LONDON - The crashes of two vintage aircraft on consecutive daysat an air exhibition left three people dead and brought the show toan early close. A 1950s De Havilland Vampire with two men aboardcorkscrewed to earth during a display with a De Havilland Sea Vixenaircraft Saturday evening. It came down about 100 yards from astreet of row houses, showering some gardens with debris. Both …
Calgary - The TSX Venture Exchange has granted conditional acceptance of notice of Biopotential Capital Inc.'s proposed acquisition of Osta Biopharma Inc. as its qualifying transaction. Osta is a Montreal-based biopharmaceutical company, which is developing a preonset …
Shares of Seagate Technology plunged Monday after the hard drive maker announced it will lay off 10 percent of its U.S. work force, or about 800 people, in response to economic turmoil.
In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Seagate said it will disclose details of its restructuring program later this month. Layoffs will affect a broad range of departments, including research and development, the company said.
Spokesman Woody Monroy said Seagate has about 8,000 workers in the U.S., out of …
Humiliating doesn't even cover it.
I need a date. Bad. Real bad. Badder than I have ever neededa date in my life.
Except, of course, for the senior prom. When I was alsodesperately seeking a boy person to accompany me and my bubblingpersonality to a major event. And which, in order to attend (andhave the regulation is-that-all-there-is time), I was finally humbledinto being the inviter instead of the invitee. A fact that scarredboth my mother and me forever. And in truth the humiliation quotientgot even worse. Because not only did I have to ask a boy to take meto my senior prom, but the only boy who would go with me was a boyfrom the junior class.
Ask …
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA gave the shuttle Discovery a majestic Fourth of July send-off and said early signs showed the spacecraft to be in good shape, despite once again being struck by the flying foam that has plagued the program.
The first-ever Independence Day manned launch came after two weather delays and over objections from those within NASA who argued for more fuel-tank repairs.
Shuttle managers said early video images of liftoff showing small pieces of foam breaking away - and one even striking the spacecraft - were not troubling.
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said of the launch: "They don't get much better than this."
It was Griffin who …
Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government's record on Wednesday as it approached its two-year anniversary, even though tension simmers in her right-left "grand coalition" on issues from foreign policy to a proposed minimum wage.
"We have tackled a lot of things and implemented a lot successfully," Merkel was quoted as telling the mass-circulation daily Bild. "Since October 2005, the number of people without work has decreased by 1.1 million; we must continue along this road."
Merkel, a conservative Christian Democrat, took office on Nov. 22, 2005, at the head of an awkward alliance with the center-left Social Democrats _ …
She switched to prepaid wireless.
"Each month, I go online and decide how many minutes I want," said Baker, a 36-year-old financial coordinator for a Chicago dentist's office. "I'm now signed up for $40 a month, including $9.99 unlimited texting and $2.99 unlimited Internet service."
"I can determine whether I want to talk to you or not," said Baker, who changes her Virgin Mobile USA minutes based on "her mood."
"It's really easy to budget," she said.
As the recession lingers, more people, …
Midstate businessman David Ober has been inducted into the Developers of Outlet Centers & Retailers Hall of Fame.
Ober is general partner of Rockvale Outlets in East Lampeter Township, vice president of leasing at The Outlets at Hershey in Deny Township and a general partner of …
Spain's first woman defense minister was among 17 Cabinet members sworn into office Monday.
Carme Chacon, 37 _ who is seven months pregnant _ is one of nine women in Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's new government.
Chacon, from the Catalan town of Esplugues de Llobregat, served as a city councilor in 1999 and as deputy parliamentary speaker in 2004. She was promoted to housing minister in Zapatero's first government and was accredited with the Socialist party's success in the powerful northeastern region of Catalonia in the March 9 elections.
Zapatero's Socialists won 169 seats in Spain's 350-seat lower house in last month's …
Gov. Blagojevich is prepared to sell state property, including theglitzy Thompson Center and the tollway authority's palatial DownersGrove headquarters, in an effort to eliminate a nearly $5 billionbudget deficit.
Blagojevich will deliver his first budget address Wednesday. Itcalls for holding the line on income and sales taxes and raising somefees while increasing the amount spent on education and publicsafety. Blagojevich will outline a plan that calls for selling somestate property and cutting staff.
He took office at a time when Illinois is facing what the governorhas called the worst fiscal crisis in the state's history.
Three of the four legislative …
Keith Piper: Relocating the Remains Institute of International Visual Arts, 1999, $26.25, ISBN 1-899-84610-7
This intriguing catalogue, accompanied by a CD-ROM, was published on the occasion of Piper's traveling exhibition "Relocating the Remains," which originated at the Institute of International Visual Arts, in the summer of 1997. Like many of his contemporaries Piper explores the gaps in western history books, taking into account the conveniently erased passages on Manifest Destiny, slavery colonialism, while intertwining the personal with the political.
Augmenting the rapturous work of Piper, the book features the extensive essay "Witness at the Crossroads, by Kobena …
Fortis shares closed 78 percent lower in Amsterdam trading on Tuesday as the bank relisted as a stripped-down insurer, a week after it was forced to sell its main business to the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments.
Shares of Fortis, once the biggest Belgian and Dutch bank, closed at euro1.21 (US$1.65) after regulators lifted a six-day suspension on trading. Fortis' drop pushed the entire Amsterdam exchange down 0.27 percent.
Asked for a reaction to the latest drop in Fortis' share price, CEO Filip Dierckx told reporters on a conference call: "The market is never wrong."
The shares have dropped nearly 90 percent since the start of …
Colby Rasmus' two-run homer in the second inning gave St. Louis' slumping offense a lift and the Cardinals avoided being swept by last-place Pittsburgh, getting a strong effort from their bullpen in a 5-1 victory on Thursday night.
The Cardinals had lost five consecutive games in Pittsburgh and were in jeopardy of being swept in a three-game series for the first time since Sept. 12-14, also in PNC Park. Depleted by injuries, St. Louis had lost four of five and seven of 10.
Cardinals starter Mitchell Boggs didn't pitch long enough to get the victory, but helped out an offense that was held to three runs in the first two games of the series by lining a double for his first major league hit and scoring on Shane Robinson's sacrifice fly in the fifth.
The inning before, Adam LaRoche tripled for the first of four consecutive hits to start the Pirates' fourth, but Boggs gave up only one run. Rookie catcher Robinzon Diaz was thrown out trying to move from first to third on Eric Hinske's single and Jack Wilson hit into a double play.
Boggs was lifted after the Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, but Trever Miller (1-0) retired LaRoche on a popup and Diaz on a flyball. Miller, Kyle McClellan, Dennys Reyes, Chris Perez and Ryan Franklin combined to shut out the Pirates on three hits after Boggs was lifted.
Albert Pujols added a two-run single for St. Louis in the eighth.
Leadoff hitter Nyjer Morgan reached base four times and No. 2 hitter Freddy Sanchez had three of Pittsburgh's 12 hits, but the Pirates stranded 10 runners, hit into three double plays and ran themselves out of a possible big inning when Diaz was easily thrown out by right fielder Robinson.
The Pirates lost their ninth in 11 games and 13th in 16 games despite outscoring the Cardinals 12-3 in the first two games of the series.
Pirates starter Jeff Karstens (1-2) gave up three runs and seven hits over six innings in his first career start against St. Louis. The Cardinals had 10 hits against four Pirates pitchers, only one fewer than they had in the first two games combined.
Notes:@ Rasmus' homer was his second and followed Yadier Molina's one-out single. ... Boggs threw 49 of his 83 pitches for strikes. He had only 42 strikes in 86 pitches during a start against Pittsburgh last week. ... St. Louis has homered in nine consecutive games. ... Pirates 3B Andy LaRoche wasn't in the lineup after starting 26 consecutive games. Hinske started at 3B for the first time this season. ... Karstens didn't have any walks for the second game in a row after walking 13 in his first four starts. ... Pirates Gold Glove CF Nate McLouth made an excellent sliding catch of Chris Duncan's sinking liner to end the third.
Q. My grandmother passed away and left two houses to threechildren and three grandchildren. The houses are being rented. Wegrandchildren aren't receiving one cent. Should we hire a lawyer?Is this legal?
