LETTER

A Fiddler Doodles, and a Doodler Fiddles

Published: February 27, 2013

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Ana Benaroya

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follow@andyrNYT.

To the Editor:

Re “Philharmonic Adds More Archives on the Web” (Arts, Briefly item, Feb. 22):

The scribbling of musicians in their orchestra parts are mostly about cues,
unexpected tempo changes and interpretive instructions from various conductors
that are not in the printed score.

Yet I have noted that while my younger colleagues in the Metropolitan Opera
Orchestra confined their orchestral graffiti mostly to musical matters, the older
musicians (like me) were more concerned with physical needs and a relentless
struggle against boredom, particularly when playing repeated eighth notes in a
bel canto opera one has played a hundred times.
 Consequently, we old-timers meticulously penned in the number of minutes of
each act.

Moreover, during long rests (as in Wagner’s “Ring”), both young and old
musicians often resorted to doodling, cartooning and (forgive me, Maestro
Levine!) caricatures of singers and conductors that were not always flattering.

LES DREYER
New York, Feb. 22, 2013

The writer is a retired violinist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.

A version of this letter appeared in print on February 28, 2013, on page A28 of the New York edition with the
headline: A Fiddler Doodles, and a Doodler Fiddles.

OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR

Turkey, the Unhelpful Ally

By HALIL M. KARAVELI
Published: February 27, 2013

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STOCKHOLM

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follow@andyrNYT.

AMERICA’S stated goal is to remove President Bashar al-Assad from power

in Syria. The United States also insists that any solution to the Syrian crisis
should guarantee religious and ethnic pluralism. However, this rosy vision of a
moderate and secular Syria after Mr. Assad’s downfall will not be achieved if the
United States continues to depend on regional allies that have little interest in
such an outcome.

President Obama has relied heavily on Turkey in seeking to oust Mr. Assad and
Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to visit the Turkish capital, Ankara,
later this week. But Turkey is part of the problem. It is exacerbating Syria’s
sectarian strife, rather than contributing to a peaceful and pluralistic solution.

While the Obama administration has encouraged a broad Syrian opposition

coalition, in which the influence of Islamists would be circumscribed, Turkey has
not been of any assistance whatsoever. Instead, the Turkish government has
continued to throw its weight behind the Muslim Brotherhood. The Brotherhood
dominated the Syrian National Council, which is headquartered in Istanbul, and
has succeeded in eclipsing other groups within the new opposition coalition,
effectively thwarting the American effort to empower non-Islamists.

Moreover, while sponsoring the Sunni cause in Syria, the Turkish government has
made no attempt to show sympathy for the fears of the country’s Alawite,
Christian and Kurdish minorities. The Alawites and the Christians have backed
the government in large numbers and fear retribution if Mr. Assad is toppled.

Turkey has provided a crucial sanctuary for the Sunni rebels fighting Mr. Assad
and has helped to arm and train them.  Even more ominously, Turkey is turning a
blind eye to the presence of jihadists on its territory, and has even used them to
suppress the aspirations of Kurds in Syria. Last November, Islamist rebels from
Jabhet al-Nusra,  which has reputed links to Al Qaeda in Iraq, entered the Syrian
town of Ras al-Ain from Turkey and attacked fighters from the Kurdish
Democratic Union Party, known as the P.Y.D., which had wrested control of parts
of northeastern Syria. The Nusra fighters were initially repelled, but have
continued to cross into Syria from their safe haven in Turkey.

Mr. Obama has invested considerable political capital in Turkey, cultivating a

close relationship with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. American and
Turkish officials have held regular operational planning meetings since last
summer, aimed at hastening the downfall of Mr. Assad. In a recent interview with
the Turkish newspaper Milliyet, Mr. Obama thanked “the Turkish government for
the leadership they have provided in the efforts to end the violence in Syria and
start the political transition process.”
But this praise is undeserved. America can’t expect the Sunni Arab autocracies
that have financed the Syrian uprising, like Saudi Arabia and Qatar, to help
empower secular and moderate leaders in Syria. However, Turkey, a NATO ally,
should be expected to promote a pluralistic, post-Assad Syria. It has not.

The Obama administration must therefore reassess the assumption that Turkey is
playing a constructive role in ending the violence in Syria; it must also take a hard
look at its own role in contributing to religious strife.

America’s policy of punitive sanctions and not-so-veiled military threats toward

Iran has encouraged Turkey to assert itself as a Sunni power. The perception that
Turkey enjoys American “cover” for a foreign policy that directly confronts
Iranian interests emboldened the Turkish government to throw its weight behind
the armed Sunni rebellion against Mr. Assad, Iran’s main regional ally.

Turkey quickly abandoned its stated ambition to have “zero problems with
neighbors” and decided to join the United States in confronting Iran. It agreed to
the deployment of parts of NATO’s antimissile shield, which is meant to
neutralize a supposed Iranian missile threat.

Turkey’s shift flowed from the belief that it would gain power and stature and
reap the benefits if America succeeded in rolling back Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

All of this suited the United States.  Washington no longer had to fear that Turkey
might be “drifting eastward,” as it did during the short-lived Turkish-Iranian
rapprochement a few years ago, when Turkey broke ranks with its Western
partners over the Iranian nuclear issue. Turkey also appeared to be an American
asset insofar as it could potentially offset the influence of more conservative
Sunni powers like Saudi Arabia.

