The Tennessean
5:45 p.m. Update:
Tornadoes sweeping across the region have killed at least seven people, as well as tearing off roofs, knocking down power lines, flipping cars and causing an unknown number of injuries, authorities said.
Fire Chief Joe Womack told the Associated Press that three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in the Woodhaven subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of Nashville.
The three bodies were loaded into an ambulance in the neighborhood where hundreds of homes were heavily damaged and many destroyed. State officials previously reported two deaths in the same county, but it was unknown whether those two were included in the three deaths reported by local officials.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage
Tornadoes hit Middle Tennessee; seven people dead
"More trailing behind the initial one," official says
By KATE HOWARD
Staff Writer
5:45 p.m. Update:
Tornadoes sweeping across the region have killed at least seven people, as well as tearing off roofs, knocking down power lines, flipping cars and causing an unknown number of injuries, authorities said.
Fire Chief Joe Womack told the Associated Press that three bodies were pulled from the wreckage of homes in the Woodhaven subdivision of Gallatin, about 24 miles northeast of Nashville.
The three bodies were loaded into an ambulance in the neighborhood where hundreds of homes were heavily damaged and many destroyed. State officials previously reported two deaths in the same county, but it was unknown whether those two were included in the three deaths reported by local officials.
All seven deaths were reported in Gallatin, according to Eddie Boatwright, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.
And the storms keep coming.
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS01/60407021
ONLY three days ago, deadly storms struck the same state. Does lightning strike twice? Definitely in a Global Warming environment. As a matter of fact, count on it. The same pattern was seen in November in Evansville.
Storms kill 24, injure dozens
An unidentified woman from the area of Griiffin Chapel Road in Gibson Co. is brought to the Bradford "command center", the Bradford Elementary School Gym, Sunday evening around 10:30pm Sunday night.
Katie Morgan/The Jackson Sun
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DN&Dato=20060403&Kategori=NEWS&Lopenr=604030801&Ref=PH
Powerful legislators choosing not to run
Almost 20 seats will become open
By TRENT SEIBERT
Staff Writer
A seismic shift of policy and culture on Tennessee's Capitol Hill may be in the works, as nearly 20 legislators are giving up their seats in the state legislature.
As the deadline passed yesterday for lawmakers to qualify to run for re-election in the August primaries, a picture emerged of a legislature that will be evolving over the next several months — into just what, voters will have to decide later this year.
Key figures who have shaped Tennessee law and the workings of the legislature are stepping down from their posts, including the ranking Democrat in the House and both of her predecessors in that job, as well as the man who is tied for the record of longest consecutively serving legislator in state history, state Sen. Curtis Person, 71.
Their departures are coming when the winds are shifting on the Hill: 11 months ago, four of their colleagues were arrested and charged in the Tennessee Waltz bribery scandal. Ethics legislation passed a couple of months ago in the Waltz's wake has made life different for lawmakers, too.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS0201/604070399
Many candidates join races for open House seats
Associated Press
The lineup of candidates to replace U.S. House members Harold Ford Jr., a Democrat from Memphis, and Bill Jenkins, a Republican from upper East Tennessee, topped 30 when qualifying ended yesterday.
The 1st and 9th Districts are the state's only congressional seats without an incumbent in the race.
Candidates had until noon yesterday to file petitions, and state elections officials said it would be today before they have an official list of those qualifying.
According to local election officials, 14 candidates, including 10 Republicans and four Democrats, filed to run for Jenkins' 1st District U.S. House seat.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS0206/604070374/1001
Saving pre-K dominates pleas for Metro schools
Board, facing difficult cuts, hears ideas from public
By CLAUDETTE RILEY
Staff Writer
Kindergartner Akolbia Biggers, held up to a podium microphone last night by a teacher, tried to persuade the Metro school board to keep a Montessori pre-kindergarten program for 3-year-olds.
"I started school here when I was 3 years old … I learned to count in Spanish and French. I learned to prepare my own snacks. I learned to read and write," said Akolbia, 5, who still attends Stanford Montessori. "If I did not go to this school, I would be upset."
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/NEWS04/604070398
NASA perplexed by worker accidents
By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer
AP Photo/SCOTT AUDETTE
More Science Video
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- Over the past three months, workers at the Kennedy Space Center have tripped, dropped things, banged into sensitive equipment and started fires in a baffling string of accidents that have left one person dead.
NASA is investigating three of the accidents - the death of a worker who fell off a roof, the bumping of space shuttle Discovery's robotic arm by a platform, and damage last week to an instrument that supplies power to the orbiters.
But since the beginning of the year, there have been 20 other incidents in which a worker was injured or equipment was damaged in excess of $25,000. There were 14 incidents during the same period last year.