A. By all means, take your papers to an attorney or accountantto find out where you stand. The income-tax returns of six peoplemight be involved.
Remember that rental real estate does not produce incomeautomatically. Someone is putting in time and effort managing thoseproperties, and would be entitled to compensation before the profit -if any - is divided.
Suppose that those houses have mortgage loans out against them,that one needs a new roof and the tenants in the other leavesuddenly, owing back rent. Then property taxes come due and thereisn't enough cash to meet the bill. Will you be prepared to kick inyour share? It could work either way, you know.
Q. Should we sell our condo in another state where values havedropped?
We bought it in 1990 for $129,000. Now we've moved and we'rerenting it out, which covers our mortgage payment, but not themonthly charges. Currently it would probably sell for about$121,000.
Meanwhile we are renting here. Our thinking is that if we waituntil prices rise out there, it's likely prices will go up here.
Our loan has a balloon due in 1998, so we would have to refinance. Do you think it is wise to sell?
A. Yes. You're losing money every month. And refinancing mightbe difficult because you aren't owner-occupants.
Waiting for the condo to regain original value is just playinggames. If you bite the bullet and take the loss, you can claim it onyour tax return. That wouldn't be true if the place were still yourown residence.
If you don't have the money to make up the difference, see ifthe lender would accept the loss in a "short sale."
Q. In 1980, my father placed his home in his name, my mother'sname, my brother George's name and my name. Both my folks havepassed away.
If George and I were to sell, would we have to pay income tax,and if so what is the basis for the cost of the property? My fatherdid not pay a gift tax, so we actually inherited the property.
A. No, you didn't. You inherited only half that property. Youreceived the first half as a gift.
The sale will be reported to the IRS, and you must account forit on your tax returns. On the half you received as a gift, you tookover your folks' cost basis. On the half you inherited, you receiveda stepped-up basis, valued at the time of your folks' deaths.
Then you need to include money spent on permanent improvementsover the years. If you and George have rented the place out, thereare further complications. Have an accountant sort it all out. Write real estate broker Edith Lank at 240 Hemingway Dr.,Rochester, N.Y. 14620 or her Internet address: lank@sjfc.edu.
An angry Rick Sutcliffe said Monday night, "I'm worried I'm notgoing to be here" after Aug. 31, the day traded players must jointheir new teams to be eligible for postseason play.
Yet Cub manager Don Zimmer said, "I'm looking for Sutcliffe topitch for me next year, probably Opening Day."
Sutcliffe said his agent called Monday morning to say the Cubshad asked for the eight teams to which he would not accept a trade.
Sutcliffe said he was miffed by the request because he alreadyhad told general manager Jim Frey he would not block any trade Freyfelt would better the team.
"There's no trade imminent," Frey said. "They (Sutcliffe andagent Barry Axelrod) intiated this. I didn't. I don't know whattheir intention is, I really don't."
Sutcliffe considered the issue a distraction. "On the day Ipitch, I don't need to have lunch with my wife while sitting aroundlooking through the newspaper for eight teams I don't want to playfor," he said.
Still, he said, "That's no excuse for the way I pitched" - fourruns on five hits, all in the third inning, in a seven-inning stint.
Sutcliffe declined to reveal the teams on his list, which hesaid he would give Frey today.
"I don't know what's going to happen now," he said. "I wasshocked to begin with. Now I'm worried."
Zimmer said the request for the eight teams probably was just aformality - one Sutcliffe had failed to take care of last year.
Inspired by Barack Obama, the French first lady and other leading figures say it's high time for France to stamp out racism and shake up a white political and social elite that smacks of colonial times.
A manifesto published Sunday _ subtitled "Oui, nous pouvons!", the French translation of Obama's campaign slogan "Yes, we can!" _ urges affirmative action-like policies and other steps to turn French ideals of equality into reality for millions of blacks, Arabs and other alienated minorities.
"Our prejudices are insidious," Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, a singer and wife of President Nicolas Sarkozy, said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper, which published the manifesto. She said she hoped the "Obama effect" would reshape French society.
Nations across Europe rejoiced over Obama's victory, seeing it as a triumph for American democracy and a world weary of President George W. Bush. But Obama's election also illustrated an uncomfortable truth: how far European countries with big minority populations have to go getting nonwhites into positions of power.
Grass-roots groups in France and Britain are trying to turn Obama's election into electoral gains for minorities at home. Sunday's manifesto suggests France's elites are taking notice, too.
"The election of Barack Obama highlights via a cruel contrast the shortcomings of the French Republic, and the distance that separates us from a country whose citizens knew how to go beyond the racial question and elect a man who happens to be black as president," the appeal said.
"What a lesson!" it went on. "We French ... should listen to it well."
The manifesto was written by Yazid Sabeg, a French self-made millionaire whose parents were Algerian immigrants, and signed by politicians from the left and right and other public figures.
Obama is extremely popular in France, yet blacks and other minorities are nearly invisible in national or local politics here. The lower house of parliament has 555 members from the French mainland; just one is black.
"We shouldn't be surprised that Obama's popularity is so high here: It testifies to the aspirations of all the children of France who are experiencing by proxy a recognition that France does not give them," the manifesto reads. "It also betrays the bad faith of those who welcome the victory of modernity outside our borders, in order to tolerate the status quo here."
The manifesto calls for affirmative action policies like those the United States used years ago to encourage greater minority representation in the workplace and in universities.
Sarkozy has suggested affirmative action for France, but later backed away from the idea since it goes against France's ideals of egalitarianism, which dictate that the country not classify its citizens according to race. This idea that everyone is just "French" means there are no census or other national figures calculating how big the country's minority groups are.
The manifesto urges term limits to make way for more minority candidates, and presses the government to improve schools in working-class neighborhoods.
That appears to be a reference to housing projects heavily populated by nonwhite immigrants and their families, areas that erupted in riots in 2005 by disenfranchised youth, many of them Arab and black children of immigrants.
Critics say the tough-talking Sarkozy fanned discrimination ahead of the riots. Manifesto author Sabeg slammed efforts under Sarkozy to help minority neighborhoods as "an empty shell."
Bruni-Sarkozy said she couldn't sign the appeal because of her status as first lady but that she fully supported it. She is quoted in the Journal du Dimanche as calling Obama's election "an immense joy."
The Italian-born first lady exhibited optimism in her adopted land, saying Sarkozy's ethnically mixed background is a sign that France is open to change.
"My husband is not Obama. But the French voted for the son of a Hungarian immigrant, whose father has an accent, whose mother is of Jewish origin. (Sarkozy) has always considered himself as a bit of a Frenchman from elsewhere," Bruni-Sarkozy is quoted as saying.
She also took a dig at the prime minister of her native Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, for saying last week that Obama is "tanned." The often impolitic and suntanned Berlusconi defended it as a compliment, but Bruni-Sarkozy saw the situation differently.
"I'm very glad to have become French," she said.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev pledged Monday to withdraw Russian troops from key areas of Georgia after 200 European Union monitors are deployed later this month.
However, the Russian agreement to pull out all the troops occuping regions surrounding the disputed territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia hinged on Georgia's acceptance of a reworked cease-fire deal.
On Monday, Russian soldiers blocked international aid convoys from visiting Georgian villages and the ambassadors of Sweden, Latvia and Estonia said they also were barred last week from visiting villages beyond Russian checkpoints.
Medvedev also alleged that Georgia's leader, Mikhail Saakashvili, had received "a blessing, either in the form of a direct order or silent approval" from the United States to launch an "idiotic action" against South Ossetia.
"People died and now all of Georgia must pay for that," Medvedev said after meeting with visiting French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Russian tanks and troops entered South Ossetia after Georgian forces began an offensive to gain control of the pro-Russian territory, which has had de-facto independence for more than 15 years. The Russians quickly repelled the soldiers and drove further into Georgia.
Nearly a month after the five-day war, Russian troops remain entrenched deep inside Georgian territory. Georgia and the West have accused Russia of failing to honor its pledge to withdraw its troops to positions held before the fighting broke out Aug. 7. The dispute has plunged relations between Moscow and the West to near Cold War levels of animosity.