But the Syrian crisis has had a radicalizing effect on all parties, including Turkey’s
more moderate Islamist government. Under more peaceful circumstances, Mr.
Erdogan might be able to live up to American expectations and promote a
pluralistic vision for the Middle East. That won’t happen if the region is
increasingly torn apart by violent religious conflict and its leaders believe that
playing the sectarian card will enhance their power.

Removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq in 2003 had the undesirable
consequence of empowering Iran. A decade later, America’s effort to remove Mr.
Assad is partly an attempt to remedy this geopolitical setback. But, as in Iraq, it
has had unwelcome consequences. Moreover, American policy toward Iran is
encouraging opportunistic Sunni assertiveness that threatens to trigger Shiite
retaliation.

The United States must beware of doing the bidding of Sunni powers — especially
Turkey — that are advancing sectarian agendas that run counter to America’s
interest of promoting pluralism and tolerance. Left unchecked, rising
sectarianism could lead to a dangerous regional war.

Halil M. Karaveli is a senior fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute and

the Silk Road Studies Program, which are affiliated with the School of Advanced
International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, in Washington, and with the
Institute for Security and Development Policy, in Stockholm.

February 27, 2013, 7:04 pmComment

A Big Swig of Extra Battery Power

By ROY FURCHGOTT

There is not a lot that sets auxiliary batteries apart. A few more amps here, a few more
USB plugs there, and that’s about it.

Digital Treasures, though, has taken the trouble to gussy up the basic battery, putting
13,000 mAh of lithium-ion power into what appears to be a flask.
 Called the Power Flask, the case has a flask’s distinctive curve, for discreet pocket storage,
and leather trim with red stitching. The end caps are chromelike polished aluminum.

The Power Flask, which retails for $90, has two USB ports, one supporting 1 amp
charging for phones, and a second supporting 2.5 amp charging for tablets.

You can charge more low-demand devices at a time, though; two phones can be put into
the 2.5-amp slot using an included Y cable, and another can be charged from the 1-amp
slot for a total of three devices at once. The flask also comes with two 30-pin adapters. If
you’re using a Lightning connector, you will have to supply your own.

The flask has blue LEDs to indicate the charge level and twin white LEDs on the top that
work as a flashlight.

Q&A

Taking Sides
By C. CLAIBORNE RAY

Published: February 25, 2013

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Q. Why are some of our internal organs on one side rather than the
other? Does anyone ever get an organ on the “wrong” side?
Enlarge This Image
 Victoria Roberts

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A. Organ placement is “the result of millions of years of evolution,” said Dr. Jean
C. Emond, chief of transplant services at NewYork-Presbyterian
Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center. The organs are perfectly arranged
to carry out their tasks, Dr. Emond said, including the asymmetrically arranged
ones like the liver and heart.

“During very early development,” he said, “the organs originate from the single
row of cells in the fetus and through an elaborate choreography that is
programmed in the DNA, grow and rotate and eventually reach the ideal position
at birth.”

In a process that is still incompletely understood, some organs result from double
embryonic buds, some from a single one. The left-right asymmetry for certain
organs is shared with all vertebrates. Other experts suggest that in human beings,
a relatively small set of genes is responsible for sending the signals that control
the asymmetry.

Because of errors in development or genetic abnormalities, Dr. Emond said,

“some babies are born with abnormally formed internal organs that may be in the
 wrong position.” Some patients require major surgical reconstruction, while
others can function normally.

“A complete reversal of the internal organs can occur in a condition called situs
inversus,” Dr. Emond said. This is seen in some mirror-image twins.  

A version of this article appeared in print on February 26, 2013, on page D6 of the New York edition with the
headline: Taking Sides.

SCAN

Growing Wings and Rising Oceans

By JASCHA HOFFMAN

Published: February 25, 2013

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BOOK

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“Maverick Genius: The Pioneering Odyssey of Freeman Dyson.” By

Phillip F. Schewe. Thomas Dunne. 352 pp. $25.99.

Over a long career at Princeton,Freeman Dyson, now 89, has contributed to

numerous branches of physics, engineering, astronomy and more. In this chatty
biography, Phillip F. Schewe charts his output, from quantum work with Richard
P. Feynman onward. A long-term optimist, Dr. Dyson championed some
unorthodox ideas, like nuclear-powered rocket ships to propel civilization into
space. He has calmly insisted that religion and science hold no mutual threat,
and, controversially, insisted that we consider the upside of global warming.
Despite some strange digressions, Dr. Schewe knows the physics, and he gained
access to colleagues, family — everyone except Freeman Dyson, who politely
declined, saying, “Maybe in 50 years you’ll be able to tell whether I did anything
important.”

THEATER

“Theory of Flight.” Franke Program in Science and the Humanities. The Off

Broadway Theater at Yale. 41 Broadway, New Haven. March 1-2, 8 p.m. Free
admission.

Ellie Markovitch

A scene from "Theory of Flight."

