Brees, Robinson lead Saints past Eagles 28-13

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Two teams with the same record. Two teams heading in strikingly different directions.

Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints appear to be on the rise again.

Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles are down, and nearly out.

Brees threw two touchdown passes, extending his NFL record streak to 51 games in a row, while Vick was sacked seven times and took an awful beating as the Saints romped to a 28-13 victory over the Eagles on Monday night.

Not that Philadelphia didn't have its chances. But four first-and-goals resulted in two measly field goals, a tipped pass led to Patrick Robinson's 99-yard interception return for a New Orleans touchdown, and the Eagles messed up a trick play when they had the home team totally fooled, costing them a score.

"As coaches and as players, we obviously have to do a better job," embattled coach Andy Reid said of the Eagles (3-5), who are mired in a four-game losing streak. "That starts with me."

The Saints (3-5) revolve around Brees, of course, and he played much better than he did the previous week in a 34-14 loss to Denver. But his performance was more efficient than spectacular, as New Orleans seemed intent on proving it's not just a one-man team.

The NFL's worst-ranked running game relied on a trio of backs — Chris Ivory, Mark Ingram and Pierre Thomas — and finished with 140 yards, nearly double its season average. Ivory had a 22-yard touchdown run.

The defense came up with two huge turnovers near its own end zone. There was Robinson's interception and return, which matched Darren Sharper's franchise record. Then, with just over 3 minutes left and the Eagles down to their last gasp, Brent Celek caught a pass at the New Orleans 8 but fumbled it away.

The Saints recovered, and the Superdome celebration was on.

"There are defining moments throughout a season," Brees said. "Big plays, big wins, that kind of bring you together and let you see a vision of what you can be, what you can accomplish. Here we are the midway point. It's gone by fast.

"This," he added, "is the type of momentum we want going into the second half of the season."

Another dismal performance by the Eagles is sure to keep the heat on Vick and Reid.

Vick threw a 77-yard touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson in the third quarter, but that was about the only highlight for the visiting team. The elusive quarterback matched his career high for sacks; he also went down seven times when playing for the Atlanta Falcons against the New York Giants on Oct. 15, 2006.

"It's very frustrating," Vick said. "These are games that we have the opportunity to win, or get back in the game. At this point, everything has to be dead on. You can't miss, and you almost have to be perfect on every drive."

Philadelphia was far from perfect, but sure had plenty of chances. The Eagles outgained New Orleans and finished with 447 yards — the eighth straight team to put up more than 400 on the Saints.

But the offensive line just couldn't keep Vick upright, a problem that got worse after right tackle Todd Herremans went down in the first half with a strained ankle tendon. He didn't return.

"These are correctable mistakes," Reid said, repeating a familiar theme. "With some of those sacks you can look at coverage, and with some of them you can look at play calling, but we have to do better. The bottom line is we have to block the guys and do a better job."

Rubbing salt in the wound, Philadelphia squandered a chance to get back in the game with a unique trick play on a kickoff return. Riley Cooper laid flat in the end zone, unseen by the Saints, then popped up to take a cross-field lateral from Brandon Boykin.

Cooper streaked down the sideline for an apparent touchdown. Only one problem — Boykin's lateral was actually an illegal forward pass by about a yard, and the officials caught it. Cooper stood with his hands on his hips, in disbelief, when he saw the yellow flag.

Brees kept his record touchdown streak going, hooking up with Marques Colston on a 1-yard scoring pass and Jimmy Graham from 6 yards out.

The Saints quarterback finished 21 of 27 for 239 yards, a big improvement on his 22-of-42 showing against the Broncos.

Meanwhile, a Saints defense that had endured much ridicule kept the heat on Vick, and the brutal pounding made it tough for No. 7 to establish any rhythm. He finished 22 of 41 for 272 yards and really couldn't be blamed for Robinson's interception, which went off the hands of Celek, the first major miscue on a tough night for the tight end.

Cameron Jordan had three sacks, matching his total for the season, while Will Smith took down Vick twice — also matching his sack total through the first seven games.

Reid moved quickly to snuff out any talk about replacing Vick, which has become a weekly ritual.

"Michael Vick will be the quarterback," the Eagles coach said.

The Saints raced to a 21-3 halftime lead, putting the Eagles in a big hole for the second straight game. Over the last two weeks, they have been outscored 45-10 in the first and second quarters.

New Orleans was on the verge of blowing it open when it took the second-half kickoff and drove deep into Philadelphia territory. But the Eagles defense came up with a big turnover, as Brandon Graham stripped the ball from Brees and fell on it at the Eagles 17. Two plays later, Vick found Jackson wide open down the right side on a deep throw, and he took it the rest of the way for a touchdown.

Rookie Travaris Cadet, filling in on returns for the injured Darren Sproles, fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Philadelphia recovered again. Vick broke off a 14-yard run to the 8, but yet another sack stifled the drive.

The Eagles settled for Alex Henery's second field goal from 37 yards.

It was that kind of night for the Eagles.

NOTES: Graham led the Saints with a season-high eight catches for 72 yards. ... Jackson finished with 100 yards receiving on just three catches. ... Philadelphia's LeSean McCoy had 19 carries for 119 yards, but only 18 yards came after halftime. ... New Orleans gave up a season low in points. The previous best was a 31-24 victory over San Diego. ... The Saints lost two players to injuries. OT Zach Strief (groin) went down in the third quarter, and DE Junior Galette (ankle) was hurt in the first. Neither returned.