On Monday, in a mostly symbolic expression of displeasure, President Bush canceled a once-celebrated civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.
"We make this decision with regret," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in a statement read by spokesman Sean McCormack. "Unfortunately, given the current environment, the time is not right for this agreement."
Russia says its troops in Georgia are peacekeepers and that they are allowed under the accord to help maintain security around Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Moscow has recognized the two regions as independent states, a move denounced in Georgia and abroad. The regions make up roughly 20 percent of Georgia's territory _ and include miles of prime coastline along the Black Sea. Nicaragua is the only other country to have recognized the two regions.
Medvedev said Russia would not revisit that decision.
"Our decision is irrevocable, the two new states have come to existence," Medvedev said. "This is a reality which all our partners, including our EU partners, will have to reckon with."
He insisted that Russia is complying with terms of the cease-fire that Sarkozy negotiated last month. He said Russian troops would pull out of the Black Sea port of Poti and nearby areas in the next seven days, but only if Georgia signed a pledge to not use force against Abkhazia.
International talks on the conflict in Georgia are planned beginning Oct. 15 in Geneva.
Sarkozy suggested that Monday's talks were difficult but "what was accomplished today, it was rather significant" _ referring in particular to the decision to send European observers.
Sarkozy was slated to fly to the Georgian capital later Monday to meet with Saakashvili and present the update to the cease-fire plan.
The head of Georgia's Security Council said Georgian authorities awaited a full report from Sarkozy but that "there are some heartening aspects" in what Sarkozy and Medvedev described.
Alexander Lomaia said it was "very important" that Sarkozy had persuaded Russia to commit to "a concrete timetable for the withdrawal of all forces from all of Georgian territory" outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Earlier Monday, Russian soldiers prevented international aid convoys from visiting Georgian villages in a tense zone around the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
The convoy of four vehicles from U.N. aid agencies waited for about an hour at the Karaleti checkpoint _ located on the main road between the central Georgian city of Gori and the South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali. They were later turned away after a brief discussion with a Russian general.
The three aid agencies' SUVs and a World Food Program truck loaded with wheat flour, pasta, sugar and other staples were headed to Georgian villages near South Ossetia. David Carden, who was leading the interagency mission, said the group's had been trying to assess the situation in the village.
"It didn't work out today as we would have hoped, and we will make every effort to continue to conduct such missions in the future," Carden told The Associated Press.
The general, identified by servicemen as Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, head of the Russian peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia, left immediately after the exchange.
An official at the headquarters of the Russian forces said later by telephone that no official request for passage had been submitted by the U.N. agencies. The official, who said he was not authorized to give his name to the media, said aid deliveries must be escorted by peacekeeping forces.
Carden, however, said U.N. humanitarian authorities had told the Russians of their plans in advance.
Also Friday, Russian forces barred the ambassadors of Sweden, Latvia and Estonia from villages beyond Russian checkpoints where they wanted to deliver aid, the ambassadors said in a statement. The diplomats said they also wanted to assess the situation in the villages and verify allegations of ethnic cleansing.
A vehicle from CARE International on an assessment mission on behalf of several non-governmental aid agencies was also turned away Monday, before the general arrived. Wolfgang Gressman, an emergency response adviser, said he had been turned away Sunday and told to come again Monday after submitting a list, in Russian, of the agencies involved.
Czech lawmaker Lubomir Zaoralek told Georgia's Rustavi-2 television he and other parliament members were also barred from passing at Karaleti.
Also Monday, Georgia accused Russia of a "campaign of harassment and persecution" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and urged the International Court of Justice to intervene to halt killings and forced expulsions.
Russia also accuses Georgia of crimes against humanity, for launching a massive attack last month on South Ossetia, killing Russian peacekeepers and dozens of civilians.
The 15-judge tribunal, unofficially known as the World Court, will likely take years to deal with Georgia's case.
____
Associated Press writers Steve Gutterman in Karaleti, Georgia; Vladimir Isachenkov and Mansur Mirovalev in Moscow; and Mike Corder at The Hague contributed to this report.
The Iron Lady (12A) Meryl Streep is uncannily convincing asMargaret Thatcher in this rose-tinted view of her turblulent yearsas Prime Minister, told in flashback. Jim Broadbent, Olivia Colemanand Richard E Grant co-star.
The Artist (PG) Acclaimed look at the rise and fall of a dashingactor who struggles to cope with the transition from the silentmovie era to the age of the talkie. Entertaining and entrancing,this has been tipped for Oscar success this year.
Mission: Impossible 4 - Ghost Protocol (12A) Tom Cruise is backas Ethan Hunt in another high octane adventure, this time trying tofind out who's framed him and his team for bombing the Kremlin.Expect an action fest.
The Girl With A Dragon Tattoo (18) David Fincher's remake of thehit Swedish thriller has Daniel Craig as a journalist investigatingthe disappearance of a young woman 40 years ago, helped by RooneyMara's enigmatic researcher.
Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows (12A) Robert Downey Jr andJude Law are back as Holmes and Watson in this enjoyable romp whichsees them trying to foil Professor Moriaty's deadly plans acrossEurope.
Defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga needed only 52 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters, easily beating Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-3 Thursday.
The eight-seeded Tsonga, who won three titles this season and can still qualify for the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals later this month, never faced a break point and broke his opponent's serve three times.
Tsonga, who beat three top-10 opponents last year on his way to the title in Paris, will next face either second-seeded Rafael Nadal or 14th-seeded Tommy Robredo.
Simon, who injured his right knee in a two-hour, three-set match against Ivan Ljubicic in the previous round, was hampered from the start by the wound and struggled to return Tsonga's powerful serves.
Tsonga, who had 13th aces, will earn a place for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London if he defends his title without facing seventh-seeded Fernando Verdasco in the final.
Ninth-seeded Robin Soderling also has slim hopes of qualifying for the prestigious event following his victory over former champion Nikolay Davydenko of Russia 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Soderling's next opponent will be third-seeded Novak Djokovic, who defeated French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-2.
"I was moving better (than yesterday)," Djokovic said. "I was using the chances to go to the net and to make some winners when they have been given to me. And I gained the control of the match in the early stages of the first set."
Soderling needs to at least reach the final to have a chance of qualifying. The sixth-seeded Davydenko, who won in Paris in 2006, could have secured one of the two spots still up for grabs with a win but can still qualify depending on his rivals' results.
Soderling, who reached his second quarterfinal in Paris, broke Davydenko in the fourth game of the first set. Davydenko called for the trainer while trailing 5-2 and was given a pill but was unable to prevent his Swedish opponent from closing out the set with a service winner on his first set point.
Davydenko broke Soderling to love with a backhand return winner down the line to lead 2-0. The 28-year-old Russian then saved a break point with a forehand volley at 30-40 in the seventh game and leveled with a cross-court backhand volley that Soderling was unable to chase down.
At 5-4 to Soderling in the decider, Davydenko threw his racket in anger after sending a backhand wide that gave his opponent two match points. The 25-year-old Swede converted the first one when Davydenko missed another backhand.
Djokovic, coming off a win over top-ranked Roger Federer in the Swiss Indoors final last week, reached the quarterfinals for the first time after winning 80 percent of the points played on his first serve. Clement saved two match points before Djokovic took the match when his opponent put a forehand into the net.
"I want to do well here," Djokovic said. "I know it's a very important tournament and I just hope to maintain the high level of performance I had in the last two months."
Nadal, who saved five match points to reach the third round, will face Robredo later Thursday.
Stefan Nimke of Germany has won the men's 1-kilometer time trial at the track cycling world championships.
Nimke finished in 1 minute, 00.666 seconds Friday. Taylor Phinney of the United States took the silver, and Mohd Rizal Tisin of Malaysia claimed bronze.
Bishop Gene Robinson to speak Oct. 5 at University of Michigan - Dearborn
Openly gay bishop and international controversy in the Christian churches Gene Robinson may be retiring in two years, but his involvement in the LGBT community is far from over.
Bishop Robinson entered office in March 2004. He was consecrated as the ninth Bishop of New Hampshire, and the first openly gay bishop in LGBT history. Since then, Robinson has advocated for marriage equality across the country and the end of LGBT discrimination in the church.
