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Minnesota Timberwolves’ Kevin Love, left, and Chicago Bulls’ Joakim Noah battle for the ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

MINNEAPOLIS – Derrick Rose looked to be cruising toward a much-needed easy night after a dominant first quarter put the Chicago Bulls up big on the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ricky Rubio then made him work for everything he got the rest of the way and may have forced his way into Minnesota’s starting lineup in the process.

Rose scored a season-high 31 points and had 11 assists to outlast Rubio in a thrilling duel, leading the Bulls to a 111-100 victory over the Timberwolves on Tuesday night.

“The way it started off we thought it was going to be a good game,” said Rose, who played the entire second half after the Wolves erased a 24-point, second-quarter deficit. “It took another turn where we weren’t playing defence, they were knocking down their shots, executing their plays and we were really getting hurt.”

Luol Deng had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Kyle Korver scored 13 points off the bench for the Bulls, who appeared to be on their way to a blowout early before Rubio led the Wolves back with a 20-2 run at the end of the second quarter.

Rubio had 13 points, 12 assists and four rebounds. Luke Ridnour scored 22 points for the Timberwolves, who just couldn’t find an answer for Rose down the stretch.

The reigning MVP shrugged off a mid-game shooting slump to score on an explosion to the basket and then knocked down a little one-handed jumper for an eight-point lead with 2:30 to play.

“At the end we just found a way to win,” said Rose, whose Bulls are in the middle of a stretch of nine games in 12 days.

Kevin Love finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds, but his shooting woes continued as he made 5 of 18. Anthony Randolph scored 18 points for the Wolves, who have played contenders Oklahoma City, Miami and Chicago tough only to lose in the end.

The Bulls outrebounded Minnesota 47-30 and Ronnie Brewer scored 17 points to help them to their eighth win in nine games. But Rose was the leader as usual, hitting 4 of 8 three-pointers.

“It happens a lot of times that we played and we are down and then it’s when we react,” Rubio said. “If we want to win, we have to start from the beginning.”

That may be happening sooner than later. Wolves coach Rick Adelman used Rubio off the bench through the first 10 games, but with the starting group digging big holes recently, a move could be coming as soon as Friday in New Orleans.

Starters Wes Johnson, Darko Milicic and Wayne Ellington all played fewer than 10 minutes on Tuesday night, with Adelman going for the energy of Rubio, Randolph, Anthony Tolliver and Derrick Williams. After the game, for the first time all season, Adelman didn’t rule out a change to the starting lineup.

“I have two days to think about it,” he said.

Rubio’s reputation grew when the Spaniard went up against Rose in international play, stripping him on two of the U.S.’ first three trips up the floor in an exhibition game.

The two electrifying point guards were neck-and-neck for the final three quarters. Rose had 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting with nine assists and three turnovers in the final 36 minutes while Rubio had 11 points on 5-for-10 shooting with 12 assists, four steals and four turnovers.

“Rubio played a hell of a game,” Rose said.

The Bulls knew the Wolves were playing their third game in three nights, and they came out firing. Rose scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the first quarter and the Bulls hit 20 of their first 29 shots.

“He’s great,” Rubio said. “It’s hard to defence him. Maybe he’s one of the best, if not the best, player I’ve ever played against. … It’s hard to guard him. He’s the fastest guy I ever played.”

Rubio was magnificent during the half-closing surge, assisting or scoring on all but two of the 20 points. He set Love up for three three-pointers, knocked down a jumper and a free throw and threw a one-handed lob to Randolph that sent the sellout crowd into a frenzy.

Rubio, Randolph and Tolliver started the second half as well, and Ridnour’s three tied the game at 70 with 3:45 to play in the third quarter.

The Bulls were able to hold on, and now will play Washington at home on Wednesday night trying to join the Thunder as teams to sweep three games in three nights.

“We’ll have to see,” said Rose, who went to the locker-room briefly in the second quarter after aggravating a turf toe injury. “Tomorrow, I’m not sitting out. I know that. I’ll be playing.”

