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(11/30/06 3:04am)
A state panel agreed Wednesday to recount votes in four Indiana House races, with the ultimate outcomes having the potential to threaten Democratic control of the chamber or widen the party's majority.\nThe Indiana Recount Commission also granted Libertarian Steve Osborn's request to re-tally ballots in 10 precincts in his race for the U.S. Senate against Dick Lugar, even though Osborn lost Nov. 7 by more than 1 million votes, and he acknowledged the recount gave him no chance of winning.\nDemocrats gained a 51-49 majority in the Indiana House, according to totals cited by the Secretary of State's office. Recount requests were made by three candidates who each lost by fewer than 30 votes and by former Republican incumbent Billy Bright of North Vernon, Ind., who challenged results that show he lost by about 1,600 votes.\nDemocrats can only lose their majority if a recount determines that Bright won and outcomes in the other three races stand. Even if a recount showed Bright winning, the ultimate authority for seating members in the Indiana House and Senate rests with those chambers, and Democrats have a majority in the House now.
(11/30/06 3:00am)
Lawmakers and Cabinet ministers loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr suspended participation in parliament and the government Wednesday to protest Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's planned meeting with President George W. Bush.\nThe leaders had been scheduled to hold talks in Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday, but the session was abruptly postponed a day shortly after Bush arrived.\nA statement from the 30 lawmakers and six Cabinet ministers said the meeting constituted a "provocation to the feelings of the Iraqi people and a violation of their constitutional rights." The statement did not explain that claim.\nThe support of the Sadrist bloc in the 275-member parliament was crucial to al-Maliki's election as prime minister this year, a fact that many see reflected in his reluctance to take action against the Mahdi Army, a militia loyal to al-Sadr and known to be behind much of the sectarian violence in Iraq.\nThe delay of the meeting between al-Maliki and Bush came after a White House memo was leaked to the media questioning the prime minister's capacity for controlling violence in Iraq. White House counselor Dan Bartlett denied that the move was a snub by al-Maliki or was related to the memo.\nBush was still scheduled to meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday. He and al-Maliki would hold talks Thursday to discuss ways to end the violence in Iraq.\nThe Sadrists had threatened to quit the government and parliament if al-Maliki went ahead with the meeting. By downgrading their protest to a suspension of membership, the politicians left open a return to their jobs at a later date.\nThe move, as well as its timing, were certain to weigh on al-Maliki during what could be the most important round of talks between an American and Iraqi leader since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.\nDisbanding Shiite militias such as the Mahdi Army and Badr Brigade, which also is linked to a major Shiite political party, has been a key demand as the Bush administration looks for ways to contain the violence in Iraq and win over Sunni Arabs who make up the three-year-old insurgency. Nearly 3,000 U.S. military personnel have died in Iraq since the beginning of the war.\nWednesday's statement from the Sadrists also mirrored the resentment felt by the movement toward the United States and Bush, recalling the days in 2004 when the Mahdi Army fought U.S. troops in two major revolts in Baghdad and much of central and southern Iraq.\n"This visit hijacked the will of the people during days when the sons of Iraq write their destiny with blood and not ink," said the statement, which referred to Bush as "cursed," the "world's biggest evil" and a "criminal."\nThe statement also criticized al-Maliki's Shiite-dominated government for its decision to request from the United Nations a one-year extension of the stay in Iraq of the U.S.-led multinational force numbering about 160,000. The request was granted Tuesday.\nThe Sadr politicians argued that the multinational force played a "suspicious" role in Iraq and accused al-Maliki of ignoring the views of parliament by seeking a renewal of the deployment.\nIn Amman, about 300 people carrying Jordanian flags and anti-Bush banners marched through the University of Jordan to protest the president's visit.\nOne demonstrator held a sign that read: "You are not welcome in Jordan. You have our children's blood in your hands," while another said: "Bad Bush, you are not welcome in our homeland Jordan."\nStudents affiliated with the political arm of Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood -- the country's largest opposition group -- organized the protest. The Islamic Action Front, which has 17 seats in Jordan's 110-member Parliament, opposes Bush's policies, which it regards as biased toward Israel and aimed at controlling Arab oil wealth.\nAnother 200 people from several moderate political parties staged a silent sit-in outside the Parliament building.\nSecurity was increased around the capital, with tanks and machine gun-toting troops dotting the main road from the airport. Soldiers with dogs were at downtown hotels.