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Run Well: Lessons From a Marathon Not Run

Thousands of runners who had trained for months didn’t get to run the canceled New York City Marathon this weekend. I feel their pain because four weeks ago I went through similar emotions. All that rigorous training. It felt unfair, a cruel joke. Runners train to run.

My marathon plan began a year ago. After five episodes of atrial fibrillation, I lay on a gurney at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York as medical assistants prepared me for a pulmonary ablation. The procedure went perfectly, and afterward, I felt a renewed desire to return to running, the sport I had fallen in love with as a hyperactive 18-year-old.

Could I stage a marathon comeback? I had run nearly 30 marathons. The last competitive one was 14 years ago. But now I wanted to test my limits again, to run as fast as my present body could carry me. I did everything I could to take chance out of the equation, including starting my training in March and joining the competitive Central Park Track Club.

As the months ticked by and my condition improved, I re-examined all I knew about marathoning. With the patient help of the Central Park coach Tony Ruiz, I discovered an older runner’s version of the training I used to do. Nearly half a lifetime ago, I had run the New York City Marathon in 2:46. Now, older, slower and heavier, I would need to be smarter.

I learned to minimize impact on my joints by running on softer terrain. On long runs, the staple of any marathon training regime, I grew patient with pace.

One can never fully control what will happen during the 26.2 miles of the race, but one can rehearse what energy drinks to take and how often, what to eat before the run and dozens of other such details. By October, I had honed these routines. Running the marathon would be like performing the symphony I had practiced hundreds of times.

Then, four weeks ago, five days before completing my last week of serious training, a soccer ball came rolling toward me. When I kicked it back to the fellow who had lost it, my groin muscle, used to functioning one way, didn’t like the position I had suddenly put it in and rebelled: it promptly flared up, leaving me to hobble off the track as my teammates began their workout. I managed to climb onto a bus and reach an emergency room, where I was pleased to learn I didn’t have a hernia but not so pleased when a doctor told me I had likely torn an adductor muscle.

A week later, an M.R.I. confirmed that I had torn the adductor longus, a long, sensitive muscle that plays a supportive though important role to the tougher adductor magnus. A doctor recommended surgery. As my leg turned black and blue and reddish from the back of my knee to my right buttock, my marathon dreams were crushed. Months of training evaporated in an instant. I wouldn’t be able to show off all my hard work, wouldn’t be able to sweat and wave and rejoice and cry through the city I loved.

As dramas go, this is more pathos than tragedy. One reads about breast cancer survivors going from deadly prognosis one year to the finish line of the marathon the next, and runners from war-torn countries lifting themselves from abject poverty onto the winner’s podium of the world’s major marathons. Then this monstrous Sandy hits and people living just a few miles from me have far, far greater needs than any possible need I have to return to form.

Yet the storm and that soccer ball have kicked me back to running essentials. It has reminded me that running centers and stimulates my life, making me more positive, more capable and willing to do good in the world.

The writer Haruki Murakami writes in his book “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”: “Running is both exercise and metaphor.” Perhaps it takes slowing down a moment, even being sidelined, to recognize and grow from the parallels.

Yes, it’s frustrating not reaching my goal, after investing so much time and rising to a high level of fitness. But hadn’t I lost 20 pounds, refound fast-twitch muscles that I dearly missed and learned to de-stress through the patient discipline of months of running? Did I really need the photo op on a public stage to prove what I had achieved?

Coach Tony posted this on Facebook: “Just finished my volunteer shift today, and it was truly an eye-opening experience. People were grabbing, opening and gulping down water like it was the blood of Jesus! And as disturbing as the marathon cancellation was, and it was very disturbing, it pales compared to what I witnessed today.”

Like thousands of others, I was not on the starting line of the New York City Marathon on Sunday. I missed the race because of injury. Most people missed it because of circumstance. Yet we may have learned similar lessons. By starting my training so early, I thought I could eliminate chance, but it is chance that makes running and life most challenging. And I learned that fixating too strongly on a goal is a sure-fire way to eliminate the joy of pursuing it. Life — and always tragedy — trumps running, and that’s the way it should be.

Charles Lyons is a multimedia journalist and filmmaker.

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Antwerp Journal: Antwerp’s Diamond Industry Facing Challenges

Colin Delfosse for The New York Times

Indian businessmen in the diamond district of Antwerp, Belgium.

ANTWERP, Belgium — Step off the train here and you cannot miss the signs on the stores: Diamond World, Diamond Gallery, Diamond Creations or simply, Diamonds. Of late, there are the banners and posters reading simply, “Antwerp Loves Diamonds.”

Though this Belgian port has had a love affair with diamonds for centuries, of late it seems to be losing some of its passion. For years now, much of the lucrative but labor-intensive business of cutting and polishing stones has been drifting to low-wage centers in the developing world, like Mumbai, Dubai and Shanghai.

More ominously, in recent years, diamond traders have been accused of a range of violations, including tax fraud, money laundering and cheating on customs payments when buying and selling stones.

