Polls show gap narrowing between Netanyahu, Livni

Israeli polls Friday showed a narrowing race between front-runner Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, giving Livni a chance at an upset victory just days before Tuesday's national election.

One poll shows Netanyahu's hawkish Likud party winning 27 seats in Israel's 120-seat parliament. Livni's centrist Kadima party gets 25.

But the poll shows that voters clearly prefer hard-line parties, giving them 66 seats in parliament, compared with only 54 for centrist, dovish and Arab parties. That means Netanyahu has far better chances of cobbling together a governing coalition after the election.

The poll said 15 percent of …

Costa Rica's Poll continues medal assault

INDIANAPOLIS Costa Rican swimmer Silvia Poll, an unknown beforethe 10th Pan American Games, served notice she could be a force tocontend with at next summer's Olympics.

Poll, 16, swept to her third gold medal Tuesday, taking the100-meter backstroke in a Pan Am record-breaking time of 1:02.18, ahalf-second better than the existing mark. The silver and bronzemedal winners were Holly Green and Michelle Donahue of the UnitedStates.

Poll earlier won the 100-meter freestyle in a Pan Am record timeof 56.1 and also the 200-meter freestyle, becoming the first swimmerat the Games to take multiple gold.

Poll, born in Nicaragua of German parents, also helped pull …

Shiite Militiamen Kill 4 Police Officers

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Militiamen loyal to an anti-American cleric re-emerged Monday in the southern city of Amarah, hunting down and killing four policemen from a rival militia in a brutal Shiite-on-Shiite settling of scores.

The Iraqi army set up a few roadblocks but did not interfere in the movement of Muqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army fighters after police fled the streets. The latest attacks came despite a public call by al-Sadr to halt the tribal vendetta, suggesting that splinter groups were developing within his militia.

The spread of revenge killings among Shiites in their southern heartland has opened a new and ominous front as American forces struggle to control insurgent …

Education Management shares rise in IPO debut

Education Management Corp. shares soared almost 25 percent Friday in their debut in an initial public offering after being priced at the low end of their proposed range.

The stock jumped $4.48, or 24.9 percent, to $22.48 by midday on volume of almost 5 million shares.

On Thursday night, shares were priced at $18 a share, at the bottom of the company's proposed range of $18 to $20.

Many education stocks have seen gains in the past two years as the tough economy drives more Americans to bulk up their resumes. This is the third for-profit higher education IPO since November, following online educators Grand Canyon Education Inc. in November and …

Knee may bench Baines 2 months

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Finally admitting Harold Baines has a new kneeinjury, the White Sox sent their All-Star right fielder home lastnight.

Dr. James Boscardin will examine Baines today. It is not knownhow long Baines will be out, but it could be two months.

"I'd rather get looked at than go through a whole year of whatI'm going through now," said Baines, who hasn't recovered fully fromhis arthroscopic knee surgery last October. "I couldn't have playedyesterday (Tuesday)."

Despite the Sox' public optimism, it appears Baines will have tobe placed on the 15-day disabled list, perhaps retroactive to Tuesday. That wouldleave him ineligible to play until at …

Nancy Holt

Nancy Holt

MIRIAM AND IRA D. WALLACH ART GALLERY

Standing tall in black aluminum at twenty feet, Nancy Holt's monumental outdoor sculpture Solar Rotary, 1995, comprises a swirling design that casts tribal tattoo-like shadows on a plaza's grounds at the University of South Florida, Tampa. Beneath the work (which I remember fondly from when I was a teen) and the typically oppressive midday sun is a bench, cradling one of the most interesting objects to be found in the area - a 4.5-billion-year-old meteorite, discovered in Miami-Dade County. Holt's long-standing interest in astronomical themes, so overt in this example, seemed to loom large in an excellent survey of her early …

Henryk Mandelbaum, Auschwitz survivor forced to strip fellow Jews, dies at 85

Henryk Mandelbaum, who was forced by the Nazis to strip fellow Jews of valuables and gold teeth after they were gassed at Auschwitz, died on Tuesday, a historian said. He was 85.

Mandelbaum died at a hospital in the southern Polish city of Bytom several days after undergoing heart surgery, said Igor Bartosik, a historian at the Auschwitz-Birkenau museum who has co-written an upcoming book on Mandelbaum.

Bartosik said he did not know the exact cause of death, and hospital officials refused to comment.

Mandelbaum was Poland's last surviving member of a Sonderkommando _ groups of Jewish prisoners forced to handle the bodies of fellow Jews who were …

Gretna dream becoming a nightmare

The Gretna situation is extremely worrying, what with all theirfinancial problems.

I don't know what their exact situation is, but what I do knowis that Aberdeen will never be in such a worrying state as long as Iam at the club.

People have to remember that it's great living the dream butsomeone always has to pay for that dream. That's the problem withGretna in that they don't have the business plan in place to buildon success.

I'd be very disappointed if they do fall out of the league and itwould create a number of problems for the SPL.

I'm sure every effort will be made to ensure …

REVEREND AL SHARPTON

BACKGROUND

Civil rights activist, minister; U.S. Senate candidate, 1992 and 1994; candidate for mayor of New York City, 1997

www.sharpton2004.org/

Al Sharpton has been sharply critical of President George W. Bush's decision to invade Iraq, stating that the Bush administration's doctrine of pre-emption is "dangerous and traditionally un-American." During an interview with MoveOn.org, the reverend asked, "If we can pre-emptively attack Iraq using shaky intelligence...what's to stop Russia from attacking Chechnya, China from attacking Taiwan, …

Holmgren tries to defuse SF rumors

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren is trying to quash any thoughts he will become the new leader of the San Francisco 49ers next season.

Holmgren said Wednesday his plan is still to take a sabbatical from football in 2009. The native of San Francisco, former high school coach in the city and former 49ers assistant called Seattle his home and the Seahawks his team. Everything …

Defeat ends run of form ; Hockey

BRENTWOOD ..........0 FOLKESTONE ..........3 (East Women's HockeyLeague Division Two South East) AFTER the previous week'soutstanding performance at leaders Tunbridge Wells, Brentwood werehopeful that their winning run would continue but Folkestone hadother ideas.

Brentwood started strongly with some good passing around thepitch switching the ball from left to right. Sadly by …

Phelps Breaks Another World Swim Record

MELBOURNE, Australia - Michael Phelps did it again. The American lowered his own world record in the 200-meter butterfly at the world swimming championships Wednesday night, his second gold medal and second world mark in as many nights.

Laure Manaudou of France followed Phelps's race with a world record of her own, winning the 200 freestyle for her second individual gold.

Just as he did in winning the 200 freestyle, Phelps raced to the lead and stayed there, touching in 1 minute, 52.09 seconds.

That was faster than the 1:53.71 he swam at a meet in Columbia, Mo., on Feb. 17.

"I shocked myself," Phelps said. "I didn't know I would be that far under it." …

Lawyer buying murder site

LOS ANGELES The Brentwood town house outside which Nicole BrownSimpson and Ronald Goldman were slain has a buyer.

The infamous property where the victims' butchered bodies werefound went for its $595,000 asking price to a buyer who plans to makeit difficult to recognize, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

A Century City lawyer the newspaper did not name will becomethe house's new owner when the deal is final in a few days, the Timessaid.Simpson and Goldman were stabbed to death on the front walkwayof her home in June, 1994.The site is still popular with tourists.

Lawyer: Appeals court rejects Aruban prosecutor's bid to put US man back in jail as suspect

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (AP) — Lawyer: Appeals court rejects Aruban prosecutor's bid to put U.S. man back in jail as suspect.

Believers Flock to the Abbey

Ceilings that range from 9 feet to two stories in height, plussoaring expanses of glass contribute to the Abbey's bright, airylook.

The 1,350-square-foot town house is one of three designs atHighland Glen in Algonquin, Stoneridge Development Co.'s subdivisionof 210 town houses.

"The Abbey is a plan I built out in California that was part ofa multifamily building that combined town houses and condominiums,"said George Haviar, president of Stoneridge Development Co.

