. It was the longest skid in the major leagues since Kansas City lost 19 in 2005.

2011 — The Tampa Bay Rays broke one of baseball's oldest records when they played their 705th consecutive game with a starting pitcher younger than 30 years old. The Rays lost to Oakland 13-4.

2013 — Tampa Bay Rays rookie Chris Archer helped American League teams pitch a trio of 1-0 games, the first time that's happened on the same day in nearly a half-century. The last time three AL games ended 1-0 on the same day was Sept. 4, 1965. Archer and Tampa Bay edged New York at Yankee Stadium, Justin Masterson and the Cleveland bullpen blanked Texas and Wade Davis and Royals relievers shut out the Chicago White Sox by the same 1-0 score.

Today's birthdays: Ryan Flaherty 28; Max Scherzer 30; Alex Rodriguez 39.

July 28

1931 — Bob Fothergill of Chicago hit a home run and a triple in an 11-run eighth inning. The White Sox set an American League record by recording 12 hits in the inning and beat the New York Yankees 14-12.

1940 — King Kong Keller hit three homers to give the New York Yankees a 10-9 win over Chicago in the first game of a doubleheader split.

1951 — Clyde Vollmer of Boston hit a grand slam in the 16th inning, the latest ever hit in a major league game. The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-4, in 16.

1958 — For the sixth time in his career, Mickey Mantle hit home runs from both sides of the plate. New York beat the Athletics 14-7.

1971 — Sixteen-time Gold Glove winner Brooks Robinson committed three errors in the sixth inning against the Oakland A's. Frank Robinson's three-run homer in the ninth won the game for the Orioles.

1976 — John Odom (five innings) and Francisco Barrios (four innings) combined on a no-hitter as the Chicago White Sox beat Oakland 2-1.

1979 — Dave Kingman of the Chicago Cubs hit three home runs in a game for the second time in the season and became the sixth player in major league history to accomplish the feat. Kingman's homers weren't enough as the Cubs lost to the New York Mets 6-4.

1983 — AL president Lee McPhail ruled that George Brett's "pine tar" home run against New York on July 24 should count. The umpires had disallowed the homer because the pine tar on Brett's bat exceeded the 18-inch limit. The rest of the game was played Aug. 18 with the Kansas City Royals beating the Yankees, 5-4.

1990 — Shawon Dunston tied a major league record with three triples and led the Chicago Cubs to a 10-7 win over the Montreal Expos.

1991 — Dennis Martinez pitched a perfect game as the Montreal Expos beat Los Angeles 2-0 at Dodger Stadium.

1993 — Ken Griffey Jr. tied a major league record by homering in his eighth consecutive game, but it wasn't enough for the Seattle Mariners in a 5-1 loss to the Minnesota Twins.

1994 — On the night the baseball players set an Aug. 12 strike date, Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers pitched a perfect game for a 4-0 victory over California.

1999 — For the first in 12 years, the U.S. baseball team beat the world champion Cubans, scoring five runs in the ninth inning for a 10-5 victory at the Pan American Games. Marcus Jensen's three-run homer broke a 5-5 tie.

2001 — Vinny Castilla hit three homers and drove in five runs, but Houston still lost 9-8 to Pittsburgh. Down 8-2 with two outs in the ninth inning, the Pirates scored seven runs, including Brian Giles' game-winning grand slam.

2004 — Troy Percival recorded his 300th save after John Lackey allowed three hits over 8 1-3 innings to help Anaheim beat Texas 2-0.

2006 — Houston rookie Luke Scott hit for the cycle and drove in five runs, but the Astros lost to Arizona 8-7.

2009 — Chicago White Sox ace Mark Buehrle set a major league record by retiring 45 straight batters. Coming off a perfect game in his last start against Tampa Bay, Buehrle retired the first 17 Twins batters to surpass the record of 41 straight set by and San Francisco's Jim Barr in 1972 and tied by teammate Bobby Jenks, a reliever, in 2007. The streak ended with two outs in the sixth and Minnesota went on to win 5-3.

July 29

1908 — Rube Waddell struck out 16 as the St. Louis Browns beat the Philadelphia A's 5-4.