(11/30/06 2:59am)
Authorities found traces of radiation on two British Airways jets, and the airline appealed Wednesday to tens of thousands of passengers who flew the aircraft to or from Moscow to come forward as investigators widened the search for clues into the poisoning death of a former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko.\nThe airline said the "risk to public health is low," adding that it was in the process of contacting tens of thousands of passengers who flew on the jets.\nTwo planes at London's Heathrow Airport tested positive for traces of radiation, and a third plane has been taken out of service in Moscow awaiting examination, British Airways said in a statement.\nNatalia Remnyova, administrator at Domodedovo International Airport, the Moscow airport British Airways uses, said she knew nothing of a plane grounded there. Russian Transport Ministry and other government officials could not immediately be reached for comment.\nThe airline said the British government contacted it Tuesday night and told it to ground the planes and allow investigators looking into Litvinenko's death to test them for radiation.\nHigh doses of polonium-210-- a rare radioactive element usually manufactured in specialized nuclear facilities -- were found in Litvinenko's body, and traces of radiation have been found at sites in London connected with the inquiry into his death.\nAll three planes had been on the London-Moscow route, British Airways said. In the last three weeks, the planes had also traveled to routes across Europe including Barcelona, Spain; Frankfurt, Germany; and Athens, Greece. About 30,000 passengers had traveled on 220 flights on those planes, said Kate Gay, an airline spokeswoman.\n"The airline is in the process of making contact with customers who have traveled on flights operated by these aircraft, which operate within Europe," British Airways said in a statement.\n"British Airways understands that from advice it has been given that the risk to public health is low," the airline's statement said.\nThe airline has published the flights affected on its Web site and told customers on these flights to contact a special help line the British Health Ministry set up.\nLitvinenko, a former colonel with Russia's Federal Security Service -- the successor agency to the KGB -- had been a fierce critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin before his death from radiation poisoning Nov. 23. From his deathbed, he blamed Putin for his poisoning. Putin has strongly denied the charge.\nBritain's Home Secretary John Reid, who chaired a meeting of COBRA, the government's emergency committee, said that the tests on the planes were part of a wider scientific investigation into sites that could be linked to Litvinenko's death.\nMeanwhile, Italian security expert Mario Scaramella, who was one of the last people to meet with Litvinenko before the former spy fell ill, said tests cleared him of radioactive contamination.\nScaramella came from Rome and met Litvinenko at a sushi bar in London on Nov. 1 -- the day the former intelligence agent first reported the symptoms.\n"I am fine," Scaramella told The Associated Press by telephone. "I am not contaminated and have not contaminated anybody else."\nScaramella returned to London to undergo tests and talk with the police Tuesday. He said he is in security protection and refused to say where he was.\nMore than three dozen staff at the two hospitals that treated Litvinenko will be tested for radioactive contamination, Britain's Health Protection Agency said.\nThe agency said 106 staff at Barnet General Hospital and University College Hospital had been assessed for possible exposure, and 49 would have their urine tested.\nThe mysterious death has clouded Anglo-Russian relations. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Tuesday that police were determined to find out who was responsible for Litvinenko's death.\n"The police investigation will proceed, and I think people should know that there is no diplomatic or political barrier in the way of that investigation," Blair said in Copenhagen, Denmark. "It is obviously a very, very serious matter indeed. We are determined to find out what happened and who is responsible."\nMedia reports in Britain and Russia on Wednesday said that Litvinenko had been engaged in smuggling nuclear substances out of Russia.\nThe Independent newspaper reported that Litvinenko told Scaramella on the day he fell ill that he had organized the smuggling of nuclear material for his former employers at Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB. The newspaper reported that Litvinenko said he had smuggled radioactive material to Zurich, Switzerland, in 2000.\nBut Scaramella told the AP that he had been misquoted by the newspaper.\n"(Litvinenko) wanted to see me because he knew about smuggling of nuclear material, but as far as I know he was never involved in nuclear smuggling," he said.\nLondon police say they are investigating the case as a "suspicious death" rather than murder, although they have devoted a large anti-terrorist force to the investigation.\nScaramella said he had been cleared of any involvement in the 43-year-old former spy's death.\n"Let me take the opportunity to say that I'm not under investigation by any British authority," he said. "I am cooperating with them (the police)." \nPolice declined to say whom they had spoken to.\nScaramella said he showed Litvinenko e-mails from a confidential source identifying the possible killers of Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya and listing other potential targets for assassination -- including himself and Litvinenko.\nFollowing Litvinenko's death, more than 1,100 people called a health hot line over concerns they might be at risk from polonium poisoning, which is deadly in tiny amounts if ingested or inhaled. Sixty-eight have been referred to health authorities, the Health Protection Agency said -- including the 49 hospital staff.\nEight have been referred to a special clinic as a precaution. The tests should take about a week.\nTraces of radiation have been found at six sites visited by Litvinenko.\nA coroner will perform an autopsy on Litvinenko on Friday, "subject to appropriate precautions," said the local authority responsible, Camden Council. Doctors had sought expert advice on whether Litvinenko's radioactive body posed a threat to those performing the post-mortem.\nA coroner's inquest will be opened Thursday and then adjourned until the police investigation is complete, the council said.
