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PR Newswire MONTREAL, March 15, 2017 MONTREAL, March 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - Air Canada announced today the return of daily year-round service between Montreal and Washington Dulles (IAD) starting May 1, 2017, offering more choice for customers travelling between Montreal and the Washington, D.C., Metro area. In addition to well-timed connections to Air Canada's extensive network to Europe and North Africa, flights will also offer one-stop service to/from Quebec and Eastern Canada including Bagotville, Sept-Îles, Quebec City, Fredericton, Moncton, Bathurst, Saint John and Halifax. Special introductory fares start as low as $191 one-way, all in, and tickets are now available for purchase at aircanada.com or through travel agents. "We are happy to once again operate Montreal-Washington Dulles (IAD) flights that complement our existing twice daily flights to Washington National Airport and strengthen our market presence in the Washington, D.C., Metro area," said Benjamin Smith, President, Passenger Airlines, at Air Canada. "We continue to strategically grow our transborder network in support of our commitment to expand our global reach from Montreal-Trudeau reinforcing it as a hub that offers convenient connections from points throughout Quebec and Eastern Canada and to Air Canada's extensive international network including Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and Casablanca." The daily non-stop Air Canada Express service will be operated with 50-seat Bombardier CRJ-100 aircraft. All flights provide for Aeroplan accumulation and redemption, Star Alliance reciprocal benefits and, for eligible customers, priority check-in, Maple Leaf Lounge access, priority boarding and other benefits. Flight # Depart Time Arrive Time AC8172 Montreal (YUL) 13:25 Washington (IAD) 15:09 AC8173 Washington (IAD) 15:40 Montreal (YUL) 17:15 So far in 2017, Air Canada has launched new non-stop U.S. services from Montreal to Dallas-Fort Worth and now to Washington Dulles; Toronto to: San Antonio, Memphis and Savannah; Vancouver to: Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and Boston. About Air Canada Air Canada is Canada's largest domestic and international airline serving more than 200 airports on six continents. Canada's flag carrier is among the 20 largest airlines in the world and in 2016 served close to 45 million customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly to 64 airports in Canada, 57 in the United States and 91 in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network serving 1,330 airports in 192 countries. Air Canada is the only international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com, follow @AirCanada on Twitter and join Air Canada on Facebook. Internet: aircanada.com SOURCE Air Canada Copyright © 2017 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved

Vietnam airlines plans on beginning service to Los Angeles in 2018. Montreal is mentioned as a beyond point (whatever that means). .Under the terms of the Vietnam-United States Air Services Agreement, the Vietnamese government, in 2007, designated the following cities in the US it wishes to serve on a regular basis alongside Los Angeles: San Francisco, CA; Seattle Tacoma Int'l; New York; Washington Dulles; and Dallas/Fort Worth. As intermediary points, it specified Taipei Taoyuan, Taiwan and Nagoya Chubu, Japan while beyond travel points were listed as Vancouver Int'l, Montréal Trudeau, and Toronto Pearson in Canada. No local traffic rights between Japan and the United States have been granted.

The 7 Ugliest Government Buildings In Washington, D.C. DO NOT PROCEED if you are allergic to concrete. posted on July 16, 2014, at 3:25 p.m. Montreal-Washington, sister cities?