1911 — Joe Wood of the Boston Red Sox beat the St. Louis Browns with a 5-0 no-hitter in the first game of a doubleheader. Wood fanned 12 and allowed three baserunners on two walks and a hit batsman.

1915 — Honus Wagner, 41, became the oldest player to hit a grand slam as Pittsburgh beat Brooklyn 8-2. The grand slam was an inside-the-park homer. Wagner remained the record holder until 1985, when Tony Perez hit one the day before his 43rd birthday.

1928 — The Cleveland Indians scored eight runs in the first inning and nine more in the second and went on to beat the New York Yankees 24-6 at Dunn Field. Johnny Hodapp singled twice in the second and sixth innings.

1936 — The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 22-7, in the first game of a doubleheader, then lost the second game 5-4.

1955 — Smoky Burgess of the Cincinnati Reds hit three home runs and drove in nine runs in a 16-5 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Crosley Field.

1968 — George Culver of the Cincinnati Reds pitched a 6-1 no-hitter against the Phillies in the second game of a doubleheader at Philadelphia.

1983 — Steve Garvey of the San Diego Padres ended his NL record of 1,207 consecutive games. The streak ended when he dislocated his thumb in a collision with Atlanta pitcher Pascual Perez while trying to score.

2000 — Eddie Taubensee hit a game-tying homer with two outs in the ninth and homered again in the 11th to lead Cincinnati to a 4-3 win over Montreal.

2001 — Craig Monroe homered in his first major league at-bat as the Texas Rangers beat Tampa Bay 2-0.

2003 — Boston's Bill Mueller became the first player in major league history to hit grand slams from both sides of the plate in a game and connected for three homers in a 14-7 win at Texas.

2006 — Tomas Perez tied a major league record with four doubles, going 5-for-5 and leading the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to a 19-6 rout of the New York Yankees.

2010 — Anibal Sanchez pitched a one-hitter in the Florida Marlins' 5-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Sanchez retired his first 13 batters and matched a career-high with eight strikeouts.

Today's birthdays: Chad Billingsley 30; Mike Adams 36.

July 30

1870 — Monmouth Park, in Long Branch, N.J., opened with a five day race meet.

1917 — Ty Cobb Bobby Veach and Ossie Vitt, each went 5-for-5 in Detroit's 16-4 win over Washington.

1933 — Dizzy Dean struck out 17 Cubs as the St. Louis Cardinals beat Chicago 8-2.

1947 — The New York Giants beat Ewell Blackwell and the Cincinnati Reds 5-4 in 10 innings, ending Blackwell's 16-game winning streak.

1959 — Willie McCovey had four hits in four at-bats in his major league debut, with the San Francisco Giants. His hits included two triples in a 7-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

1968 — Washington shortstop Ron Hansen pulled off an unassisted triple play, but the Cleveland Indians still won the game 10-1.

1973 — Jim Bibby of the Texas Rangers pitched a 6-0 no-hitter against the Oakland A's.

1980 — Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard had a stroke during a workout at the Astrodome and underwent surgery to remove a blood clot behind his right collarbone.

1982 — The Atlanta Braves returned Chief Noc-A-Homa and his teepee to left field after losing 19 of 21 games and blowing a 10½-game lead. The teepee was removed for more seats. The team recovered to regain first place.

1990 — George Steinbrenner was forced to resign as general partner of the New York Yankees by baseball commissioner Fay Vincent.

2003 — Chicago White Sox shortstop Jose Valentin hit three home runs by the fifth inning in a 15-4 win over Kansas City. It was the second three-homer game of his career, and the third time he has homered from both sides of the plate.

2005 — Jonny Gomes had the first three-homer game in Tampa Bay franchise history in a 7-3 victory over Kansas City.

2006 — New York Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran tied a major league record with his third grand slam this month in a 9-6 victory over Atlanta. Beltran became the ninth player in major league history to hit three grand slams in a calendar month.

2008 — Kelly Shoppach of Cleveland tied a major league record with five extra-base hits, including a game-tying homer in the ninth, but Detroit beat the Indians 14-12 in 13 innings. Shoppach had two homers and three doubles.