(11/29/06 5:47pm)
A sizeable chunk of my Thanksgiving break was spent in the family minivan, traveling with my parents to visit my brother and sister-in-law in Columbia, Mo. \nTo help while away the long hours, we listened to the CD version of Bill Bryson's memoir of his childhood in the 1950s "The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir." The book wasn't bad -- some parts were more amusing than others -- but above all, it reinforced my impression that no generation has been so prone to nostalgia as the baby boomers. Sure, people always romanticize the past, but did past generations spend nearly as much time waxing rhapsodically about their childhood snack foods, for example? Bryson, to his credit, doesn't ignore the dark side of the '50s, yet he cannot avoid the conclusion that those days were happier, more hopeful, more genuine, more innocent than our present. I'm not entirely convinced -- but then again, I wasn't there.\nIt did get me wondering, though, whether in 30 or 40 years our generation (or, perhaps, "your and my generations," depending on who's doing the categorizing) will be similarly infected with the nostalgia bug. And I don't mean simply talking about the past -- VH1's ridiculously popular "I Love The (Decade)" shows are about kitsch rather than nostalgia. I mean longing for some (real or imagined) golden time in our earlier lives. Will we ever say, "Ah, the '80s/'90s/naughts, those were the good old days"?\nAccording to research on nostalgia in the fields of advertising and marketing, the answer appears to be yes. A 2004 Journal of Advertising study by Darrel Muehling and David Sprott found that, based on a survey of 159 undergraduates ages 18 to 35, "personal thought patterns are, indeed, inspired among those presented with an ad containing nostalgic cues ... (and) that those who experienced nostalgic thoughts tended to exhibit more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand than those who did not," according to a Nov. 30, 2005, Washington State University news release. \nBut why? In a 2003 Journal of Consumer Behavior article, Morris Holbrook and Robert Schindler suggest that "via a process called nostalgic bonding, a consumer's history of personal interaction with a product during a critical period of preference formation that occurs roughly in the vicinity of age 20 (give or take a few years in either direction) can create a lifelong preference for that object."\nThus, like some tragic genetic disease, it is only a matter of time before nostalgia is bound to manifest itself -- to grab hold of you and make you soft on whatever junk was around at age 20. Holbrook and Schindler particularly highlight movies, movie stars, fashions and music. So for you youngsters out there -- freshmen and sophomores, mostly -- be prepared to get misty-eyed over James Blunt, the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" and Webstar and Young B.'s unspeakably awful "Chicken Noodle Soup." \nOf course I can make fun of you -- music was so much better when I was a kid.
(11/29/06 6:03am)
The FBI is no longer investigating an IU doctoral student who raised security concerns last month when he created a Web site that could generate fake Northwest Airlines boarding passes. After interviews and a search of his property, the FBI has concluded Chris Soghoian didn't have malicious intent when he set up the site in October, said Indianapolis-based FBI Special Agent Wendy Osborne.\nSoghoian said he intended to draw attention to a flaw in airport security and said he is frustrated his message was lost during the investigation. He added he is annoyed it has been a month since the government shut down the site, yet there have been no efforts as of yet to fix the security loophole. He also said someone has created another generator anonymously, and the government has not removed it from the Web yet.\nTim Morrison, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, said the office would not press criminal charges against Soghoian. \nAuthorities told Soghoian that Northwest Airlines could potentially sue him for copyright issues since he used its boarding pass, but Northwest Airlines spokeswoman Jennifer Bagdade said the company "will not speculate on that" at this time.\nSoghoian said he had not been notified of any pending civil litigation against him, but for now, he said he's just happy he isn't going to jail. \nWhen the FBI initially contacted him Oct. 27, Soghoian was left on his own for legal help after the University said it would not help him. The next day, the FBI raided his apartment and took his computers, three passports, his plane tickets to Spain for a Christmas trip and "anything that could store data" because he refused to hand over his belongings without the presentation of a search warrant, he said. Soghoian said he went door-to-door in the IU School of Law and called Student Legal Services without success before he finally found a Stanford law professor and a "white-collar crime" attorney in Washington, D.C., who were willing to take his case pro bono. \nHe also spent a night away from home for fear the FBI would come back, he said, as he slept in a sleeping bag in the Informatics Building lobby so he wouldn't lure the FBI to any of his friends' houses.\nSoghoian said the FBI returned most of his equipment and will be returning the rest in the next few days. He said authorities kept his hard drives intact, so he will be able to continue further research with the stipulation that he won't recreate the generator.\nBut Soghoian said his biggest frustration throughout the whole experience was the media's lack of focus on his intentions. He said he created the boarding pass generator to highlight security inadequacies, and those shortcomings were being overlooked.\n"It's really, really frustrating, the press getting off-point," Soghoian said. "I am actually working to improve airport security. Terrorism is something that I've seen up close, and the action of the United States government has been to engage in things that will not actually make you safer."\nSoghoian said the government's "no-fly" list does not work because people can make fake boarding passes and can fly if they claim they lost their identification. They will be thoroughly searched, he said, but they will still be allowed on a plane without ever having to prove their identity. Soghoian said he has tested his claim and said he has been able to fly \nwithout identification twice out of Indianapolis and twice out of Washington, D.C. \nSoghoian said this was the reason he created the fake boarding pass generator. He said he intended for it to show the public how easily someone can bypass the "no-fly" list, though he never personally printed or used a fake boarding pass.\n"Al-Qaida should never be the first people to test your system," he said. "If terrorists are the first to test your system, then you've failed"