plannersweb.com/2014/02/walmart-stores-go-small-urban/ <header style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: 'Minion W01 Regular', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"> Taking a Closer Look Walmart Stores Go Small and Urban by Edward McMahon </header>Can big box retailers think outside the box? A few years ago the idea of a pedestrian friendly big box store would have been laughable, but as urban living has become more popular the major chain retailers are paying attention and beginning to build urban format stores. On December 4, 2013 Walmart opened its first two stores in Washington, DC and the new stores illustrate the lengths to which brick and mortar retailers will go to get into rapidly growing urban markets. Compared to the old “grey-blue battleship box” that has saturated suburban and small town America, the new urban Walmart on H Street, NW in Washington is a remarkable departure. <figure id="attachment_13030" class="thumbnail wp-caption aligncenter" style="padding: 0px; line-height: 20px; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; margin: 0px auto; width: 520px;"><figcaption class="caption wp-caption-text" style="font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; padding: 9px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">View of Walmart on H Street, NW in Washington, DC. Photo by Edward McMahon.</figcaption></figure> Whether you love them or loathe them, this building proves that Walmart — one of the most recognizable symbols of modern suburbia — is going urban. Who ever thought that Walmart shoppers could sleep upstairs and shop downstairs, but that is exactly what residents of the new Walmart near downtown Washington will be able to do. The 83,000 square ft. store built in partnership with JBG Rosenfeld is in a mixed use building topped by four stories of apartments. Instead of acres of asphalt, the parking is underground. In addition to the Walmart, there is another 10,000 square ft. of retail space wrapped around the outside of the retail giant. Retail tenants currently include a Starbucks and a bank, with more to follow. The residential portion of the building contains 303 apartments, a fitness center, a lounge area, a roof deck, and a swimming pool. <figure id="attachment_13034" class="thumbnail wp-caption aligncenter" style="padding: 0px; line-height: 20px; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; margin: 0px auto; width: 520px;"><figcaption class="caption wp-caption-text" style="font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; padding: 9px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">View of roof deck and pool on top of the H Street Walmart in Washington, DC. Photo courtesy of JBG Companies.</figcaption></figure>The main store entrance sits right on the sidewalk and shoppers will use an escalator to reach the store level. The store itself offers more groceries than a typical Walmart and the shopping floor is day lighted by real windows. Designed by MV+A Architects and the Preston Partnership, the H Street Walmart is a handsome urban building with traditional human scale details. It includes cornices, individual multi-pane windows, an interesting corner feature at the main entrance, and a separate entrance for residents. It is a fully urban, pedestrian friendly building. Whether you love them or loathe them, this building proves that Walmart — one of the most recognizable symbols of modern suburbia — is going urban. While the H Street store is by far the better of the two new urban Walmart’s in Washington, the other new store on Georgia Avenue, NW is also a significant departure from the typical suburban store design. Built on the site of an abandoned car dealership, the Georgia Avenue Walmart is a 102,000 square foot store on a four acre site. <figure id="attachment_13036" class="thumbnail wp-caption aligncenter" style="padding: 0px; line-height: 20px; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; margin: 0px auto; width: 520px;"><figcaption class="caption wp-caption-text" style="font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; padding: 9px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">View of the new Walmart on Georgia Avenue in Washington, DC. Photo by Edward McMahon.</figcaption></figure>Given the small size of the property, the only way to build a large store was to eliminate surface parking and bring the store right up to the sidewalk. The parking is located in a garage located directly below the store. While the building is not mixed use, it does greet the street and represent a real evolution for Walmart. The lesson here is that cities that want good design are going to have to demand it. In addition to the two stores that opened in December, 2013, Walmart has announced plans for four additional stores in Washington. Based on a review of their plans, some will be walkable, urban format stores, others will not. Dan Malouff, a design critic with the Greater Greater Washington blog, says that one will be unquestionably urban, one will be a hybrid, and two will be almost completely suburban. 1 The lesson here is that cities that want good design are going to have to demand it. <figure id="attachment_13042" class="thumbnail wp-caption aligncenter" style="padding: 0px; line-height: 20px; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; margin: 0px auto; width: 520px;"><figcaption class="caption wp-caption-text" style="font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; padding: 9px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">Design rendering of Walmart now under construction in Washington’s Fort Totten neighborhood. Graphic courtesy of JBG Companies.</figcaption></figure>Building an Urban Format Store Can Walmart build an urban format store? The answer appears to be yes, but it also appears that the only thing standard in an urban format big box store is its lack of standardization. Building suburban big box stores is simple. Buy a 20 acre suburban greenfield site. Build a large, free standing rectangular single floor building on a concrete slab. Plop the building in a sea of parking. A Walmart Supercenter in the suburbs of Atlanta, for example, is essentially identical to one in the suburbs of Chicago or Cincinnati. This model simply won’t work in a dense urban area. The two things that have kept Walmart out of cities were its inflexibility on design issues and opposition from labor unions and civic activists who oppose the company because of its low wages and negative impact on existing local businesses. Now that it appears that Walmart is willing (when pushed by local government) to adapt its stores to the urban environment, it is likely only a matter of time before the retail giant moves into cities all over the country. <figure id="attachment_13043" class="thumbnail wp-caption alignleft" style="padding: 0px; line-height: 20px; border: none; border-top-left-radius: 0px; border-top-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-right-radius: 0px; border-bottom-left-radius: 0px; -webkit-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; -webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; transition: all 0.2s ease-in-out; float: left; margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px; width: 320px;"><figcaption class="caption wp-caption-text" style="font-style: italic; font-size: 14px; padding: 9px; color: rgb(85, 85, 85);">Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago’s Loop. photo by Eric Allix Rogers, Flickr Creative Commons license.</figcaption></figure>Big Boxes are Getting Smaller Another thing that is clear is that big boxes are getting smaller. The new 80,000 square ft. Walmart in Washington is half the size of many suburban Supercenters. What’s more, Walmart is creating new formats uniquely designed for cities. The new Walmart Neighborhood Market, for example, is only 40,000 square feet while the so-called Walmart Express stores are only 15,000 square feet. Walmart has even opened two college stores, at Georgia Tech in Atlanta 2 and at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. 3 Each of these stores is less than 5000 square feet in size. [TABLE=class: tg, width: 475] <tbody>[TR] [TH=class: tg-acmm, bgcolor: #F1C40F]Store Type[/TH] [TH=class: tg-acmm, bgcolor: #F1C40F]Square Footage[/TH] [TH=class: tg-acmm, bgcolor: #F1C40F]Date Initiated[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: tg-031e]Discount Store[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]106,000 sq. ft.[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]1962[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: tg-031e]Supercenter[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]182,000 sq. ft.[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]1982[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: tg-031e]Neighborhood Market[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]38,000 sq. ft.[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]1998[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: tg-031e]Express Store[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]15,000 sq. ft.[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]2011[/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD=class: tg-031e]College Store[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]Under 5,000 sq. ft.[/TD] [TD=class: tg-031e]2013[/TD] [/TR] </tbody>[/TABLE] Times have changed. The country’s largest retailers have oversaturated rural and suburban communities. The only place left with more spending power than stores is in our cities. Walmart has made its urban debut. The outstanding question remaining is: what impact will Walmart have on local economies and wages? Washington, DC, City Councilman Phil Mendelson, a co-sponsor of unsuccessful legislation that would have required big box retailers to pay a living wage and benefits, expressed skepticism about the impact of Walmart on the local economy. “I would say, having the world’s largest retailer interested in locating in the city where we’ve lost almost every other department store over the last four decades — that’s a good thing. Having an economic competitor who underprices the market and causes a descent to the bottom, in terms of wages — that is not a good thing.”4 While Walmart is clearly evolving to fit into cities, there is also evidence that the retail giant is willing to break the mold in smaller towns and suburbs. What About Smaller Towns & Suburbs? While Walmart is clearly evolving to fit into cities, there is also evidence that the retail giant is willing to break the mold in smaller towns and suburbs. This is because retail store size is shrinking due to the growth of internet shopping and also because suburbs are changing to stay competitive. Target, Whole Foods, Safeway, Giant, and other chains are already breaking the rules by building smaller footprint stores in multi-story buildings and mixed use developments. Walmart has recently opened several small town stores with parking under the building or with solar installations on the roof. What impact Walmart and other big box retailers will have on cities and the neighborhoods where they locate remains to be seen. Harriet Tregoning, the planning Director in Washington, DC, says that “Walmart does not offer any meaningful shopping experience. It competes solely on price and convenience.” 5Her message to small businesses is that “if you are in direct competition with Walmart you are in the wrong business to begin with.” Instead she says “businesses that offer something Walmart can’t like bars, restaurants and stores selling specialty goods or offering personalized levels of service — will continue to thrive.” In some ways, the idea of national chains opening big new urban stores is a return to the way things once were. In 1960, we called it department store. Today we call it a Walmart. Ed McMahon is one of the country’s most incisive analysts of planning and land use issues and trends. He holds the Charles Fraser Chair on Sustainable Development and is a Senior Resident Fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington, DC. McMahon is a frequent speaker at conferences on planning and land development. Over the past 21 years, we’ve been pleased to have published more than two dozen articles by McMahon in the Planning Commissioners Journal, and now on PlannersWeb.com. Notes: Dan Maloutt, “Walmart’s 6 DC stores: Some will be urban, some won’t” (Greater Greater Washington blog, April 26, 2012) ↩ Allison Brooks, “The world’s tiniest Walmart opens in Atlanta” (Atlanta Magazine, Aug. 14, 2013 ↩ Todd Gill, “Now open: Walmart on Campus” (Fayetteville Flyer, Jan. 14, 2011).↩ Ryan Holeywell, “Walmart Makes Its Urban Debut” (Governing Magazine, June 2012) ↩ Id. ↩

Vu sur Reddit, Ce nouveau condo à Washington D.C. utilise une très belle image de marque. http://loreegranddc.com/

Ouch! The Startup Genome, which collects data to figure out what makes startups successful, has released its latest results. TechCrunch reported that, these are the 25 best startup ecosystems in the world: Silicon Valley (San Francisco, Palo Alto, San Jose, Oakland) New York City (NYC, Brooklyn) London Toronto Tel Aviv Los Angeles Singapore Sao Paulo Bangalore Moscow Paris Santiago Seattle Madrid Chicago Vancouver Berlin Boston Austin Mumbai Sydney Melbourne Warsaw Washington D.C. Montreal In Silicon Valley, for instance, the Startup Genome's data showed that it had the following characteristics, which attracted entrepreneurs: "Strong early stage funding ecosystem. More mentors. Most Ambitious. High Risk." New York, on the other hand, had the following characteristics: "Diverse. Niche Focus. Marketplace and Social Network focus. High risk." Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook. Follow Boonsri Dickinson on Twitter. Ask Boonsri A Question > Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-25-places-to-live-if-youre-starting-a-startup-2012-4#ixzz1rqyx4diF http://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-25-places-to-live-if-youre-starting-a-startup-2012-4

1. Mont Tremblant-Mirabel-Montreal-Boston-New York 2. Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa-Toronto-Windsor-Detroit-Chicago 3. Toronto-Hamilton-Buffalo-New York-Washington Honestly not sure how many different ways I can have it work out. Would be interesting to see this as a maglev project, would cost a fortune, but would be nice having all these cities finally connected by rail. For sure certain cities would still be faster by plane. Life Ottawa to Washington, probably better by plane.