Local business leaders recognize the threat. This year, they embarked on what local newspapers described as a “charm offensive.” In a 160-page program, titled Project 2020, the World Diamond Center, a trade-promotion group, outlined plans to draw business back to Antwerp by simplifying and accelerating trading via online systems. That, the industry hopes, will win back some of the polishing business lost to Asian countries with new technology, like fully automated diamond polishers, and generally burnish the image of the diamond business in the public’s jaded eye.

“This is our strength,” said Ari Epstein, 36, a lawyer who is chief executive of the World Diamond Center and the son of a diamond trader, whose father emigrated from a village in Romania in the 1960s. “We have the critical mass so that every diamond finds a buyer and seller.”

Antwerp has by no means fallen out of love with the gems. In all, the market employs 8,000 people and creates work indirectly for 26,000 others as insurers, bankers, security guards and drivers. Last year, turnover in the local diamond business amounted to $56 billion, Mr. Epstein said, its best year ever.

While total revenues are expected to drop this year because of the troubled world economy, he acknowledged, a stroll along Hoveniersstraat, or Gardner’s Street, leads through the heart of the market, where almost 85 percent of the world’s uncut diamonds are still traded.

“I come here once a month,” said Sheh Kamliss, a trader in his 30s, who travels from his native India to buy uncut stones and sell polished diamonds. “This is the international market,” he added, chatting with fellow Indian traders outside the Diamond Club of Antwerp, one of many locations where deals are struck.

On any given day but Friday or the Jewish holidays, Hoveniersstraat, with its tiny Sephardic synagogue, is liberally sprinkled with Orthodox Jewish traders, many of them Hasidim.

But their once dominant presence has been squeezed by the arrival of traders from new markets, like Mr. Kamliss. Now people from about 70 nations are present, including Indians, Israelis, Lebanese, Russians, Chinese and others. Along neighboring Lange Herentalsestraat, Rachel’s Kosher Restaurant is now flanked by the Bollywood Indian Restaurant and the Shanti Shop Indian supermarket. In the nearby Jewish quarter, Patel’s Cash & Carry recently installed itself right next to Moszkowitz, the butcher.

Some here say this globalization of the business has opened the door to abuse.

Omega Diamonds, a major market maker, came under investigation and its executives fled Belgium when an employee-turned-whistle-blower revealed in 2006 how Omega had traded diamonds out of Africa for years, avoiding taxes by transacting deals through Dubai, Tel Aviv and Geneva, then moving the profits back to Belgium.

“Because of global changes, the trade routes have changed,” said David Renous, 47, the whistle blower, who is now writing a book on the subject. “New hubs, like Dubai, the Singapore of the Middle East, sometimes close their eyes to criminality.”

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Syrian Rebels Claim to Kill Dozens of Soldiers

SANA, via Associated Press

An image released by Syria’s official news agency showed Damascus residents gathering at the scene of a blast on Monday.

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Syria was convulsed by one of the most violent days in months on Monday, with heavy fighting reported around Palestinian neighborhoods in southern Damascus, at least two car-bomb explosions and strikes by government aircraft on numerous rebel targets.

Sharply conflicting accounts emerged from the government and the rebels on the toll from a car bombing near the central city of Hama, with the rebels reporting dozens of soldiers dead and the government saying just two civilians were killed.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain with a network of contacts inside Syria, said that Jabhet al-Nusra, a jihadist organization, and other rebel groups in the region collaborated in a suicide car bombing of a government checkpoint in a village near Hama, killing at least 50 soldiers.

“They targeted one of the biggest checkpoints in the region. It’s a big building where the regime forces were headquartered,” said Ahmad Raadoun, a member of the Free Syrian Army in the Hama suburbs, who was reached via Skype.

Mr. Raadoun, who said he was about 20 miles from the village of Ziyara, where the attack took place, said the bomb caused extensive casualties and other damage in what he described as a “big operation.”

The official news agency, SANA, said the explosion, outside a government building called the Rural Development Center, was orchestrated by terrorist groups and left 2 civilians dead and 10 wounded. The government has repeatedly labeled opposition groups seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad as terrorist organizations.

The reasons for such divergent accounts could not be immediately ascertained.

Checkpoints in rural areas often serve as rudimentary bases for the government, with large numbers of men and matériel stationed in them to carry the fight across the province.

Another car bombing was reported in Mazzeh 86, a Damascus neighborhood on the slopes below the presidential palace, home to many members of the security forces. The forces are dominated by members of Mr. Assad’s Alawite minority, which controls the country.

The Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility for that attack, saying in a statement that its fighters had targeted officers as well as members of the armed militias who fight for the government. The statement, posted on Facebook, claimed a large number of casualties but did not give any figures.

The Syrian Observatory said the bomb, which it described as a booby-trapped car that exploded in Bride Square, killed 5 people and wounded more than 30, some of them critically.

Pictures posted on Facebook showed a large column of smoke rising from the area.

Damascus residents reached by telephone said that they were trying to flee the heavy fighting, but that there was so much going on in every direction that they did not quite know where to run.

“There is very, very intense shelling on southern Damascus right now,” said an activist reached by Skype who goes by Abu Qays al-Shami. At least 10 people were killed as government helicopters and tanks blasted the area, he said.

Residents said the fighting had erupted in and around the Yarmouk camp in southern Damascus, the center of Palestinian life in Syria for decades. Many Palestinians have sided with the nearly 20-month-old anti-Assad uprising, but the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, a splinter Palestinian group long supported by the government, still backs Mr. Assad. The fighting erupted between the organization and government opponents.