(11/29/06 5:53am)
NEW YORK -- Tony La Russa will defend Mark McGwire until the end: To him, Big Mac is a Hall of Famer.\n"I've believed in him from day one. I still believe in him," the St. Louis Cardinals manager said Tuesday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.\nMcGwire is appearing on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, and an AP survey of 125 baseball writers who are eligible to vote -- about 20 percent of the total -- showed that only one in four who gave an opinion planned to vote for McGwire.\n"It would be two in five then. I'd make it two in five," La Russa said. "I can't answer for anybody else, what priorities they give and how they weigh stuff. I know what my personal opinion is, and that's the way it stays."\nMcGwire, a 12-time All-Star, is seventh on the career home run list with 583, but his status plummeted in the minds of many after former Oakland teammate Jose Canseco accused him last year of using steroids. McGwire evaded questions during a March 2005 congressional hearing, saying repeatedly: "I'm not here to talk about the past."\nLa Russa managed McGwire from 1986-95 with the Oakland Athletics, then from 1997-2001 with the Cardinals. La Russa repeatedly has said that he never saw McGwire use any performance-enhancing drugs.\n"I've watched him for years and years and years work out and take care of himself, and if any of us do that, we get bigger and stronger," La Russa said.\nMcGwire's business manager, Jim Milner, did not return telephone calls Monday and Tuesday seeking comment.\nFor La Russa, it's hard to gauge whether McGwire is being treated unfairly because of his refusal to answer questions at the congressional hearing.\n"I know people are struggling with how to put it in perspective," he said. "I don't know where it goes. I don't know how people weigh. I don't know how the public feels. To me, the issue is the player that I saw for years and years. I believe in him. And that's where I leave it."\nMcGwire has stayed away from most baseball events -- he wasn't seen at any of the St. Louis Cardinals' World Series games this year. While La Russa remains in close contact, they haven't discussed the upcoming Hall of Fame vote.\n"I talk to him frequently. We don't talk about it. We have other things to talk about," La Russa said.\nSt. Louis beat the Detroit Tigers in five games last month for its first World Series title since 1982. For La Russa, this offseason is a time to savor.\n"It's been good. Enjoying every bit of it," he said. "You wouldn't feel it as deeply as you do having been though a bunch of misses"
(11/29/06 5:46am)
The IU women's volleyball season has come to a close and so has Katie Weismiller's IU coaching career.\nAfter 14 years of coaching Hoosier volleyball, Weismiller has decided not to seek to renew her contract as head coach of the IU women's volleyball team, the IU Department of Athletics announced Monday.\n"I am incredibly thankful to IU, the athletic department, administration, students, parents and the Bloomington community for the opportunity to serve IU for the past 14 years," Weismiller said in a statement.\nWeismiller, who has the most wins among any volleyball coach in IU history, appeared in the NCAA Tournament four times and had an overall record of 198-240 while leading the Hoosiers. However, Weismiller lost the final 19 games of the 2006 season, finishing 10-22 overall and 1-19 in Big Ten play.\nThere is no time frame on finding a replacement for Weismiller, but IU will conduct a national search for a new head coach, according to the IU Athletics Web site.
(11/29/06 5:45am)
CHICAGO -- Alfonso Soriano will be paid $18 million annually in the final five years of his $136 million, eight-year contract with the Chicago Cubs, the fifth-richest contract in baseball history.\nSoriano's deal gives him a complete no-trade provision and guarantees a suite on Cubs road trips, according to contract information obtained by The Associated Press. In addition, Soriano is guaranteed six premium tickets for each home game during spring training, regular season and the postseason -- and for the All-Star game if he is selected.\nSoriano receives an $8 million signing bonus and will get a $9 million salary next season. His salary increases to $13 million in 2008 and $16 million in 2009, then goes up to $18 million from 2010-2014. Soriano, who turns 31 in January, will be 38 in the final year of the deal.\nThere are also plenty of incentives for the five-time All-Star, who will be the Cubs leadoff hitter. He gets $250,000 for collecting the most All Star votes, $350,000 if he is selected the World Series MVP, $250,000 for the league championship series MVP, $300,000 for the MVP award and $75,000 for a Gold Glove.\nAs another provision, Soriano will donate $25,000 annually to United Way and $25,000 annually to Cubs Care foundation.\nSoriano said last week that he also plans to ask the Cubs for permission to play for his hometown team in the Dominican Republic winter team.\nSoriano is slotted to be one of the Cubs outfielders, although which spot has not been determined. But he also said during an interview in the Dominican Republic he would be willing to go back to second base, where he played most of his career before he was switched to the outfield last season with the Washington Nationals.\n"I know that Chicago already has Mark DeRosa at second base, but if they want me to play second, I will," he said.\nCubs general manager Jim Hendry said earlier this week he'd wait to talk to Soriano in person before commenting on his desire to play winter ball. Soriano is expected to have an introductory news conference this week at Wrigley Field.