2010 — Carlos Gonzalez, Ian Stewart and Dexter Fowler homered and Colorado used a record-setting 12-run eighth inning to a 17-2 rout of the Chicago Cubs. Gonzalez had four hits, two in the eighth when the Rockies set a major league record with 11 straight hits in the inning. The Rockies had 13 hits in the inning, a franchise record. The Rockies batted around twice in the inning against relievers Sean Marshall, Andrew Cashman and Brian Schlitter.

2011 — The New York Yankees broke loose for 12 runs in the first inning of the nightcap of a day-night doubleheader, setting a franchise record en route to a 17-3 rout of Baltimore.

2012 — Kendrys Morales homered from both sides of the plate during a nine-run sixth inning, capping the burst with a grand slam that sent the Los Angeles Angels romping past the Texas Rangers 15-8. Morales became the third switch-hitter in major league history to homer as a lefty and righty in the same inning. Carlos Baerga did it for Cleveland in 1993 and Mark Bellhorn of the Chicago Cubs duplicated the feat in 2002.

July 31

1930 — Lou Gehrig drove in eight runs with a grand slam and two doubles as the New York Yankees outlasted the Boston Red Sox 14-13.

1932 — Cleveland's Municipal Stadium opened and Lefty Grove and the Philadelphia A's beat the Indians 1-0 before 76,979 fans.

1934 — The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Cincinnati Reds 8-6 in 18 innings at Cincinnati as Dizzy Dean and Tony Freitas both went the distance.

1954 — Joe Adcock hit four home runs and a double to lead the Milwaukee Braves to a 15-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field. Adcock's 18 total bases set a major league record at the time. Adcock homered in the second inning off Don Newcombe, doubled in the third and homered in the fifth off Erv Palica. He connected off Pete Wojey in the seventh and off Johnny Podres in the ninth. Adcock saw only seven pitches and his double off the left-center field fence just missed going out by inches.

1961 — The All-Star game ended in a 1-1 tie at Fenway Park as heavy rain halted play.

1981 — The second baseball strike ended after 42 days.

1990 — Nolan Ryan, 43, won his 300th game, reaching the milestone in his second try, as the Texas Rangers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 11-3.

2002 — Mike Mussina became the second pitcher in major league history to give up six doubles in one inning, during the New York Yankees' 17-6 loss to Texas. Hall of Famer Lefty Grove allowed that many with Boston in 1934 against Washington.

2003 — John Smoltz broke his own record as the fastest pitcher to record 40 saves by pitching a scoreless ninth in Atlanta's 7-4 win over Houston. Last year, he got his 40th save on Aug. 8, en route to breaking the NL record with 55.

2006 — Orlando Hudson hit home runs from both sides of the plate, including his first career grand slam, as Arizona beat the Chicago Cubs 15-4.

2007 — The New York Yankees tied a franchise record by hitting eight home runs, including a pair by Hideki Matsui, in a 16-3 rout of the Chicago White Sox. New York last hit eight homers in a game in a doubleheader opener at the Philadelphia Athletics on June 28, 1939.

2010 — Carlos Gonzalez hit a game-ending home run to complete the cycle, and Colorado rallied to a 6-5 win after blowing a three-run lead in the eighth inning to the Chicago Cubs.

2011 — Justin Verlander came within four outs of another no-hitter, outpitching an angry Jered Weaver as the Detroit Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2. Maicer Izturis lined an RBI single to left field with two outs in the eighth for the Angels' only hit. Weaver was ejected for throwing a pitch over Alex Avila's head in the seventh, right after Carlos Guillen showboated on a solo home run — infuriating the right-hander.

2011 — Ricky Nolasco scattered 12 hits, Emilio Bonifacio homered and Florida handed the Atlanta Braves the 10,000th loss in franchise history. With the 3-1 loss, the Braves become the second team in big league history with 10,000 losses. The Phillies reached that mark in 2007.

2012 — A.J. Burnett pitched a one-hitter, Neil Walker drove in five runs and Pittsburgh beat Chicago 5-0. Burnett's no-hit bid ended with two outs in the eighth, when pinch-hitter Adrian Cardenas lined a 3-2 pitch to right for a single.

Today's birthdays: Jose Fernandez 22; Rene Rivera 31.

Aug. 1

1906 — Harry McIntire of the Brooklyn Dodgers pitched 10 2-3 innings of no-hit ball before Claude Ritchey of Pittsburgh singled. McIntire weakened in the 13th and lost 1-0 to the Pirates on an unearned run, finishing with a four-hitter.