Robinson spoke with BTL about his post-retirement plans, the death- threats on his life, and what it has been like to balance his responsibilities to the LGBT and Christian communities.
Have you always seen yourself as a leader in the Episcopalian church and LGBT community?
Even in high school I think I exhibited leadership qualities. But when I came out 25 years ago I assumed it was the end of my life as a priest. I never dreamt that I would even be allowed to function as a priest, never mind become a bishop.
So what was the tipping point when you came out? What gave you the strength and courage to continue as a priest?
I had read a book called "Embracing the Exile" by John Fortunato; it reconciled sexual orientation with Christianity and somehow it was the key that unlocked the door. I knew that I needed to leave my marriage, come out and claim who I was no matter what it meant for my life in the church. I really felt that God was calling me to do that, but that book really gave me the strength to do it.
What do you think about the attempted repeal of same-sex marriage in New Hampshire in January? Do you think it will pass?
We have a legislature that seems determined to do everything possible to take away any kind of thing that the state government does for people in need. I have rarely seen a legislature anywhere, never mind in New Hampshire, whose goals are so at odds with the common good and with such distain for the people who have a right to be receiving assistance from the state government.
We have to work hard, we have to do our homework, we have to do our lobbying, but at the end of the day I do not feel it will pass. Our governor will veto it if it passes and I think it's possible we can peel away enough of the Republicans to sustain the veto.
You were one of the first LGBT activists to submit an "It Gets Better" video. What brought you to create a video?
It was soon after the campaign started. I really wanted to be a part of those who were reaching out to all these young people who may be feeling isolated and possibly even considering taking their own lives. I was speaking in a congregation in Little Rock and they were filming my talks. So I said to the cameraman, "Would you be able to come in a couple minutes early and do this video for me?" He said yes, so we just did it in one take. I had no idea it would get over 100,000 views. We did it in one take and I didn't write anything out ahead of time.
I didn't even know how to upload it! You know? I need a ten-year-old to show me how to do that.
After announcing your early retirement you made it clear that you have no intention of "retiring from public life," and will continue to work with the "unchurched" and "dechurched." Will you still be involved in the LGBT community? What can we expect from you after your retirement?
They would have to take me out in a s trai ghtjacket if I just sat at home all day, so I don't think this is retirement at all. It's more a question of "What's next?" I'll have more time to be involved in the LGBT movement and I won't have to balance this with my more- than-full- time job as bishop. I'll have more time to speak with more college groups, which I just love doing.
I've been to a couple of states lobbying the legislature about gay marriage and I expect to be doing more ofthat. I will also be doing some parttime work for The Center for American Progress. I expect to be quite active in Washington.
I can do some more writing as well. In fact I'm just finishing the last chapter of a new book now.
Can you tell us a bit about your upcoming book?
The book is titled "God Believes in Love: Straight Talk About Gay Marriage," published by Random House and Knopf. It comes out May 1 next year. It imagines a conversation between someone in the "moveable middle"somewhat tolerant and sympathetic of LGBT people but not yet ready to support gay marriage - and myself. Each chapter takes on one of their objections and by the end of it hopefully I've answered all the concerns someone might have.
So much has changed since your ordination - for example openly lesbian Bishop Mary Glasspool has been ordained. Do you feel comfortable retiring now?
I never considered retirement until Mary Glasspool was elected. I planned to be the openly gay voice in the house of bishops until the day I had to retire at 72, if need be, but when she was elected it signaled to me that the church was sort of inexorably headed in the right direction. You can elect an openly gay and partnered bishop once and maybe it was an aberration or maybe a mistake, but when you do it a second time that says there was something quite intentional about it.
After I thought and prayed about it, I realized that there were things I wanted to do.
Do you feel all of the denominations of Christianity are headed in this direction?
Absolutely, but at their own pace. Honestly I can't see the Roman Catholic Church changing in my lifetime but it will someday. It took them 400 years to apologize to Galileo for thinking the Earth wasn't the center of the universe so who knows how long it will take them. But I do believe we're headed in the right direction. It doesn't mean we can slow down our efforts or relax; we still have to work to make this happen.
You mentioned in your reasons for retiring that the many 'death threats' and attacks on you and your husband have taken a great toll on you. Has this burden gotten any easier to bear in time?
After the first couple of years the death threats slowed down. I can remember coming back home from a parish visitation at a church that had a balcony around three sides. My husband Mark said to me that he realized for the first time he wasn't constantly surveying the balcony to spot someone dangerous.
Fairly recently a man was accidently arrested in Vermont who was apparently on his way to kill us. He was coming through Vermont and was in such a rage that he shot out the windows of an empty parked police cruiser. They caught up to him and found he had pictures of (my husband) Mark and me that he had taken off the Internet. He had scrawled across it "Save the church, kill the bishop," he had MapQuest (directions) to our house and he had a sawed- off shotgun and tons of ammunition. Back when I was ordained FBI agents said to me, "The ones you really have to worry about are the ones who don't send a warning. They just drive to your house and blow your head off."
On the anniversary of 9/11 you argued that you believe this is the greatest nation but that we have "much for which we should repent" Is it typical for a bishop to speak on issues that touch on political policy? Is this bold of you?
I've never been one to shy away from this issue. In my work for the Center for American Progress I've written on immigration reform, health care reform, poverty and the importance of taxes.
It seems pretty clear to me that our Jewish and Christian tradition is to offer a critique to society. The prophets of the Old Testament were all speaking truth to power and they all got in trouble for it and no one wanted to hear it but they spoke the truth anyway, and I think that's part of our tradition that we need to recover.
I think the church would be held in higher regard in culture if more of us were speaking out on things like this.
You will be speaking at the University of Michigan's Dearborn campus on Oct 5. What can those attending expect?
I plan to offer my assessment of where we are at the moment in the LGBT movement in this country, how we got here and to talk about what the work is in front of us. Then I want to talk about how church has contributed to the discrimination against us and how the changing church wants to be part of the solution.
[Sidebar]
Bishop Gene Robinson speaks at the University of Mich. -Dearborn Oct, 5, Photo provided by BProud Photography.
[Sidebar]
For the complete interview, go to
http://www.pridesource.com
[Sidebar]
Bishop Robinson speaks at University of Michigan - Dearborn at 3:30 p.m., Oct. 5 in the BorgWarner Auditorium of the IAVS Building. In the evening, Robinson will speak ata reception for the Ruth Ellis Center at 6 p.m. in the University's Ko choff Hall. A suggested donation of $20 asked at the reception, and a silent auction benefitting the Ruth Ellis Center will take place within the hall. For more information go to tinyurl.com/BishopRobinson or call 734-776-8104.
Santa Claus is making the long journey from Lapland to NorthSomerset in aid of charity.
He will be making an appearance at Weston Hospicecare's ChristmasBazaar on Saturday, November 27, where you can shop for someChristmas goodies and win prizes in a raffle.
The bazaar will also see the unveiling of a new refurbishedbuilding at the hospice.
Weston Hospicecare provides support to people in and around theCheddar area suffering from terminal illness.
The event takes place between 10.30am and 1pm at the hospice inUphill.
Tickets are Pounds 1 for adults over the age of 16 and childrenget in for free.
BEIJING (AP) — China, Germany and Brazil warned the Federal Reserve's move to inject money into the U.S. economy might harm the rest of the world, though Beijing said Friday the tactic was understandable because of the slow recovery.
China's central bank chief said the debate about the Fed's attempt to spur growth by pumping $600 billion into the economy through purchases of Treasury bonds highlighted the need to reform the global financial system.
Some governments worry the tactic, which will lower interest rates and is known as quantitative easing, might send money flooding into their markets seeking higher returns. That could push up exchange rates, hurting exports by making their goods more expensive.
The conflict might hamper efforts to fix strains in the global economy at next week's Group of 20 summit in Seoul. Leaders from the United States, Japan, Germany, China and other governments that account for 85 percent of the global economy hope to make progress on reducing trade and current account gaps. Some nations such as the U.S. buy far more than they sell to the rest of world while many developing countries including China run vast surpluses.