Research meets fantasy in this performance by Anna Lindemann, a composer and

artist trained in evolutionary biology. In a twist on the ancient myth of Icarus, a
lecturing scientist reveals she’s been growing her own wings using avian genes.
Chalkboard diagrams convey the molecular biology, while vocal music and
animated silhouettes advance the plot, about the risks and rewards of pursuing
impossible research. After the show, Richard Prum, a Yale ornithologist, will
moderate a discussion with the director and cast.

FESTIVAL

South by Southwest. Austin, Tex. Interactive (March 8-12) and Film (March 8-

16).
Coming up at South by Southwest’s Film Festival, a new documentary aboutStephen Hawking.

Before the music industry converges on Austin, South by

Southwest’s Interactive and FilmFestivals will drop some science. Stephen
Wolfram will predict the future of computing, while Steve Weinberg will describe
the search for a unified theory of physics. At the festival’s film program, a
documentary about Stephen Hawking told largely in his own words, will reveal
his daily routine and “army of caregivers” that allow the celebrity physicist to
continue his work.

LECTURE

“Climate Disruption.” Mathematics and Planet Earth. Palace of Fine Arts, San

Francisco. March 4, 7:30 p.m. $8.50.

Emily Shuckburgh.

Droughts, wildfires, melting ice, superstorms — scientists agree that climate is

changing. But predicting the future of oceans and atmosphere is not simple. At
this lecture, financed by the Simons Foundation, Emily Shuckburgh, who leads
the Open Oceans research group at the British Antarctic Survey, will explain how
mathematical models can guide policy.
A version of this list appeared in print on February 26, 2013, on page D3 of the New York edition.

ENVIRONMENT February 22, 2013, 6:36 pm 25 Comments

Fireballs in the Sky Are Not Exclusive to Siberia

By ANDY NEWMAN

The New York

Times1936: Dr. Clyde Fisher (left) of the American Museum of Natural History and Abram M. Decker of Red
Bank, N.J., examined an object believed to be a meteorite that fell on Mr. Decker’s barn.

“On Friday evening, a few minutes before 10 o’clock,” the account begins, “I was standing
with a friend in Thirty-fourth-street, near the southwest corner of Madison-avenue, when
we observed a luminous body rising rapidly from behind the houses on the southerly side
of the street.”

The author believed the light at first to be “a fire-balloon, made of green tissue paper, and
quite near us.”

But within moments, the apparition that appeared in the heavens on a July evening in
1860 Manhattan showed its true self.
“The meteor soon emerged from the clouds and came on rapidly eastward,”the
anonymous author wrote to The New York Times. “It lost its greenish color, and broke up
into four parts, which continued their journey all in the same line. The first two had the
appearance of blazing torches whose flames are driven backward by the wind.”

One of the most striking things about the Russian fireball last week was how impossibly
improbable and exotic it seemed. Who would ever witness such a thing?

But from 1807 — only 13 years after science recognized the extraterrestrial origin of
meteorites — when a 300-pound space boulder screamed across the Connecticut sky and
burst open across farmers’ fields 50 miles northeast of New York City, to the modern day,
when, in 1992, a football-size projectile shot through a car trunk in Westchester County,
the New York region has seen more than its share of meteors and meteorites, including
some of literature’s most significant landings.

Dan Haar/Hartford Courant.A firefighter, John S. McAuliffe, examined

meteorite damage at a home in Wethersfield, Conn. in 1982. Click to enlarge.

Statistically speaking, of course, the odds of a heavenly body falling are spread evenly
across the entire planet. But the local population density means more potential witnesses
to any cosmic debris that passes this way.

The heyday of local fireball sightings would appear to have been the 19th century: The
Times carried such reports on a semiregular basis.

“This morning at 1:40 the most beautiful meteor seen in this vicinity for years flashed
across the northern sky nearly from horizon to horizon,” read an 1875 dispatch from
Utica, N.Y. One from Schroon Lake, N.Y., in 1880 began, “Lake-side cottage in this
pleasant Summer resort had a narrow escape from destruction by a meteor last night.”
Eight of the 14 meteorites collected in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut listed in
the Meteoritical Society’s database fell from the sky in the 1800s.

Not to mention all the mistaken sightings, and even hoaxes. A fist-size “curious

meteorite” of “bright vivid green” that was “soft and plastic” upon landing at Troy and
Fulton Avenues in Brooklyn during a storm in 1887 does not seem to have made it into
the record books. (Nor has the object mentioned in a Times article in 1897 that began
“Prof. Wiggins believes that the aerolite that fell near Binghamton a few nights ago, and is
alleged to have contained a piece of iron with hieroglyphics, was really a message from
Mars.”)

A “curious
meteorite” reported to have fallen on Brooklyn in 1887 was curious indeed.

Denton S. Ebel, a cosmochemist and curator of the Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites at the
American Museum of Natural History, theorized that meteor and meteorite sightings
were to some extent casualties of the modern age.
“People’s habits have changed,” he said on Wednesday. “And there’s more light pollution.
Also there’s more noise pollution. People spend more time watching TV, especially in the
night. I just think that people aren’t as in touch with the natural world as they used to be
and that includes meteorites.”