(11/29/06 5:25am)
Bryan House:\nMyth: The inside of the president's residence features lavish and expensive decor, including priceless Renaissance art, all charged to the University's budget.\n"Fact": The interior is decorated in a rather frugal manner. However, there is a vast network of underground caves linked to the house that serve as a conduit to fighting crime. Just ask the president's butler, Alfred.
(11/29/06 5:10am)
[The Facts]Thousands of protestors in Istanbul, Turkey, have demonstrated opposition to the visit by Pope Benedict XVI, despite Turkey's hopes that the pontiff's appearance would help highlight the secular nature of the government and support the country's ambition to join the European Union. Given the Pope's recent comments linking Islam to violence, is the visit to the primarily Muslim nation worth the security risk?
(11/29/06 4:45am)
Q: My girlfriend and I are both virgins. I want to have sex with my girlfriend but she is afraid of getting pregnant. I told her that I will use condoms during sex. My question is, if I am using condoms and if I ejaculate in the condom when my penis is in my girlfriend's vagina, is there any chance of getting her pregnant? Thanks for your time.\nA: The short answer is: yes. There is a chance of pregnancy. With correct and consistent (read: every single time you have sex) condom use, condoms are about 97% effective in preventing pregnancy. However, their effectiveness drops considerably (to about 84% effective) when one considers actual, typical use of condoms. To learn how to use condoms correctly, visit www.plannedparenthood.com or read the package insert enclosed in boxes of condoms.\nThe longer answer is this: your sex dilemma may be about more than meets the eye. Often when people say that they do not want to have sex because of fill-in-the-blank (e.g., fear of pregnancy, fear of infection, etc), there may be other reasons that they do not yet want to have sex either at that point in their life, or with a specific partner, or at that time in a relationship. \nIf your girlfriend does not want to be sexual in this way with you, it may have nothing to do with you. If you feel like you two need to have sex in order to be in the relationship, then that is your issue (not hers) and you need to be able to find another way to deal with it other than to try and convince a hesitant partner to have sex with you.\nFear of pregnancy may be a very real reason why your girlfriend does not want to have sex yet. But considering that there are a range of highly effective birth control options available (including birth control pills, patches, rings, and shots, as well as correct and consistent condom use), technically the two of you could work together to figure out a safe, reliable and effective means of contraception.\nIt may be that there are other reasons that she does not yet want to have intercourse, and it is worth exploring how you feel about each other, your expectations for commitment and exclusivity, and your feelings about the relationship and what you mean to each other.\nIt is important not to pressure your girlfriend into having sex with you if she is not yet ready to. Sex can be fantastic, pleasurable and relationship-building when it is shared with a partner who not only agrees to have sex with you, but who very much wants and desires to have sex with you. On the other hand, sex can feel empty, meaningless or even scary (emotionally scary and, in terms of pregnancy or infection risk, physically scary) when one or both partners is uncertain about having sex. \nAs you probably realize, many women and men get mixed messages about sexuality in our culture. Some family, cultural and religious messages suggest that sex is dirty or sinful or only open to certain people (e.g., married adults interested in procreation) whereas others construct sexuality as being intimate, beautiful and open to any adults (regardless of sexual orientation, interest in having children or marital status).Women often get a sense from popular culture that they should dress and act sexy and available, yet at the same time they may run the risk of being labeled sluts or whores if they act in sexual ways of which others (like their parents, friends or fellow students) disapprove. Men are often encouraged to go out and have sex with anyone who will have sex with them, even at the expense of their own values or feelings about relationships or how to treat partners. \nGiven the range of messages that we get from different sources, it is no wonder that sexual decision making can be challenging for individuals and couples. Therefore, we would encourage you to take time with each other, and to be careful with each other's feelings, when making this big decision. You may find The Guide to Getting It On to be a useful book as you explore more about your sexuality alone and with your girlfriend.
(11/29/06 4:43am)
See what's going on around the arts!