Elsewhere in southern Damascus, government helicopters were shelling the restive neighborhood of Hajjar al-Aswad, a target of frequent attacks in recent weeks, according to the Local Coordinating Committees, an anti-Assad activist group that keeps track of casualties. SANA said five people were killed in Yarmouk, including a woman and three children, when a mortar shell hit a public minibus. The agency blamed terrorist organizations.

In its daily roundup of violence around the country, SANA also said that government forces clashed with opposition groups in the eastern city of Deir ez-Zour and in Aleppo, the northern city that has been a battleground since midsummer.

Activist organizations reported a number of airstrikes around the country.

One extremely graphic video posted from the village of Kafrnabel, near Idlib, shows bloodied victims dumped into a truck in the aftermath of what was described as an aerial assault. A shot of the main street shows flames leaping from vehicles and residents running around in panic. At least five men and one woman died, the Syrian Observatory said, but more victims were believed buried under the rubble. Video accounts cannot be independently confirmed.

Hania Mourtada contributed reporting from Beirut, and Hala Droubi from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Falcons remain unbeaten, hold off Cowboys 19-13

ATLANTA (AP) — For the Cowboys, it must have felt as if the Georgia Dome gave the Atlanta Falcons an overwhelming home-field advantage.

For the Falcons, it was the site of another underwhelming narrow victory.

Michael Turner gave Atlanta its first lead with a 3-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, Matt Bryant kicked four field goals and the Falcons beat the Cowboys 19-13 Sunday night to extend their run as the NFL's only unbeaten team.

File this one behind the other close wins at home — by 6 over Denver, by 2 over Carolina and by 3 over Oakland.

The Falcons are 8-0, even if some of the uninspiring home wins draw more criticism than praise.

"We're not concerned with the doubters," Turner said. "This team's main focus is coming out and getting a win each game."

Turner had 20 carries for 102 yards and Matt Ryan completed 24 of 34 passes for a season-high 342 yards for the Falcons, who took their first lead with 14:16 left in the game.

"There's a reason they're undefeated halfway through the season," Dallas coach Jason Garrett said. "This is a challenging place to play at. I thought we did some good things in the ballgame. They did more good things. We didn't do enough to win this game in all three phases of our football team."

Tony Romo completed 25 of 35 passes for 321 yards for the Cowboys (3-5), who have dropped four of their last five games. They were held to 65 yards rushing, including 39 yards on nine carries by Felix Jones.

The Cowboys trailed 16-6 before Romo tried to put together a comeback. He completed all six of his attempts on a big drive that ended with a 21-yard TD strike to Kevin Ogletree.

The Falcons then worked the clock, holding the ball for 5 minutes, 4 seconds, leaving only 17 seconds after Bryant's 32-yard field goal.

The Cowboys burned all their timeouts as Ryan kept the Falcons' offense on the field in the crucial time-consuming drive. Ryan passed to Jacquizz Rodgers for 31 yards and 11 yards on third-down plays. A defensive holding call against cornerback Orlando Scandrick on another third down prolonged the possession.

Finally, the Cowboys stopped Turner on a third-down run at the Dallas 14.

Romo never attempted a deep pass, though he had only 17 seconds to cover 80 yards. He found Jason Witten for passes of 7 and 11 yards, leaving 9 seconds. He passed to Felix Jones for 8 yards, leaving time for one play from the Cowboys 40.

Romo scrambled before passing to Jones, who was dropped near the Atlanta 22 to end the game.

"I think any time you're in that situation you obviously want to get the ball back with a chance, and it's tough," Romo said. "That's why they're a good football team. They're tough to beat at home. They proved it when they were able to run the clock out at the end."

Roddy White had seven catches for 118 yards and passed Terance Mathis for the most receptions in Falcons history. Julio Jones had five catches for 129 yards.

There also is a new Dallas leader for career receptions. With seven catches for 51 yards, Witten has 754 for his career, passing Michael Irvin's record of 750.

Miles Austin led the Cowboys with seven catches for 76 yards.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he was "extremely, extremely" disappointed.

"We certainly didn't plan to end up here at 3-5 halfway through the season," Jones said. "We've got some tough ballgames. We've got half our season left."

For three quarters, it was a kicking contest — and a pretty shaky one, too.

Bryant kicked field goals of 45 and 46 yards in the second quarter for Atlanta's only points before Turner's score. Bryant also missed from 43 and 37 yards, wide right each time.

Dan Bailey's field goals from 23 and 32 yards were the Cowboys' only points in the first half. He missed from 54 yards.

Ryan was sacked three times and faced constant pressure.

Ryan's 48-yard pass to Jones set up Bryant's 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter, pushing the lead to 16-6.

NOTES: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell conducted a fan forum for Falcons season-ticket holders before the game. Goodell attended the Steelers-Giants game in East Rutherford, N.J., earlier Sunday. ... Mathis, who began his career with the Jets, had 573 catches with the Falcons from 1994-2002. White now has 577. ... Cowboys LB DeMarcus Ware had 1½ sacks and a forced fumble. ... Dallas DT Jay Ratliff injured his left leg late in the first half but returned in the second half. ... Falcons DT Peria Jerry left in the second quarter with a knee injury and did not return. ... Playing behind Felix Jones, Lance Dunbar had eight carries for 26 yards, including an 18-yard run.