"If the domestic policy is optimal policy for the United States alone, but at the same time it is not an optimal policy for the world, it may bring a lot of negative impact to the world. There is a spillover," said Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China, speaking at a business conference.
"We have to solve this problem by reforming the international currency system," he said, without giving details of possible reforms.
The Fed said it will make Treasury bill purchases over eight months in an effort to lower long-term interest rates and revive economic activity.
Germany joined in the criticism.
"I don't think the Americans will solve their problems with this and I think they are creating extra problems for the world," Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told ARD television late Thursday.
Brazil's finance minister, Guido Mantega, also criticized the Fed, saying Thursday its move would devalue the dollar and hurt Brazil and other exporters. He said bond-buying would not be effective without changes to stimulate domestic consumption.
Zhou said he understood the Fed's focus was on the U.S. economy and helping to create jobs while keeping inflation low.
"We have a slower recovery of the economy, high unemployment and low inflation. Under these circumstances, from that perspective, when we have a policy for a very low rate that is very close to zero, and for quantitative easing, it is reasonable. We can understand ... under current circumstances, of course," said Zhou. He was speaking at a conference organized by Caixin, a leading Chinese business magazine.
Zhou said Chinese central bank officials met regularly with their Fed counterparts, including Chairman Ben Bernanke, and the Americans gave detailed explanations for the monetary changes.
Also Friday, a Chinese diplomat said Washington should act responsibly and give other governments a thorough explanation.
"The international community has every reason to feel worried, so the U.S. side owes it a proper explanation for the move," Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai told reporters.
The Philippine central bank said Thursday it would "remain vigilant" about the possible impact of the Fed's action. A bank deputy governor warned the money flows from the Fed's move might add to instability in emerging markets.
Zhou said Beijing's controls on capital flows should shield China from a possible surge in speculative "hot money" triggered by the Fed's move.
Beijing keeps its financial markets isolated from global capital and tightly controls the exchange rate of its yuan, which has risen more slowly against the U.S. dollar than some Asian currencies such as the Thai baht.
Zhou defended Beijing's decision to move gradually in easing currency controls despite U.S. and other foreign pressure to let the yuan rise faster.
Beijing promised a more flexible exchange rate in June and has allowed the yuan to rise by 2.5 percent since then — far less than critics want. They say Beijing's controls keep the yuan undervalued and give China's exporters an unfair price advantage, swelling its trade surplus and costing jobs abroad.
Comparing policy changes to the multiple ingredients used to make traditional Chinese medications, Zhou said currency changes were part of a package of reforms including encouraging domestic consumer spending that would boost imports and narrow China's trade gap.
"We do not want to emphasize that one ingredient will deliver a cure," he said.
___
Associated Press writer Oliver Teves in Manila contributed.
HOUSE Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., on a visit toCharleston to help raise funds for Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., gave fresh insights into the regulatory atmosphere inWashington,
"You will never find a Republican who doesn't want clear air andclean water," McCarthy said.
The trouble is, the Environmental Protection Agency is not alwayscareful in drafting and issuing new regulations. McCarthy said theconstant flow of new regulations have placed a heavy weight on abadly weakened economy.
"When you see what has transpired - and I come from Californiawhere we are very sensitive to everything - but we have overplayedwhere you lose, where you take it to the extreme, where it goesbeyond the measurements of where science can go," McCarthy said.
"Sometimes regulation pushes ahead of science, where you can't beable to find it."
A report from the EPA's own inspector general, Arthur Elkins,said the Obama EPA deviated from its own procedures to conclude thatclimate-change pollution can endanger human health.
That conclusion is the basis for the agency's pursuit of newregulations that will be quite costly to the American economy.
Thus, we have officials at a government agency violating theagency's own rules to ram through new rules that others must follow.
The expense of EPA's agenda makes it obvious that Congress shouldbe far more involved in policy that has such economic consequences.
Earlier this year, the Republican-controlled House approved abill to limit the EPA's authority. Last week, the House passed abill requiring the EPA to consider the economic effects of certainenvironmental regulations.
Both bills would have the effect of curbing the devastatingeffects the president's policymakers are having on the economy.
Democrats, who control the Senate, are not expected to take upeither bill.
So the consequences continue.
American Electric Power has spent more than $7.2 billion since1990 to reduce emissions from its coal-fired power plants.
As a result, nitrogen oxide emissions are 80 percent lower today,and sulfur dioxide emissions are 73 percent lower than they were in1990.
But in June, the company announced that it would shut downseveral plants and cut 600 jobs to comply with new EPA rules - andspend as much as $8 billion over the next decade to comply.
Are Senate Democrats comfortable with allowing the agency toplace one such burden after another on the American economy?
If they are not, they need to take some action.
Tonya Giles and her father, Jack Fisher, hadn't prepared for him to retire as early as he did in 1995. But his heart condition changed their plans. "We weren't done working our way into retirement," she says of taking over as manager of the shop. "It was very emotional. I had to stay on task and focused." Part of the task at hand was finding an estimator to take her place while she took on the larger responsibility of running the shop. "Ultimately, I had to let certain members of the staff know that I am in charge," she says. "It's been kind of a work in progress." Some tips for coping include the following:
* You've got to keep your personal feelings and business separate. "Business is business," she says. It only makes things worse if you can't make the sacrifice of shutting off your feelings when making business decisions. "My father worked so hard building this business," she says. "I have to make it work."
* Hire a good estimator/shop foreman to make your life easier. Tonya relied on recommendations that came from those she worked with in Direct Repair Programs (DRPs). "It seemed like a good match," she says of the person she hired. "He's been with me for a couple of years."
* Keep in touch and keep on learning. "My father drops by from time to time," she says. "I'm glad he does." She listens to his advice and attends industry events to stay up to date.
* Don't underestimate the importance of the entire staff. "I hired them all myself," she says of her current staff. Although employees' tenure ranges from two months to 12 years, all are equally important. "I can do everything up here, but if they don't follow through out there, it won't work. We're all a team."
* Begin with the end in mind. Whether you believe in fate or put your stock in planning for the future, consider what direction you want things to take when it's finally your turn to pass on the family business.
While only one walked away champion all 48 schools shined at the 21st annual honda campus all-star challenge
Torrance, Calif. - Overcoming stiff competition, Prairie View A&M University was named 2010 National Champions of the Honda Campus Ail-Star Challenge (www.hcasc.com), an annual academic competition among the nation's Historically Black Colleges and Universities. This year more than 250 students from 48 Historically Black Colleges and Universities answered the call to flex their academic prowess at the 21st annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. While each team brought their "A" game, Prairie View A&M University emerged victorious after answering the following question correctly:
"The title of a 1908 play was coined to refer to the concept that a number of ethnic groups, cultures, and religions in a society will fuse together to produce new cultural and social forms. For 10 points - what is this term that also names a chain of fondue restaurants?"
Final Answer: The Melting Pot
Over the weekend the nation's leading Historically Black Colleges and Universities gathered in Orlando, Florida to participate in the two-day academic competition that tests knowledge, teamwork and speed. Each school showcased their skills and intellect by quickly and accurately answering -questions on world history, science, literature, religion, the arts, social sciences, popular culture and AfricanAmerican history and culture.
Prairie View A&M University beat second place finisher Mississippi Valley State University to claim the championship title and take home $50,000 in grant money for tfieir school. "The intensity of the practices that we had with one another were so competitive that we knew it would carry over into the national championships," said Cedrick Wilson, Prairie View A&M University team captain. "We felt like we just needed to keep working hard and keep believing and playing the game and not let anything else affect us."
The Prairie View A&M University team included: Team Captain Cedrick Wilson, senior, biology major; Jonathan Gholston, senior, communications and radio major; Edward Hackett, senior, civil engineering major; and Isaac Hoyt, junior, chemical engineering major.
During the two-day tournament, me 48 HBCU teams competed in a modified round robin format. The top two teams from each of eight divisions advance to me "Sweet 16" in a single elimination playoff. The final two teams then competed for the National Champion title in a best 2- out of 3- final series.