"The interior floor plan is toned down from the way it was builtout there. It had a spiral staircase in California, but here it is abit more traditional. "The exterior is totally different. InCalifornia it was stucco with a tile roof, which gave it aMediterranean look - which is too expensive to do here and would alsolook out of place," Haviar said. "People would have a hard timeaccepting the look. Here it is brick, cedar and siding.

"Inside it still has rounded corners, 2-story volume, an openstaircase going up to a loft, and high windows, which let in a lot oflight, which reflects the California style."

The Abbey is one of two furnished models at Highland Glen.

It has a set-back side entrance shielded by a small, coveredporch. Inside, the foyer has convenient access to a guest closetstraight ahead, a windowed powder room, and a larger closet beneaththe stairs.

Down the entry hall, past a switchback staircase, is an nearly12-by-15 1/2-foot living room with a pitched 2-story ceiling. Fromthe foyer one can look through the home and out a nearly 2-story rearwindow. End units have two additional side windows, which wouldflank the optional fireplace costing from $2,650 to $3,500, dependingon the package selected.

The 10-by-10 1/5-foot dining room, which is open to the livingroom, has a sliding rear door that opens to a standard concretepatio.

The kitchen measures 7 feet by 10 feet and overlooks a10-foot-square breakfast area. A half-wall divides the breakfastarea from the foyer. The door off the breakfast zone leads to anattached 2-car garage.

The switchback staircase has an open oak railing. End unitshave a window at the midway landing.

On the upper level, an 8 3/4-by-12-foot loft with a half-walloverlooks the stairway and the volume living room. It would cost$2,000 to convert the loft space into an optional third bedroom.

The 11-by-13-foot master bedroom has a walk-in closet and aprivate bath with a tub-shower head combination and ceramic-tilesurround. For $1,100, the tub could be upgraded to a whirlpool.

A laundry-utility room is conveniently located between themaster suite and the more than 10-by-11-foot second bedroom. Thesecond full bath contains a linen closet.

A full basement is a $10,500 option.

"The second-floor utility room is a popular feature of the Abbeybecause it is located in the area where you create the laundry," saidHaviar.

"Most houses are designed with the laundry room in the basementor main floor. All you ever do is carry laundry up and down thestairs. Even if the Abbey is built with an optional basement, theutility room stays upstairs."

Other standard features include double-paned, insulated-glasswindows and screens and patio doors, wood-grain siding and facebrick, a gas forced-air heating system, and sodded front and sideyards.

The development sits on a plateau lined by stands of100-year-old oak trees on the south, and 10 acres of forest on thenorth of the property that will never be built on. Nine of the 36buildings will be constructed around cul-de-sacs. The rest will bebuilt along winding streets that traverse the development, which hasa public park bordering the east end of the property.

A $60 per month association fee covers exterior maintenance ofthe building, landscape maintenance and snow plowing.

About half of the 23 town houses in the next building phase willinclude walk-out basements.

Two furnished models are open seven a days week.

Haviar built more than 2,000 homes in California between 1983and 1992, when he was director of San Diego operations for theWilliam Lyon Co., one of the nation's largest home builders.

Highland Glen is located on Hanson Road, about one-quarter milesouth of Algonquin Road, and two miles west of the Fox River.

Judy Moore is a Chicago area free-lance writer.

Rapper LL Cool J still a knockout in colorful Fleet Center concert

Rapper LL Cool J still a knockout in colorful Fleet Center concert

Kay Bourne

"Mama said knock you out!" teased LL Cool J. No sooner had the rap star hurled the taunting words into the sellout crowd at the Fleet Center when a cascade of fireworks jetted into the rafters, a multicolored geyser of glittering sparks. Knock us out, he did.

For over a dozen years he's been a major power on the hip-hop scene, and now beyond, with a hit TV series. Still only 28, the lip-licking, provocative rap singer, one pant leg rolled up, delivering his plea to be a father to your child from a crouch like a Russian Army cadet dancing with one leg extended, he retained champion status in the star-studded lineup for radio station Jam'N 94.5's third annual blowout. He's a showman, but sincere for all the pyrotechnics.

At the set's conclusion, he had the 20-voice, red- and black-gowned Berklee Gospel Choir shouting backup to the title number from his new "Phenomenon" CD, as his chorus of scantily clad women dancers pranced around the stage while he prowled the edges, licking a green lollipop.

Then came "Father." Like the Artist formerly known as Prince, the Cool one frankly confides his childhood horror stories of beatings that his mom sustained until she would take no more, and later the absence of any kind of father. So when he pleads, "Love one another, don't kill one another," the sentiment comes from a heart that has found a positive beat despite tribulations. This time the sparks fell like silver tinsel rain onto the stage and, so it seemed, onto the heads of the choir, dancers, and LL Cool J himself.

The Super Jam, which ran for five crowd-pleasing hours, also did a world of good by raising $33,000 for Project Bread, which fights hunger in Massachusetts.

Backstage was often as frantic as onstage. Attractive Jam'N 94.5 deejay Mark Jordan did a batch of interviews with the rap acts shortly after they barreled down a chute exit and flung into the large studio. It was lit up so TV interviewers, as well as newspaper critics, could have a go at the singers too.

Some interesting tidbits that emerged were that Uncle Sam is so named because he has 15 nieces and nephews, nothing political going on here at all.

LSG, the newly formed group made up of Gerald Levert, Keith Sweat, and Johnny Gill, claim that their female backup singers wanted to wear the tiny sweaters that didn't cover everything as the trio sang "My Body," but promised that, O.K., next time it would be their bodies that would be exposed. Of interest to gem lovers, the diamonds that flash from their ears are 2.4 carats apiece, which adds up to about five carats a singer, according to Sweat.

In one of the corridors that run off the arena stood three of Boston's firemen from District 3, on call because of LL Cool J's fireworks, making sure nothing caught fire that wasn't supposed to. It was a long night for Mike Atkins, Mike Spence, and John Darling, but fortunately it was one that went by without incident.

Meanwhile, onstage, Blackstreet took it to another level, Ginuwine had the ladies swooning, the Jamaican Shaggy put a Caribbean spin on the proceedings, Aaliyah proved she is one in a million, and Salt-N-Pepa took it all home.

Graphics for the popular event were done by Artists for Humanity, the artistically talented urban youth outfit that did the fabulous back-to-school window displays for Filene's

Photo (LL Cool J)

Milestones

Births/Adoptions

Broadbent- Leven Peter Brown (b. July 8, 2010), to Amanda Brown and Gavin Broadbent, Bethel Mennonite, Winnipeg, Man.

Chartier- Noah Florian (b. March 17, 2010), to Luc and Cathy (nee Lankin) Chartier, Windsor Mennonite, Ont.

Enns- Tanner Cole (b. July 12, 2010), to Stacie and Travis Enns, Carman Mennonite, Man.

Fehderau- Jeremiah Joel (b. June 24, 2010) to Arnie and Karin Fehderau, First Mennonite, Saskatoon, Sask. Correction.

Cuenther- Jayden Gregory (b. July 8, 2010), to Adrianna and Greg Cuenther, Maple View Mennonite, Wellesley, Ont.

Lebold- Adam Hugh (b.July 15, 2010), to Chris and Wendy Lebold, Breslau Mennonite, Ont.

Martens- Dylan Parker (b. July 16, 2010), to Michelle McKinnell and Karl Martens, Hagerman Mennonite, Ont. and Osier Mennonite, Sask.

Musselman-River Samuel (b. June 29, 2010), to Peter and Heather (nee Burkholder) Musselman, Rouge Valley Mennonite, Markham, Ont.

Mutala- Aubrey Shae (b.July 11, 2010) to Marcy (Koethler) and Brandon Mutala, Zion Mennonite, Swift Current, Sask. In Prince George, B.C.

Peters- Nathaniel Bruce (June 20, 2010), to Kris and Vic Peters, Clenlea Mennonite, Man.

Sawatsky- Ryan Mitchell (b. June 18, 2010), to George and Vicky (Peters) Sawatsky, Faith Mennonite, Leamington, Ont.

Baptisms

Renae Friesen - Bergthaler Mennonite, Altona, Man., May 16,2010.