Voici un article du magazine Voyages d'Affaires, Paris, octobre/novembre 2010 qui place Montréal au premier rang en Amérique du Nord pour les congres internationaux en damant le pion à New York, Boston, Washington, Vancouver et Toronto. http://www.voyages-d-affaires.com/meetings-et-incentive/meetings-et-congres/canada-montreal-premiere-destination-d-amerique-du-nord

2010-06-22 WORLDHOTELS Adds 26 New Affiliate Hotels to Its Global Portfolio Since Jan. 1, 2010 For WORLDHOTELS-The Americas development team, new projects are in various stages of completion for new affiliate hotels in New York (2); Brazil (5), Argentina (2) and Mexico (2). Future regional development plans include hotels and resorts located in Memphis, Washington, D.C., Boston, San Francisco, Houston, Toronto and Montreal. Anybody knows anything about these folks? http: //www.worldhotels.com/hotels-and-resorts.html?&L=0 :)

Mort Zuckerman Who: Real estate developer Mortimer B. Zuckerman is the chairman of Boston Properties, one of the largest real estate developers in the United States, and the owner of U.S. News & World Report and the New York Daily News. Backstory: The son of a Montreal tobacco and candy wholesaler who passed away when Zuckerman was 17, the future real estate mogul headed off to college at McGill at age 16, then moved to the U.S. in the late '50s to attend business school at Wharton and law school at Harvard. After briefly enrolling in a PhD program, he turned to real estate, taking a job at a Boston-based development firm called Cabot, Cabot & Forbes at a starting salary $8,750. Zuckerman soon became one of the firm's young stars; he proved himself to be a pretty brash operator a few years later when he struck out on his own and teamed up with Ed Linde to form Boston Properties: Zuckerman immediately filed suit against his former employer over his ownership interest in a property he developed and ended up collecting a $5 million, which he used to make some of his first real estate deals. In the early '70s, Zuckerman and Linde began developing office buildings on the outskirts of Boston; they later moved into Boston proper and expanded to other cities during the '80s. By the middle part of the decade, Boston Properties had assembled 50 properties in its portfolio, 10 million square feet of real estate in Washington, Boston, New York, and San Francisco. It was during the company's growth spurt that Zuckerman started making his first investments in media, acquiring a small local newspaper chain in New England in the mid-'70s, The Atlantic in 1980, and U.S. News & World Report four years later. He purchased the Daily News in 1992. Of note: Zuckerman continues to serve as chairman of Boston Properties, and today the publicly-traded real-estate investment trust controls more than 100 commercial properties across the country. In New York, Boston Property's portfolio includes 599 Lexington (where Zuckerman's own 18th floor office is located) and 7 Times Square, which was built in 2004. But while there's little question Zuckerman has been enormously successful in the real estate game, his media track record is mixed. The Daily News squeezes out a small profit, but its battle with the Post has been bloody and painful, and U.S. News has been losing money for years and never managed to close the gap with larger rivals like Time and Newsweek. Zuckerman did extraordinarily well with his purchase of Fast Company—he unloaded it at the height of the dotcom boom for $350 million—but other media forays haven't panned out. In 2003, Zuckerman put in a bid for New York, ultimately losing out to Bruce Wasserstein; his investment in Radar lost him a good sum of money; and more recently, his effort to purchase Newsday never came to fruition when Cablevision's Jim Dolan snagged it instead. Keeping score: Zuckerman is worth $2.8 billion according to Forbes. On the job: Zuckerman isn't the sort of developer who spends his days on construction sites wearing a hard hat. Owning media outlets generates the sort of political and social currency that gives him entrée to the Washington political establishment and lands him an occasional seat on Sunday morning political talk shows. And he actively exercises his political influence as the "editor-in-chief" of U.S. News and owner of the News. While he isn't exactly sitting at his desk proofreading copy, he has a hand in the editorial direction of the magazine, which, most recently, he's used to take a series of (often cheap) shots at President Obama. Grudge: With the Daily News and the Post at each other's throats, Zuckerman has been a bitter rival of Rupert Murdoch for years. The Daily News questions the Post's circulation numbers. The Post chides "the Daily Snooze" for every misspelling and factual error. The News refers to Page Six as "Page Fix." The Post questions the methodology used to generate U.S. News's college rankings. And on and on. (The one thing they don't do is go after each other personally. Several years ago, PR guru Howard Rubenstein negotiated a pact between the two moguls to keep their private lives out of their respective papers.) He also isn't a fan of Bernie Madoff. After the Ponzi schemer was busted in 2009, Zuckerman revealed his personal foundation lost $25 million that had been entrusted to Madoff. Pet causes: Zuckerman gives to a variety of medical causes and Jewish charitable groups. In 2006, he announced his largest gift yet when he handed a $100 million check to Memorial Sloan-Kettering. His connection to the institution is personal: His daughter, Abigail, suffered from a childhood cancer that was treated at MSK. Personal: A notorious bachelor—the Washington Post once described him as having "dated more women than Italy has had governments"—Zuckerman's been connected to Nora Ephron, Gloria Steinem, Arianna Huffington, Diane von Furstenberg, Patricia Duff, and Marisa Berenson. In 1996, he tied the knot with art curator Marla Prather. (Justice Stephen Breyer officiated.) In 1997, they had a daughter, Abigail, before separating in 2000 and divorcing in 2001. In December of 2008, Zuckerman had a second daughter named Renee Esther. The identity of the mother, though, was not announced. It's believed the child was conceived via a surrogate. Habitat: Zuckerman resides in a triplex penthouse apartment at 950 Fifth Avenue decorated with paintings by Picasso, Rothko, and Matisse and sculptures by Frank Stella. (His neighbor back in the day was disgraced Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski.) Zuckerman also has a four-acre spread on Lily Pond Lane in East Hampton and a home in Aspen. Zuckerman has a helicopter to ferry him to the Hamptons. For longer trips, he relies on a $60 million, 18-seat Gulfstream G550 or a $35 million Falcon 900 that seats 14 people. True story: A film director pal, Irwin Winkler, cast him in the 1999 film, At First Sight. The role? Billionaire mogul Zuckerman played a homeless man. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Vital Stats Full Name: Mortimer Benjamin Zuckerman Date of Birth: 06/04/1937 Place of Birth: High School: Undergrad: McGill University Graduate: McGill University Law School, Wharton, Harvard Law School Residence(s): Upper East Side, Aspen, CO East Hampton, NY Filed Under: Business, Media, Real Estate http://gawker.com/5646808/