In addition to Prairie View A&M University and Mississippi Valley State University, student teams from North Carolina Central University and Fayetteville State University also demonstrated meir academic prowess by making it to the final four.
"The Honda Campus All-Star Challenge is one of Honda's largest and longest running philanthropic initiatives here in the United States," said Steve Morikawa, assistant vice president. Corporate Community Relations, American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "It is through this program mat year over year we are able support one of our nation's largest contributors to professional and academic talent - Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We are proud to say that through this program,, each year we are able to give $328,000 in grants and in the programs 21 -year history we have given more man $6 million."
Since 1989, HCASC has brought together the nation's best and brightest academic competitors from America's top HBCUs. Throughout its history, HCASC has been the only annual academic competition between me nation's HBCUs, touching over 50,000 students.
For downloadable broadcast quality b-roll footage of local schools competing visit the Medialink Digital Newsroom at www.mediaseed.tv. For more information on the Honda Campus All Star Challenge and a list of me 48 participating HBCUs, please visit www.HCASC.com.
About Honda
Honda supports a variety of initiatives aimed at advancing education and creating experiences of discovery that help people see and achieve their own dreams. The Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, along wim me Honda Batt�e of me Bands, are two of Honda's major initiatives supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities and helping young people pursue their dreams.
[Sidebar]
Academic Star of the Week
[Sidebar]
Arthurine "Darlene" Joseph is a senior at Robeson High School. She is Valedictorian of the senior class with a 4.6 GPA and composite ACT score of 23. She has taken multiple AP and honors courses, and her favorite subjects are Math and Science. She has earned more than $520,000 worth of scholarships, including a full ride to Norfolk State University. Darlene was also accepted to Fl A&M, the University of Minnesota, and Kentucky State University. Her dream school is Harvard University, which, along with Yale, she is still waiting to hear if she has been accepted. Darlene wants to major in Biology and go to medical school to become a general surgeon. When asked what she would say to a peer who wants to accomplish what she did, she says, "You have to study, stay focused and work hard!"
NEW YORK
Bruce Nauman
SPERONE WESTWATER
Bruce Nauman's recent exhibition at Sperone Westwater was introduced by Untitled (Study for Slow Angle Walk [Beckett Walk]), 1968-69, a small, diagrammatic pencil drawing in which lines and arcs of various densities are interspersed with arrows, circles, and x's. While modest, the work nonetheless succinctly embodies the conceptual conflict at the heart of the artist's drawing production (and thus the exhibition as well): namely, what exactly are Nauman's drawings? The answer may seem obvious; the majority of them are graphite, charcoal, or crayon works on paper. Yet moving among preparatory sketches, installation plans, instructions, studies, proposals for unrealized sculptures, and imaginative responses to existing works, this aspect of Nauman's production is difficult to categorize, encompassing a broad range of functions that surpass conventional ideas of the medium.
The show focused on a subgenre of this practice, "drawings for installations." in which, as Michael Auoine observes in his catalogue essay, "we can seemingly experience Nauman contemplating the peculiar types of space his installations explore." Sculptural installations, by design, exist only as drawing or plan until realized for an exhibition. And in the case of Nauman's, given their inherent complexity-they may incorporate video, audio, lighting, sound, and/ or text in addition to architectural structures, as in the prose/floor piece Cones Cojones, 1973-75, installed for the exhibition-they seem doubly inaccessible. The selection was thus illuminating. If we consider the works included in relation to one another, however, ambiguities persist.
Take, for example, Untitled (Study for "Floating Room " Installations), 1972, and Consummate Mask of Rock-Layout, 1975. Aesthetically, the two are utterly distinct: The former achieves visual impact through an accumulated mass of thickly applied charcoal lines, while the latter painstakingly details the specifics of an installation plan through instructions. Also notable is that the particular version of Floating Room pictured here was never made, while Consummate Mask of Rock has been installed more than once. Together, these works reveal the way in which the artist's drawings "mark" sculpture in various ways, representing notational as well as physical spacewith the drawing remaining autonomous, or, alternatively, generating multiple, materially diverse iterations.
Returning to Untitled (Study for Slow Angle Walk [Beckett Walk]), what is apparent is that "line," rather than functioning in the traditional sense (i.e., in the formal dichotomy of line/color), here indicates movements for a body to perform. "Drawing" is thus simultaneously a choreographic "score," a different notational language altogether that yields physical actions. Moreover, given that in this case, a body (Nauman's) had already performed the Beckett Walk (in the 1968 video of that name) by the time the drawing was completed in 1969, the temporal succession (and hierarchical relation) of drawing to completed art object has itself been inverted or dislodged-saying something quite different about the temporality and status of drawing itself. Nauman's contemporary, MeI Bochner, in 1969, aptly described this transformed condition through his notion of "working drawings," noting that their "graffiti" appearance was due to "the process by which they came into being; a process at once notational and speculative."
The drawings in the exhibition share a wonderfully interstitial, intermediary, and indeed unfinished quality. Deliberations abound, with words crossed out, questions posed, options offered, additions made, and measurements altered. This resolute incompleteness and metonymie structure might productively be extended to describe Nauman's work in general, representing a wholesale internalization of the provisional nature of drawing. More than just windows into the artist's internal thought process, however, they are insistently dialogical, charging the beholder with the work's completion, if only through a seemingly simple question about the type of light fixture, as in his Untitled (Study for Natural Light, Blue Light Room at Ace Gallery), 1971: W/ BLUE FLUORESCENT?
-Janet Kraynak
Peter Brock and John L. Keep, eds. Life in a Penal Battalion of the Imperial Russian Army: The Tolstoyan N. T. Iziumchenko's Story. York, England: William Sessions Limited, 2001. Distributed in North America by Syracuse University Press. xiv, 63 pp. Notes. $15.95, paper.
Nikolai Trofimovich Iziumchenko was a semi-educated peasant from Kursk province who, under the influence of his school teacher, Yevdokim Nikitich Drozhzhin, became a follower of Leo Tolstoy's philosophy of non-resistance to evil. In 1899, at the age of twenty-two, Iziumchenko was conscripted into the Russian Army. Two years later, in accordance with his Tolstoyan beliefs, he deserted his unit and openly refused to serve further in the army. In consequence, he was arrested and sentenced to two years in a penal battalion. There he once again met his mentor, Drozhzhin, who had also been arrested for refusing to undertake military service. Iziumchenko's memoirs of his time in the penal battalion have now been published in English for the first time, with an introduction by Peter Brock and John Keep (both retired from the University of Toronto).
Only sixty-three pages long, Iziumchenko's memoirs are short and often engrossing to read, written in a light and colloquial fashion. Much of the content is a fairly standard description of the brutality and mindlessness of military life, made worse by the fact that the author was in prison. Of itself, this description is unremarkable. The treatment of prisoners in the penal battalion was often brutal, and by modern standards seems shocking, but given the time and place, the conditions that Iziumchenko describes are not particularly harsh. As Brock and Keep point out in their introduction, life in the penal battalion "was benign and mild" compared with conditions in Stalin's labour camps. For this reason, the main value of the book lies not in its description of the prison system, but in the story of the behaviour and beliefs of the main protagonist. This is not Iziumchenko himself, but rather his mentor Drozhzhin, who died in the prison of tuberculosis. Unlike Iziumchenko, who agreed to perform some military duties, Drozhzhin refused to undertake any. As a result he was sentenced to a second term of three years in the penal battalion, despite his obvious bad health. His good cheer in the face of the persecution he suffered and his refusal to submit are held up as ideal examples of Tolstoy's philosophy of nonresistance to evil being put into practice.
Iziumchenko ends his memoir on what seems to be a positive note, commenting that after Drozhzhin's death the number of conscientious objectors in Russia had risen. He clearly hoped that the example of non-resistance would spread. This naivety is fairly representative of the thinking of both Iziumchenko and Drozhzhin. Ultimately their struggle against military authority proved futile. Nevertheless, Brock and Keep are to be thanked for making this memoir available in English. It is a lively portrayal of life in a punishment unit of the late Imperial Russian Army, and provides insight into the philosophy of Russian conscientious objectors, as well as into their treatment by the Imperial authorities.