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Recipes for Health: Quinoa and Carrot Kugel

Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times

Recently I received an e-mail from a reader describing a kugel made with carrots and quinoa that she’d tasted at a buffet dinner. “It was delicious served at room temperature, cut into cubes, which were firm in texture, sweet but not overly, and  prepared with quinoa,” she wrote. “I am wondering if you might be willing and able to conjure up the ingredients to make this particular kugel incorporating quinoa.”

Since I’m always looking for new ideas for quinoa and had never thought of using it in a kugel, I jumped at this request. I researched kugels, and found that the interpretation of what a kugel actually should or can be is very broad. The name comes from the word for pudding, but all of the recipes I looked at – some sweet, some savory, many made with noodles or potatoes but many without – could also be described as gratins. I thought the idea of substituting grains for noodles was a very good one, because I never like the way the noodles on the surface of a kugel dry out.

I ended up making mostly savory kugels, though I did make one delicious sweet millet kugel, which immediately became a popular breakfast and snack in my house. I combined quinoa with cooked carrots and caraway (probably not the flavor my reader was looking for, but delicious, and I’ve added a sweet variation), and with cauliflower and cumin. I used millet in the sweet kugel but also combined it with cabbage and onions in a delicious savory one. And I made a kugel with grated sweet potatoes and apples that I hope will find its way to some Thanksgiving tables.

 

Quinoa and Carrot Kugel

A request from a reader for a quinoa and carrot kugel inspired this week of recipes. I have no idea if this caraway-scented version resembles the kugel she enjoyed at a reception (see the variation below for one that might resemble it more), but it was a big hit in my household.

 

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup quinoa

1 1/4 cups water

Salt to taste

1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch-long sticks

1/2 cup low-fat cottage cheese

3 eggs

1 scant teaspoon caraway seeds, lightly crushed

Freshly ground pepper

 

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a medium saucepan and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion is just about tender, 3 to 5 minutes, and add the quinoa. Cook, stirring, for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the quinoa begins to smell toasty and the onion is tender. Add the water and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Add the carrots, cover, reduce the heat and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until the quinoa and carrots are tender and the grains display a threadlike spiral. Uncover and use tongs to transfer the carrot sticks to a bowl. If any water remains in the pot, drain the quinoa through a strainer, then return to the pot. Place a dish towel over the pot, then return the lid and let sit undisturbed for 10 to 15 minutes.

Note: If it’s easier for you, you can steam or simmer the carrots separately, for 10 to 15 minutes until tender.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees and oil a 2-quart baking dish or gratin.

3. In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, purée the cooked carrots. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the cottage cheese and purée until the mixture is smooth. Add the eggs, salt (I suggest about 1/2 teaspoon), pepper and caraway, and purée until smooth. Scrape into a large mixing bowl. Add the quinoa and mix together thoroughly. Scrape into the oiled baking dish. Drizzle the remaining oil over the top and place in the oven.

4. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares or wedges.

Yield: 6 servings

Advance preparation: The quinoa can be prepared through Step 1 up to 3 days ahead (it also freezes well). The kugel will keep for 3 days in the refrigerator. Reheat in a medium oven.

Variation: Sweet Quinoa and Carrot Kugel

Omit the onion and the caraway. Add 1/4 cup mild-flavored honey or agave nectar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and blend with the cottage cheese and eggs.

Nutritional information per serving (6 servings): 177 calories; 8 grams fat; 2 grams saturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 94 milligrams cholesterol; 18 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 141 milligrams sodium (does not include salt to taste); 8 grams protein

Martha Rose Shulman is the author of “The Very Best of Recipes for Health.”

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Benghazi Attack Raises Doubts About U.S. Abilities in Region

Esam Omran Al-Fetori/Reuters

The attack at the American Mission on Sept. 11, seen here, and an annex in Benghazi, Libya, points to a limitation in the capabilities of the American military command responsible for countries swept up in the Arab Spring.

WASHINGTON — About three hours after the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, came under attack, the Pentagon issued an urgent call for an array of quick-reaction forces, including an elite Special Forces team that was on a training mission in Croatia.

The team dropped what it was doing and prepared to move to the Sigonella naval air station in Sicily, a short flight from Benghazi and other hot spots in the region. By the time the unit arrived at the base, however, the surviving Americans at the Benghazi mission had been evacuated to Tripoli, and Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were dead.

The assault, on the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, has already exposed shortcomings in the Obama administration’s ability to secure diplomatic missions and act on intelligence warnings. But this previously undisclosed episode, described by several American officials, points to a limitation in the capabilities of the American military command responsible for a large swath of countries swept up in the Arab Spring.

At the heart of the issue is the Africa Command, established in 2007, well before the Arab Spring uprisings and before an affiliate of Al Qaeda became a major regional threat. It did not have on hand what every other regional combatant command has: its own force able to respond rapidly to emergencies — a Commanders’ In-Extremis Force, or C.I.F.

To respond to the Benghazi attack, the Africa Command had to borrow the C.I.F. that belongs to the European Command, because its own force is still in training. It also had no AC-130 gunships or armed drones readily available.