(11/29/06 4:40am)
CHICAGO -- A public Christmas festival is no place for the Christmas story, the city says.\nOfficials have asked organizers of a downtown Christmas festival, the German Christkindlmarket, to reconsider using a movie studio as a sponsor because it is worried ads for its film "The Nativity Story" might offend non-Christians.\nNew Line Cinema, which said it was dropped, had planned to play a loop of the new film on televisions at the event. The decision had both the studio and a prominent Christian group shaking their heads.\n"The last time I checked, the first six letters of Christmas still spell out Christ," said Paul Braoudakis, spokesman for the Barrington, Ill.-based Willow Creek Association, a group of more than 11,000 churches of various denominations. "It's tantamount to celebrating Lincoln's birthday without talking about Abraham Lincoln."\nHe also said that there is a nativity scene in Daley Plaza -- and that some vendors at the festival sell items related to the nativity.\nThe city does not want to appear to endorse one religion over another, said Cindy Gatziolis, a spokeswoman for the Mayor's Office of Special Events. She acknowledged there is a nativity scene but also said there will be representations of other faiths, including a Jewish menorah, all put up by private groups. She stressed that the city did not order organizers to drop the studio as a sponsor.\n"Our guidance was that this very prominently placed advertisement would not only be insensitive to the many people of different faiths who come to enjoy the market for its food and unique gifts, but also it would be contrary to acceptable advertising standards suggested to the many festivals holding events on Daley Plaza," Jim Law, executive director of the office, said in a statement.\nOfficials with the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which has organized the event for several years, did not immediately return calls for comment. The festival started Thursday.
(11/29/06 4:39am)
The IU Ballet Theater will present Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" at the Musical Arts Center this weekend.\nChoreographed by Jacques Cesbron, the ballet has been performed every holiday season at IU since 1958. "The Nutcracker" tells the story of Clara, a young girl who receives a nutcracker as a gift from her grandfather on Christmas Eve. When she falls asleep embracing the wooden figurine, she has magical dreams of dancing snowflakes and a sugar plum fairy. \nIU ballet students, who have been preparing for nearly six weeks, will perform the ballet. Shows take place at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.\nThis is Cesbron's ninth year choreographing "The Nutcracker" at IU, ballet department chair Michael Vernon said. \nTickets can be purchased at the MAC box office or online through Ticketmaster.com. They range in price from $18-$35.\nAt 12:30 p.m. Saturday in the MAC lobby, audience members will have the chance to meet "The Nutcracker" characters at the Nutcracker Tea. The seventh annual event allows family and children to meet the prominent characters represented by dancers of the IU Ballet Theater. \nTickets for the Nutcracker Tea can only be purchased at the MAC box office for $7.
(11/29/06 4:23am)
Two weeks ago the ghosts of George Orwell and Josef Stalin appeared in midtown Manhattan. Orwell was carrying a placard that read: "I Told You So," while Stalin's read: "Russia Did It First."\nThe characters in the fictitious scenario above were drawing attention to a rule under consideration by the New York City Board of Health that would allow a citizen born in one of the five boroughs to legally change information on his birth certificate. The New York Times reported that the proposed rule allowing revision of historical documents will likely be adopted soon. \nIn Orwell's "1984," the protagonist is employed by the government's Ministry of Truth. But in the nightmarish novel, the Ministry of Truth is actually a propaganda machine that churns out lies while erasing and eliminating any evidence contrary to its mass-produced deceit. Under Stalin, the USSR dabbled in historical revisionism akin to that in Orwell's dystopia.\nThe puppet-masters in Orwell's hell believed that the revision or elimination of history could change the present. So, too, those in New York City's Ministry of Truth think that the alteration of legal documents will alter reality.\nWhat would anyone want to change on his birth certificate? \nWhy, the "his" part, of course! \nThe proposed rule would allow a person born with testicles to change his birth certificate to indicate that he was actually born with ovaries, and vice versa. NYC's Board of Health would allow a man who thinks he's a woman to revise a legal, historical document to indicate that he really is, and always has been, a woman. \nSuppose Cher, being obsessed with the illusion of her youth, changed her birth certificate to indicate that she had been born in 1977, not 1946. A legal document would then indicate that Cher is 29 years old, contrary to all appearances and the inconvenient truth that she and Sonny hit the big time earlier that decade.\nBut forget the Orwellian-ness of the situation, bending truth to conform to someone's desires. The real issue is the blurring of the very clear distinction between men and women. New York City's Ministry of Truth is just doling out another piece of propaganda to androgynize America.\nGay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender groups will probably slash my tires for pointing this out, but men and women are different. It's a truth that's older than the hills, and a few Orwellian pen strokes on a few pieces of paper can't change it. Reproductive organs produce hormones that control physiological development from the first nine months of life in utero through puberty and adulthood. Even if a doctor removes those organs, their effects are irreversible. Creating a class of androgynoids can't change reality.\nMany people, including professors at IU, would like you to believe that ovaries and testicles are exactly the same. But this is an intellectual Pandora's Box. Once you go against all common sense and accept that there's no difference between men and women, you can be duped into anything. The sky's the limit!\nAnd I've got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell to you.