Samantha Quick, Caitlin Thiessen- Faith Mennonite, Leamington, Ont., June 6, 2010.

Monique Brubach er, Jamie Rozema, Shanna Rozema, Brock Shoemaker- Floradale Mennonite, Ont., May 2.

Lauren Wiens- Clenlea Mennonite, Man., May 23, 2010.

Christina Vis- Grace Mennonite, Prince Albert, Sask., May 16,2010.

Jenny Doerksen, Heiko Giesbrecht, Resi Giesbrecht, Rowan Giesbrecht, Federic Hiebert, Peter Schiller, Samantha Thiessen- Steinbach Mennonite, Man., May 16, 2010.

Megan Boyd, Alanna Dueck, Susan Duncan, Rebecca Epp, Julianne J anzen, Loren Janzen, Michelle Koop - Vineland United Mennonite, Ont., May 30, 2010.

Amanda Snyder, Nicholas Pennerjeffrey MarshWaterloo North Mennonite, Ont., June 27, 2010.

Anndee Hoover, Gregory Lehming- Wideman Mennonite, Ont., June 6, 2010.

Marriages

Crealock/Marsh- Martha Crealock and Jeffrey Marsh, Waterloo North Mennonite, Ont., July 10, 2010.

Friesen/Hutchison- Courtney Friesen and Sandy Hutchison, Bergthaler Mennonite, Altona, Man., in Winnipeg, May 22, 2010.

Friesen/Marquardt- Ryan Friesen and Staci Marquardt, Bergthaler Mennonite, Altona, Man. at Lake Metigoshe, North Dakota, May 15, 2010.

Kruithof/Rigg- Mei issa Jan Kruithof and Bryon Albert Rigg, Hunta Mennonite Church, Ont., July 24, 2010.

Spaling/Zmudczynski- Nicole Spai ing and Steve Zmudczynski, Community Mennonite, Drayton, Ont., July 3, 2010.

Managing change the right way

In my columns on software selection and implementation (December 2007 and January/ February 2008), I touched briefly on change management, but the subject deserves a closer look.

Many will tell you change management is critical to the success of any project and especially to the implementation of a new system. In fact, you can find consulting firms that specialize just in change management. But in my view, change management sometimes gets blown out of proportion based on false assumptions about employees.

There is a widely held view that employees are inherently resistant to change. I disagree. Employees are resistant to change only when it will adversely affect them. If a new system could eliminate their jobs, do you blame them? But if the change does not threaten their jobs, they are more likely to accept and even welcome the change. New systems can make employees more marketable, eliminate the drudgery of inefficient manual processes and allow them to be more effective in their work.

In my experience, the elimination of inefficient processes does not lead to firing, but to growth with no hiring. If growth is out of the question, however, and there are too many people for the work required, it's better to be honest about the situation. Even the employees who keep their jobs will be angry if their colleagues are blindsided by a firing spree.

A number of other issues discussed in previous articles are also related to change management. Employees should be consulted not only because their involvement would lead to buy-in but also because they have knowledge that may be useful. Representatives from each department should be involved from the start, with a kickoff meeting to explain the project. Employees should be interviewed to better understand their requirements and opportunities for business process improvement. Employees should also be involved during the final demonstration. Get their agreement on the script, let them attend the demonstration that pertains to them and obtain their feedback.

Management also needs to be ready and supportive of any new system. One technique is to have management identify the critical success factors (what must be done well for the organization to be successful) and the key performance indicators that map to those critical success factors. Set target key performance indicators at the beginning of the project, and celebrate only when the KPIs are attained.

Many organizations have naysayers who have been around a long time and exert a certain amount of influence. You must seek out these naysayers to learn about the risks and what to do about them. As you gain this knowledge, you also indirectly gain their buy-in (if you take their advice into consideration).

Good project managers know about change management and will inform employees and management about project status. A good project manager will also plan the implementation to avoid scheduling conflicts and excessive overtime.

Change is constant and most people adapt quickly - especially to new technology. Witness the speed with which the Internet, Google and BlackBerry have been adopted. But there will always be a few people who are afraid of change just because it's different. These individuals should remember the words of Bob Dylan:

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

[Author Affiliation]

Michael Burns, MBA, CA, PMP, is president of 180 Systems (www.180systems.com), which provides independent consulting services, including business process review, system selection and IT audit. Contact: 416-485-2200 or mburns@180systems.com

The Motel in America

The Motel in America. By John A. Jakle, Keith A. Sculle, and Jefferson S. Rogers Baltimore, Md.: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. xiv + 340 pp. Figures, notes, bibliography, and index. $32.95. 0-80185384-4.

This is the definitive history of the motel. Until now, roadside lodging has been treated primarily by writers interested in the "great man" stories of such leaders as Conrad Hilton, Willard Marriott, or Kemmons Wilson, or bv authors nostalgic for the picturesque small businesses of the pre-World War II era. (Such authors include Warren Belasco, Americans on the Road: From Antocamp to Motel (1979), John Margolies, Home Away from Home: Motels in America (1995)). In the book under review here, John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers succeed in creating a highly engaging, multifaceted work that touches nearly every aspect of the hostelry business from the dawn of the twentieth century to the present. The Motel in America is part of an emerging field in historical scholarship, the "history of the built environment," which melds business history with architectural history, cultural geography, and social history. The movement can be traced back to such classics as Sam Bass Warner, Jr., Streetcar Suburbs: The Process of Growth in Boston (1961), Gwendolyn Wright, Building the Dream: A Social History of Housing in America ( 1982) and Marc Weiss, Rise of the Community Builders: The American Real Estate Instr-rl and Land Planning (1985), which together did much to illuminate the mix of financial and cultural forces shaping suburbia. In the 1990s, the field has heated up as scholars have begun probing other distinctive features of the American landscape. Important books include Carol Willis, Form Follows Finance: Skyscrapers and Skylines in New York and Chicago (1995), Margaret Crawford, Building the Workingman's Paradise: The Design of America's Company Towns (1995), and Richard Longstreth, From Center City to Regional Mall: Architecture, the Automobile and Retailing in Los Angeles (1997). This growing body of work demonstrates that buildings are indeed vital "historical documents" that can speak volumes about the past.

At the heart of The Motel in America is a solid business history narrative. The industry took shape in the 1910s and 1920s as entrepreneurs formalized the makeshift auto campgrounds that had sprung up at the edge of America's cities. Enterprising individuals installed stores and bathing facilities, then hammered together strings of little cabins to rent. Eventually, they connected the cabins to create full-fledged motels. Through the 1940s virtually all motels were individual "mom-and-pop" operations, though Frank Redford's Kentucky-grown Wigwam Villages (with teepee shaped cabins), and E. Lee Torrance's Texas-based Alamo Courts attempted to forge small regional chains. The roadside turned corporate in the late 1950s and 1960s. This was partly due to the leadership of Kemmons Wilson, who built the Holiday Inn chain coast-to-coast through such pioneering innovations as computerized reservations. And it was also, the authors stress, due to new tax laws starting in 1954 that made motel construction a favored tax shelter for investors. The 1970s and 1980s saw the lodging industrv firmly enmeshed in the high-finance world of brand segmentation and leveraged buyouts. The study tenaciously follows each major lodging chain through ownership changes, and examines the business reasoning behind creation of hot recent brands such as Hampton Inn and Fairfield Inns.

But the book does not stop with boardroom history. Dozens of additional perspectives enrich the story. With a nod to postmodernism, the authors begin with their own recollections of motel trips of yore-a successful strategy that opens readers' eyes to the multiple meanings and changing nature of the motel. A major theme throughout the book is architectural evolution. Corporate chains succeeded partly because they developed distinctive architecture to catch the traveler's eve, a concept that Sculle and Jakle labeled "place-product packaging" in their preceding book The Gas Station in America (1994). Over a hundred photos gleaned from vintage postcards and promotional literature explore not only exterior architecture but also interior "room geography," and point out the many household innovations that Americans first sampled at motels, including coffeemakers and color TVs. The authors also use maps to great advantage, showing nationwide distribution for each chain over time. In the book's final chapter they offer a case study of the changing lodging landscape of Albuquerque, New Mexico, from the 1910s to the present.