As officials in the White House and Pentagon scrambled to respond to the torrent of reports pouring out from Libya — with Mr. Stevens missing and officials worried that he might have been taken hostage — they took the extraordinary step of sending elite Delta Force commandos, with their own helicopters and ground vehicles, from their base at Fort Bragg, N.C., to Sicily. Those troops also arrived too late.

“The fact of the matter is these forces were not in place until after the attacks were over,” a Pentagon spokesman, George Little, said on Friday, referring to a range of special operations soldiers and other personnel. “We did respond. The secretary ordered forces to move. They simply were not able to arrive in time.”

An examination of these tumultuous events undercuts the criticism leveled by some Republicans that the Obama administration did not try to respond militarily to the crisis. The attack was not a running eight-hour firefight as some critics have contended, questioning how an adequate response could not be mustered in that time, but rather two relatively short, intense assaults separated by a lull of four hours. But the administration’s response also shows that the forces in the region had not been adequately reconfigured.

The Africa Command was spun off from the European Command. At the time it was set up, the Pentagon thought it would be devoted mostly to training African troops and building military ties with African nations. Because of African sensitivities about an overt American military presence in the region, the command’s headquarters was established in Stuttgart, Germany.

While the other regional commands, including the Pacific Command and the Central Command, responsible for the Middle East and South Asia, have their own specialized quick-reaction forces, the Africa Command has had an arrangement to borrow the European Command’s force when needed. The Africa Command has been building its own team from scratch, and its nascent strike force was in the process of being formed in the United States on Sept. 11, a senior military official said.

“The conversation about getting them closer to Africa has new energy,” the military official said.

Some Pentagon officials said that it was unrealistic to think a quick-reaction force could have been sent in time even if the African Command had one ready to act on the base in Sicily when the attack unfolded, and asserted that such a small force might not have even been effective or the best means to protect an embassy. But critics say there has been a gap in the command’s quick-reaction capability, which the force would have helped fill.

A spokesman for the command declined to comment on how its capabilities might be improved.

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Barner, No. 2 Oregon beat No. 18 USC 62-51

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kenjon Barner rushed for a school-record 321 yards and five touchdowns, Marcus Mariota threw four TD passes, and No. 2 Oregon produced another landmark offensive performance in a 62-51 victory over No. 18 Southern California on Saturday night.

Josh Huff caught two touchdowns, and De'Anthony Thomas and Daryl Hawkins also caught scoring passes for the Ducks (9-0, 6-0 Pac-12), who outlasted USC in a back-and-forth second half to extend their winning streak to 12 games since the Trojans (6-3, 4-3) won in Eugene last season.

Oregon's 730 yards and 62 points were the most ever allowed by USC, which began playing football in 1888.

Barner set a rushing record for a USC opponent by the third quarter, topping Curtis Enis' 241 yards for Penn State in 1996, and smashed the school record shortly afterward as the Ducks gradually pulled away in their closest game of the year.

Matt Barkley passed for 484 yards and four touchdowns while hitting Marqise Lee with 12 passes for 157 yards and two touchdowns for the Trojans, who have lost two straight after a 6-1 start.

The preseason No. 1 team hit a defensive nadir not even matched during Pete Carroll's final season in 2009, when several opponents destroyed the Trojans' defense.

Barner has already roared past Barkley in the Heisman Trophy race, and the product of Riverside, Calif., thoroughly entertained his friends and family members at the Coliseum with another dominant ground performance, capped by enthusiastic celebrations of every touchdown.

Mariota also carved up the Trojans for 304 yards passing, going 20 for 23 without an interception and rushing for another 96 yards.

USC's defense harassed Darron Thomas into a sub-par performance in this matchup last season, but the freshman who has replaced him showed absolutely no nerves in the historic stadium while playing against the team expected to be Oregon's biggest obstacle in Pac-12 play.

Oregon, which is likely to move up in the BCS standings after this win and Notre Dame's narrow victory, had won every game this season by at least 17 points. USC's offense did its part, scoring more points and gaining more yards (615) than Oregon had allowed all year.

The Trojans' defense simply couldn't keep up with Oregon's relentless pace and precision. Oregon took a 21-3 lead 12 seconds into the second quarter, but Barkley threw TD passes of 75 yards to Lee and 76 yards to Nelson Agholor in the second quarter.

Robert Woods also caught a scoring pass. The Trojans twice pulled within three points in the second half, but Barner was viciously effective on almost every drive.

Randall Telfer caught a short TD pass with 5:27 to play, and USC narrowly missed recovering an onside kick. Barkley had one more chance to drive, but turned it over on downs with 3 minutes left. Agholor had six catches for 162 yards, and Silas Redd rushed for 92 yards and two TDs.

The Trojans' 38-35 win in Eugene last November was arguably the highlight of Barkley's four-year career, snapping the Ducks' 21-game home winning streak and 19-game conference streak while knocking Oregon out of the national championship race. But USC got off to a fast start at Autzen Stadium in that shocker, and the Ducks were much quicker in the rematch at the Coliseum.

In fact, the Ducks needed just 65 seconds to take the lead, with Thomas' 16-yard TD reception capping a five-play drive while the late-arriving part of the sellout crowd filed into the Coliseum.

Oregon's second 75-yard TD drive of the first quarter required 3:11, but Huff finished it with a 21-yard TD catch.