NOTES: Bulls G Rip Hamilton did not play because of a sore left groin that has kept him out of five of the last six games. C.J. Watson was out with a sprained left elbow. … Wolves F Michael Beasley was in a walking boot before the game and said it is uncertain when he will return. He said he still feels some pain when walks, primarily when he is on his tip toes. … Korver went 3 for 3 from three-point range and has now hit 13 of his last 20 from distance.

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By
Sportsmail Reporter

Last updated at 1:41 PM on 11th January 2012

World title contender Kell Brook will take on British rival Matthew Hatton in a high-profile ‘War of the Roses’ battle.

The 25-year-old Yorkshireman will fight Lancaster’s European welterweight champion Hatton in an intriguing clash at the 13,500-capacity Motorpoint Arena in his native Sheffield on March 17.

Brook, who is highly ranked by the four major governing bodies, is on the verge of a world title shot this year having stepped up in class in 2011.

War: Kell Brook (left) with promoter Eddie Hearn (centre) and Matthew Hatton (right)

Victory against Hatton – who lost gallantly but comprehensively in a WBC light-middleweight challenge against Saul Alvarez last year – should finally earn him his own long-awaited title shot.

Hatton, meanwhile, has ambitions of his own and is looking to secure the chance to emulate older brother Ricky by becoming a world champion himself.

Promoter Eddie Hearn, who confirmed they are planning to set the venue up to hold 9,000 people, said: ‘This is exactly the kind of fight we want to start making in this country.

Sibling rivalry: Matthew Hatton is hoping to emulate his brother

‘It is a fight that captures the imagination. Kell is coming along at the perfect rate with the perfect fights and this will build into a huge event for British boxing.’

After establishing himself as a draw in his home city with two impressive wins at smaller arenas, before making his American debut last month, Brook (26-0, 18KOs) will aim to confirm his box office appeal by stepping up to top the bill at the large Sheffield venue.

‘When Eddie said to me that this fight was on the table I just started smiling,’ Brook said.

‘It has been a long time coming so I’m pleased.

World: Kell Brook is hoping for a world title shot

‘I want to separate us as number one and two in Britain. Matthew thinks he should be number one so that’s why I’m happy, I’m pleased to be able to prove it is me.’

Hatton (42-5-2, 16 KO wins) believes the two were destined to meet.

‘I always knew I would fight Kell one day,’ he said.

‘So this is a fight that excites me. I’ve got a lot of respect for Kell as a fighter but this couldn’t come at a better time for me.

‘The local rivalry makes it even more exciting and I’m looking forward to proving who is the number one in Britain.

‘I firmly believe that I am, but talk is cheap.’

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“Working In These Times” is dedicated to providing independent and incisive coverage of the labor movement and the struggles of workers to obtain safe, healthy and just workplaces. more »

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NEW DELHI (Commodity Online): Indian farmer, Bishnu Kumar Rai, from Sikkim had chosen floriculture as livelihood option and earns around Rs 1.60 lakhs per annum by selling roses alone.

Rai cultivates roses in a 650 sq feet land and a green house provided by the state horticulture department.

The selling price of rose per stick is Rs. 3 during off-season and Rs. 5 in peak season and he has sold roses worth Rs. 1.60 lakh and is hoping to cross Rs. 1.70 lakh in sales by the end of this year from the 5000 planted saplings.

The floriculture farmering was started three years ago and Rai was introduced to floriculture by his wife who attended a week long training programme supported by the State horticulture department on General Green House Management.

After gaining experience in rose cultivation, Rai has branched off to cultivate Jarvera from April 2011 and has already earned more than Rs. 30,000 by selling cut flowers. He is selling 100 sticks every day at the rate of Rs 4 per piece. It is easy to cultivate Jarvera as compared to rose as risk of disease is very less in it and Jarvera blossoms 12 months a year, he said. He is expecting to earn Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 60,000 from 800 plants this year and receives whole hearted support from his wife in this profession.