This is not to say that the 20th century was without its highlights. In 1936, after a
blinding light flashed over New Jersey, Abram M. Decker of Red Bank found a 13-ounce
fragment that had apparently fallen through his work shed, bent a screwdriver and buried
itself 20 inches in the ground. It gave him, The Times reported, a “bad fright.”

In 1971, a 12.3-ounce meteorite came to rest in the ceiling of Paul and Minnie Cassarino’s
home in Wethersfield, Conn., south of Hartford. Their son used a handkerchief to pick it
up. In 1982 in the same town, Robert and Wanda Donahue’s evening television viewing
was interrupted by a meteorite thatbounced around the living room.

A compilation of amateur videos taken in several states in 1992 as a meteor zoomed overhead. It fell to earth
at Peekskill, N.Y.

And on a Friday night in 1992, camcorder-wielding high school football fans across
several states tracked the voyage of a fireball of nickel, iron and stone that eventually
found its way to 207 Wells Street in Peekskill, N.Y. Its 27-pound remnant smashed
through the trunk of Michelle Knapp’s 1980 Chevrolet Malibu at a speed of about 160
miles an hour.

Things continue to fall from local skies in the 21st century. In 2007, a metallic meteorite
described by a Rutgers scientist as “a good candidate for the core of an asteroid” crashed
into a house in Freehold Township, N.J. and damaged a bathroom.

Or did it? Dr. Ebel and several colleagues at the museum and the City University of New
York concluded that the object was man-made, and it is not recognized in the Meteoritical
Society database.

“It was probably a piece of airplane debris that was tumbled around on a runway, then
caught in tire treads, and then dropped when landing gear was deployed over Northern
NJ,” Dr. Ebel wrote in an e-mail. “Air bases and airports in abundance. A nice story.”

A version of this article appeared in print on 02/23/2013, on page A13 of the NewYork edition with the
headline: Fireballs in the Sky Are Not Exclusive to Siberia.

NATIONAL BRIEFING | SPACE

A Tablespoon of Progress for Rover
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: February 20, 2013

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Fresh off drilling into a rock for the first time, the Mars rover Curiosity is
preparing to dissect the pulverized rock to determine what it is made
of. NASA said Wednesday that Curiosity had successfully collected a tablespoon
of powder from the drilling it did two weeks ago and was poised to transfer a
pinch to its onboard laboratories. It is the first time a spacecraft has bored into a
rock on Mars to retrieve a sample from the interior. The analysis is expected to
take days to complete.

A version of this brief appeared in print on February 21, 2013, on page A15 of the New York edition with the
headline: A Tablespoon of Progress For Rover.

After Assault From the Heavens, Russians Search

for Clues and Count Blessings
 Small-Town Meteorites: A day after pieces of meteorites apparently landed in a lake in the small Russian
town of Chebarkul, residents gathered at the shore with a mix of awe and pride.
By ANDREW E. KRAMER

Published: February 16, 2013

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
CHEBARKUL, Russia — After a brilliant flash illuminated the sky on Friday
morning like a second sun, Alyona V. Borchininova and several others in this run-
down little town in the Siberian wilderness wandered outside, confused and
curious.
Multimedia

Multimedia Feature
 A Meteor Streaking Through the Sky From Six Vantage Points

Map

 SLIDE SHOW: A Strange Show in the Sky Over Siberia

 VIDEO: Fire in the Russian Sky
Related

 The Lede: Spectacular Videos of Meteor Over Siberia  (February 15, 2013)
 Shock Wave of Fireball Meteor Rattles Siberia, Injuring 1,200 (February 16, 2013)
 Dashcams, Meant to Record Accidents and Mayhem, Capture Cosmic Event  (February 16, 2013)
 The Lede: Answering Readers’ Questions About the Meteorite Strike in Russia  (February 15, 2013)

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Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.

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They followed the light’s path to the town’s lakefront, where they trudged for
about a mile over the open ice until they came to a startling sight: a perfectly
round hole, about 20 feet in diameter, its rim glossy with fresh ice that had
crusted on top of the snow.

“It was eerie,” Ms. Borchininova, a barmaid, said Saturday. “So we stood there.
And then somebody joked, ‘Now the green men will crawl out and say hello.’ ”

Russians are still coming to terms with what NASAscientists say was a 7,000-ton
chunk of space rock that hurtled out of the sky at 40,000 miles an hour,
exploding over the Ural Mountains, spraying debris for miles around and,
amazingly, killing no one.

As the Russian government pursued the scientific mysteries of the exploding

meteor, sending divers through the hole and into the inky waters of Lake
Chebarkul on Saturday, residents reacted with a kind of giddy relief and humor
over their luck at having survived a cosmic near miss.

NASA estimates that when the meteor entered the atmosphere over Alaska, it
weighed 7,000 to 10,000 tons and was at least 50 feet in diameter, a size that
strikes the Earth about once every hundred years, and that it exploded with the
force of 500 kilotons of TNT.

The shock wave injured hundreds of people about 54 miles away in the industrial
city of Chelyabinsk, most from broken glass; collapsed a wall in a zinc factory; set
off car alarms; and sent dishes flying in thousands of apartments. Broken
windows exposed people and pipes to the Siberian winter; many residents
focused Saturday on boarding windows and draining pipes to preserve heating
systems.