this is kinda old, but it's well written and pretty interesting from an 'historical' point of view, of sorts ... it's a 1999 washington post tourism piece, set in the context of a d.c. man visiting montreal, and going to a ball game "to see the team washington will probably inherit". it nicely highlights the city's unique attractions, all the while quite accurately summing up the general mood that surrounded baseball in montreal at the time. oh, and for extra sentimentality, read with in the background ... ----------------------------------- Montreal, Expos'd Visiting the City Whose Team Might Call D.C. Home By Mike Tidwell The Washington Post Sunday, July 11, 1999 Hundreds of crazed fans in this crowd of 5,000 foreigners begin standing and savagely slamming the backs of their chairs up and down, up and down to register their intense approval of what's going on on the playing field. The act creates sharp explosions of sound not unlike small-arms fire. The only people not banging chairs, it seems, are the sticky-fingered children eating deep-fried dough or forking strange mounds of fried potatoes laced with cheese and gravy. Suddenly, down on the field halfway through this "match," something bad happens for the home team. The French-speaking fans begin yelling at the mostly Spanish-speaking players: "Pourri! Pourri!" Rotten! Rotten! People whistle and blow long, booming plastic horns. I am, of course, taking in a major league baseball game in Montreal. I'm watching the pinstriped Expos on their home turf, a nine-inning experience that's perhaps the best multicultural adventure available to Washingtonians within easy flying distance of Reagan National Airport. It's a spectacle, a combination of God's two greatest inventions: baseball and international travel. As a junkie for both, I'm borderline apoplectic, immersed in fastballs and home runs, foreign billboards and surnames I can't pronounce. But a worrisome question nags as I sip my Molson: Do we really want these guys? Unless you're tone deaf to sports news, you probably know there's rampant speculation that the financially troubled Expos may move to the D.C. area. So I've come here as more than a sports tourist. I'm on a scouting mission, crossing the border for a sneak preview. I've already told my 2-year-old son, an emerging fan back in Takoma Park, that this is his team. He wears a tiny Expos hat when we play Whiffle ball in the back yard. But seeing this team firsthand reveals the naked truth: They're awful. Just now, an Expos batter strikes out on four pitches against the Philadelphia Phillies, triggering grumbles from the sparse crowd at Olympic Stadium. The team mascot--an orange and hairy something called "Youppi" (French for "hooray")--leads the fans in more chair-slamming fun, trying to keep a rally alive. The next batter runs the count full, teasing the fans, before popping out to the pitcher. More grumbles. The Expos have the lowest team payroll in baseball and some of the youngest players--and they are off to one of their worst starts in the team's 30-year history. Two nights ago, the players committed six errors in a single game. Again: Do we really want these guys? The answer, of course: Oui! Si! Yes! Please! Pretty please! Pretty please with whipped cream and a new, stylishly retro downtown stadium within easy walking distance of the Metro on top! Expos second baseman Wilton Guerrero steps to the plate as Youppi waves his hirsute arms wildly and the fans begin yelling things in French I can't understand. Guerrero, like the rest of the team, is in a terrible slump, and he falls behind in the count just as I come to a realization: Whatever happens in this game, I'll leave without regrets. If the Expos decamp for Washington, this will be the last summer to see French Canadian big-league baseball, a phenomenon worth catching before it goes, if for no other reason than it provides something found nowhere else in North America: minor league baseball with major league players. For anyone fashionably tired of big pro salaries, high ticket prices, arrogant players and the hassle of big crowds, the Expos offer the best of all worlds. I took a cheap Air Canada flight here, spent two days touring one of the world's great cities, and now I'm getting the farm league treatment: a tiny crowd, players barely old enough to shave, a crazy marriage proposal in the stands brokered by the mascot, and a wooden outfield scoreboard with numbers updated manually by teenagers. All this for the ridiculously low ticket price of less than $5 U.S. and a seat so close to the action that I can almost smell the pine tar. Guerrero bounces to second for an out, ending the inning. I do the only sensible thing. I order another Molson. My innkeeper in downtown Montreal, Madeline, says in accented English, "So what if the Expos leave town? There are many things fantastique and unique in Montreal besides just the Expos." She's right, of course, and during my two-day stay I'm determined see some "things fantastique" before hitting the ballpark. I begin by renting a mountain bike and pedaling straight to the top of Mont Royal, the dramatic, forested mountain (okay, a big hill) in the dead center of town that gives the city its name. A winding gravel road takes me through stands of Canadian maples to a beautiful summit park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. It's odd to stand at the grassy pinnacle and be eyeball to eyeball with the tops of skyscrapers just 10 blocks away. On the way down, pausing for great views of the lovely St. Lawrence River, I pass a pair of oddly segregated cemeteries--one for French speakers, one for English speakers--a site that mutely summarizes the long-festering cultural divisions within Quebec. I pedal to the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, a 40-square-block delight of colonial structures and alleyways filled with horse-drawn caleches and itinerant artists. A warm spring sun has unloosed crowds of diners on the city's Euro-gamut of outdoor cafes, bistros and restaurants. The legendary French Canadian reputation for highly developed leisure skills is on full display this Sunday afternoon amid a sea of white tablecloths and red wines so good that even the vin de maison is a pretty sure bet. I eat grilled salmon served rare with escargots on a bed of scallions and garlic, and nearly swoon. The next day is game day. I visit the Old Fort on St. Helen's Island, in the middle of the St. Lawrence River, before heading to Olympic Stadium. After the War of 1812, the British prepared for a possible American invasion of Montreal by building this moated fortress with eight-foot-long cannons and two-meter-thick stone walls. As something of an invader myself, I grow slightly self-conscious inside those walls. Maybe I'm paranoid, but the eyes of those period-dress sentries make me think they're onto me, pegging me as the expeditionary fingertip of Washington's long arm reaching up to snatch the Expos. I make a discreet but hasty exit. I arrive three hours before the game, leaving plenty of time to tour the flag-festooned Olympic Park. I buy a ticket for the highly touted gondola ride rising from the spine of Olympic Stadium. Photos of the 1976 Games ornament the waiting area: Nadia Comaneci, Kornelia Ender, Sugar Ray Leonard. But I soon learn something unexpected about myself: Facing backward in a gondola rapidly moving upward at a 45-degree angle makes me afraid. At the top, pale and sweating, I take in a dramatic aerial view of the famous Olympic Village, the Montreal Botanical Garden and the city's 1967 international Expo site. Back on terra firma, there's time for one more stop: Moe's Deli and Bar, where Expos fans gather. It's a friendly place with exposed-brick walls, barbecued ribs and desserts kept in an old phone booth by the bar. It's happy hour--two-for-one Labatt beers--till well past game time, perhaps to anesthetize the fans for the poor play sure to follow. I sit at the bar next to Daniel, a baseball-hatted Expos loyalist, who has a message for D.C. fans. "Don't accept our Expos," he tells me. "You've lost two teams of your own before, so you know what it feels like. Please don't do this to us." I grimace and finish my second Labatt and push back my stool while Daniel, like all Montrealers I meet, remains a friendly sport to the end. "When you reach the stadium," he says, "buy the cheapest ticket in the house. It's only $7 Canadian [$4.80 U.S.]. Then, after the first pitch, sit wherever you want." "A $7 seat, please," I tell the stadium ticket seller moments later, handing over my money. I walk through the turnstile, past the popcorn and pennant venders, toward Section 139, right field. Virtually alone in my area, I take in batting practice amid thoroughly modern trappings: artificial turf, a space-age stadium roof, a gargantuan replay screen in center field. But already it doesn't quite feel like major league baseball. First, of course, there's the ticket price, about a quarter of what you'd pay at Camden Yards. Then there's the action on the field. An Expos coach is pitching batting practice using a wobbly shopping cart full of baseballs, and he's throwing to the beat of French rock music blasting over the P.A. Thirty feet below me, two teenage boys are standing on a crude scaffold, diligently updating a sprawling pre-World War II-type wooden scoreboard that gives results from around the league. This old-fashioned work, utterly exposed to those of us in the cheap seats, involves taking scores from a press-box official, then reaching into several wooden troughs for wooden slabs hand-painted with numbers and sliding them into the appropriate slot. One of them wears a felt Gatsby hat. I exit the stands for a quick pregame bite. "One order of poutine," I tell the uniformed attendant at a concession stand. Poutine, a uniquely Quebecois concoction combining french fries, cheddar cheese and beef-stock gravy, is so popular that it's served at McDonald's restaurants throughout the province. I watch the cook in back combine the fries and cheese in a tall paper cup, then slop on a ladleful of thick gravy from a stainless-steel vat. He pauses and then, momentarily indecisive, adds a second, heaping ladleful. I'm back at my seat in time for the national anthem, spearing dripping mouthfuls of poutine with a fork. For extreme junk food, it's not so bad, though halfway through the serving my stomach begins making odd noises that compete with the junior high school band playing "O Canada" with tubas and French horns on the field. The Expos take the field next, and the crowd, sprinkled more or less evenly across the stadium, begins banging empty seats up and down in preparation for the opening pitch. Twenty-five-year-old Expos pitcher Mike Thurman is on the mound, and as he warms up you can almost sense the whole place cringe. With an 0-2 record and an ERA of 8.05, he's the worst pitcher on the second-worst pitching staff in the National League. Just two nights ago, Expos pitchers gave up 17 runs in a game. But the first pitch from Thurman is a strike on the outside corner, and cheers go up just as the strange migration begins. True to Daniel's prediction, everyone in the stands not already seated behind home plate makes a beeline for amazingly choice (and empty) lower-level seats just 20 rows from the field (above a narrow VIP section) in an arc from dugout to dugout. I grab the rest of my poutine and join the exodus. By the end of the first inning, we fans are huddled cozily around home plate. In the third inning, the Expos stage a mini rally. Third baseman Mike Mordecai lines a clean single to left, and the juices start flowing in the stands. I get caught up in the excitement--this is my team, too--so I stand and begin slamming the back of my chair and cheer madly like those around me. The noise coming from these fans is, no exaggeration, as much as I've heard from crowds four times as big in other parks. Despite the high-decibel support, the rally sputters when Thurman strikes out trying to lay down a bunt. Next to me, a serious fan named Jean Yves Leduc is studiously scoring the game. He says he's attended at least 40 Expos home games every year for the past two decades. He puts down his scoring pencil and reminisces about highlights, including the 22-inning game against Los Angeles in 1987 and the time he shook hands with third baseman Tim Wallach in the parking lot before a game. "I could feel all the calluses on Wallach's hand from taking extra batting practice every day," Yves says. "I'll never forget those calluses. He was so dedicated to this team and to the game." And what will Yves do if the Expos leave town? "I had a talk with my girlfriend," he says, "and I decided that, with all my new free time, I would just go ahead and get married and have a life." It's the top of the fourth when Thurman makes a mistake pitch and Phillies right-fielder Bobby Abreu lifts a second two-run homer into left field. Four-zip, Philadelphia. "One more Phillies run," mutters the old farmer next to me after removing his teeth, whistling and putting them back in, "and I'm going home to watch hockey." Halfway through the fifth inning, Yves gets into an animated conversation with a hot dog vendor. It's all in French, and they both laugh a great deal, and I ask Yves what's so funny. "The crowd's so small tonight that the stadium is telling all the vendors--when they go back for more hot dogs--to go home. They're getting paid for only half a game. But this vendor's decided to avoid the order by not going back to resupply. That way, he can at least get his base pay for the rest of the game." Sure enough, the vendor walks away with a smile, barking to the crowd, "No hot dogs here! No hot dogs! Pas de chiens chauds!" Unexpectedly, the Expos make a heroic comeback with three runs in the seventh, while a young relief pitcher called up from Double-A somehow keeps the Phillies scoreless. By the bottom of the ninth, the drama escalates. The Expos are down 4-3 with two outs and a man on second. First baseman Ryan McGuire, who has power, steps to the plate. We may be few, but we fans do our best. Youppi claps his hairy orange hands and directs our cheers to the field. Chairs are banging. The vendor has stopped not selling hot dogs and is rooting like everyone else. The scoreboard guys are smoking nervously, peeping through a hole in the outfield scoreboard. The guy with the false teeth, true to his word, has stayed to the end. On a 2-1 pitch, McGuire lifts a towering blast to left field. We jump for joy and cheer louder and louder. But the Phillies's left fielder refuses to give up on the ball. He drifts back, back, back and, incredibly, makes the catch standing against the outfield fence. Five thousand people collapse in their seats in anguish and disbelief. It was a good game, and the young Expos have no reason to drop their chins. But there is something very sad about the way these previously boisterous fans shuffle slowly out of the stadium. An unusually large number stop and linger at souvenir stands by the exit gates. Souvenir. A French word meaning "to remember." For many of these fans, this may very well be the last time they see their Expos. They buy hats, T-shirts, pennants. To remember. I take the Montreal Metro back to downtown thinking two things. First, I sincerely hope Montreal figures out a way to keep its team, and prosper, even if it means we in D.C. don't get one. Second, if the Expos do come to us, I can't wait for the day when I can take the Washington Metro to a baseball game with my son. I'll really show him how to make a stadium chair hum. ----------------------------------- :rolleyes:

je part dans un mini road trip la semaine prochaine, et j'ai penser vous poster quelques photos. si vous avez des suggestions sur certains spots a visiter dans ces villes, faites moi en part. je serai a: knoxville, atlanta, miami, raleigh, washington, baltimore, philadelphie, new york. stay tuned ...

Équipe de Russie : Markov, Ovechkin, Kovalchuk et autres grosses pointures Publié le vendredi 25 décembre 2009 à 16 h 55 - par Alexandre Lebrun (Corus Sports) - Il faudra certainement attendre le dévoilement des autres formations avant de se prêter au jeu des comparaisons et des prédictions, mais pour l'instant, en regardant les Russes, il semble évident qu'ils ne devraient pas avoir de difficultés à marquer des buts! Outre Andrei Markov du Canadien, Alexander Ovechkin des Capitals et Ilya Kovalchuk des Thrashers, on retrouve notamment Evgeni Malkin et Sergei Gonchar des Penguins, Pavel Datsyuk des Red Wings, ainsi que Alexander Semin, l'un des trois joueurs de Washington à représenter la Russie. Alex Kovalev n'a pas assez impressionné pour se tailler un poste, lui qui présente une fiche de 20 points en 34 matchs avec les Sens cette saison. Les Russes, qui ont remporté leur dernière médaille d'or olympique aux Jeux d'Albertville en 1992, seront assurément l'une des bonnes équipes du tournoi. Le jeu de puissance risque d'être très dévastateur. Imaginez seulement la première unité. Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk et Evgeni Malkin à l'attaque avec Andrei Markov et Sergei Gonchar à la pointe! On parle d'une force de frappe assez puissante... Parmi les autres joueurs sélectionnés, on retrouve quelques anciens du circuit Bettman - qui évoluent maintenant dans la KHL - comme Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk), Viktor Kozlov et Alexander Radulov, ainsi que le défenseur Dmitri Kalinin, tous du Salavat Yulayev Ufa. Maxim Afinogenov, des Thrashers d'Atlanta, a également convaincu les dirigeants qu'il avait sa place, lui qui revendique une fiche de 34 points en 36 matchs cette saison. Du côté des gardiens, Evgeni Nabokov des Sharks, en raison de son expérience, devrait être le partant même si Ilya Bryzgalov, des Coyotes, présente des statistiques plus intéressantes à tous les chapitres, jusqu'à présent. Le jeune Semyon Varlamov sera le troisième gardien. Nikolai Khabibulin, blessé au dos depuis le 16 novembre dernier, n'a pas été retenu. La Russie est le deuxième pays à dévoiler son équipe olympique, après le Bélarus mercredi. La Suède a planifié d'annoncer sa formation dimanche, la Lettonie, la Norvège et la Slovaquie suivront mardi, tandis que la République tchèque, la Finlande, l'Allemagne et la Suisse imiteront le Canada mercredi. Les États-Unis seront les derniers à le faire, le 1er janvier, dans le cadre de la Classique hivernale de la LNH présenté au Fenway Park de Boston. Ce sont 14 joueurs de la LNH et neuf joueurs de la KHL qui ont été sélectionnés Gardiens : Ilya Bryzgalov (Phoenix Coyotes, NHL) Evgeni Nabokov (San Jose Sharks, NHL) Semyon Varlamov (Washington Capitals, NHL) Défenseurs : Sergei Gonchar (Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL) Denis Grebeshkov (Edmonton Oilers, NHL) Dmitri Kalinin (Salavat Yulayev Ufa) Konstantin Korneyev (CSKA Moscow) Andrei Markov (Montreal Canadiens, NHL) Ilya Nikulin (Ak Bars Kazan) Fedor Tyutin (Columbus Blue Jackets, NHL) Anton Vonchenkov (Ottawa Senators, NHL) Attaquants : Maxim Afinogenov (Atlanta Thrashers, NHL) Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings, NHL) Sergei Fedorov (Metallurg Magnitogorsk) Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers, NHL) Viktor Kozlov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa) Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL) Alexei Morozov (Ak Bars Kazan) Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals, NHL) Alexander Radulov (Salavat Yulayev Ufa) Alexander Semin (Washington Capitals, NHL) Danis Zaripov (Ak Bars Kazan) Sergei Zinoviev (Salavat Yulayev Ufa)