1941 — New York Yankees pitcher Lefty Gomez walked 11 St. Louis batters in a 9-0 victory to set a major league record for walks in a shutout.

1962 — Bill Monbouquette of the Boston Red Sox pitched a no-hitter to beat the White Sox 1-0 at Chicago.

1970 — Willie Stargell of Pittsburgh hit three doubles and two home runs to power the Pirates to a 20-10 rout of the Braves in Atlanta.

1972 — Nate Colbert of the San Diego Padres drove in 13 runs in a doubleheader with five home runs and two singles. San Diego beat the Atlanta Braves in both games, by scores of 9-0 and 11-7.

1977 — Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants hit two home runs, including his 18th career grand slam, a total that still leads the National League.

1978 — Pete Rose went 0-for-4 against Atlanta pitchers Larry McWilliams and Gene Garber to end his 44-game hitting streak as the Braves defeated the Cincinnati Reds 16-4.

1986 — Bert Blyleven threw a two-hitter and struck out 15 to become the 10th major league pitcher with 3,000 career strikeouts as he led the Minnesota Twins to a 10-1 victory over the Oakland A's.

1994 — Baltimore's Cal Ripken became the second major leaguer to play 2,000 straight games as the Orioles beat Minnesota 1-0.

1998 — Switch-hitter Tony Clark set an AL record by homering from both sides of the plate for the third time this year as the Detroit Tigers defeated Tampa Bay 8-0.

2005 — Rafael Palmeiro was suspended 10 days following a positive test for steroids, less than five months after the Baltimore Orioles' first baseman emphatically told Congress: "I have never used steroids. Period."

2006 — Carlos Guillen hit for the cycle in Detroit's 10-4 victory over Tampa Bay.

2009 — Andrew McCutchen homered three times and had a career-high six RBIs to help Pittsburgh rout Washington 11-6.

Today's Birthdays: Madison Bumgarner 25; Drew Storen 27; Roenis Elias 26; Adam Jones 29; Brandon Kintzler 30.

Aug. 2

1906 — The "Hitless Wonder" Chicago White Sox began their AL record 19-game winning streak with a 3-0 win over Boston. The record would be tied by the 1947 New York Yankees.

1907 — Walter Johnson made his major league debut with the Washington Senators and lost 3-2 to the Detroit Tigers. The first hit he yielded was a bunt single by Ty Cobb. The Tigers beat "The Big Train" 7-6 exactly 20 years later on Walter Johnson Day in the nation's capital.

1933 — Mickey Cochrane of the Philadelphia A's hit for the cycle in a 16-3 win over the New York Yankees.

1938 — The Brooklyn Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals used a yellow baseball in the first game of a doubleheader as an experiment. The two teams went back to the white ball in the second game as the Dodgers swept the doubleheader 6-2 and 9-3.

1959 — Bill Bruton of Milwaukee hit three triples, including two with the bases-loaded, to lead the Braves to an 11-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

1979 — New York Yankees captain Thurman Munson died in the crash of his private plane while practicing takeoffs and landings at the Canton, Ohio, airport.

1987 — Kevin Seitzer went 6-for-6, hit two homers and drove in seven runs to pace a 20-hit Kansas City attack as the Royals beat the Boston Red Sox 13-5 in 102-degree heat.

1987 — Eric Davis led off the bottom of the 11th inning with his 30th home run of the season to give the Cincinnati Reds a 5-4 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Davis's homer made him the seventh — and earliest player in major league history — with 30 homers and 30 steals in the same season.

1998 — The Cuban national team claimed its 22nd gold medal at the World Baseball Championships, beating South Korea 7-1 and extending its winning streak at the event to 41 games since 1986.

2007 — Jermaine Dye homered twice and doubled twice, including a go-ahead drive that led the Chicago White Sox to a 13-9 victory over the New York Yankees. The White Sox and Yankees each scored eight runs in the second inning. It was the second time in major league history both teams scored eight or more in an inning.

2009 — Melky Cabrera became the first Yankees player in 14 years to hit for the cycle, leading New York to an 8-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cabrera hit a three-run homer in the second to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead, doubled in the fourth, had an RBI single in the fifth, and completed it with a triple in the ninth.