This energetic farmer has a future plan to develop his area as a floriculture belt and remains committed to cultivate flowers suitable in his 1 acre land.

He has not limited himself to flowers but has been cultivating vegetables for almost two decades. He grows cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, tomato and other green vegetables.

Floriculture is expanding very fast as an industry world over and same is the case for it in India. The world trade data shows that the share of developing countries amounts to more than 20% but Indian contribution in floriculture had not been more than 0.5%.

If other farmers who are will to try some extra can opt floriculture as it provide unlimited oportunities of earning money. (With inputs from Press Information Bureau)

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Steve Cuozzo

REALTY CHECK

In a deal reflecting the evolving priorities of two New York real estate dynasties, the Rudin family has taken sole claim to One Battery Park Plaza, buying out the Rose family’s 50 percent stake for approximately $80 million.

The families were amicable partners for 50 years in the 885,645 square-foot office tower. Patriarchs Samuel Rudin and David Rose first began assembling the site in 1962 and built the tower, aka 24 State St., in 1970.

Now, the Rudins are solidifying their stake in the downtown office market while the Roses, through Rose Associates, focus increasingly on residential.

Terms were not released, but sources pegged the price at about $235 a square foot. Rudin Management CEO Bill Rudin declined to comment.

But he said the purchase had an “emotional” dimension for his family. “This building was my grandfather’s [Sam’s] favorite, he said. “He’d go up to a top corner office and stare out at the harbor and Castle Clinton, where his parents passed through when they first came to New York.”

On a less sentimental note, Rudin noted the tower was 99 percent leased to tenants including law firms Hughes, Hubbard Reed and Seward Kissel.

Online database Mrofficespace.com lists the asking rent for the only available small space as $42 a square foot.

The Rudins own about 10 million square feet in Manhattan, including 3 million feet downtown.

Rose Associates Chairman Daniel Rose praised the Rudins as “ideal partners for half a century.” He added that “with 38,000 residential units under management, it is clear that we are a residential firm.”

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More change is coming to West 36th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues, which six years ago we called, “The Block That Time Forgot.”

Until recently, the block was dominated by garment factories — whether or not there was any manufacturing going on. Partly freed from antiquated zoning, it is now home to the modern Hotel 36, condo apartments, galleries and restaurants.

Now, Massey Knakal has been tapped to sell a midblock development site, currently a garage, which can support a new project of up to 164,000 square feet. To tap the full development potential, a purchaser would need to buy so-called DIBS (district improvement bonuses) from the city.

The block-through site owned by Howard Waxman consists of 326-328 W. 36th St. and 321-325 W. 35th St.

Massey Knakal Chairman Robert Knakal said that “very interesting” zoning on the block, as well as some others in the West 30s, allows commercial and residential development “not burdened by manufacturing” guidelines, which apply nearby and specify that a percentage of floor space must be devoted to rag-trade uses.

Knakal declined to comment on what a sale might fetch. Other brokerage sources speculated the price could hit $300 per buildable square foot for a commercial project, likely another hotel, and considerably higher for residential.

Realty Check’s first New York job was on this block, circa 1972, in the former church at 344 W. 36th St., then a performing-arts center but today a mental-health clinic. The view through third-floor stained glass windows took in steam from scores of roofs and factory lofts.

The steam’s mostly gone. But today’s new arrivals share the street with survivors of an earlier era — an SRO hotel, dilapidated factories and a garment-rack rental shop or two.

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Two new leases at SL Green’s 485 Lexington Ave. have brought the 921,370 square-foot tower to 99 percent occupancy, SLG Executive Vice President Steven Durels said. Leading Hotels of the World signed for 42,842 square feet on part of the fourth floor, where the asking rent was $50 a foot, while Fidelity National Title Insurance Co. took 27,996 feet, the entire 18th floor, where the ask was $55 a square foot.