"There's enough going on that we're very, very concerned," said Bill Parsons, deputy director of the Kennedy Space Center.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NASA_MISHAPS?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Immigration overhaul obstacle may be fatal
By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent
AP Photo/DENNIS COOK
AP VIDEO
Senate Shelves Immigration Bill
Other U.S. Video
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Landmark legislation offering eventual citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants suffered a potentially fatal blow Friday in the Senate, the latest in a series of election-year setbacks for President Bush and the Republicans who control Congress.
"Politics got ahead of policy on this," lamented Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass. an evenhanded assessment that belied the partisan recriminations from all sides.
Hailed as a bipartisan breakthrough less than 24 hours earlier, the bill fell victim to internal disputes in both parties as well as to bewildering political maneuvering. On the key vote, only 38 senators, all Democrats, lined up in support. That was 22 short of the 60 needed, and left the legislation in limbo as lawmakers left the Capitol for a two-week break.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IMMIGRATION?SITE=TNNAT&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Nissan shutdown extended
Assembly lines to be idle for extra day at 2 plants
By BUSH BERNARD
Staff Writer
Slow cars sales have prompted Nissan North America to shut down its Smyrna and Canton, Miss., assembly plants for an extra day during the upcoming Easter holiday.
The plants were already scheduled to be closed on April 14 for Good Friday and on April 15, but they'll also be idled Easter Sunday night on April 16 and all day April 17, officials said. Employees were to be told of the plan yesterday.
"We have too many '06 models out," Nissan spokeswoman Vicki Smith said.
Nissan's U.S. sales were down 2.6% last month, its fifth sales decline in the past six months.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/BUSINESS01/604070389/1003
Love takes time that singles say they don't have
By LAURA SESSIONS STEPP
The Washington Post
Think romance is alive and well among young singles? That 20-somethings are checking each other out in the office and cruising the bars at night, looking for someone to love? Think again.
The major love story these days is this: Maybe later.
It's not that they take relationships lightly, or that they don't want to become attached — eventually. It's just, who has the time? They're working hard at college or in jobs that barely cover the rent and feel obligated to find fulfilling, well-paid careers. It will be easier to make their marks, they think, unfettered by relationships that, let's face it, can be so distracting.
This came as something of a surprise to researchers Lee Rainie and Mary Madden at the Pew Research Center when, in going over data in a larger dating survey, they found that among 18- to 29-year-olds, only slightly more than a third said they were in committed relationships. Among the remaining, more were not looking than looking.
The numbers do not astonish Pouya Dianat, 20, or Montana Wojczuk, 26, however.
http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060407/FEATURES01/604070343/1004
Sydney Morning Herald
Obese children: TV's role weighed up
By Mark Metherell
April 8, 2006
STATE health ministers have defied their federal counterpart, Tony Abbott, and are pressing for action on food advertising to combat the rise in child obesity.
At the health ministers' meeting yesterday, Mr Abbott rejected calls for action, arguing that more research was needed to make the link between TV advertising and obesity.
But state ministers, including NSW's John Hatzistergos, decided to take action without Federal Government support and develop "options for action" to be considered at the next health ministers' meeting in July.
In an unusual move, the ministers have agreed to ask representatives of the advertising and food industries to speak at that meeting. The issue has been examined by the ministers' obesity taskforce for three years, but failed to rate a mention in a "national action agenda" released yesterday.
Mr Hatzistergos said the food industry would not be paying for advertisements in children's television time slots if it did not think it was getting results.
It is believed the states do not expect action would necessarily involve bans on television advertising, but want to see changes to the code of conduct concerning advertising to children.
Mr Abbott said after the meeting of Australasian ministers in Wellington that "we agreed to disagree on TV advertising because there is not enough evidence, and more research is needed to determine its effectiveness". But the executive officer of the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, Dr Tim Gill, said recent studies in Britain and the US found that advertising influenced eating behaviour, particularly of younger children.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/obese-children-tvs-role-weighed-up/2006/04/07/1143916722777.html
Environment pays hefty price for waste of water
AUSTRALIA has a major problem with water. Market economics offer the obvious solution. But in the hands of our politicians, the solution's becoming hugely expensive.
Which explains why it's taking so long and why we'll probably never spend enough to halt and repair the damage we're doing to our environment.
The economics of water is outlined by three Treasury officers - Rowan Roberts, Nicole Mitchell and Justin Douglas - in an article in the latest issue of Treasury's Economic Roundup. But I'll be filling in the political gaps they leave.
Water is not only essential to human life, it's an important input to almost every industry. But even before you allow for the possible effects of climate change, Australia suffers from extremely variable weather as well as the lowest average rainfall of any inhabited continent.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/environment-pays-hefty-price-for-waste-of-water/2006/04/07/1143916718751.html
Scientists confirm: no pain, no gain
By Deborah Smith Science Editor
April 8, 2006
A WORLD without punishment sounds like paradise and, given a choice, most people opt for this live and let live approach. But as freeloading inevitably becomes rife, they quickly flee to join a group where selfish members are made to pay, new research shows.