2010 — Travis Snider hit two of an AL record-tying six doubles in a seven-run fifth inning to give the Toronto Blue Jays an a 8-6 victory over the New York Yankees. Snider began the barrage of doubles with a leadoff hit against A.J. Burnett and finished it with a drive off Sergio Mitre. In between, Fred Lewis, Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells and Aaron Hill all doubled off Burnett.

2010 — Washington's Ivan Rodriguez became the fifth catcher to hit 300 homers in a 3-1 win over Arizona.

2011 — New York Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira set a major league record when he homered from both sides of the plate in a 6-0 win over the Chicago White Sox. It was the 12th time the switch-hitting Teixeira has homered from both sides in a game, breaking a tie with Eddie Murray and Chili Davis. Teixeira hit a two-run homer batting right-handed against John Danks in the third and added a slot shot batting left-handed against Jason Frasor in the seventh.

Today's birthdays: Onelki Garcia 25; Huston Street 31; Grady Sizemore 32; Colby Lewis 35; Matt Guerrier 36.

Torre, Cox and La Russa manage their way into Hall

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- Joe Torre still needs a pinch or two, just to make sure.

"It's still sort of unbelievable," he said. "Cooperstown was always something way out there. OK, I know where it is. Doesn't mean I'm going there to visit, much less be inducted. I never had a goal of getting to the Hall of Fame."

That's exactly where he's headed Sunday.

Torre will be inducted with fellow former managers Bobby Cox and Tony La Russa in what is a banner year for the baseball shrine. Pitchers Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine and slugger Frank Thomas also will enter.

Torre, La Russa, and Cox were unanimously elected in December by the Hall's Expansion Era committee.

It was a tense time for Torre.

"I sort of was torn emotionally with the fact that Bobby and Tony were on the ballot," he said. "I remember having dinner with Tony the night before the announcement. Whoever gets in, if the other one doesn't get in, it's sort of going to feel unfair. Our three careers just really mirrored each other."

"When the three of us got in, I think it just made it that much sweeter. It was probably the first time we stopped lying to each other," he said.

There's always been a mutual admiration among La Russa, Cox and Torre, contemporaries who rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in all-time managerial wins.

"I always felt like Joe was the best at teaching a team the right way to win and lose," said La Russa, who compiled 2,728 wins in 33 seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Oakland and St. Louis, behind only Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763). "A loss, they never made excuses. Just got beat."

"But they won. They won a lot, and they never showed up the other side," La Russa said. "They never embarrassed you because they beat you, and I can't say the same for other teams and other managers."

While Torre excelled as a player — in 1971 he won National League MVP honors with a signature season that included 230 hits and a .363 average, 97 runs, and 137 RBIs for the Cardinals — he became something special in the New York Yankees' dugout. Despite mediocre stints managing the New York Mets, Atlanta and the Cardinals (five winning seasons in 15 years), Torre was hired by the Yankees prior to the 1996 season.

"That was a good sign for me, trust me," said Torre, the only man to amass more than 2,000 hits (2,342) as a player and win more than 2,000 games (2,326) as a manager, according to STATS.

"After you've been fired three times and then you get hired by the Yankees, that was a good sign. I figured it was all said and done by that point in time," he said.

Ever the diplomat, Torre somehow managed to assuage the most demanding of owners in George Steinbrenner, maintaining his coolness amid all the Bronx craziness while keeping all those egos in check. The result: 10 division titles, six AL pennants and four World Series triumphs in 12 years as he helped restore the luster to baseball's most successful franchise.

Heady territory for a guy who never played in the Fall Classic.

"It was magical. I never took it for granted," said Torre, who today serves as Major League Baseball's executive vice president for baseball operations. "I just think it's so important to respect this game, just the fact that you can leave your mark and possibly wind up in a place like this, even though that's not why you play the game. It's just been an amazing ride for me."

La Russa's teams finished first 12 times and won six pennants, and he was picked as Manager of the Year four times, finishing second in the voting five other times. He went to the World Series three straight years from 1988-90 and also lost in the 2004 World Series when his Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox.

That La Russa found success in the dugout and not as a player is not a surprise. He made his big league debut as a teenage infielder with the 1963 Kansas City Athletics and appeared in just 132 games over six seasons, hitting .199 with no home runs and seven RBIs.