Business historians may wish that Jakle, Sculle, and Rogers had delved even deeper into the financing strategies that shape the corporate roadside. The shifting impacts of federal tax and investment regulations, for instance, drop from sight in the later chapters and conclusion. The authors themselves suggest other areas deserving more discussion: exploration of labor issues; analysis in terms of race, class and gender; research into the changing occupants of motels as the buildings age. Other scholars will undoubtedly pick up these trails, now that they can build on the solid historical base provided by The Motel in America.

[Author Affiliation]

Tom Hanchett teaches American history and coordinates the Historic Preservation Program at Youngstown State University in Ohio. His recent publications include a study of shopping center finance (American Historical Review, October 1996) and the book Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 (UNC Press,1998).

EU president positive over Croatia membership

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union President Herman Van Rompuy says Croatia's membership talks can be successfully concluded in "the nearest possible future."

Van Rompuy said Wednesday he was "reasonably confident" that the executive Commission would recommend on Friday to the EU nations to wrap up talks and prepare to welcome Croatia as the 28th member state, likely in 2013.

Croatia started membership talks half a dozen years ago and would become the second nation of former Yugoslavia to join after Slovenia.

Australian Wool: Weak Undertone Until December

There is a strong possibility that Australian wool market prices will continue weak undertones until December when the supply-demand gap is reduced. It is also thought that wool for fine-count yarn will act as the engine in overall market prices and increase prices, while widening the price difference from medium-count yarn.

As of September 2nd, the Eastern Market Indicator (EMI) in Australia working as the index for international wool prices was at 775 Australian cent/kg or 538 US cent/kg. This week, the Australian dollar began to fall, but "this is not going to be a factor for buying," according to major trading firm sources.

Wool is going to enter its high demand season in the middle of October; however, a considerable price increase is unlikely because there is plenty of supply until November. In February, fine-count yarn will be in short supply and it is considered that users will start purchasing in December.

Wool purchases by China are still slow. The sagging demand for Australian wool reflects the slackening of product movement and the shortage of electric power, in addition to the development of the Chinese wool market. Despite the allocation of new import quota at the end of September, it is unlikely that product prices will move up considerably because this is not only an off-season, but also the supply volume is sufficient.

Discharge Suggested for Anti-War Marine

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A military panel has recommended a general discharge for an Iraq war veteran who wore his uniform during a war protest and later responded with an obscenity to a superior who told him he might have violated military rules.

Marine Cpl. Adam Kokesh participated in the protest in March, clad in a uniform that had his name tag and other insignia removed. After he was identified in a photo caption in The Washington Post, a superior officer sent him a letter saying he might have violated a rule prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms without authorization.

After a hearing Monday before an administrative separation board at the Marine Corps Mobilization Command, the panel decided not to recommend a less-than-honorable discharge, choosing instead the general discharge.

"This is a nonpunitive discharge," said Col. Patrick McCarthy, chief of staff for the mobilization command. "The most stringent discharge that could have been received is other than honorable, and the board chose to raise that up to a general discharge."

If the recommendation is approved, Kokesh would not lose any military benefits. McCarthy said.

WORLD at 1000GMT

NEW THIS DIGEST:

TURKEY-FREE SPEECH. Turkey weighs free speech law.

IRAQ. Iraqi troops withdraw after attack.

YEMEN-LAWMAKER KILLED. Militants assassinate a lawmaker northern Yemen.

FRANCE-CLIMATE TALKS. Sarkozy urges private money in low-carbon economy.

US-POPE. After intimate meeting, pope goes global at UN.

TOP STORIES:

ZIMBABWE ELECTIONS

HARARE, Zimbabwe _ Election disputes cast a shadow over the government's Independence Day celebrations as the browbeaten opposition makes a final stand in court to block recounts in some constituencies. By Angus Shaw.

WITH: US-ZIMBABWE; ZIMBABWE-TSVANGIRAI INTERVIEW; ZIMBABWE-INDEPENDENCE DAY

IRAQ

BAGHDAD _ A company of government troops abandoned its positions in Sadr City when the forces came under attack from Shiite militiamen who took advantage of a sandstorm, police say. By Slobodan Lekic.

AL-QAIDA-AL-ZAWAHRI

CAIRO, Egypt _ Al-Qaida's No. 2 said in an audiotape released Friday that the United States will lose whether it stays in Iraq or withdraws, and he sneered that U.S. President George W. Bush just wants to pass the problem on to his successor. By Pakinam Amer and Katarina Kratovac.

YEMEN-LAWMAKER KILLED

SAN'A, Yemen _ A security official says militants have assassinated a lawmaker in northern Yemen. The official says gunmen attacked Saleh Hendi and four of his bodyguards in their car in the northern province of Saada Friday, showering them with bullets. By Ahmed Al-Haj.

US-POPE

WASHINGTON _ After a dramatic three days in which he put the United States' clergy sexual abuse scandal front and center, Pope Benedict XVI turns his attention to the original purpose of his first U.S. visit as leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Developing. By Eric Gorski.

FRANCE-CLIMATE TALKS

PARIS _ French President Nicolas Sarkozy says the fight against global warming needs massive new flows of private investment and globally regulated "green" markets to succeed. About 90 percent of the funds for fighting global warming will come from the private sector over the long term, Sarkozy said at climate talks in Paris among the world's biggest polluters. By Angela Charlton.

SOUTH AFRICA-ZUMA

PRETORIA, South Africa _ ANC leader Jacob Zuma is looking more and more like a presidential candidate, reaching out to communities in his rainbow nation. Friday, he visits shantytowns housing poor whites. By Celean Jacobson. AP Photos.

CONGO PRIDE.

GOMA, Congo _ A street preacher shouts in this eastern Congo town, scene of so much devastation in recent years that some wonder whether the place is cursed. "Be proud, you are alive!" he says, a cheerful exhortation in a town with a seemingly endless succession of travails, including rebellions, outbreaks of disease, floods of genocide refugees, a spectacular volcano eruption and _ just this week _ a deadly plane crash. By Elizabeth Kennedy.

US-ELECTIONS

WASHINGTON _ The prolonged personal battle between Democrats Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama has allowed Republican John McCain to pull even as he snatches away disgruntled independent and even some Democratic swing voters. By Steven R. Hurst. AP Photos.

US-POLYGAMIST RETREAT

SAN ANGELO, Texas _ A court hearing to decide the fate of the 416 children swept up in a raid on a West Texas polygamous sect descends into farce, with hundreds of lawyers in two packed buildings shouting objections and the judge struggling to maintain order. By Michelle Roberts. AP Photos.

ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS

JERUSALEM _ Israel closes off the West Bank and Gaza for at least a week for the Jewish Passover holiday, a day after Gaza militants attack a vital crossing, raising the possibility of a large-scale Israeli offensive within weeks. By Mark Lavie. Developing. AP Photos.

TURKEY-FREE SPEECH

ISTANBUL _ "How happy is he who says: 'I am a Turk.'" The nationalist motto was coined by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. Its display in schools, hospitals and military barracks helps explain why Turkey is struggling to meet a key demand for membership in the European Union: changes to a law that bars insults to Turkish identity. Developing. By Christopher Torchia.

THAILAND-OLYMPIC TORCH

BANGKOK, Thailand _ The Olympic flame arrives under tight security in Thailand for the latest leg of its round-the-world relay and is quickly taken to a luxury hotel to await an official welcome by the country's crown princess. Lead moved. By Ambika Ahuja. AP Photos.

JAPAN-OLYMPIC TORCH

TOKYO _ A major Japanese Buddhist temple withdraws from a plan to host the Beijing Olympics torch relay, citing safety concerns and sympathy among its monks and worshippers for Tibetan protesters facing a Chinese crackdown. Moved. By Chisaki Watanabe. AP Photos.

WITH: CHINA-TORCH DEFENDER

CHINA-TIBET

BEIJING _ A new protest breaks out in a restive Tibetan region of western China, prompting wide-scale arrests and tightened security, local hotel workers and an activist group report. Moved. By Christopher Bodeen.