[Author Affiliation]
Paul Robinson, University of Hull
With Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) Director Bryan Samuels determined to transfer 139 children from a group home, the City Council is set to vote to block his move today and seek a temporary restraining order, if necessary.
Led by Finance Chairman Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th), the aldermen are first voting for the resolutions in Burke's committee followed immediately by the full City Council.
But, at issue is the fate of Maryville Academy, headed by Father John Smyth, who is accused by DCFS of allegedly not fiscally running the home properly.
The political heavyweights that are coming to today's meeting, including State's Attorney Dick Devine and Father George Clements, both of whom urged lawmakers to settle their disputes in the boardroom rather than in a court of law.
Other supporters will be on hand, including Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, who along with Smyth, recently appeared on WVON's "Cliff Kelley Show" with Murphy later addressing the Academy with the Chicago Defender. Murphy and Clements said it would be "disruptive" to transfer the children from Maryville.
Even Illinois Republican Party Chairman Judy Baar Topinka issued a statement saying that the Maryville Academy "can institute the necessary reforms needed to continue helping children in the future."
She said the academy "has provided thousands of children with a second chance in life, a chance they would not have received anywhere else."
And the Chicago Defender has learned that Smyth has invited all of the aldermen to the Academy to see first-hand how he is running that home. Burke hand-delivered a letter to Samuels inviting him to his committee.
"Somebody has to bring some sense to this situation. It's simply out-of-control. If there is a building code violation in a building, you don't vacate the building.
"You cure the violation," said Burke.
Clements said he, too, like Burke, wants both parties to sit down and talk about the Academy and Smyth.
Clements listed a number of supporters and opponents of Smyth saying: "Only one of these combatants is Black and none has addressed the highly volatile issue of race.
"I've been involved with Maryville since my seminary days, over 50 years ago. During the summer months of the late 1940s, we seminarians were assigned to work with the youngsters at Maryville.
"The kids called us `Yellow Jackets.' In those days, the Maryville youngsters were overwhelmingly white," Clements said.
"In June of 1962, Father John Smyth was given his first and only priestly assignment, Maryville. Race has always been a non-issue with Father Smyth because the issue for him is troubled kids and how can Maryville help them," Clements said.
He said Smyth has witnessed the Academy turn from white to Black and said Smyth's "devotion to all of the youngsters at Maryville, Black or white, is unquestionable.
"In the history of the Archdiocese of Chicago, it would be extremely difficult to find any one priest who has contributed his entire life to troubled youth as has Father Smyth," he stated.
"His attackers are unwilling to reveal the true motivation behind their relent, who made a conscious decision never to turn away from the doors of Maryville any child, Black or white."
Saying Smyth has never left any child behind, Clements said: "It seems strange to me that all of the people involved in these youngsters lives are white.
"If they're concerned, they would call in some Black people.
"I am in favor of keeping Father Smyth there and keeping the children there," Clements told the Chicago Defender.
Article copyright Sengstacke Enterprises, Inc.
Staff Writer
On its delightfully funny surface, "The 25th Annual Putnam CountySpelling Bee," is about the competition between six Putnam Countyspellers vying to win and go on to the national spelling bee.
But at it's charmingly poignant core, the show is about a bunchof misfits trying to grow up and find their places in what theyalready know can be a cruel world.
The show, which opened Thursday night at the Ephrata PerformingArts Center, is a modest affair set in a school gymnasium. It runsabout 90 minutes with no intermission. There are no complex plots orgrandiose numbers.
But it's those modest shows that often have the most heart, andthis show is overflowing with it.
Not the sappy sentimental kind, but the edgy kind that feelssuccinctly real while being outrageously funny.
I haven't laughed this hard at a show in a long, long time.
We meet the junior high contestants, including: William Barfee(Bob Breen) who has sinus conditions, a severe peanut allergy and amagic foot that spells out the words for him, thus allowing him toavoid eye contact with everyone.
The lonely Olive Ostrovsky (Danielle Marsh), declares thedictionary to be her best - and possibly only - friend, thoughWilliam might become one.
There's the earnest and lisping Logainne Schwartzandgrubenieere(Marisa Hoover), whose two fathers (Bobby Checchia and Matthew Rush)push her to be a winner at all costs.
Marcy Park (Tanya Roman) is a calm, cool overachiever who speakssix languages and comes to realize that losing is kind of fun.
Chip Tolentino (Caleb Seip) is last year's champ whose raginghormones destroy his concentration.
And Leaf Coneybear (Checchia in a quick and effective charactertransformation) has attention deficit disorder and has been toldhe's stupid so often he believes it, even though he can get into thezone and spell with the best of them.
Then there are the adults, who are misfits themselves.
Rhona Perretti (Kathy Robb) is a former champion who stillobsesses about the bee and gives color commentary.
Mitch Mahoney (Rush, also in a quick and effective charactertransformation) is on parole and his community service is being thecomfort counselor for the kids who spell a word incorrectly,offering a hug and a juice box before he kicks them out.
And then there's Vice Principal Panch (Jeff Marsh), who doesn'twant to be there, but is running the bee.
His cynical attitude is never overdone, but whenever he uses aword in a sentence for the kids, it's totally inappropriate andunbelievably funny.
The humor in the show is slightly risque, but generally kind ofsweet.
Adding to the fun are the four spellers chosen from the audience,who are contestants in the bee and get to stay until they misspell aword.
The improvisational origins of the show are never far from thesurface and that's a big part of its charm.
Director R. Matthew Good has brought together a wonderful castand made them all hum. There isn't a weak link in the bunch.
Breen shines the brightest as William, who confidently answers "Iknow," after he's told he spelled a word correctly, but knows a lotof people don't like him.
And Jeff Marsh's timing is impeccable as he reads thoseinappropriate sentences or responds to a kid's question.
The music is pretty forgettable, though I will remember DanielleMarsh's beautifully sad "The I Love You Song," and Rush's knockoutvoice on "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor."
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is so joyfully funnyand silly, it will make you forget your cares and woes.
But at the same time, it will remind you that being a junior highkid is a rough time in life, and being a nerd, which all of thesekids (and adults) really are, makes it even harder.
That combination makes for a wonderful show.
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs throughSaturday at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
jholahan@lnpnews.com
'Putnam County Spelling Bee' Is A W-I-N-N-E-RStaff Writer
On its delightfully funny surface, "The 25th Annual Putnam CountySpelling Bee," is about the competition between six Putnam Countyspellers vying to win and go on to the national spelling bee.
But at it's charmingly poignant core, the show is about a bunchof misfits trying to grow up and find their places in what theyalready know can be a cruel world.
The show, which opened Thursday night at the Ephrata PerformingArts Center, is a modest affair set in a school gymnasium. It runsabout 90 minutes with no intermission. There are no complex plots orgrandiose numbers.
But it's those modest shows that often have the most heart, andthis show is overflowing with it.
Not the sappy sentimental kind, but the edgy kind that feelssuccinctly real while being outrageously funny.
I haven't laughed this hard at a show in a long, long time.
We meet the junior high contestants, including: William Barfee(Bob Breen) who has sinus conditions, a severe peanut allergy and amagic foot that spells out the words for him, thus allowing him toavoid eye contact with everyone.
The lonely Olive Ostrovsky (Danielle Marsh), declares thedictionary to be her best - and possibly only - friend, thoughWilliam might become one.
There's the earnest and lisping Logainne Schwartzandgrubenieere(Marisa Hoover), whose two fathers (Bobby Checchia and Matthew Rush)push her to be a winner at all costs.
Marcy Park (Tanya Roman) is a calm, cool overachiever who speakssix languages and comes to realize that losing is kind of fun.
Chip Tolentino (Caleb Seip) is last year's champ whose raginghormones destroy his concentration.
And Leaf Coneybear (Checchia in a quick and effective charactertransformation) has attention deficit disorder and has been toldhe's stupid so often he believes it, even though he can get into thezone and spell with the best of them.
Then there are the adults, who are misfits themselves.
Rhona Perretti (Kathy Robb) is a former champion who stillobsesses about the bee and gives color commentary.
