November 9, 2005

Article on movie Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes and based on Anthony Swofford's memoir of the first gulf war; Joel Turnipseed, who served as truck driver with Marine Corps in 1991, says parts of his own book, Baghdad Express, are in film; screenwriter William Broyles Jr, who adapted Swofford's book for movie, says he has read and admired Baghdad Express but that stories are not Swofford's or Turnipseed's but ones held in common by all marines; photos (M)

Article on difficulties creators of TV series Lost have in trying to keep plot twists secret from fans; advance information about plot developments--referred to as 'spoilers'--is regularly slipped to reporters and writers for entertainment Web sites; Lost executive producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse say they have no idea how purveyors of spoilers get information about series; photo (M)

Investors are holding chief executives accountable for their public utterances and their ability to articulate clear and compelling vision; gaffe, garbled sentence or muddled articulation of corporate strategy can not only mar public profile of chief executive but also prompt run on the stock; in era of Regulation FD--securities rule that obligates chief executive to make public all material information--quarterly investor call, usually seen on Internet, has assumed gravity of White House news conference; those calls have become tightly scripted affairs, with chief executives being prepped and briefed by cadre of inside and outside advisers; recent confused statements by J P Morgan Chase chief executive-designate James Dimon discussed; photo (M)

Michael R Bloomberg is re-elected mayor of New York by historic margin over Fernando Ferrer that gives Republican party fourth straight win in city run by Democrats for much of last century; photos; 20-point margin appears to smash records of Rudolph Giuliani and even Fiorello La Guardia in 1937; Bloomberg's success is considered triumph of competence over ideology, ethnic politics and partisan appeals; Dick Dadey of Citizens Union cites view that Bloomberg's only priority is well-run city; Bloomberg wins 59 percent to Ferrer's 39 percent; photos; tally; graph; turnout of about 1.24 million is one of lightest since 1980's, depriving Ferrer of votes of many Hispanics and Democratic loyalists; campaign reviewed (M)

News analysis of huge re-election victory as giving Mayor Michael Bloomberg mandate for sweeping agenda in New York City that may include firmer control over ground zero development, largest low- and middle-income housing program ever and taking away Albany's control of crucial budget matters; still grander agenda could include business-district tolls to ease traffic congestion, although communications director Edward Skyler warns against wild speculation; Bloomberg, funding own campaigns, is unshackled by special-interest promises or by poll numbers since he says he has no further political ambitions (M)