SKOREA-US-BEEF

SEOUL, South Korea _ South Korea tentatively agrees to relax quarantine regulations and resume U.S. beef imports halted over concerns of mad cow disease, just hours before a summit of the two countries' leaders.

PARAGUAY-ELECTION

ASUNCION, Paraguay _ Former Roman Catholic Bishop Fernando Lugo asked thousands of supporters at his final campaign rally Thursday to help him end 61 years of one-party rule in Paraguay and to build a new nation for the poor and indigenous. By Bill Cormier.

GUANTANAMO-CANADIAN DETAINEE

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ Canada asked the United States not to send former child soldier Omar Khadr to Guantanamo after he was captured in Afghanistan in 2002, according to a newly released letter. By Michael Melia.

BUSINESS & FINANCE:

ITALY-BERLUSCONI-PUTIN

PORTO ROTONDO, Sardinia _ Italy's Premier-elect Silvio Berlusconi says he discussed Aeroflot's possible role in saving Alitalia with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Developing.

OIL PRICES

UNDATES _ Oil prices slip below US$115 a barrel in thin trading as the U.S. dollar holds its ground against the euro. By Pablo Gorondi.

CHINA-ECONOMY

BEIJING _ China's government issues more gloomy inflation news, saying wholesale prices for farm goods jumped 25.5 percent in the first quarter in a sign that consumers could face more sharp rises in living costs. Moved. By Joe McDonald.

TRANSLATING FACEBOOK

TOKYO _ The three-year-old social networking phenomenon Facebook, worth more than $15 billion by many estimates, got a good deal on going global. Its users around the world are translating Facebook's visible framework into nearly two dozen languages for free. Moved. By Tomoko Hosaka.

___

YOUR QUERIES: Contact your local AP bureau: the Europe & Africa Desk in London at +44 207 427 4300, the Asia-Pacific Desk in Bangkok at +66 2632-6911, or the Latin America Desk in Mexico City at +52 55 3300 7613.

Getting the message out

TECHNOLOGY AND THE GOSPEL

Mennonite organizations flocking to YouTube

Mennonite Church Canada and Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) are two of the latest organizations to create their own pages on YouTube, the popular website that allows users to upload, view and share video clips.

MC Canada communications director Dan Dyck says the reason for creating a "channel" (youtube.com/ mennonitechurchca) on the popular website was to build awareness among congregations and the wider world of what the denomi-nation does.

Searching the word "Mennonites" on YouTube yields a variety of results, Dyck says, "some helpful, and some not-so-helpful. It's important to give another point of view of who Mennonites are."

Founded in early 2005 by three computer engineers, YouTube was purchased in November 2006 by Google Inc. for $1.76 billion. In January, the site accounted for three billion of the over nine billion videos viewed on the Internet, according to PCWorld.com.

MC Canada began producing videos in 2005 to distribute as DVDs through its resource centre. Dyck sees YouTube as another way to distribute the videos, which document Canadian events as well as work being done by Witness workers around the world.

Is MC Canada targeting young people with the channel? Not necessarily, Dyck says. He questions whether the videos MC Canada produce even have "the edge" necessary to appeal to a generation raised on MuchMusic and the Internet. How MC Canada uses YouTube in the future to reach out to younger people "is dependent on what strategy is developed [by MC Canada] for keeping in touch with that demographic," Dyck explains.

CMU recently developed a series of videos advertising the university. For John Longhurst, director of communications and marketing, YouTube is another way the university can reach out to potential students.

"YouTube is just one of the ways we share [the videos] with the wider world, but it's an important way," Longhurst says. His goal is to provide a variety of ways of finding information about CMU, and he believes ; "YouTube is the one [place] that most potential students would be going to anyway."

Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) created its YouTube channel last November. Like MC Canada and CMU, MEDA uses YouTube as another way of distributing videos it is already producing for special events, churches and schools. The channel also affords MEDA ; other opportunities as well, says Ed Epp,. vice-president for resource development.

"You can make a quicker video that's not the 100 percent quality you might want to show at a presentation, but that still might interest people," Epp notes.

Although most people think of YouTube as something for young people, Epp and Dyck both note they have been approached by people 55 years old and older who say they have seen the videos on YouTube.

Given the ephemeral nature of popular culture, it is unclear that YouTube is here to stay. For the moment, however, "it's ubiquitous, it's huge," says Darryl Neustaedter Barg, associate director of media ministries at MC Manitoba. "Anyone who's using a computer on the Internet today has likely encountered YouTube."

[Sidebar]

For the moment, '[YouTube is] ubiquitous, it's huge!

[Author Affiliation]

BY AARON EPP

National Correspondent

WINNIPEG

American League Standings

All Times EDT

East Division

W L Pct GB

Boston 57 40 .588 _

Tampa Bay 55 39 .585 1/2

New York 50 45 .526 6

Toronto 47 48 .495 9

Baltimore 45 48 .484 10

Central Division

W L Pct GB

Chicago 54 40 .574 _

Minnesota 53 42 .558 1 1/2

Detroit 47 47 .500 7

Kansas City 43 53 .448 12

Cleveland 41 53 .436 13

West Division

W L Pct GB

Los Angeles 57 38 .600 _

Oakland 51 44 .537 6

Texas 50 46 .521 7 1/2

Seattle 37 58 .389 20

___

Tuesday's Game

No games scheduled

Wednesday's Game

No games scheduled

Thursday's Games

Detroit at Baltimore, 7:05 p.m.

Friday's Games

Oakland (Blanton 5-12) at N.Y. Yankees (Mussina 11-6), 7:05 p.m.

Detroit (Galarraga 7-3) at Baltimore (Guthrie 5-7), 7:05 p.m.

Toronto (Burnett 10-8) at Tampa Bay (Shields 7-6), 7:10 p.m.

Texas (Millwood 6-5) at Minnesota (Perkins 6-2), 8:10 p.m.

Kansas City (Greinke 7-5) at Chicago White Sox (Buehrle 6-8), 8:11 p.m.

Boston (Buchholz 2-4) at L.A. Angels (Lackey 6-2), 10:05 p.m.

Cleveland (Laffey 5-5) at Seattle (F.Hernandez 6-6), 10:10 p.m.

2002 GOP phone jamming in NH leads to new charges

A former Republican official accused of taking part in a plot to jam Democratic phone lines in New Hampshire on Election Day 2002 is facing new charges.

James Tobin was indicted by a federal grand jury in Portland on two counts of making false statements about the incident to an FBI agent. His earlier conviction on telephone harassment charges was overturned, but prosecutors are appealing.

Tobin, 48, of Bangor, was accused of helping to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the New Hampshire Democratic Party and a local firefighters' union on Election Day six years ago.

Republican Rep. John Sununu defeated then-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, in a close Senate race that day. He is now running for re-election with Shaheen as his challenger, and the race is again close.

The new indictment, dated Oct. 9, alleges that Tobin lied to FBI investigators during an interview in Maine. Tobin told them another GOP official, Charles McGee, had the idea to contact an aggressive telemarketer, Allen Raymond, for help in the 2002 election. The indictment said using Raymond was really Tobin's idea.

McGee and Raymond both pleaded guilty in the phone-jamming scheme and testified against Tobin. The jamming also led to a lawsuit that was settled with Republicans paying the Democrats $135,000.

Tobin and his lawyers did not immediately respond to telephone messages seeking comment Tuesday. The new charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Sununu, who has denied knowledge of the 2002 scheme, did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment Tuesday.

At the time of the 2002 election, Tobin was a top regional official with the Republican National Committee.

Phone records introduced at Tobin's 2005 trial in federal court in New Hampshire show he made two dozen calls to the White House political office within three days around Election Day as the jamming operation was finalized, carried out and abruptly shut down.

Tobin was sentenced to 10 months in prison on charges of telephone harassment. But the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled last year that the telephone harassment statute "is not a close fit" for what Tobin did. The appeals court sent the case back to the lower court, which later threw out the conviction entirely. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling; a hearing is set for Nov. 3 in Boston.