The Trojans were reeling after Mariota orchestrated an 80-yard drive ending in Barner's 27-yard TD run on the second snap of the second quarter, but Barkley uncorked a 75-yard throw to Lee in stride for a score on the next snap from scrimmage.

Barkley also hit Woods and Agholor for scores in the final minutes before halftime to keep the lead down to 34-24.

The Ducks gained 460 yards in the first half, yet weren't in control. Redd's first TD trimmed the Ducks' lead to three points, but Oregon converted two fourth downs on their next drive, ending in Barner's third TD.

Lee returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards, setting up Redd's second TD run.

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Opinion: Seeing Things? Hearing Things? Many of Us Do

HALLUCINATIONS are very startling and frightening: you suddenly see, or hear or smell something — something that is not there. Your immediate, bewildered feeling is, what is going on? Where is this coming from? The hallucination is convincingly real, produced by the same neural pathways as actual perception, and yet no one else seems to see it. And then you are forced to the conclusion that something — something unprecedented — is happening in your own brain or mind. Are you going insane, getting dementia, having a stroke?

In other cultures, hallucinations have been regarded as gifts from the gods or the Muses, but in modern times they seem to carry an ominous significance in the public (and also the medical) mind, as portents of severe mental or neurological disorders. Having hallucinations is a fearful secret for many people — millions of people — never to be mentioned, hardly to be acknowledged to oneself, and yet far from uncommon. The vast majority are benign — and, indeed, in many circumstances, perfectly normal. Most of us have experienced them from time to time, during a fever or with the sensory monotony of a desert or empty road, or sometimes, seemingly, out of the blue.

Many of us, as we lie in bed with closed eyes, awaiting sleep, have so-called hypnagogic hallucinations — geometric patterns, or faces, sometimes landscapes. Such patterns or scenes may be almost too faint to notice, or they may be very elaborate, brilliantly colored and rapidly changing — people used to compare them to slide shows.

At the other end of sleep are hypnopompic hallucinations, seen with open eyes, upon first waking. These may be ordinary (an intensification of color perhaps, or someone calling your name) or terrifying (especially if combined with sleep paralysis) — a vast spider, a pterodactyl above the bed, poised to strike.

Hallucinations (of sight, sound, smell or other sensations) can be associated with migraine or seizures, with fever or delirium. In chronic disease hospitals, nursing homes, and I.C.U.’s, hallucinations are often a result of too many medications and interactions between them, compounded by illness, anxiety and unfamiliar surroundings.

But hallucinations can have a positive and comforting role, too — this is especially true with bereavement hallucinations, seeing the face or hearing the voice of one’s deceased spouse, siblings, parents or child — and may play an important part in the mourning process. Such bereavement hallucinations frequently occur in the first year or two of bereavement, when they are most “needed.”

Working in old-age homes for many years, I have been struck by how many elderly people with impaired hearing are prone to auditory and, even more commonly, musical hallucinations — involuntary music in their minds that seems so real that at first they may think it is a neighbor’s stereo.

People with impaired sight, similarly, may start to have strange, visual hallucinations, sometimes just of patterns but often more elaborate visions of complex scenes or ranks of people in exotic dress. Perhaps 20 percent of those losing their vision or hearing may have such hallucinations.

I was called in to see one patient, Rosalie, a blind lady in her 90s, when she started to have visual hallucinations; the staff psychiatrist was also summoned. Rosalie was concerned that she might be having a stroke or getting Alzheimer’s or reacting to some medication. But I was able to reassure her that nothing was amiss neurologically. I explained to her that if the visual parts of the brain are deprived of actual input, they are hungry for stimulation and may concoct images of their own. Rosalie was greatly relieved by this, and delighted to know that there was even a name for her condition: Charles Bonnet syndrome. “Tell the nurses,” she said, drawing herself up in her chair, “that I have Charles Bonnet syndrome!”

Rosalie asked me how many people had C.B.S., and I told her hundreds of thousands, perhaps, in the United States alone. I told her that many people were afraid to mention their hallucinations. I described a recent study of elderly blind patients in the Netherlands which found that only a quarter of people with C.B.S. mentioned it to their doctors — the others were too afraid or too ashamed. It is only when physicians gently inquire (often avoiding the word “hallucination”) that people feel free to admit seeing things that are not there — despite their blindness.

Rosalie was indignant at this, and said, “You must write about it — tell my story!” I do tell her story, at length, in my book on hallucinations, along with the stories of many others. Most of these people have been reluctant to admit to their hallucinations. Often, when they do, they are misdiagnosed or undiagnosed — told that it’s nothing, or that their condition has no explanation.

Misdiagnosis is especially common if people admit to “hearing voices.” In a famous 1973 study by the Stanford psychologist David Rosenhan, eight “pseudopatients” presented themselves at various hospitals across the country, saying that they “heard voices.” All behaved normally otherwise, but were nonetheless determined to be (and treated as) schizophrenic (apart from one, who was given the diagnosis of “manic-depressive psychosis”). In this and follow-up studies, Professor Rosenhan demonstrated convincingly that auditory hallucinations and schizophrenia were synonymous in the medical mind.

WHILE many people with schizophrenia do hear voices at certain times in their lives, the inverse is not true: most people who hear voices (as much as 10 percent of the population) are not mentally ill. For them, hearing voices is a normal mode of experience.