If pieces of meteorite reached the surface, as NASA said was likely, they fell
largely into the sea of birch and pine trees in this patch of western Siberia, now
blanketed in snow.

Lake Chebarkul is one of four sites that the government believes felt a significant
impact, the minister of emergency situations, Vladimir Puchkov, told the Interfax
news agency.

As the sun rose there on Saturday, the snow crystals sparkling like a million tiny
mirrors, steam wafted from the ice crater, apparently related to the work of the
divers, but the lake yielded few clues.

Mr. Puchkov later said the divers had found nothing on the lake bed, but had not
ruled out meteor shrapnel as the cause of the hole.

“Experts are studying all possible places of impact,” he said. “We have no reports
of confirmed discoveries.”

A meteorite fragment could help scientists better apprehend the composition of

the meteor, perhaps shedding light on how close it was to descending further
before exploding from the heat or to hitting the surface. Such circumstances could
have caused vastly more casualties in this rust-belt region of military and
industrial towns, a major nuclear research site and waste repository, and other
delicate infrastructure.

In Chelyabinsk, the worst-hit town, most who sought medical attention had been
released from hospitals by Saturday, the Ministry of Health reported. A total of
1,158 people, including 298 children, sought medical care. Of those, 52 were
hospitalized. On Saturday afternoon, 12 adults and 3 children remained in
hospitals.
 Health officials evacuated to Moscow a woman who had broken two vertebrae
after falling down stairs. One man’s finger was cut off by broken glass.

Overshadowing these misfortunes, a fourth-grade teacher in Chelyabinsk, Yulia

Karbysheva, was being hailed as a hero for saving 44 children from glass cuts by
ordering them to hide under their desks when she saw the flash. Having no idea
what it was, she executed a duck-and-cover drill from the cold war era.

Ms. Karbysheva, who remained standing, was seriously lacerated when glass
severed a tendon in one of her arms, Interfax reported; not one of her students
suffered a cut.

 1 
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NEXT PAGE »

A version of this article appeared in print on February 17, 2013, on page A6 of the New York edition with the
headline: After Assault From the Heavens, Russians Search for Clues and Count Blessings.

After Assault From the Heavens, Russians Search

for Clues and Count Blessings
Published: February 16, 2013

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
(Page 2 of 2)

In its 32-second terminal plunge into Siberia, the meteor left a smoke contrail in
the sky that twirled in a diabolical, turbulent wake. Some witnesses described an
unbearably bright light, and the feeling of heat on their exposed faces.
Multimedia
 Multimedia Feature

A Meteor Streaking Through the Sky From Six Vantage Points

Map

 SLIDE SHOW: A Strange Show in the Sky Over Siberia

 VIDEO: Fire in the Russian Sky
Related

 The Lede: Spectacular Videos of Meteor Over Siberia  (February 15, 2013)
 Shock Wave of Fireball Meteor Rattles Siberia, Injuring 1,200 (February 16, 2013)
 Dashcams, Meant to Record Accidents and Mayhem, Capture Cosmic Event  (February 16, 2013)
 The Lede: Answering Readers’ Questions About the Meteorite Strike in Russia  (February 15, 2013)

Connect With Us on Twitter

Follow@nytimesworldfor international breaking news and headlines.

Twitter List: Reporters and Editors

Tatyana N. Vasiliyeva, a retired accountant who was walking with her husband on
the lakeshore here Friday morning, said she had looked up to see “a star getting
brighter, like the sun.”

“It was a fiery star falling right on me,” she said. “And so I thought I should just
close my eyes now.”

But on Saturday, she was back at the shore, giggly and disappointed that the
police would not let her near the ice hole.

Other Russians found different meanings in the event.

A hawkish deputy prime minister, Dmitri O. Rogozin, suggested that the world’s
leading scientists develop a missile system to deflect asteroids from Earth. “Today
neither the United States nor Russia has the capability to shoot down such an
object,” he warned, according to Interfax.

In the Church of the Transfiguration in Chebarkul, on a hill overlooking the lake,

Deacon Sergiy was in mid-service on Friday, having just closed the doors in a wall
of icons symbolizing the entombment of Jesus in the holy sepulcher and the
imminence of the Resurrection. Just then, a bright light spilled in through every
window.

“It was like a new sun was born,” he said. “This all gives us reason to think. Is the
purpose of our life just to raise a family and die, or is it to live eternally? It was a
reason for people on earth to look up, to look up at God.”

He called the flash more significant than earlier signs he had noticed, like the
time a white dove alighted on the church belfry, or when a cloud appeared above
the church in the form of a cross.

Out on the lake, an ice fisherman, who gave his name only as Dmitri, shrugged off
the event. “A meteor fell,” he said. “So what? Who knows what can fall out of the
sky? It didn’t hit anybody. That is the important thing,”

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  1 
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A version of this article appeared in print on February 17, 2013, on page A6 of the New York edition with the
headline: After Assault From the Heavens, Russians Search for Clues and Count Blessings.

CHECK IN

A Copenhagen Hotel That’s Cool, Not Warm

 Nicky Bonne/Andersen Boutique Hotel

Fireplace in the Andersen’s lobby.

