El Duque's Masterpiece Lift Mets 4-2

NEW YORK - Once Orlando Hernandez got past an early hiccup, he was practically perfect. Hernandez gave up two quick hits and little else over seven impressive innings, and the New York Mets beat the San Francisco Giants 4-2 Thursday night for their fifth win in six games.

"Sometimes you've just got to get your rhythm," Mets manager Willie Randolph said. "El Duque is like that sometimes."

Jose Reyes energized the Mets with a leadoff walk, his major league-leading 29th steal and an RBI single.

Mets star Carlos Beltran bruised his right knee in a first-inning collision with Giants first baseman Rich Aurilia, and was pulled. He will get an MRI exam Friday.

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Capone may have had one last hit _ a musical one

He never "sang" to the police, but it turns out Al Capone had a song in his heart. All it took was a stint in Alcatraz prison to bring it out.

Now, more than 70 years later, the tender love song that the ruthless crime boss penned while sitting in the now-defunct California prison is being recorded and released on CD. And an inscribed copy of the music and lyrics to "Madonna Mia" is up for sale at $65,000.

"It's a beautiful song, a tearjerker," said Rich Larsen of Caponefanclub.com, who helped line up musicians and singers to record it.

The story of "Madonna Mia" begins in a cell in Alcatraz, where Scarface …

Boy critically injured in dog attack

A 9-month-old boy who was attacked by his grandmother's dog whilevisiting in her suburban Streamwood home was in critical conditionand on a ventilator Thursday at Lutheran General Hospital, ParkRidge.

Daniel Thoma, of Hoffman Estates, suffered two skull fracturesin the attack Wednesday, a hospital spokesman said. A nursingsupervisor said Thursday night the boy was in critical but stablecondition.

The 70-pound German shepherd-husky, named Bear, also bit theboy's grandmother, Sharon Devine, 42, on her forearm as she tried tostop the attack.

Devine was released after treatment at Humana Hospital, HoffmanEstates.

The boy's mother, Danette Thoma, 20, …

Business stockpiles and sales both rose in June

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. businesses added to their stockpiles for an 18th consecutive month in June, but the increase was the smallest in more than a year. Companies may be less confident amid declining consumer demand and growing fears of a recession.

Business inventories rose 0.3 percent in June, the weakest gain since May 2010, the Commerce Department reported Friday. Total business sales rose 0.4 percent after a 0.1 percent drop in May.

The rebound in sales should help to bolster shaky business sentiment and spur further inventory restocking in coming months. A separate report Friday showed that demand at the retail level was up in July, which could help alleviate concerns …

Texan helps document modern art looted from Iraq

Shortly after the invasion of Iraq, Nada Shabout returned to the country where she grew up. As an art history professor, one of the first stops she wanted to make was the modern art museum.

However, she soon found that seeing the Iraqi Museum of Modern Art would be impossible.

It had been burned and looted and, just months after the U.S.-led March 2003 invasion, the area was still blocked off and dangerous.

As she traveled around Baghdad and spoke to art experts, she realized that thousands of works had been looted from the museum, possibly gone forever. She learned from gallery owners and artists how pieces once displayed in the museum were …

Pleeeeeeeeease

Caption …

Scientific background for the AMS policy statement on planned and inadvertent weather modification

1. Introduction

Humans modify the weather deliberately and unintentionally; this is well founded in both observations and theory. Evidence accumulated over the last 50 years suggests that certain local weather conditions including fogs, low clouds, and precipitation in some areas can be altered by carefully controlled, scientifically founded cloud seeding. Similarly, the effects of inadvertent weather modification are becoming better understood. Cities, industrial complexes, and power plants affect local weather conditions and alter precipitation. Regional weather changes result from other human activities such as deforestation and major vehicle and airline transportation …