Mitch Mahoney (Rush, also in a quick and effective charactertransformation) is on parole and his community service is being thecomfort counselor for the kids who spell a word incorrectly,offering a hug and a juice box before he kicks them out.
And then there's Vice Principal Panch (Jeff Marsh), who doesn'twant to be there, but is running the bee.
His cynical attitude is never overdone, but whenever he uses aword in a sentence for the kids, it's totally inappropriate andunbelievably funny.
The humor in the show is slightly risque, but generally kind ofsweet.
Adding to the fun are the four spellers chosen from the audience,who are contestants in the bee and get to stay until they misspell aword.
The improvisational origins of the show are never far from thesurface and that's a big part of its charm.
Director R. Matthew Good has brought together a wonderful castand made them all hum. There isn't a weak link in the bunch.
Breen shines the brightest as William, who confidently answers "Iknow," after he's told he spelled a word correctly, but knows a lotof people don't like him.
And Jeff Marsh's timing is impeccable as he reads thoseinappropriate sentences or responds to a kid's question.
The music is pretty forgettable, though I will remember DanielleMarsh's beautifully sad "The I Love You Song," and Rush's knockoutvoice on "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor."
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is so joyfully funnyand silly, it will make you forget your cares and woes.
But at the same time, it will remind you that being a junior highkid is a rough time in life, and being a nerd, which all of thesekids (and adults) really are, makes it even harder.
That combination makes for a wonderful show.
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs throughSaturday at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
jholahan@lnpnews.com
'Putnam County Spelling Bee' Is A W-I-N-N-E-RStaff Writer
On its delightfully funny surface, "The 25th Annual Putnam CountySpelling Bee," is about the competition between six Putnam Countyspellers vying to win and go on to the national spelling bee.
But at it's charmingly poignant core, the show is about a bunchof misfits trying to grow up and find their places in what theyalready know can be a cruel world.
The show, which opened Thursday night at the Ephrata PerformingArts Center, is a modest affair set in a school gymnasium. It runsabout 90 minutes with no intermission. There are no complex plots orgrandiose numbers.
But it's those modest shows that often have the most heart, andthis show is overflowing with it.
Not the sappy sentimental kind, but the edgy kind that feelssuccinctly real while being outrageously funny.
I haven't laughed this hard at a show in a long, long time.
We meet the junior high contestants, including: William Barfee(Bob Breen) who has sinus conditions, a severe peanut allergy and amagic foot that spells out the words for him, thus allowing him toavoid eye contact with everyone.
The lonely Olive Ostrovsky (Danielle Marsh), declares thedictionary to be her best - and possibly only - friend, thoughWilliam might become one.
There's the earnest and lisping Logainne Schwartzandgrubenieere(Marisa Hoover), whose two fathers (Bobby Checchia and Matthew Rush)push her to be a winner at all costs.
Marcy Park (Tanya Roman) is a calm, cool overachiever who speakssix languages and comes to realize that losing is kind of fun.
Chip Tolentino (Caleb Seip) is last year's champ whose raginghormones destroy his concentration.
And Leaf Coneybear (Checchia in a quick and effective charactertransformation) has attention deficit disorder and has been toldhe's stupid so often he believes it, even though he can get into thezone and spell with the best of them.
Then there are the adults, who are misfits themselves.
Rhona Perretti (Kathy Robb) is a former champion who stillobsesses about the bee and gives color commentary.
Mitch Mahoney (Rush, also in a quick and effective charactertransformation) is on parole and his community service is being thecomfort counselor for the kids who spell a word incorrectly,offering a hug and a juice box before he kicks them out.
And then there's Vice Principal Panch (Jeff Marsh), who doesn'twant to be there, but is running the bee.
His cynical attitude is never overdone, but whenever he uses aword in a sentence for the kids, it's totally inappropriate andunbelievably funny.
The humor in the show is slightly risque, but generally kind ofsweet.
Adding to the fun are the four spellers chosen from the audience,who are contestants in the bee and get to stay until they misspell aword.
The improvisational origins of the show are never far from thesurface and that's a big part of its charm.
Director R. Matthew Good has brought together a wonderful castand made them all hum. There isn't a weak link in the bunch.
Breen shines the brightest as William, who confidently answers "Iknow," after he's told he spelled a word correctly, but knows a lotof people don't like him.
And Jeff Marsh's timing is impeccable as he reads thoseinappropriate sentences or responds to a kid's question.
The music is pretty forgettable, though I will remember DanielleMarsh's beautifully sad "The I Love You Song," and Rush's knockoutvoice on "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor."
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is so joyfully funnyand silly, it will make you forget your cares and woes.
But at the same time, it will remind you that being a junior highkid is a rough time in life, and being a nerd, which all of thesekids (and adults) really are, makes it even harder.
That combination makes for a wonderful show.
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs throughSaturday at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
jholahan@lnpnews.com
'Putnam County Spelling Bee' Is A W-I-N-N-E-RStaff Writer
On its delightfully funny surface, "The 25th Annual Putnam CountySpelling Bee," is about the competition between six Putnam Countyspellers vying to win and go on to the national spelling bee.
But at it's charmingly poignant core, the show is about a bunchof misfits trying to grow up and find their places in what theyalready know can be a cruel world.
The show, which opened Thursday night at the Ephrata PerformingArts Center, is a modest affair set in a school gymnasium. It runsabout 90 minutes with no intermission. There are no complex plots orgrandiose numbers.
But it's those modest shows that often have the most heart, andthis show is overflowing with it.
Not the sappy sentimental kind, but the edgy kind that feelssuccinctly real while being outrageously funny.
I haven't laughed this hard at a show in a long, long time.
We meet the junior high contestants, including: William Barfee(Bob Breen) who has sinus conditions, a severe peanut allergy and amagic foot that spells out the words for him, thus allowing him toavoid eye contact with everyone.
The lonely Olive Ostrovsky (Danielle Marsh), declares thedictionary to be her best - and possibly only - friend, thoughWilliam might become one.
There's the earnest and lisping Logainne Schwartzandgrubenieere(Marisa Hoover), whose two fathers (Bobby Checchia and Matthew Rush)push her to be a winner at all costs.
Marcy Park (Tanya Roman) is a calm, cool overachiever who speakssix languages and comes to realize that losing is kind of fun.
Chip Tolentino (Caleb Seip) is last year's champ whose raginghormones destroy his concentration.
And Leaf Coneybear (Checchia in a quick and effective charactertransformation) has attention deficit disorder and has been toldhe's stupid so often he believes it, even though he can get into thezone and spell with the best of them.
Then there are the adults, who are misfits themselves.
Rhona Perretti (Kathy Robb) is a former champion who stillobsesses about the bee and gives color commentary.
Mitch Mahoney (Rush, also in a quick and effective charactertransformation) is on parole and his community service is being thecomfort counselor for the kids who spell a word incorrectly,offering a hug and a juice box before he kicks them out.
And then there's Vice Principal Panch (Jeff Marsh), who doesn'twant to be there, but is running the bee.
His cynical attitude is never overdone, but whenever he uses aword in a sentence for the kids, it's totally inappropriate andunbelievably funny.
The humor in the show is slightly risque, but generally kind ofsweet.
Adding to the fun are the four spellers chosen from the audience,who are contestants in the bee and get to stay until they misspell aword.
The improvisational origins of the show are never far from thesurface and that's a big part of its charm.
Director R. Matthew Good has brought together a wonderful castand made them all hum. There isn't a weak link in the bunch.
Breen shines the brightest as William, who confidently answers "Iknow," after he's told he spelled a word correctly, but knows a lotof people don't like him.
And Jeff Marsh's timing is impeccable as he reads thoseinappropriate sentences or responds to a kid's question.
The music is pretty forgettable, though I will remember DanielleMarsh's beautifully sad "The I Love You Song," and Rush's knockoutvoice on "Prayer of the Comfort Counselor."
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" is so joyfully funnyand silly, it will make you forget your cares and woes.
But at the same time, it will remind you that being a junior highkid is a rough time in life, and being a nerd, which all of thesekids (and adults) really are, makes it even harder.
That combination makes for a wonderful show.
"The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" runs throughSaturday at the Ephrata Performing Arts Center.
jholahan@lnpnews.com