By INGRID K. WILLIAMS

Published: February 27, 2013

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 Nicky Bonne/Andersen Boutique Hotel

A junior suite.

Doubles start at 1,125 Danish kroner, or $208 at 5.42 kroner to the dollar, a night
(breakfast included).

Basics

This 73-room boutique hotel, which opened in April 2012, features modern
design elements, including textiles from the British Designers Guild, specialty
light fixtures from the Danish firm Frandsen Lighting and employee uniforms
from the Icelandic designer Birna. The independently owned property has also
introduced the long-overdue idea of the 24-hour hotel room, called “Concept24,”
in which guests have a room for 24 hours from the time of arrival, even if that is,
say, 6 p.m. (Advance notice is required to take advantage of this perk.)

Location

Two blocks west of Copenhagen’s central train station in Vesterbro, an

increasingly hip but still slightly seedy neighborhood. There are cool boutiques
and craft beer pubs nearby, but among the hotel’s closest neighbors are a string of
budget hotels and strip clubs.

The Room

My stay last summer coincided with the city’s fashion week, and when I arrived in
the hotel’s fuchsia-hued lobby, a related event was under way — thumping music
courtesy of a D.J., and a crowd milling about, sipping Icelandic beers from
Champagne flutes. The party made check-in slightly disorienting, but the friendly
staff seemed unperturbed.

My second-floor, streetside Superior room was compact, and felt more so because
of an excess of furniture: two chairs, a small desk and a glass-topped side table
that were all crammed at the base of the bed. There were magenta and navy
curtains, three sinuous black pendant lamps, a large flat-screen TV, and one wall
stenciled from floor to ceiling with a list of international cities. On the
comfortable double bed there were four large decorative throw pillows but only
two small ones for sleeping. Upon request, two more pillows were quickly
delivered — one of them with a not insignificant stain (which housekeeping failed
to replace when making up the room the following day).

Instead of air-conditioning, there were two fans, but their hum did not drown out
late-night street noise from patrons of the convenience store across the street and
the unsavory characters loitering on the corner below.

The Bathroom

Compared with the modern décor of the room and lobby, the bathroom felt dated,
with a utilitarian sink, toilet, shower and plain beige marble tile that could have
been imported from any generic stateside motel. (Rooms on upper floors have
fully renovated bathrooms with bright paint and white subway tile.) There were
toiletries from Molton Brown’s Green Park line, but also thin, worn-out towels.

Amenities

Free Wi-Fi is included in the room rate. Also included is a cold breakfast buffet,
which was crowded and understaffed during my visit, resulting in empty water
pitchers and a shortage of both glasses and spoons. There is no room service, but
thirsty guests may avail themselves of another of the hotel’s featured amenities:
the tap water (“Excellent quality — enjoy!” read a note card).

Bottom Line

The hotel has a cool look and personable service, but great design is in the details,
many of which were lacking here. Though Copenhagen is an expensive city, for
these rates, one expects more.

Andersen Boutique Hotel, Helgolandsgade 12; (45-33) 31-4344; andersen-

hotel.dk. 

A version of this article appeared in print on March 3, 2013, on page TR4 of the New York edition with the
headline: A Boutique That’s Cool, but Not Warm .

HE GETAWAY

Handling Luggage Problems, From Damage to

Delays
 Julia Rothman

By SUSAN STELLIN

Published: February 27, 2013 49 Comments

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The airlines have been bragging about their improved handling of checked
luggage recently, based on Department of Transportation data showing that only
3 out of every 1,000 passengers reported a bag lost, delayed, damaged or pilfered
in 2012. Although that’s the lowest level of mishandled baggage since the
government started collecting reports in 1987, this statistic doesn’t tell the full
story.
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First, it doesn’t include bags that go astray during international flights, or flights
operated by Spirit Airlines and smaller regional carriers, which are not required
to report this information. It also doesn’t reflect the fact that fewer passengers are
checking luggage to avoid baggage fees — so the airlines’ improved performance
is mostly due to about half as many bags being checked since the fees were
instituted.

And it doesn’t capture the headaches travelers often face when their bag is one of
the roughly two million pieces of luggage that disappear, arrive late, become
damaged or experience theft every year. Among the tales of woe friends have
shared with me recently — a bag’s contents shredded en route, fishing gear that
arrived late, a 12-hour window to wait for a delayed bag’s delivery — the common
theme was an unhelpful response by the airline.

“You have to know your rights and basically fight for them because the airline is
not going to offer them to you,” said Charlie Leocha, director of the Consumer
Travel Alliance, a passenger advocacy group.

Government regulations leave a lot of wiggle room for airlines to stonewall

customers who report baggage problems. Here is what you can expect to face if
you have to deal with a luggage problem, along with some tips on how to keep
track of your bags.

Filing a Claim

Collecting compensation is complicated by the fact that policies vary depending

on whether your baggage trouble happened on an international or a domestic
flight, and the rules give airlines a lot of leeway to decide how much they’ll
reimburse you.