(11/29/06 4:08am)
People are wusses. I'm talking about those whiny, crying, annoying, simple, egotistical types who just can't fathom a life in which maybe their views are wrong and someone else's views are right. So they spend every waking minute trying to explain why they are right and you are wrong and how, if you don't agree, you are stupid.\nUnfortunately, this definition fits way too many people in this country and on this campus. \nExhibit A: A group called the Students' Smokefree Coalition managed to convince the administration to look into having a smoking ban on all of campus because apparently you're going to be killed if you walk by someone who just so happens to have a cigarette and are exposed to smoke for three seconds.\nExhibit B: Despite raising millions of dollars for the University in only two years, faculty members are basically forcing President Herbert out two years before his original contract is finished because he didn't get a chancellor when they wanted one and because he didn't listen to their needs when they wanted him to.\nExhibit C: The useless bickering between Democrats and Republicans.\nI could go on and give other examples, but I think you get the picture: People are wusses. That so many Americans are wusses doesn't surprise me. This country was built by wusses. \nThink about it: King James I was a wuss because he said people in England could only worship in a certain way. As a result, pilgrims moved to the Netherlands. When the people there weren't "religious" enough for them, the pilgrims showed their true wuss colors and moved to America. When they got here, they became even bigger wusses because, heaven forbid, someone else just happened to beat them here by a few hundred years. So they killed many of them and took most of their land. Then when more people came to the colonies and the work got too hard, they brought these same natives back to do their work. Years later, once they had worked most of the natives to death and were still wusses, they got Africans and worked them to death, too. Once the slaves were released, they still acted like wusses, claiming, "You're not American. You're not even human because you don't look like me, so you don't deserve things like an education, good housing and decent jobs."\nI love my country, but it's a country of wusses. Look at current events. Our views are right and yours are wrong, so we as Americans are going to bully you into our form of democracy and capitalist economy. And if you don't agree, poo on you.\nPlease remember, there's a thin line between voicing your opinion and trying to do what's best for the country, and turning into wusses. Please, don't become wusses.
(11/29/06 4:07am)
I've been watching you for a while now. Studying your behavior. Anticipating your next move. By now, I can read you like the Encyclopedia Britannica entry on the pale-headed brush finch. But I have to be certain of your intentions. Let's end this charade. I'll just be blunt. Are you gonna eat that?\nLife is full of disappointment. Pamela Anderson and Kid Rock are getting divorced, and they don't make Dora the Explorer snow boots in my size. But perhaps even more disappointing is seeing perfectly good food go to waste.\nI haven't eaten since breakfast and you're letting a smidgen of bagel sandwich, a modicum of pancake or half of your Pad Thai just sit there. All the signs would suggest you're not going to eat that.\nFirst of all, you've stopped eating. You haven't taken a bite in more than 23 minutes. Why must you play this game with me? You're clearly done, but you keep making little movements to imply territorial control over your leftovers.\nHowever, you started doing other things right in front of your food-in-waiting. You balanced your checkbook, called your grandmother and corralled an entire herd of elk into the mountain region while the remains of your fettuccine alfredo waited impatiently on your plate as if you intended to send the last noodles to be with their brothers down in the depths of your digestive system. But we both know you won't. The fate of a family is on your shoulders, but you just went to go watch "Reno 911."\nYou gain new responsibility when you assume the title of Eater of Food. You can't just neglect that barbeque chicken sandwich because the magic of eating the first half is gone. You can't ignore that dollop of tuna salad while it remains uncertain of its fate. Think of what you're doing to the tuna's self-esteem.\nRemember, you signed up for this when you took the first bite. If you can't finish the job, the only ethical thing to do is pass the eating torch onto someone else who won't cop out mid-snackfest.\nDon't pretend like you're going to eat it later. That salad of yours has been staying a mighty long time at the Frigidaire Hilton, and I certainly don't expect it to be checking out of the crisper by noon.\nPretending the meal isn't over is only hurting yourself and those around you. I know I've been hard on you. We both said things we didn't mean. I'm sorry. There's only a little bit of shame in admitting you couldn't live up to the food challenge. But you can make it right by letting go of your crazy fantasies of finishing that fruit smoothie.\nDon't be coy with me. And don't toy with me. Take a moment to consult with your heart, soul and/or spiritual healer. We both know you're not going to eat that. So hand it over.