Brazil to compensate US pastor tortured in 1974

The Brazilian government has promised to pay compensation to a U.S. pastor who was arrested, beaten and tortured in 1974 under the former military dictatorship.

The Rev. Frederick Birten Morris of the United Methodist Church will be compensated 285,000 reals (US$154,000) plus a monthly pension of 2,000 reals (US$1,080), the Justice Ministry said on its Web site.

The decision was made Friday night by the Justice Ministry's Amnesty Commission, which is reviewing the cases of victims the 1964-1985 dictatorship.

Morris is currently the president of Faith Partners of the Americas, a Florida-based nonprofit that seeks to build ties between churches and people in the Americas. Phone calls to Morris' home and cell phone and to his organization went unanswered on Saturday.

The Methodist Church in Brazil said nobody was available to comment and directed The Associated Press to its Web site, which said the pastor arrived in the northeastern city of Recife in 1963 and was tasked with fostering closer ties with the Roman Catholic Church. He also worked as a freelance correspondent for Time magazine.

In 1974, Time published an article praising Catholic Archbishop Helder Camara _ an outspoken critic of the dictatorship dubbed the "Red Bishop" by the regime. Though Morris had not contributed to the piece, the Methodist Church said, it irritated local army commanders who ordered his arrest.

During 16 days in captivity in an army barracks, Morris was beaten and tortured with electric shocks several times before being released and deported.

Unlike other South American nations such as Argentina and Chile, Brazil has never prosecuted any member of the armed forces for human rights abuses under its dictatorship. A 1979 amnesty law pardoned all Brazilians _ civilian and military _ for crimes committed under the dictatorship.

A government study last year found that 475 people were killed or disappeared at the hands of security forces during the military regime.

Sox, Ozzie enjoy talking 'Crash': White Sox 3, Mariners 1; CF Rowand receives well-deserved praise for game-saving play

His teammates stopped calling him "Crash" a few years ago, afteran offseason dirt-bike accident cost him during the baseball season.

On Sunday, the White Sox and manager Ozzie Guillen were callingcenter fielder Aaron Rowand something else.

"Gold Glover," Guillen said, acknowledging the game-saving catchRowand made on Richie Sexson's drive to the wall to end the eighthinning and the only threat the Seattle Mariners mounted against JonGarland. "That was the play of the game."

Rowand, whose 2-for-4 day also boosted the offensive side of the 3-1 victory, thought differently.

"Garland threw a heck of a game," he said. "Jon shut them down andthrew the way he has all season."

In improving to 16-5, Garland held the Mariners to one run andthree hits through seven innings before pinch hitter Dave Hansen andIchiro Suzuki led off the eighth with back-to-back singles. WillieBloomquist lined a bullet that first baseman Paul Konerko stabbed forthe first out, but with left-handed-hitting Raul Ibanez coming up,Guillen summoned Damaso Marte, and Garland walked off to a standingovation from 35,706 at U.S. Cellular Field.

Ibanez flied out, but with long-ball threat Sexson (27 home runs)coming up, Guillen switched to right-hander Cliff Politte.

"You can't make a better catch than that," Politte said ofRowand's sprint to and collision with the center-field wall. "Ithought at first it was gone, but then I saw Rowand going back. Itwas huge."

Rowand collided as the ball fell into his glove, then tumbled fromthe force of the impact.

"I was actually getting ready to jump, but I hit the wall firstand then the ball hit my glove," Rowand said. "I just had the windknocked out of me."

The wind, meanwhile, is back in the Sox' sails, they believe,after taking their first home series since sweeping Tampa Bay a monthago.

"We've gotten some energy back on the bench, and we'll need itgoing to New York," said Konerko, whose 27th homer -- his second two-run shot in as many days -- provided the margin of victory. The otherSox run came on third baseman Joe Crede's 16th homer. All three runscame against Jeff Harris (0-1), who was making his first major-league start.

"It feels like we're back to ourselves," said Konerko, whononetheless was mindful of another game in which the long ball, notsmall ball, led to victory.

"But I don't think we won because of the home run," he said. "Wewon today because of pitching. When you hold a team to one run,you'll usually win."

The Mariners, now 16 games below .500, scored in the third whenGarland walked Chris Snelling and gave up singles to catcher WikiGonzalez and Suzuki. But Marte, Politte and Dustin Hermanson (28thsave) shut down the Mariners in the final 1* innings.

"I'm going to give my starters the best chance to win, but I haveconfidence in my bullpen," Guillen said of his eighth-inningmaneuvers.

Garland picked up his American League-best 16th victory in histhird try, after a no-decision in Kansas City and a poor outing in aloss to Toronto.

"We don't have to worry about too many [long] losing streaks withthose two guys," Guillen said of Garland and Mark Buehrle (13-4)."Regardless of his last outing, I knew he'd be good. That's how youlearn. He turned the page. He's ready to be one of the best pitchersin the American League."

Garland again credited his teammates as much as his performancefor the outcome.

"We've played solid baseball all year long," he said. "We measureourselves by the guys in here, not other teams. It's fun to be aroundthese guys. We started on a roll, and it's taken off from there."

Rowand was happy to assist.

"It's nice to help out the pitching staff," said Rowand, whoappreciated his manager touting him for a Gold Glove. "That'sprobably the ultimate compliment for me. I enjoy playing defense, andany time you can help the pitching staff and get that kind ofcompliment from your manager, who was a pretty good player himself,it's a good feeling."

The victory was the 72nd of the season for the Sox, equalingCarlton Fisk's number on the day the Hall of Fame catcher had astatue of himself unveiled at the park.

"That number has been pretty lucky in Chicago," Guillen said.

WHITE SOX RECAP:

Seattle AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

ISuzuki dh 4 0 2 1 0 0 .304

Bloomquist 2b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .273

Ibanez lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .293

Sexson 1b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .266

Beltre 3b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .255

Reed cf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .255

YBetancourt ss 3 0 0 0 0 1 .226

b-Spiezio ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .057

Snelling rf 2 1 0 0 1 0 .211

Gonzalez c 2 0 1 0 0 0 .294

a-Hansen ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .190

Torrealba c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167

Totals 32 1 5 1 2 4

SOX AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Podsednik lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .281

Iguchi 2b 4 0 0 0 0 2 .287

Rowand cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .289

Konerko 1b 4 1 1 2 0 2 .265

Pierzynski c 3 0 1 0 1 0 .274

Dye rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .268

TPerez dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 .217

Crede 3b 2 1 1 1 1 0 .250

Uribe ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 .242

Totals 30 3 5 3 3 6

Seattle 001 000 000 -- 1 5 1

SOX 000 210 00x -- 3 5 0

a-singled for Gonzalez in the 8th. b-flied out for Betancourt inthe 9th.

E--Beltre (10). LOB--Seattle 6, SOX 7. HR--Crede (16), off Harris;Konerko (27), off Harris. RBI--ISuzuki (43), Konerko 2 (73), Crede(48).

Runners left in scoring position--Seattle 3 (Ibanez, Sexson,Snelling); SOX 4 (Podsednik 2, Konerko, Crede).

Runners moved up--TPerez.

Seattle IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Harris L, 0-1 5.2 5 3 3 3 3 96 2.53

JMateo 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 15 3.00

Sherrill 1 0 0 0 0 1 8 0.00

SOX IP H R ER BB SO NP ERA

Garland W, 16-5 7.1 5 1 1 2 3 89 3.29

Marte H, 14 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 3 3.12

Politte H, 15 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.88

Hermansn S, 28 1 0 0 0 0 1 15 1.64

Inherited runners-scored--JMateo 3-0, Marte 2-0, Politte 2-0.

HBP--by Harris (Uribe).

Umpires--Home, C.B. Bucknor; First, Phil Cuzzi; Second, Ed Hickox;Third, Jerry Crawford.

T--2:29. A--35,706 (40,615).

How they scored

MARINERS THIRD Betancourt flied out. Snelling walked on fourpitches. Gonzalez infield single to short, Snelling to third. Suzukisingled to center, Snelling scored. One run. Mariners 1, White Sox 0.