The building was recently upgraded with a new facade, lobby, windows, elevators and corridors.

*

In a fashionable expansion, designer Carolina Herrera is expanding her US headquarters office space at WH Properties’ 501 Seventh Ave. The firm will grow from 18,509 to 29,702 square feet, adding part of the 16th floor to its original space on 17.

The asking rent for the 15-year term was $43 a square foot. CBRE’s Matthew McBride repped Carolina Herrera, and CBRE’s Lauren Smith and Gary Kamenetsky repped WH.

scuozzo [at] nypost [dot] com

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An important centennial is a terrible thing to waste.  Some historic anniversaries can change the way we look at life and help us reevaluate our values and behavior.  One such anniversary arrives on January 11.  On that day a century ago, a group of women walked out of a textile mill to march in the streets of Lawrence, Massachusetts.  During the following days and weeks, thousands of workers, most of them immigrant women, joined them.Massachusetts militiamen with fixed bayonets surround a group of strikers. (Wikimedia)

The strikers were led by a radical young union, the Industrial Workers of the World, but their demands were humble: a reduction working hours from 56 to 54 hours a week and a pay raise of two cents an hour—from 16 to 18 cents.

The strike lasted for two months. The workers marched daily, singing union anthems, and later listening to organizers. They faced clubs, bayonets, and frequent arrests.  Many were hauled off to jail, children in tow.  One, Annie LoPizzo, was shot and killed by the police.

Mill owners remained unmoved.  But national sympathy for the impoverished strikers grew. Workers as far away as New York and Vermont took in the strikers’ children to harbor them from violence, hunger and hardship. American newspapers were moved to support the workers’ cause.  Finally, in March, the mill owners cried uncle, conceding to the strike demands.

The strike is commonly referred to as the “Bread and Roses” strike, because some women were said to have held up a banner declaring, “We want bread, and roses, too!”

Judy Collins popularized a song about the strike, titled, of course, “Bread and Roses.”

Small art and love and beauty their drudging spirits knew,

Yes, it is bread we fight for but we fight for roses too!

James Oppenheim’s poem, from which the song was taken, was actually published before the Lawrence strike and was inspired by another strike.  One verse would make it a suitable anthem for the Occupy protestors:

No more the drudge and idler, ten that toil where one reposes…

The final line:

Hearts starve as well as bodies, give us bread but give us roses.

Hearts starve as well as bodies.  We do not live by bread alone.  It’s an old message with wellsprings deep in our religious traditions, and one the Bread and Roses centennial calls back to our attention.  And it’s a message we should not forget. 

For half a century after the Lawrence strike, Americans fought for both higher wages—bread—and shorter hours—roses. Time to smell the roses.  Time for “art and love and beauty,” time for families, for nature, for learning, for friends and community, for reflection, rest and regeneration, time to meet non-material needs that deliver happiness, time to love and be loved.  Yet somehow, we came to believe we could live on “bread” (stuff) alone, and the roses are left to wilt.  

At one time, American workers had the highest pay and the shortest working hours of any people in the world. But these days, the American worker hears this: “You need to work more hours, for less pay. Or your job goes overseas.” It is the old laissez faire refrain: Let the unregulated market determine wages and work hours.

You get what you measure.  And we have neglected to measure non-material sources of happiness.  Our prime economic indicator of success—the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—measures neither real bread nor roses, but only what we spend on final products and services. If it is bought and sold it counts; otherwise, it’s worth nothing.

Crash your Escalade and end up with insurance, legal, medical and repair bills, and you’ve had a stellar GDP day. Walk in the woods, volunteer, garden, spend time with your kids, and you’ve done nothing economically useful, despite the happiness these activities provide. Robert Kennedy got it right back in 1968. He observed that the Gross National Product (as the GDP was called then) “measures, in short, everything but that which makes life worthwhile.”