GM dérape vers la faillite 12 novembre 2008 - 06h32 Bloomberg General Motors (GM), qui écoule des liquidités à la vitesse grand V et dont les ventes chutent aux États-Unis, dérape de plus en plus vers la faillite, tandis que la société attend de voir si l'industrie de l'auto obtiendra de nouveaux prêts du gouvernement. Seule l'aide de Washington peut empêcher l'effondrement du premier constructeur automobile aux États-Unis, soutiennent différents analystes, dont Joseph Amaturo, de Buckingham Research Group. Hier, l'action de GM a plongé pour la cinquième séance de suite. Il se peut aussi que la réorganisation de GM sous la protection de la cour ne soit pas possible parce que le resserrement du crédit a tari le financement. «Une faillite stratégique n'est pas une option pour GM», avance Mark Oline, analyste en matière de crédit de Fitch Inc., à Chicago. «La question est de savoir si la société marche ou ne marche pas», ajoute-t-il. La perspective d'une liquidation forcée fait en sorte que la quête d'un nouvel emprunt auprès de Washington devient un enjeu encore plus crucial, la société ayant indiqué vendredi dernier qu'elle pourrait être à court de liquidités dès la fin de la présente année. Le 30 septembre dernier, GM disposait de 16,2 milliards US, alors que le constructeur en avait 21 milliards US à la fin de juin. Il faut à GM 11 milliards US pour régler ses factures mensuelles. «Une faillite ne réglerait pas nos problèmes immédiats de liquidités», a souligné Renee Rashid-Merem, porte-parole de GM. «Ce n'est pas une option pour GM parce que cela crée plus de problèmes que ça n'en résout», a-t-elle ajouté. Les ventes de GM aux États-Unis, qui ont chuté de 21% au cours du dernier trimestre et de 45% en octobre, «subiraient un coup terrible» si l'entreprise devait aller en faillite, a dit vendredi dernier Rick Wagoner, PDG de GM, au cours d'une entrevue à Bloomberg Television. M. Wagoner, 55 ans, sabre des emplois et ferme des usines après des pertes de près de 73 milliards US depuis la fin de 2004. Il a indiqué à la revue spécialisée Automotive News que GM a besoin d'un programme d'aide avant que le président élu Barack Obama entre à la Maison-Blanche en janvier. Barack Obama a soulevé directement auprès du président sortant George W. Bush la question d'une aide immédiate de l'État fédéral aux constructeurs automobiles américains en pleine dépression, a indiqué hier son entourage. M. Obama a évoqué cette question lundi lors de ses premières discussions approfondies avec M. Bush à la Maison-Blanche depuis sa victoire le 4 novembre, a dit un collaborateur, confirmant sous le couvert de l'anonymat des informations de la presse. Il se peut que les investisseurs aient déjà conclu que GM ne tiendra pas la route. Hier, le titre a glissé de 44 cents US, ou 13,1%, à 2,92$US, à la Bourse de New York. Cela a poursuivi la descente amorcée lundi à un creux de 59 ans après que Deutsche Bank eut estimé que l'action de GM ne vaudra peut-être plus rien dans un an. GM, Ford et Chrysler ont réclamé une aide de 50 milliards US pour faire face au pire marché de l'auto en 17 ans, ont indiqué des personnes familières avec les discussions. Cette somme s'ajouterait aux 25 milliards US approuvés en septembre pour aider les constructeurs à rééquiper leurs usines pour construire des véhicules moins énergivores. «Il y a de plus en plus de soutien à Washington, au Congrès, à l'idée d'une aide gouvernementale à GM et aux autres constructeurs», estime Bruce Zirinsky, coprésident de la filiale de restructuration financière de Cadwalader, Wickersham&Taft, à New York. «La question est de savoir comment cela sera fait, ajoute-t-il, et à quel prix pour les actionnaires et les créanciers.» Entre-temps, l'agence de notation financière Fitch Ratings a annoncé hier avoir abaissé de six crans la note de dette de long terme du groupe américain de services financiers GMAC, contrôlé à 49% par General Motors et à 51% par Cerberus. La note a été fixée à «CC», reflétant un risque probable de non-remboursement, comparativement à «B+» auparavant. Cette note est sous «surveillance négative», ce qui signifie que Fitch envisage de l'abaisser encore. Standard and Poor's avait également abaissé cette note vendredi, à «CCC». Fitch estime que si GMAC devenait une banque et pouvait prétendre au plan de recapitalisation par le Trésor américain, il le jugerait «positivement», mais qu'il restait «un certain nombre d'obstacles (...), en particulier dans l'actionnariat actuel, ainsi que la levée de capitaux pour satisfaire aux exigences» de ce statut.

Troisième prise pour Washington? Denis Casavant Dimanche 24 mai 2009 Au terme de la saison 1960, les Senators de Washington sont déménagés au Minnesota et ils sont devenus les Twins. Le baseball majeur avait déjà accordé une franchise d'expansion à la ville de Minneapolis - et une à la ville de Los Angeles pour les Angels -, mais le propriétaire des Senators, Calvin Griffith, avait demandé au baseball majeur de lui permettre de déménager son équipe au Minnesota et de donner la nouvelle équipe d'expansion à la ville de Washington. Un nouveau départ pour Griffith dans un nouveau marché et une équipe d'expansion avec de nouveaux visages pour les amateurs de baseball de Washington. Une solution gagnante pour tous. Les Senators n'avaient pas participé à la Série mondiale depuis 1933 et ils venaient de terminer au dernier rang de l'Américaine pour la quatrième fois en six ans. Au guichet, les choses n'allaient pas tellement mieux, puisqu'entre 1955 et 1958, les Senators ont attiré moins de 500 000 spectateurs pas saison au Griffith Stadium. Le changement de décor fut profitable pour le propriétaire puisqu'au cours des dix années suivantes, les Twins ont remporté 90 victoires ou plus à six reprises et ils ont participé aux séries trois fois, perdant la Série mondiale en 1965 face aux Dodgers de Los Angeles. Pendant ce temps à Washington, les nouveaux Senators ressemblaient étrangement à l'équipe qui venaient de quitter pour le Minnesota. Sur le terrain et au guichet, les résultats n'étaient guère mieux. Les amateurs ont eu droit à des saisons de 100, 101, 106 et 100 défaites au cours des quatre premières années. Pour ce qui est des assistances, elles étaient toujours décevante malgré le fait que les Senators avaient un nouveau domicile - le RFK Stadium - dès 1962. La deuxième version des Senators n'a connu qu'une seule saison gagnante en onze ans, alors qu'ils ont remporté 86 victoires en 1969 avec Ted Williams comme gérant. Trois ans plus tard, les Senators déménageaient au Texas et ils sont devenus les Rangers. La ville de Washington a du attendre 34 ans avant le retour du baseball majeur et c'est en 2005 que les Expos devenaient les Nationals. Au cours des trois premières saisons, les Nationals évoluaient toujours au vieux RFK Stadium qui avait subi quelques rénovations, mais les amateurs étaient de retour en grand nombre. Plus de 2,7 millions en 2005 puis 2,1 et 1,9 millions au cours des deux saisons suivantes. L'an dernier les Nationals ont emménagé dans un nouveau stade, le Nationals Park, qui fut visité par plus de 2,3 millions de spectateurs. Toutefois sur le terrain et à la télévision, les choses ne vont pas tellement bien pour les Nationals. L'équipe a perdu 102 matchs en 2008 et les cotes d'écoutes pour les rencontres à la télévision sont les pires du baseball majeur. On est même aller chercher l'ancien Nasty Boy des Reds, le releveur Rob Dibble comme analyste pour tenter d'ajouter de la couleur aux reportages! L'équipe n'a pas d'identité, n'a pas de couleur et surtout très peu de talent. Oui le troisième-but Ryan Zimmerman est un bon joueur, mais il n'est pas spectaculaire. Le gérant Manny Acta est fade. L'équipe est insipide. Les Nationals ont besoin d'un Tim Raines, d'un Vladimir Guerrero ou d'un Marquis Grissom. Ils ont Grissom, mais il est maintenant instructeur au premier coussin! Lorsque le baseball majeur a déménagé les Expos à Washington, on n'a coupé tous les liens avec la riche histoire de l'équipe. Les Expos avaient toujours eu des équipes avec de la couleur en commençant avec leur casquette tricolore et des personnages colorés comme Coco Laboy, Ron Hunt et plus tard Ron LeFlore, Rodney Scott, Bill Lee et Pascual Perez. Les Nationals n'ont pas encore d'histoire et surtout ils n'ont pas encore trouvé la bonne recette sur le terrain. Ils ont déjà perdu du temps avec un directeur général qui n'avait pas de plan en Jim Bowden. Ce dernier a été forcé de remettre sa démission avant le début de la saison. Les Nationals auront le premier choix lors du repêchage du 9 juin prochain et pour 50 millions ils pourront s'assurer les services du lanceur droitier Stephen Strasburg et sa balle rapide à plus de 100 miles à l'heure. Strasburg, représenté par l'agent Scott Boras, pourrait lancer dans les majeures avant le match des étoiles en juillet. Les Nationals devraient peut-être s'inspirer des succès des Capitals qui avaient fait d'Alexander Ovechkin leur premier choix en 2004. Il est maintenant, sans aucun doute, l'athlète le plus populaire en ville. Les Nationals ont besoin d'un Ovechkin, sinon ce sera peut-être une troisième prise pour le baseball majeur à Washington.