White Sox fourth Rowand singled to left. Konerko homered to lefton the first pitch, Rowand scored. Two runs. White Sox 2, Mariners 1.

White Sox fifth. Crede homered to left on a 1-2 count. One run.White Sox 3, Mariners 1.

PENNANT FEVER:

39 MAGIC NUMBER: Combination of Sox victories and Indians lossesneeded to clinch the AL Central.

39 KEY STAT: The Sox' major-league-leading victory total as ofSunday, the day Carlton Fisk -- who wore No. 72 -- was honored with alife-size statue at U.S. Cellular Field.

British police arrest former Iranian envoy in connection with bombing in Argentina

00-00-0000
Dateline: LONDONA former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, wanted there in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in which 85 people were killed, was arrested Thursday in northern England.

Police in Durham, northeast England, arrested Hade Soleimanpour, 47, at his home there on an extradition warrant, police sources said.

Soleimanpour is to appear at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London on Friday, Metropolitan Police headquarters in London said.

They said the warrant issued Thursday at Bow Street alleges that "on or before" July 18, 1994, Soleimanpour conspired with others to murder persons at the Asociacion Mutua Israelita Argentina _ the Jewish Community Center AMIA.

The Iranian government has several times denied any responsibility in the AMIA attack.

Argentine federal judge Juan Jose Galeano, who is investigating the terrorist attack in which a car bomb killed 85 and wounded more than 200, had requested the arrest of Soleimanpour.

Soleimanpour was Iranian ambassador to Argentina at the time of the explosion.

He has been in the United Kingdom since February 2002 on a student visa and was studying at Durham University, police sources said.

In March, Galeano asked Interpol to arrest four Iranian diplomats, accusing them of responsibility for a deadly terrorist attack. On Aug. 13, he added the order of detention of eight more Iranian citizens. It was not immediately clear in what countries the other suspects live.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, has rejected allegations of Iranian involvement in the bombing.

The bombing was the worst terrorist attack in the history of Argentina.

Galeano said in a 400-page document to Interpol that he considered it beyond question that "radical elements of the Islamic Republic of Iran" were responsible for the bombing.

Galeano did not directly blame the Iranian government but claimed that Moshen Rabbani, former cultural attache in the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, was a "key element in the organized group" that staged the terrorist attack.

Argentina and Iran recalled their ambassadors after the 1994 attack, but diplomatic relations were not interrupted.

Jewish leaders have criticized the Argentine government for failing to bring anyone to justice for the attack, or for a previous bombing, in March 1992, which had destroyed the Israeli Embassy and killed 29 people.

New Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, speaking on last month's anniversary of the attack, called lack of progress in the investigation "a national disgrace" and said his government would do all it could to give new impetus to the investigation.

Soon after he took office May 25, Kirchner signed an executive decree opening secret intelligence documents to aid prosecutors working on the attacks. He also ordered Argentine intelligence agents to testify about what they know about the bombings.

(acw)
British police arrest former Iranian envoy in connection with bombing in Argentina00-00-0000
Dateline: LONDONA former Iranian ambassador to Argentina, wanted there in connection with the 1994 bombing of a Buenos Aires Jewish community center in which 85 people were killed, was arrested Thursday in northern England.

Police in Durham, northeast England, arrested Hade Soleimanpour, 47, at his home there on an extradition warrant, police sources said.

Soleimanpour is to appear at Bow Street Magistrates' Court in London on Friday, Metropolitan Police headquarters in London said.

They said the warrant issued Thursday at Bow Street alleges that "on or before" July 18, 1994, Soleimanpour conspired with others to murder persons at the Asociacion Mutua Israelita Argentina _ the Jewish Community Center AMIA.

The Iranian government has several times denied any responsibility in the AMIA attack.

Argentine federal judge Juan Jose Galeano, who is investigating the terrorist attack in which a car bomb killed 85 and wounded more than 200, had requested the arrest of Soleimanpour.

Soleimanpour was Iranian ambassador to Argentina at the time of the explosion.

He has been in the United Kingdom since February 2002 on a student visa and was studying at Durham University, police sources said.

In March, Galeano asked Interpol to arrest four Iranian diplomats, accusing them of responsibility for a deadly terrorist attack. On Aug. 13, he added the order of detention of eight more Iranian citizens. It was not immediately clear in what countries the other suspects live.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, has rejected allegations of Iranian involvement in the bombing.

The bombing was the worst terrorist attack in the history of Argentina.

Galeano said in a 400-page document to Interpol that he considered it beyond question that "radical elements of the Islamic Republic of Iran" were responsible for the bombing.

Galeano did not directly blame the Iranian government but claimed that Moshen Rabbani, former cultural attache in the Iranian Embassy in Buenos Aires, was a "key element in the organized group" that staged the terrorist attack.

Argentina and Iran recalled their ambassadors after the 1994 attack, but diplomatic relations were not interrupted.

Jewish leaders have criticized the Argentine government for failing to bring anyone to justice for the attack, or for a previous bombing, in March 1992, which had destroyed the Israeli Embassy and killed 29 people.

New Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, speaking on last month's anniversary of the attack, called lack of progress in the investigation "a national disgrace" and said his government would do all it could to give new impetus to the investigation.

Soon after he took office May 25, Kirchner signed an executive decree opening secret intelligence documents to aid prosecutors working on the attacks. He also ordered Argentine intelligence agents to testify about what they know about the bombings.

(acw)

New Mazda approach: emotions

Mazda is bringing a new expression to the lexicon of automobileadvertising. It's "kansei engineering" and it relates to the"touchy-feely" reasons that people choose cars.

Mazda Motors of America, based in Irvine, Calif., already has ahit on its hands this summer with the MX-5 Miata sports car, whichinterested buyers are having trouble getting at any price. But inpreparation for the rest of its 1990 model introductions, Mazda isturning to image advertising for the first time, pursuing a consumerwho cares about things other than how much cars cost.

The auto importer experienced a sales decline in 1987 and onlyslightly improved in 1988. George McCabe, the company's …

Getting more direct.

Byline: N. Madhavan

Summary: Direct selling companies are embracing new channels of marketing and sales for enhanced credibility and higher growth.

Direct selling means the marketing of consumer products/services directly to the consumers generally in their homes or homes of others, at their workplace and other places away from permanent retail locations, usually through explanation or demonstration of the products by a direct seller. Indian Direct Selling Association

This definition may well need a tweak if the recent measures of William S. Pinckney, Managing Director and CEO, Amway India and some of his colleagues in the Indian direct selling industry are any indication. Estimated at Rs 3,300 crore (2008-09) and employing about 1.6 million distributors, the Indian direct selling industry is abandoning the traditionally unique elements of direct selling not having a fixed retail location and publicity through word of mouth in favour of retail infrastructure and a steady increase in advertisements both in print and electronic media.

Amway, the largest direct seller in India with Rs 1,128 crore revenues (2008), is leading the change. It has …

AMERICA ONLINE TO LAUNCH EXPANDED MUSIC OFFERINGS.(MAIN)

Byline: Los Angeles Times

America Online Inc. is beefing up its music services, adding specialized radio stations and a promotional outlet for lesser-known artists.

The moves, which are expected to be announced today, are part of the online giant's efforts to create a complete environment for finding, listening to, experiencing and buying music and related products, said Kevin Conroy, head of AOL Music.

That environment eventually will include the ability to buy packages of songs for a flat monthly fee. But AOL's main supplier for those songs, Seattle-based MusicNet, hasn't yet lined up licenses from the two largest …

Upgrading and Repairing Laptops.

Upgrading and Repairing Laptops

BY SCOTT MUELLER

Publisher: United Book Distributors Price; $105.95 i Phone: (03) 9811 2566 URL: www.unitedbookdistributors.com.au ISBN: 0789728001

>From Scott Mueller--the author who so far has brought us 15 editions of Upgrading and Repairing PCs--inevitably comes a technical manual dedicated to the notebook computer. This book is much like an encyclopedia for notebook computers in that it also covers all that there is to know about the history of portable computers and the different types of notebooks that have been available since the 1980s.