We are constantly told that economic growth is the solution to our economy’s woes. But what kind of growth? We need new measurements to tell us if our economic activities are adding benefits or costs, whether they are delivering or destroying bread and roses. Around the world, new indicators of success are emerging.  The nation of Bhutan and the City of Seattle measure “happiness.” Norway assesses its “natural capital.” Baltimore examines “social capital.” Maryland has a Genuine Progress Indicator.

But first, to get started, we need to ask ourselves: “What’s the economy for, anyway?” What are our goals? The centennial of the Lawrence textile strike reminds us to value the roses and count them.  It calls us to be gardeners of happiness, awakening our senses and watering the roses again.

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David Batker (Chief Economist and Executive Director) completed his graduate training in economics under Herman Daly, one of the world’s foremost ecological economists. Dave has taught in the Training Department of the World Bank, and has worked for Greenpeace International, specializing in trade and international finance. He also worked for two years with the Rural Reconstruction Movement, a Philippine non-profit group dedicated to ecologically sound community-based development.

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WHAT IS IT about roses that is so endlessly fascinating?

Perhaps it is their myriad petals — or perhaps their myriad forms: hybrid teas, floribunda, miniature, bush, old, wild, rambling, climbing. Or perhaps it is their unparalleled fragrance.

Our Mediterranean climate is well-suited to growing roses, assuming one’s garden has a protected space with five or six hours of sun each day. Roses require sufficient sun to thrive.

This is the time of year when bare root roses are available at local nurseries. I’m thinking about planting a new rosebush in a sunny spot as a specimen plant: I can see a large bush of yellow roses there. But before I plant another one, it’s important to tend to my existing roses. And so should you.

First, go through your rose bed and pick all the old leaves off the plants. The next few months, rose plants should go dormant, resting and getting ready to grow again in spring. If the rose plant is not supporting those last, clinging leaves, it will become dormant more quickly. Similarly, pull the petals from the faded flowers, but don’t cut them off. By leaving them on the plant, it encourages the formation of rose hips before they go dormant. Later, you can gather the rose hips and use them to make tea.

I have several roses that are budded roses, that is, flowering canes grafted onto root stock. January is a good time to prune them. I will not prune my miniature rose

bush, or the ramblers down in the corner of the garden (those not grafted onto root stock) because they bloom on current growth. If I prune them now, I will be cutting off this season’s potential blooms.

For the others, it’s best to prune off the dead branches, twiggy growth and crossing branches. Since the leaves have been removed, it’s easier to see the skeleton of the plant and decide how you want to encourage it to grow. Look carefully at the bud and consider the future shape of the bush: buds facing outward away from the center of the plant will increase the width of the plant as they grow. Buds facing inward toward the center of the plant will create a more compact shape. I cut ¼ inch above a bud on a downward slant away from the bud, so rainwater will drain. I remove a third to half of the plant. Then take the opportunity to spray each rose with dormant oil to eliminate pests.

After you’ve finished pruning, pick up all the leaves and petals and dispose of them. This act of good garden hygiene prevents pests developing in the discarded foliage, pests that would be well-positioned to attack my plants in spring.

Now for a new rose bush. At the nursery, I will examine the bare root roses — looking a lot like brown sticks — and choose one with several healthy canes growing above the bud union, the location at the base of the plant where a bud producing blooming canes was grafted onto the rootstock. I also will look for a substantial bundle of roots to support my plant. Since the plants have no leaves or flowers, you have to rely on the little metal tag attached to one of the canes to indicate the rose. Although the nursery may be selling plants dipped in wax, avoid buying any of them. The wax keeps the plants from drying out during shipment, but it also prevents the plants from breathing properly once they are planted.

Before planting the new rose, trim off any broken roots and dead twigs and soak the entire plant for 24 hours in a bucket of water to rehydrate it. Add 1 cup of household bleach to 5 gallons of water to create a solution that can kill any microbes the plant is carrying.