Bill Mosley, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation, said airlines

must compensate passengers for “provable loss” resulting from delayed, lost or
damaged baggage up to $3,300 per passenger for domestic flights and up to
$1,742 for international flights (a number negotiated by treaty that varies with
exchange rates). “This would include claims for incidental expenses like buying
clothing and toiletries when a consumer’s baggage is delayed,” Mr. Mosley wrote
in an e-mail.

Since these amounts are upper limits on what passengers can claim, airlines
typically require travelers to submit receipts documenting the value of lost items,
or the cost of “reasonable” interim expenses like toiletries or underwear while a
bag is delayed. Airlines often say they must first authorize these expenses (check
your carrier’s Web site for policy details), which gives them the discretion to
decide if they’ll pay only for a toothbrush and a T-shirt, or for a new suit for a
meeting you can’t miss.

Another hurdle is the time limit on filing a claim. For international flights, Mr.
Mosley said passengers must file a claim for damaged luggage within seven days
of the flight, and within 21 days after you receive a bag that has been delayed. For
domestic flights, the time limit varies by airline, but can be narrow: United asks
customers to submit a written report of a delayed bag within four hours of the
flight’s arrival, and most airlines give passengers just 24 hours to report damage
to a bag. If you miss this deadline, chances are your claim will be denied. One
positive change is that airlines now have to reimburse the checked bag fees they
charge if your luggage is lost — thought not if it’s delayed. Delta’s Web site says
the carrier “may” offer a customer a travel credit for $25 to $50 off a future flight
if a bag is delayed more than 12 hours. However, carriers are prohibited from
limiting their liability to less than the amounts mentioned above, so you do not
have to accept a travel voucher instead of a check for your expenses, especially if
the voucher is for a lower amount.

Pressing Your Case

After you contact the airline about a baggage problem, you may encounter
resistance along the path to getting paid for your claim. Two friends told me that
after many phone calls and e-mails reporting a luggage mishap, they gave up on
trying to collect any compensation, a reaction that isn’t uncommon, passenger
advocates say.

“If you feel like you’ve been given the runaround or you weren’t given
compensation and you had to spend money out of your pocket because the airline
didn’t deliver your bag, send a complaint to the D.O.T.,” Mr. Leocha, of the
Consumer Travel Alliance, said.
  1 
 2 
NEXT PAGE »

A version of this article appeared in print on March 3, 2013, on page TR2 of the New York edition with the
headline: Who’s Left Holding the Bag?.

THE GETAWAY

Handling Luggage Problems, From Damage to

Delays
Published: February 27, 2013 49 Comments

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(Page 2 of 2)

The D.O.T.’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division has a Web complaint form
(dot.gov/airconsumer), which passengers may submit online. It may just get
counted as part of the government’s statistics on airline service, but some do get
forwarded to the carrier for further action or result in policy changes.
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Based on a consumer complaint in 2011, the D.O.T. fined Lufthansa $50,000 for
telling passengers that the airline would reimburse only half the cost of clothing
expenses claimed because of a baggage delay. The agency has also reminded
airlines that they cannot exclude items like computers, cameras or jewelry from
their baggage liability on international flights (although these exclusions are
allowed for domestic flights). “The D.O.T. doesn’t take every claim and work it,”
said Alexander Anolik, a travel lawyer in Sausalito, Calif. “But when they do it’s
helpful.”

He also suggested taking your case to small claims court if you get an
unsatisfactory response from the airline. Filing fees for small claims court are
typically $25 to $75 and you don’t need a lawyer.

“It’s the only way some airlines have an attitude adjustment,” Mr. Anolik said. “As
soon as they see their names on a summons, many times a carrier will settle.”

Tracking Your Bag

Given all the tracking technology that exists today, it’s surprising that there aren’t
better ways of keeping tabs on checked bags. Delta’s app allows passengers to
track their luggage, using the number on the bag tag or a scan of the tag’s bar
code, and most airlines offer at least a rudimentary tracking tool on their Web
sites. But for those willing to spend some money for peace of mind, another
option is on the horizon.

In April, a company called GlobaTrac plans to begin selling a palm-sized device

named Trakdot that passengers can place in their checked luggage in case it goes
astray.

“It uses cell technology to figure out the city location of your luggage and it’ll text
you that information,” said Adrienne Cohen, a company spokeswoman. “You can
also look it up on the Trakdot Web site.”

The device will cost $50, plus a $9 activation fee and a $13 annual service fee. It
senses the speed of the plane to deactivate during a flight, then will turn on once
the plane slows down, thereby obeying rules prohibiting the use of cellular
technology in the air, Ms. Cohen said.

« PREVIOUS PAGE

  1 
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A version of this article appeared in print on March 3, 2013, on page TR2 of the New York edition with the
headline: Who’s Left Holding the Bag?.
HEADS UP

Royal Remains Draw the Curious to Leicester

Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Statue of Richard III in Leicester.

By MATT BOLTON

Published: February 22, 2013

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
The man with the job of protecting the most famous parking lot in the world was
having a busy day a couple of weeks ago. “Sorry, guys,” Jake Jones said as the
latest in a steady stream of onlookers tried to walk through the gates. “You’ll have
to wait for the guided tour.”

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Local parking lots like this one on New Street in Leicester rarely receive such
attention. But then, no others can claim to have been the resting place of a king of
England for the past 527 years.