"How lousy I was, I was hoping the guy wouldn't call me in to play. That's the truth," La Russa said. "Then I got to thinking, I can't make a living, so I went to law school."

La Russa tried to finance his way through law school as a player-coach in the White Sox organization, and quickly learned there was a lot more to managing than simply making out a lineup card. That allowed La Russa the opportunity to question and second-guess and it all "got my fires going."

After graduation, La Russa decided to see if he could manage in the minors to get the bug out, with the ultimate goal of becoming a lawyer. The White Sox gave him Double-A and Triple-A assignments, and he was hooked, becoming a devoted student of the game.

In 1983, he managed the White Sox to their first postseason berth in 24 years, and 13 years later he rewarded new Cardinals owners with a division title in his first season in St. Louis (1996). That ended the franchise's nine-year postseason slump, and they made it to the playoffs nine times in 16 seasons overall.

La Russa also had 70 postseason victories, trailing only Torre's 84, and he and his role model, Sparky Anderson, are the only managers to win the World Series in both leagues. La Russa credits early conversations with Anderson, Paul Richards, Earl Weaver, Chuck Tanner, Gene Michael, and Billy Martin for much of his success.

"We watched all these masters," La Russa said. "We would study the managers, and there was this one guy in Toronto that after the second series we played against him we agreed, 'Hey, this guy is as good as any of them.' His name was Bobby Cox."

The fiery Cox — he was ejected a major league record 161 times — guided the Braves to an unprecedented 14 straight division titles and 15 playoff appearances. Many of those wins came with Maddux and Glavine on the mound for him.

When Cox, who also spent four years in Toronto, retired after the 2010 season he was the fourth-winningest manager with 2,504 victories in 29 seasons.

To be sure, induction day will be one to remember.

"The entire thing can never happen again in a million years, I don't think," Cox said. "A manager being able to go in with two of the greatest pitchers in the history of baseball, and then going in with two fellow managers at the same time. I don't think that's ever, ever going to happen again."

US agency probes Hyundai Sonata air bag problem

DETROIT -- U.S. safety regulators are investigating whether an electrical problem can knock out the air bags on some older Hyundai Sonatas.

The probe announced Friday covers about 394,000 midsize cars from the 2006 through 2008 model years.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received 83 complaints about the problem. The agency says a sensor inside the seat belt buckle might fail. This can cause the air bags to malfunction or not inflate if there's a crash.

The problem also can affect the mechanism that tightens the seat belts before a crash. The problem can happen in either the driver or passenger buckles. In most cases the air bag warning light came on.

Investigations can lead to recalls but none has been issued so far in this case.

Business events scheduled for the coming month

FRIDAY, Aug. 1

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases employment data for July, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for June, 8:30 a.m.; Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index for July, 10 a.m.; Commerce Department releases construction spending for June, 10 a.m.

DETROIT — Automakers release vehicle sales for July.

Procter & Gamble Co. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes.

TUESDAY, Aug. 5

WASHINGTON— Commerce Department releases factory orders for June, 10 a.m.; Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for July, 10 a.m.

FRANKFURT, Germany — Automaker BMW AG reports second-quarter earnings.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 6

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases international trade data for June, 8:30 a.m.

BERLIN — Germany's Economy Ministry releases June industrial orders figures for Europe's biggest economy.

THURSDAY, Aug. 7

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.; Federal Reserve releases consumer credit data for June, 3 p.m.

NEW YORK — Selected chain retailers release July sales.

FRANKFURT, Germany — European Central Bank's governing council meets to set monetary policy for the eurozone.

BERLIN — Germany's Economy Ministry releases June industrial production figures for Europe's biggest economy.

GENEVA — Swiss food and drink giant Nestle reports half year results.

FRIDAY, Aug. 8

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases second-quarter productivity data, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases wholesale trade inventories for June, 10 a.m.

BERLIN — Germany's Federal Statistical Office releases export and import data for June.

TUESDAY, Aug. 12

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases job openings and labor turnover survey for June, 10 a.m.; Treasury releases federal budget for July, 2 p.m.