My patients tell me about their hallucinations because I am open to hearing about them, because they know me and trust that I can usually run down the cause of their hallucinations. For the most part, these experiences are unthreatening and, once accommodated, even mildly diverting.

David Stewart, a Charles Bonnet syndrome patient with whom I corresponded, writes of his hallucinations as being “altogether friendly,” and imagines his eyes saying: “Sorry to have let you down. We recognize that blindness is no fun, so we’ve organized this small syndrome, a sort of coda to your sighted life. It’s not much, but it’s the best we can manage.”

Mr. Stewart has been able to take his hallucinations in good humor, since he knows they are not a sign of mental decline or madness. For too many patients, though, the shame, the secrecy, the stigma, persists.

Oliver Sacks is a professor of neurology at the N.Y.U. School of Medicine and the author, most recently, of the forthcoming book “Hallucinations.”

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Google Casts a Big Shadow on Smaller Web Sites

Annie Tritt for The New York Times

Jeffrey G. Katz, the chief executive of Wize Commerce, seen with employees. He says that about 60 percent of the traffic for the company’s Nextag comparison-shopping site comes from Google.

In a geeky fire drill, engineers and outside consultants at Nextag scrambled to see if the problem was its own fault. Maybe some inadvertent change had prompted Google’s algorithm to demote Nextag when a person typed in shopping-related search terms like “kitchen table” or “lawn mower.”

But no, the engineers determined. And traffic from Google’s search engine continued to decline, by half.

Nextag’s response? It doubled its spending on Google paid search advertising in the last five months.

The move was costly but necessary to retain shoppers, Mr. Katz says, because an estimated 60 percent of Nextag’s traffic comes from Google, both from free search and paid search ads, which are ads that are related to search results and appear next to them. “We had to do it,” says Mr. Katz, chief executive of Wize Commerce, owner of Nextag. “We’re living in Google’s world.”

Regulators in the United States and Europe are conducting sweeping inquiries of Google, the dominant Internet search and advertising company. Google rose by technological innovation and business acumen; in the United States, it has 67 percent of the search market and collects 75 percent of search ad dollars. Being big is no crime, but if a powerful company uses market muscle to stifle competition, that is an antitrust violation.

So the government is focusing on life in Google’s world for the sprawling economic ecosystem of Web sites that depend on their ranking in search results. What is it like to live this way, in a giant’s shadow? The experience of its inhabitants is nuanced and complex, a blend of admiration and fear.

The relationship between Google and Web sites, publishers and advertisers often seems lopsided, if not unfair. Yet Google has also provided and nurtured a landscape of opportunity. Its ecosystem generates $80 billion a year in revenue for 1.8 million businesses, Web sites and nonprofit organizations in the United States alone, it estimates.

The government’s scrutiny of Google is the most exhaustive investigation of a major corporation since the pursuit of Microsoft in the late 1990s.

The staff of the Federal Trade Commission has recommended preparing an antitrust suit against Google, according to people briefed on the inquiry, who spoke on the condition they not be identified. But the commissioners must vote to proceed. Even if they do, the government and Google could settle.

Google has drawn the attention of antitrust officials as it has moved aggressively beyond its dominant product — search and search advertising — into fields like online commerce and local reviews. The antitrust issue is whether Google uses its search engine to favor its offerings like Google Shopping and Google Plus Local over rivals.

For policy makers, Google is a tough call.

“What to do with an attractive monopolist, like Google, is a really challenging issue for antitrust,” says Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia Law School and a former senior adviser to the F.T.C. “The goal is to encourage them to stay in power by continuing to innovate instead of excluding competitors.”

SPEAKING at a Google Zeitgeist conference in Arizona last month, Larry Page, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, said he understood the government scrutiny of his company, given Google’s size and reach. “There’s very many decisions we make that really impact a lot of people,” he acknowledged.

The main reason is that Google is continually adjusting its search algorithm — the smart software that determines the relevance, ranking and presentation of search results, typically links to other Web sites.

Google says it makes the changes to improve its service, and has long maintained that its algorithm weeds out low-quality sites and shows the most useful results, whether or not they link to Google products.

“Our first and highest goal has to be to get the user the information they want as quickly and easily as possible,” says Matt Cutts, leader of the Web spam team at Google.

But Google’s algorithm is secret, and changes can leave Web sites scrambling.

Consider Vote-USA.org, a nonprofit group started in 2003. It provides online information for voters to avoid the frustration of arriving at a polling booth and barely recognizing half the names on the ballot. The site posts free sample ballots for federal, state and local elections with candidates’ pictures, biographies and views on issues.

In the 2004 and 2006 elections, users created tens of thousands of sample ballots. By 2008, traffic had fallen sharply, says Ron Kahlow, who runs Vote-USA.org, because “we dropped off the face of the map on Google.”

As founder of a search-engine optimization company and a recipient of grants that Google gives nonprofits to advertise free, Mr. Kahlow knows a thing or two about how to operate in Google’s world. He pored over Google’s guidelines for Web sites, made changes and e-mailed Google. Yet he received no response.

“I lost all donations to support the operation,” he said. “It was very, very painful.”

A breakthrough came through a personal connection. A friend of Mr. Kahlow knew Ed Black, chief executive of the Computer & Communications Industry Association, whose members include Google. Mr. Black made an inquiry on Mr. Kahlow’s behalf, and a Google engineer investigated.

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