When planting, dig a hole large enough to spread the roots out nicely. I like the old saw “put a 50-cent plant in a $5 hole” to describe the hole’s relative dimensions. Before replacing any dirt in the hole, mix it with compost. Since the soil in my garden is clay — that is, composed of a lot of small particles that clump together — mixing in compost lightens the dirt and allows it to drain better.

In the bottom of the hole, I often build a cone of my newly mixed soil, high enough so that when I put the plant on it, the bud union will be about 3 inches above ground. I then spread its bare roots over the mound so they will support the plant from all directions. Then I fill in the rest of the soil mixture, carefully tamping it down. I add mulch around the stem of the plant, covering the bud union to keep it from drying out. The mulch should be removed after six weeks. In the next few months, the mound of soil under the rose will compact and the plant will sink, so the bud union will be just above the ground. I build a small dike around the plant and water it well — my father used to call it “puddling in.”

Our winter rains will probably keep a new rose plant watered, but if we have a dry spell, make sure to keep the plant moist. By spring, it will be ready to grow. If you have planted a budded rose, it should bloom the first year. If you have bought a rose growing on its own roots, don’t expect any blossoms: its job this first year is to develop healthy roots and become established. In either case, you can anticipate many beautiful blooms in years to come.

For more information on how to care for roses in Marin, check out the Marin Rose Society website, www.marinrose.org. The Society encourages those who are interested to attend their meeting at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 10 at the Livermore Room of the Marin Art and Garden Center at 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd. in Ross.

The University of California Marin Master Gardeners are sponsored by UC Cooperative Extension. For questions about gardening, plant pests or diseases, call 499-4204 from 9 a.m. to noon, and 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays, or bring in samples or pictures to 1682 Novato Blvd., Suite 150B, Novato.

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PRAIRIE ROSES: To Hennepin County (Minn.) District Judge Lloyd Zimmerman for refusing to hear cases at suburban courtrooms until stronger security is in place. The judge is one of several who have been trying to raise awareness of the danger judges and courtroom personnel face in courthouses that do not have adequate security measures, including metal detectors. The incidence of guns getting into courtrooms is up across the nation. Judges, lawyers and others are increasingly at risk. Some have been killed. Zimmerman’s action might seem over the top, but he is calling attention to a real problem in some suburban Twin Cities courthouses. Many counties have taken the threat seriously and installed metal detectors and other security measures. But many have not, in part because of budget constraints. But courtroom security should be a priority. Zimmerman is right to raise a flag of concern.

PRAIRIE ROSES: To the unknown shoplifter who, after nearly 40 years, paid the Straus Clothing store $100 for stealing a sweater. The theft occurred in the Grand Forks store, which has been closed for years. The payment came to the owners of the Fargo store last week. The five $20 bills were accompanied by a note that admitted the theft of the sweater 37 years ago. While shoplifting losses are a part of doing retail business, it’s a rare happening to have a shoplifter pay up, especially after so long a time. It was a nice touch as the holiday season winds down.

PRAIRIE ROSES: To state Rep. Kathy Hawken, R-Fargo, who has changed her mind about stepping out of the North Dakota House of Representatives. She will seek re-election this fall. Hawken, one of the Legislature’s strongest voices for children’s issues, education and women’s issues, changed her mind after talking with friends and colleagues and after state Sen. Tom Fischer, R-Fargo, died. They were friends, and during the last legislative session, Fischer urged her to seek re-election. Hawken has been in the House since 1997 and brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to her public service. She also is not one to parrot the party line when it’s out of line with her values and priorities. That’s a rare quality in lawmakers.

Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.

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opinion, editorial

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Kate Middleton‘s 30th birthday came a little early yesterday.

Kate turns 30 today but was lavished with best wishes and roses, as our picture shows, when she attended last night’s gala premiere of Steven Spielberg‘s film ‘War Horse’ in London.

The film features a number of Irish actors. But Kate and husband William were the centre of attention when they arrived.

FULL REPORT: PAGE 5

Irish Independent

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