Since Feb. 4, when researchers from the University of Leicester announced that a
skeleton found during an archaeological dig at the parking lot in September 2012
was indeed that of Richard III, a monarch immortalized by Shakespeare, Mr.
Jones has been fending off hundreds of curious visitors hoping to catch a glimpse
of the deep trench where the skeleton was found. (It is just visible from the gates,
toward the far end of the parking lot and is covered with a white tent.)

While Mr. Jones may have been caught off guard by the crowds, Leicester, a
former manufacturing town of red brick terraced houses and hosiery factories
about two hours from London, is welcoming the onslaught, hoping that after
taking in a guided tour that stops at the parking lot, people will stick around for
other tourist attractions that have swiftly sprung up.

The 14th-century Guildhall building (44-116-253-2569) has become the center of

activity. In addition to selling tickets for the tour, it also opened an exhibition
called “Leicester’s Search for a King” four days after the announcement of the
bones’ origins. The small but impressive show provides a step-by-step guide to
both the archaeology and the science behind the identification of the skeleton,
using videos featuring scientists involved in the discovery, and displays replicas of
the remains.

“The world’s gaze is drawn to Leicester at the moment,” said Laura Hadland,
senior curator of the show. She should know. More than 1,000 people showed up
for the exhibition on its opening day, she said, and the weekend afterward, locals,
visitors from other parts of Britain and journalists, all buzzing with excited
chatter about the find, stood in a line that never seemed to shrink.
Visitors seeking a primer on Richard III (and slightly shorter lines) can venture
out to a field just outside town that was the site of the Battle of Bosworth, where
Richard III was killed. A visitors’ center there (Sutton Cheney; 44-1455-290429;
£7.95, or $12 at $1.52 to the pound; bosworthbattlefield.com) was restored in
2009, after archaeologists uncovered finds that at the time seemed earth-
shattering, including a white boar livery badge that would have been worn by a
member of Richard’s close circle in the battle.

In language less soaring than Shakespeare’s, the center recounts the story of the
fight for the throne: The two houses of the Plantagenet Dynasty — Richard III’s
House of York and Henry Tudor’s House of Lancaster — had been engaged in the
War of the Roses for nearly 30 years when Richard III ascended the throne in
1483. Two years later, he was killed in battle, the last king of England to meet
such a fate, and after his death, Henry united the two houses by marrying
Richard’s niece, ushering in the reign of the Tudors. The visitors’ center, which
was recently full of families learning about the skeleton’s back story, has added a
section to the exhibition on the discovery of the remains.

Within the town of Leicester itself, plans are under way for a permanent center
devoted to Richard. But for now, the tourist board has created a self-guided
walking tour (pdf) around sites connected to Richard. At the Visit Leicester
tourist information center (51 Gallowtree Gate; 44-116-299-
4444; visitleicester.info), an employee handed out maps indicating a route that
tourists interested in the king can follow.

The tour starts at a pub that stands at the site of the White Boar Inn, an
establishment where the ruler spent his last night before battle. It then goes past
the Roman-era Jewry Wall to the Bow Bridge, where a plaque dating from 1856
commemorates the spot where his body was once thought to have been
unceremoniously tossed into the River Soar. It also goes to Leicester Cathedral,
where the body may be reinterred. But before that, it visits a commemorative site:
Castle Gardens, where a statue of the king stands, sword and crown aloft. A
bouquet of white flowers was left at the base days after the announcement about
the remains of the king, with a card inside. “The people of Leicester will take good
care of you,” it read.

A version of this article appeared in print on February 24, 2013, on page TR4 of the New York edition with the
headline: Another Royal Site Is Born.
February 25, 2013, 9:03 pm 2 Comments

Weapons From the Former

Yugoslavia Spread Through
Syria’s War
By ELIOT HIGGINS

What appear to
be M60 recoilless guns in Syrian videos posted to Youtube.

The use of social media by opposition groups and activists in Syria has allowed those of us who follow these sources carefully
to pursue a different form of insight into conflict reporting than had been possible before the time when opposition fighters
reflexively videotaped their operations and posted them online. With hundreds of videos showing the activities of fighting
groups now posted on YouTube each day, external analysts have been allowed to build a picture of events in Syria that in past
wars have gone unrecorded. These videos, often shared via Twitter and Facebook, allowed analysts and arms spotters in 2012
to track almost in real time the escalation in the conflict on both sides, including the use of cluster bombs andincendiary
bombs, as well as potential war crimes committed by the government and the opposition alike.

YouTube has also been instrumental in allowing analysts to follow certain arming trends, including the arrival of shoulder-
fired heat-seeking missiles to rebel possession last year and the influx in 2013 of weapons previously unseen in the conflict.
This in turn provides an opportunity for traditional investigation. In short, during the past several weeks scores of
videos have been uploaded to YouTube that provide evidence of a seemingly distinct flow of new weapons to the
country, which The New York Times has now identified as a Saudi-financed flow of arms from Croatia.

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 The M79 Osa from thisYoutube video.

The M60 recoil-

less gun, seen on the far left of the picture at left. At right, RPG-22s.

RBG-6 appear in Syrian YouTube videos.