Every single aspect of a notebook …

America's Cup Highlights Culture Clash

VALENCIA, Spain - When America's Cup winner Alinghi sailed away with the Auld Mug in 2003, it was a blow to all of New Zealand. Now the Kiwis want the trophy back.

Four years after the team from landlocked Switzerland humiliated New Zealand 5-0 at its home in Auckland, the two teams will stage a rematch for the oldest trophy in international sport. Emirates Team New Zealand earned the chance by completing an identical sweep of Italy's Luna Rossa in the Louis Vuitton Cup finals on Wednesday.

"You could call it a rematch or you could just say these are the two best teams left in the cup," Brad Butterworth, the New Zealander who skippers Alinghi, said Thursday.

It …

Bring exiles home to boost tourism

I Must congratulate Fred Bull on his letter regarding ancestraltourism (Evening Express, November 28)/

We have to get away from promoting Aberdeen and Scotland as alltartan, haggis, golf courses and whisky.

I have family in the USA and when introduced to theirfriends found they were …

BEST OF OUR BLOGS.(Capital Region)

Wolf's 1-11 was packed to the rafters with trivia teams. Classic teams like Lynch's Mob and Tres Hombres and Stern Fans. New trivia teams like See You Next Tuesday and Send It In Jerome and …

Canadianization revisited: a comment on Cormier's "The Canadianization Movement in Context".(Jeffrey Cormier )(Critical essay)

In "The Canadianization Movement in Context," Jeffrey Cormier (2005) analyzes and compares the structure and work of two different forces in the movement: a broadly public "movement community" that we started to form in 1968, and a more narrowly based, academic, disciplinary organization--the Canadian Sociology and Anthropology Association (CSAA). Although Cormier does not explicitly identify his "context," one presumes that it must be his history of the struggle as presented in The Canadianization Movement: Emergence, Survival, and Success (Cormier, 2003).

Readers may recall that Cormier argues in this book that the movement went through three phases. The first consisted of its launching at Carleton University in December of 1968, our "framing" of the terms of the debate, and the vigorous public discussion that followed over the next two or three years. The second phase he describes as beginning when the CSAA became active on the question, internally in 1972 and publicly in about 1973. Cormier's report of the CSAA's activity until about 1976 suggests to readers that the most important activity relating to Canadianization took place in that organization. Cormier's third phase began (with some overlap) in the late 1970s and culminated in 1981 with the adoption, by the federal Department of Manpower and Immigration, of new immigration rules for the employment of foreign scholars; this phase consisted primarily of a growing awareness within the CSAA of the need for Canadianization and the CSAA's elaboration of specific policies with respect to disciplinary teaching and research, employment practices, and immigration. For Cormier, this phase was the work of professional anthropologists and sociologists working within the formal constraints of their academic organization, and it represented the movement's essential "success."

In Part 1 below, we suggest that this analysis of the two extremely different elements comprising the movement and their three-phase developmental context is inadequate. Citing evidence from a small survey of course descriptions, we argue that Cormier has completely overlooked and thus excluded an important element in the movement which should be taken into consideration. In Part 2, we make some observations as outside observers about the work of the CSAA in relation to the Canadianization movement. Our remarks are for the most part skeptical, and our suggestion is that the role ascribed to the CSAA by Cormier is exaggerated. In Part 3, we discuss Cormier's analysis of the public movement and the role he has assigned to us, arguing that that there are serious deficiencies in his account. Our Conclusion suggests that, although Cormier's work may be praiseworthy as an initial attempt to understand a complex matter, his treatment of the movement is misleading as social and political history and problematic as a study of a social structure. We then spell out several questions in the hope that they will lead to further study.

Part 1: A False Dichotomy: The Case of a Missing Dimension

The main problem with Cormier's argument is that his account is based on a simple dichotomy that completely overlooks a third element that was at work during the seventies. This constituent added an effective component to the kind of reform being advocated both by the public "movement community" and the CSAA and thus formed an extremely important part of the movement's structure. It consisted of many hundreds, if not thousands, of individual university teachers who worked diligently and effectively in their respective departments to bring Canadian material into their courses. Their work brought about a major enduring curricular reform that was one of the movement's most important achievements, and may have been, to use Cormier's term again, its main "success."

Before describing the details of this work (which are suggested by Table A), we would ask our readers to recall that very few new appointments were made in Canadian humanities and social science departments for about ten years after 1971. This stabilization in staffing occurred because in the years immediately prior to 1971 an extraordinarily large number of appointments (mostly foreign) had been made in order to provide instructors for the post-World-War-II "baby boomers" who began attending university in the mid-1960s. With very few appointments actually being made, the issue of the citizenship of newly employed faculty, while continuing in public and university discussions, became, at least in the short term, a less urgent issue. What remained an outstanding practical question during the seventies was whether or not a Canadianization of the curriculum could or would ever occur in the presence of the many recently appointed scholars from abroad.

From the outset, our basic strategy had been twofold (although at the time we did not think of it in these terms). One plan was to present or "frame" the issue in a positive way and to advocate as clearly and strongly as we could what we believed to be effective remedies for overcoming the de-Canadianization that had occurred. Our second strategy, which Cormier fails to appreciate, was to make available to our academic colleagues all of the arguments for and against our position so that faculty members (and others) could do their own "framing" of the issues and make up their own minds about how the problem we were facing should or should not be remedied. Our advocacy strategy was consistent with much public discussion of the issue in various media, government reports, commissions of inquiry and Hansard; and this discussion served as a constant reminder to our academic community that the universities just might have a problem on their hands worthy of their attention.

Our second strategy--the academic one--was expressed partly through teach-ins and panel discussions where all points of view were well represented and given equal time. Its main expression, however, was through the book we edited in 1969, The Struggle for Canadian Universities--a "dossier" (as the title page states) of various materials, often contradictory, related to the issue. Long before the book was published, we had been sending out many of the items that later formed part of it in response to inquiring colleagues who wrote or telephoned--those were the days before e-mail, when the regular mailing of mimeographed material was an economical way to communicate--asking for all relevant documentation, both pro and con, relating to our staff association meeting at Carleton. As communicating information in this way became increasingly expensive and time-consuming, the need for the publication of our dossier became obvious. The book therefore included as much information as we could find about various points of view. Our editorial goal was to enable our academic colleagues, who are by training and trade highly skeptical of slogans and movements of any kind, to consider the problem with respect to their own situations and disciplines and draw their own conclusions. Our editing was thus not "unfettered" (Cormier, 2005:357) but rather constrained by the reasonable editorial principle that all points of view be fairly represented.

Some of the practical results of our twofold strategy are summarized in Table A--a survey of undergraduate full-year course equivalents with Canadian content (as specified in their calendar descriptions) in five departments at six universities at five-year intervals from 1970-71 to 1980-81. Our choice of institutions for inspection is not, it should be noted, a scientific sample. Our selection was determined by the availability of calendars from the 1970s, by their proximity to us, and by an effort on our part to include institutions of varied size, age, and regional distribution. Likewise, our selection of disciplines--two humanities and three-to-four social sciences--was also arbitrary, for we could have chosen to examine courses offered by more than ten other departments. …

TRUMP POWERCARD GAME TRADITIONALLY PLAYED BY SENIORS HOPES TO ATTRACT MORE YOUNGSTERS.(LIFE & LEISURE)

Byline: DOUG BLACKBURN Staff writer

Sara Kershaw may be the future of contract bridge. Or, possibly, Todd Wachsman represents hope for the card game the International Olympic Committee recently accepted on a trial basis.

If so, Kershaw, 11, and Wachsman, 14, have their work cut out for them.

They are competing this week in the District 3 Spring Regional Tournament at the Sheraton Hotel in Saratoga Springs. Younger players are the exception among the 800 or so bridge enthusiasts taking part in the five-day event. (It continues through Sunday.) With few exceptions, most of the players bid farewell to childhood more than a half-century ago.

Of the two youngsters, Kershaw, of Clifton Park, a fifth-grader at Loudonville Christian School, was more nervous. While she has played bridge at home for about two years, this is her first tournament.

``Everybody keeps coming up to me, telling me they're glad to see me here. It's really weird,'' …