(11/29/06 4:05am)
Educashion iz varry impoortent. \nIn fact, some people go so far as to suggest that the economic future of the state of Indiana is dependent on the success of public institutions like IU. Over the past 30 years, however, higher education's share of state general appropriations has declined by about 5 percent. That may not seem like a lot of money to at first, but given the billions of dollars it takes to run IU, it's a substantial chunk of change, the kind of money that proverbially "makes the world go 'round."\nNeedless to say, when the Indiana Commission for Higher Education recommended a 2.5 percent increase in state operating appropriations for IU for 2007-08, and a 4.2 percent increase for 2008-09, it was a welcome development. University-wide, there are many worthy programs that could use the money. And while the state specifies the uses for a certain portion of the funds, the others are for IU to use at its discretion. The University could do anything from beefing up its international programs to funding pilot energy efficiency projects. There is no department on campus that couldn't find a use for more cash. \nBut there are a couple problems for the commission's recommendations:\nFirst, it's not enough. This might seem a little ungrateful, but the fact is that this year's funding is increasing 2.5 percent while the inflation rate is 3 percent. So while the University's funds from the state aren't declining as much as they did in past years when annual growth was 1.5 percent, they're still declining in real-dollar terms. \nSecond, this recommendation is by no means a guarantee that the measure will pass. The proposition to allocate these funds must first make its way through the state legislature, after which the governor must sign off on it. And increasing our funding is not as simple as it sounds. Although IU is indisputably better than Purdue, the state government has to take into account the funding of all of Indiana's public institutions of higher education. A change in IU's cash flow might cause others to call for a similar boost, and any across-the-board budget allocation would require some serious moolah.\nWhile we realize that finals are coming up, support from the IU community could be critical to making sure this proposal doesn't fizzle out on its way through the hands of the powers that be. Think of it this way: If you get sick of catching up on your reading, you can always take a study break and write letters to your favorite state senator or representative urging passage of a bill that increases IU's funding.\nRegardless, we encourage you not to step away from this money and blindly trust in the benevolence of our state officials. It is much too important an opportunity to be ignored. While you are here on campus to cultivate your future, keep in mind that money does not grow on trees.
(11/29/06 3:59am)
See what's going on around the world!
(11/29/06 3:56am)
ANKARA, Turkey -- Pope Benedict XVI began his first visit to a Muslim country Tuesday by urging all religious leaders to "utterly refuse" to support any violence in the name of faith, but he expressed worry that the risks of more conflicts and terrorism were growing in the Middle East and elsewhere.\nBenedict, speaking to diplomats in the Turkish capital, said "recent developments in terrorism and in certain regional conflicts" highlight the need for strong and effective international efforts, including peacekeeping forces in violence-wracked places such as Lebanon.\nThe pontiff also urged dialogue and "brotherhood" between faiths, while Turkey's chief Islamic cleric said at a joint appearance that growing "Islamophobia" hurts all Muslims.\nIn calling for religious leaders to "utterly refuse" any form of violence in the name of faith, Benedict carefully avoided a direct reference to Islam, but he said the "disturbing" conflicts in the world show "no sign of abating."\n"I am thinking of the risk of peripheral conflicts multiplying and terrorist actions spreading," the pontiff added, but did not cite specific locations or groups.\nThe pope called on all religious leaders to reject attempts to wield political power and called on them to "utterly refuse to sanction recourse to violence as a legitimate expression of religion."\nBenedict also said guarantees of religious freedom are essential for a just society -- comments that risked bringing the Vatican into conflict with some Islamic nations that allow only Muslims to worship openly or impose restrictions on religious minorities. The views could be reinforced later during the four-day visit when the pope meets in Istanbul with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians.\nThe pope is expected to call for greater rights and protections for Christian minorities in the Muslim world, including for the tiny Greek Orthodox community in Turkey.\nWith only some 30,000 Roman Catholics in a nation of some 72 million Muslims, the trip lacked the pageantry of a usual papal pilgrimage. With fear for the pope's safety, only one open air event is planned during the four-day trip with all other events in heavily guarded buildings.\nSecurity forces were posted on rooftops and roadways around the pope's route. Only a few Turks broke away from their daily routine to watch the papal motorcade pass.\nBut the Vatican holds big goals of the trip -- a closely watched journey full of symbolism that could offer hope of religious reconciliation or deepen what many say is a growing divide between the Christian and Islamic worlds. Seeking to ease anger over his perceived criticism of Islam, Benedict met with Ali Bardakoglu, chief of Turkey's Religious Affairs Directories.\n"The so-called conviction that the sword is used to expand Islam in the world and growing Islamophobia hurts all Muslims," Bardakoglu said at a joint appearance.\nThe comment appeared to be a reference to Benedict's remarks in a speech in September when he quoted a 14th century Christian emperor who characterized the Prophet Muhammad's teachings as "evil and inhuman." Those remarks triggered a wave of anger in the Islamic world; on Sunday, more than 25,000 Turks showed up to an anti-Vatican protest in Istanbul, asking the pope to stay at home.