Effondrement des mises en chantiers et permis de bâtir Publié le 19 mai 2009 à 08h48 | Mis à jour à 08h50 Agence France-Presse, Washington Les mises en chantiers de logements et les permis de construire délivrés aux États-Unis se sont encore effondrés en avril pour atteindre de nouveaux plus bas depuis un demi-siècle, selon les chiffres officiels corrigés des variations saisonnières publiés mardi à Washington. Les mises en chantiers de logements et les permis de construire délivrés aux États-Unis se sont encore effondrés en avril pour atteindre de nouveaux plus bas depuis un demi-siècle, selon les chiffres officiels corrigés des variations saisonnières publiés mardi à Washington. Le nombre de permis de construire délivrés est tombé à 494.000 en rythme annuel, soit 3,3% de moins que le mois précédent, indique le département du Commerce. C'est leur plus bas niveau depuis le début de la publication de cette statistique en 1960. Le record précédent remontait au mois de mars (511 000 permis délivrés, selon le chiffre révisé). Cette nouvelle baisse surprend les analystes, qui attendaient un rebond de l'indicateur à 530 000 permis délivrés. Sur un an, la baisse du nombre de permis délivrés atteignait 50,2% fin avril. Le nombre de permis de construire donne une idée de la tendance à venir du marché de la construction, en décrépitude depuis deux ans. Alors que la stabilisation des marchés de l'immobilier et de la construction passe pour être une des clefs de la reprise aux États-Unis, ce nouvel effondrement des permis de construire laisse présager que le retour à la croissance risque d'être «cahotant», ainsi que l'a déclaré lundi le secrétaire au Trésor Timothy Geithner. Si la chute des permis a ralenti en avril (l'indicateur avait plongé de 7,1% en mars), le nombre de permis de construire de maisons individuelles, chiffre clef pour les marché a progressé de 3,6% en avril, après une baisse de 5,5% en mars. Signe de l'anémie actuelle du marché de la construction, le nombre de mises en chantier a chuté encore plus fortement que les permis, de 12,8% par rapport à mars, après un recul de 8,5% en février. En rythme annuel, cela représente 458 000 départ de chantier, soit un nouveau plancher depuis le début de la publication de cette statistique en 1959. Le record précédent ne datait que de janvier (488 000 mises en chantier). Sur un an la baisse des départs de construction atteignait 54,2% fin avril.

America’s triple A rating is at risk By David Walker Published: May 12 2009 20:06 | Last updated: May 12 2009 20:06 Long before the current financial crisis, nearly two years ago, a little-noticed cloud darkened the horizon for the US government. It was ignored. But now that shadow, in the form of a warning from a top credit rating agency that the nation risked losing its triple A rating if it did not start putting its finances in order, is coming back to haunt us. That warning from Moody’s focused on the exploding healthcare and Social Security costs that threaten to engulf the federal government in debt over coming decades. The facts show we’re in even worse shape now, and there are signs that confidence in America’s ability to control its finances is eroding. Prices have risen on credit default insurance on US government bonds, meaning it costs investors more to protect their investment in Treasury bonds against default than before the crisis hit. It even, briefly, cost more to buy protection on US government debt than on debt issued by McDonald’s. Another warning sign has come from across the Pacific, where the Chinese premier and the head of the People’s Bank of China have expressed concern about America’s longer-term credit worthiness and the value of the dollar. The US, despite the downturn, has the resources, expertise and resilience to restore its economy and meet its obligations. Moreover, many of the trillions of dollars recently funnelled into the financial system will hopefully rescue it and stimulate our economy. The US government has had a triple A credit rating since 1917, but it is unclear how long this will continue to be the case. In my view, either one of two developments could be enough to cause us to lose our top rating. First, while comprehensive healthcare reform is needed, it must not further harm our nation’s financial condition. Doing so would send a signal that fiscal prudence is being ignored in the drive to meet societal wants, further mortgaging the country’s future. Second, failure by the federal government to create a process that would enable tough spending, tax and budget control choices to be made after we turn the corner on the economy would send a signal that our political system is not up to the task of addressing the large, known and growing structural imbalances confronting us. For too long, the US has delayed making the tough but necessary choices needed to reverse its deteriorating financial condition. One could even argue that our government does not deserve a triple A credit rating based on our current financial condition, structural fiscal imbalances and political stalemate. The credit rating agencies have been wildly wrong before, not least with mortgage-backed securities. How can one justify bestowing a triple A rating on an entity with an accumulated negative net worth of more than $11,000bn (€8,000bn, £7,000bn) and additional off-balance sheet obligations of $45,000bn? An entity that is set to run a $1,800bn-plus deficit for the current year and trillion dollar-plus deficits for years to come? I have fought on the front lines of the war for fiscal responsibility for almost six years. We should have been more wary of tax cuts in 2001 without matching spending cuts that would have prevented the budget going deeply into deficit. That mistake was compounded in 2003, when President George W. Bush proposed expanding Medicare to include a prescription drug benefit. We must learn from past mistakes. Fiscal irresponsibility comes in two primary forms – acts of commission and of omission. Both are in danger of undermining our future. First, Washington is about to embark on another major healthcare reform debate, this time over the need for comprehensive healthcare reform. The debate is driven, in large part, by the recognition that healthcare costs are the single largest contributor to our nation’s fiscal imbalance. It also recognises that the US is the only large industrialised nation without some level of guaranteed health coverage. There is no question that this nation needs to pursue comprehensive healthcare reform that should address the important dimensions of coverage, cost, quality and personal responsibility. But while comprehensive reform is called for and some basic level of universal coverage is appropriate, it is critically important that we not shoot ourselves again. Comprehensive healthcare reform should significantly reduce the huge unfunded healthcare promises we already have (over $36,000bn for Medicare alone as of last September), as well as the large and growing structural deficits that threaten our future. One way out of these problems is for the president and Congress to create a “fiscal future commission” where everything is on the table, including budget controls, entitlement programme reforms and tax increases. This commission should venture beyond Washington’s Beltway to engage the American people, using digital technologies in an unparalleled manner. If it can achieve a predetermined super-majority vote on a package of recommendations, they should be guaranteed a vote in Congress. Recent research conducted for the Peterson Foundation shows that 90 per cent of Americans want the federal government to put its own financial house in order. It also shows that the public supports the creation of a fiscal commission by a two-to-one margin. Yet Washington still sleeps, and it is clear that we cannot count on politicians to make tough transformational changes on multiple fronts using the regular legislative process. We have to act before we face a much larger economic crisis. Let’s not wait until a credit rating downgrade. The time for Washington to wake up is now. David Walker is chief executive of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former comptroller general of the US

Selon le Washington Post, le plan de restructuration de GM, qui a déjà reçu 15,4G$US en aide publique, prévoit que de moins en moins de véhicules vendus sur le marché américain seront fabriqués aux États-Unis. Pour en lire plus...