BERLIN — Germany's ZEW institute releases its monthly index of investor confidence in Europe's biggest economy.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 13

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases retail sales data for July, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases business inventories for June, 10 a.m.

TOKYO — Preliminary GDP data for April-June.

THURSDAY, Aug. 14

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.

BERLIN — Germany's Federal Statistical Office releases second-quarter economic growth figure.

FRIDAY, Aug. 15

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases the Producer Price Index for July, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve releases industrial production for July, 9:15 a.m.;

MONDAY, Aug. 18

WASHINGTON — National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for August, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY, Aug. 19

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases housing starts for July, 8:30 a.m.; Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for July, 8:30 a.m.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve releases minutes from its July interest-rate meeting.

THURSDAY, Aug. 21

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; ; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.; National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for July, 10 a.m.; Conference Board releases leading indicators for July, 10 a.m.

MONDAY, Aug. 25

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases new home sales for July, 10 a.m.

BERLIN — Germany's Ifo institute releases its monthly business confidence index, a key indicator for Europe's biggest economy.

TUESDAY, Aug. 26

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases durable goods for July, 8:30 a.m.; Standard & Poor's releases S&P/Case-Shiller index of home prices for June and the second quarter, 9 a.m.; The Conference Board releases the Consumer Confidence Index for August, 10 a.m.

THURSDAY, Aug. 28

WASHINGTON — Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.; Commerce Department releases second-quarter gross domestic product, 8:30 a.m.; Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, releases weekly mortgage rates, 10 a.m.; National Association of Realtors releases pending home sales index for July, 10 a.m.

BERLIN — Germany's Federal Labor Agency releases August unemployment figures for Europe's biggest economy.

FRIDAY, Aug. 29

WASHINGTON — Commerce Department releases personal income and spending for July, 8:30 a.m.

—All times are Eastern

Weekly Wrap Up: Astronauts, "Inversions," and the VP and a White Board

This week, some astronauts stopped by the White House (hint: think 1969), we talked about "inversions" (more on that later), the President awarded the Medal of Honor, and the Vice President got a marker and white board and gave us a little bit of history on our nation's infrastructure.

Check out what else you may have missed in this week's wrap up.

"You Are Why I Ran for President in the First Place"

Yesterday, President Obama spoke under sunny skies at the Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. He talked about the progress that we've made since he took office and training our workers for a 21st-century economy.

Watch on YouTube

The President called for a new sense of optimism and collective patriotism in this country: "Cynicism is a choice, and hope is a better choice. And if we can work together, I promise you there's no holding America back."

He also talked about something known as "inversions." What's an "inversion," you ask? Learn more here.

read more

'I Love Your Country,' New House Member Tells U.S. Officials

Rep. Curt Clawson hasn't been in Congress long – he was sworn into office exactly one month ago. We mention that as a caveat, because in a congressional hearing Thursday, Clawson seems to have mistaken Americans who work in the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce for representatives of India's government.

As relayed by Foreign Policy's The Cable blog, Clawson, a Republican from Florida, seemed eager to show that he's a fan of India and its culture, speaking about Bollywood movies and Indian cities in which he's done business — and in an apparent misunderstanding, telling the two witnesses, "I am familiar with your country; I love your country."

Those witnesses were Nisha Biswal, the assistant secretary of the U.S. State Department's Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs, and Arun Kumar, who is both the U.S. Commerce Department's director general of the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service and the assistant secretary for Global Markets International Trade Administration.

Thursday's session of the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific centered on how business and diplomatic relations between the U.S. and India might improve under its newly elected government — something Clawson said he was enthusiastic about.

But The Cable's John Hudson calls the meeting, Clawson's first day on the panel, "intensely awkward," noting that Biswal and Kumar seemed unsure how to respond to the freshman lawmaker's seeming assumption that they represented Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government.

In one exchange, Clawson highlighted the need for India to ease the path for U.S. investments there, saying, "I ask cooperation and commitment and priority from your government in so doing. Can I have that?"

Biswal paused before responding, "I think your question is to the Indian government, and we certainly share your sentiments, and we certainly will advocate that on behalf of the U.S."

"Of course," Clawson said.

Seated at Biswal's side, Kumar smiled.

Clawson's office hasn't responded to "multiple requests" for a comment, The Cable says.