This is the new emblem on the Washington Nationals away jerseys. Looks oddly familiar.

Un article, qui, je le sent, fera plaisir à Malek Should Downtown Crossing be reopened to traffic? Would car traffic bring back the crowds? Boston Globe, by Michael Levenson, Globe Staff | March 1, 2009 Downtown Crossing's problems have been well-documented: Crime has spawned fear, heightened by a stabbing and shooting in the midst of a bustling afternoon. Shops that once thrived next to Jordan Marsh and Filene's have shuttered, leaving empty storefronts cheek-by-jowl with pushcarts, discount jewelry stalls, and gaping construction sites. Sidewalks that teem with rowdy teenagers and office workers by day lie empty and forbidding at night. For years, city planners have been promising to restore the area to its former grandeur and make it a major urban destination. But as they have attempted solution after solution without success, they have never tried one idea: reopening the streets to traffic. Indeed, Downtown Crossing remains one of the last vestiges of a largely discredited idea, the Ameri can pedestrian mall, which municipal planners once believed would help cities compete with proliferating suburban malls. In the 1970s, at least 220 cities closed downtown thoroughfares, paved them with bricks or cobbles and waited for them to take hold as urban destinations. Since then, all but about two dozen have reopened the malls to traffic, as planners, developers, and municipal officials came to believe that the lack of cars had an effect opposite of what they had intended, driving away shoppers, stifling businesses, and making streets at night seem barren and forlorn. "Pedestrian malls never delivered the type of foot traffic and vitality they had expected," said Doug Loescher, director of The Main Street Center at The National Trust for Historic Preservation. "The sense of movement that a combination of transit modes provides - whether on foot or in car - really does make a difference," he said. "People feel safer, because there's some kind of movement through the district, other than a lone pedestrian at night. It just creates a sense of energy that makes people feel more comfortable and makes the district more appealing." Boston planners are against opening up Downtown Crossing, but as the district suffers the exodus of anchor businesses and a deepening malaise has settled in, some shop owners long for the energy, ease, and excitement they remember before Downtown Crossing closed to most traffic in 1978. "There was a constant flow of cars, stopping and going; it was very active, very busy, like a typical city street," said Steve Centamore, co-owner since 1965 of Bromfield Camera Co., on Bromfield Street, part of which is open only to commercial traffic. "There were people coming and going. It didn't seem to impede any pedestrians. It was a lot busier. People could just pull up and get what they needed. Now, it takes an act of Congress to even get through here." Pellegrino Bondanza, 72, who has sold vegetables in Downtown Crossing since he was a boy, said the pedestrian mall "didn't work out well." He hopes the city will reopen it to traffic. "Maybe it would bring some of the action back in town," he said. "I remember as a kid, I tried to squeeze in with a pushcart and, if I could locate at a corner, I could sell what I had in an hour and make a good living there. You had to be a little careful crossing the streets and everything, but don't forget the cars went slow when they were going up them streets there. There was no fast driving." Boston officials say they considered reopening Downtown Crossing to traffic and, in 2006, hired a team of consultants from London, Toronto, Berkeley, Calif., and Boston to study the idea. The consultants concluded that the mall should stay because the estimated 230,000 people who walk through Downtown Crossing every day should be enough to keep the place lively and economically vital. "What we heard from them pretty loudly was, 'Not just yet. Make it work. Give it your best effort,' " said Andrew Grace, senior planner and urban designer at the Boston Redevelopment Authority. "Lots of cities throughout the world make these districts work. The historic centers in most European cities function, and they thrive." Kristen Keefe, retail sector manager of the BRA, warned that bringing back traffic could squeeze out pedestrians who, she said, already contend with crowded sidewalks. "We just think these two things are in conflict," she said. Boston built its pedestrian mall after a study showed that six times more pedestrians than cars traveled down Washington Street - in front of what was then Filene's and Jordan Marsh - "so the impetus was to reassert the balance for pedestrians a little bit and improve the safety and amenities for pedestrians," said Jane Howard, who helped design the mall for the BRA and is now a planner in a private firm. It was a time when malls were being built across the country. Some are still considered successful - in Burlington, Vt., and Charlottesville, Va., for example. And New York City is experimenting with blocking traffic on Broadway through Times and Herald squares to create pedestrian-only zones. But those are the exceptions. Chicago, which turned downtown State Street into a pedestrian mall in 1979, reopened it to traffic in 1996, convinced that the mall had worsened the area's economic slump and left the street deserted and dangerous. Eugene, Ore., scrapped its mall in 1997, frustrated that "people went around downtown instead of through it," said Mayor Kitty Piercy. Tampa got rid of its mall in 2001 because it "didn't bring back any retail," as the city had hoped, said Christine M. Burdick president of Tampa Downtown Partnership. Buffalo, which has trolley service on its mall on Main Street, is currently reintroducing cars after finding that shoppers avoided stores that were cut off from traffic. "It takes a leap of faith to go somewhere nearby, pay to park, and then walk to someplace you haven't been yet," said Deborah Chernoff, Buffalo's planning director. "All the cities are dealing with the reality of how people actually behave." Downtown Crossing is not even a full pedestrian mall. Because Washington Street, its main thoroughfare, is open to commercial traffic, pedestrians mostly stick to the sidewalks, avoiding the cabs and police cruisers that often ply the route. After dark on a recent weeknight, just after 8:30 p.m., Downtown Crossing resembled a film noir scene, its deserted rain-slick streets glistening with the reflections of neon signs from a shuttered liquor store and a discount jewelry shop. The few pedestrians who hurried by were mostly teenagers and office workers descending into the subway or headed to the bustle on Tremont Street. They walked purposefully, scurrying past darkened store after darkened store with metal gates pulled shut. The only cars were a police cruiser that rumbled past, an idling garbage truck, and the occassional taxi. Yet some say the mall should stay. The developer Ronald M. Druker, who owns buildings on Washington Street, said he has "vivid memories of the conflict between cars and pedestrians," before the mall was built. "If you insinuated cars and trucks on a normal basis into that area, it would not enliven it," he said. "It would create the same problems that it created 30 years ago when we got rid of them." But others, particularly the shop owners struggling to survive the recession say they are eager to try just about anything that would bring back business. "Downtown Crossing definitely needs something - that's for sure," said Harry Gigian owner since 1970 of Harry Gigian Co. jewelers on Washington Street, which has seen a sharp dropoff in sales. "Nobody comes downtown anymore." De mon côté, j'adore les rues piétonnières européennes. Par contre, dans la plupart des cas, plusieurs des éléments qui font leur succès là bas ne sont pas réunis de ce côté ci de l'Altantique: - Bien qu'animées à certains moments de la journée ou de l'année, nos rues principales sont plutôt tranquilles la majorité du temps (les matins, les journées froides d'hiver, etc) - la présence d'itinérants, plus nombreux ici - il n'y a pas de "point focal", de destinations, ou point d'attraction majeure à chaque bout de nos rues qui ont le potentiel de devenir piétonnières. Par contre, il est très agréable de se promener dans la foule, l'été, sur une rue sans traffic automobile. Un compromis: avoir des rues piétonnières temporaires? par exemple, fermer Ste-Catherine les vendredis, samedis et dimanches de l'été, de midi à minuit? Bon, on ouvre les lignes! Les amateurs d'urbanisme, bonjour!

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Les constructeurs automobiles GM et Chrysler, tous deux sur le bord de la faillite, soumettront cet après-midi des plans de relance destinés à convaincre Washington de leur viabilité à long terme. Pour en lire plus...

Les investisseurs européens et asiatiques se montraient peu convaincus des bienfaits du plan de redressement du système financier américain présenté par Washington. Pour en lire plus...