The study fills a gap in the puzzle of why humans are the only animals to have evolved societies where large numbers of strangers co-operate for the common good, even at a cost to themselves.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/scientists-confirm-no-pain-no-gain/2006/04/07/1143916722780.html
Decades later, a familiar syndrome of complicity
THIRTY years ago I met a Papuan man called Imser in a place called Valley X, high in the mountainous spine of the Indonesian half of New Guinea.
First contact with the outside world had come only a few years earlier, when the French documentary filmmaker Pierre Dominique Gaisseau parachuted into an open patch of grassland, escorted by some Indonesian special forces troops under a young captain named Faisal Tanjung. Gaisseau had traversed Western New Guinea by land and river in 1958, when it was still held by the Dutch.
After pressure from the US, the Dutch had reluctantly transferred the territory to Indonesian control in 1963, after a brief United Nations interregnum, and a manipulated "act of free choice" in 1969 had resulted in a decision to stay with Indonesia.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/familiar-syndrome-of-complicity/2006/04/07/1143916718087.html
Critics line up to accuse Bush of hypocrisy
President Bush delivers a speech on the global war on terror at Central Piedmont Community College in Charlotte, N.C.
Photo: Gerald Herbert
By Michael Gawenda, Herald Correspondent in Washington
April 8, 2006
SENIOR Democrats have described as "breathtaking" testimony that President George Bush personally authorised the leaking of classified pre-Iraq war intelligence to a reporter.
Democrats lined up to accuse Mr Bush of hypocrisy - and worse - after the revelation that the Vice-President, Dick Cheney's former chief-of-staff, Lewis Libby, told a grand jury that he was authorised by the President, through Mr Cheney, in July 2003 to disclose key portions of a sensitive assessment in a bid to discredit former ambassador Joseph Wilson, a persistent critic of Mr Bush and the Iraq war.
"If the disclosure is true, it's breathtaking," said Jane Harman, the senior Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "The President is revealed as the leaker-in-chief."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/critics-line-up-to-accuse-bush-of-hypocrisy/2006/04/07/1143916718075.html
Terrorism films to open old wounds
UNIVERSAL Studios is to go ahead with plans to show an adrenaline-pumping trailer for United 93, its forthcoming thriller about the passenger revolt on one of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001, despite qualms from some moviegoers and families of the victims.
Adam Fogelson, the company's president of marketing, said the trailer, which was pulled from a Manhattan cinema last weekend after complaints from patrons, would be shown only before R-rated movies or "grown-up" PG-13 ones. He said the trailer was created to give a candid sense of the film itself, which opens in the US at the end of the month and in Australia in August.
"The film is not sanitised or softened, it's an honest and real look [at the events on United Airlines flight 93]," Fogelson said.
"If I sanitised the trailer beyond what's there, am I suggesting that the experience will be less real than what the movie itself is? We as a company feel comfortable that it is a responsible and fair way to show what's coming."
...Tom Roger, whose 24-year-old daughter, Jean, was a flight attendant on American Airlines flight 11, which flew into the north tower, said he wished the studio had somehow notified other families of the victims about the trailer. "It's not the first time someone is trying to exploit the history of this event," he said. "I don't have a problem with it. But there's a warning that ought to be put in advance of the trailer. I don't know how these things can be treated in a more sensitive manner. But that's the issue."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/film/terrorism-films-to-open-old-wounds/2006/04/05/1143916591606.html
Hamas hints at moderation in bid for funding
By Ed O'Loughlin Herald Correspondent in Gaza
April 8, 2006
IN GAZA these days it is considered bad form to acknowledge the bombardment. The explosions come at odd hours of the day or night - the jarring thud of aerial bombs dropped from US-made jets, the insistent tap-tap of artillery shells stalking the outlying farmlands.
Unless the explosion is very large or very close, or followed by the sound of ambulances, no one seems to notice. Occasionally there comes a different sound, the wuthering noise of an outgoing Palestinian rocket, and then the people shake their heads, or smile.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/hamas-hints-at-moderation-in-bid-for-funding/2006/04/07/1143916718099.html
Mean girls - the rise of the violent femmes
Sugar and spice no longer. Girls are becoming increasingly violent, writes Paola Totaro.
IT'S been dubbed the phenomenon of the violent femmes, an ugly social trend identified in the US and Britain. Now, it is being documented in Australia - and the numbers suggest this is not a mere statistical blip.
According to the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics, violence among young girls has grown at almost four times the rate of its rise among young boys - and has doubled over the past 10 years.
Upward trends have also been noted in charges for offensive language, offensive behaviour and exceeding the prescribed limit of alcohol, suggesting that when it comes to risk-taking and crimes traditionally dominated by teenage boys, girl power has developed a darker side.
In 1995 for example, the rate per 100,000 head of population of 10- to 14-year-old girls involved in assault was 175. By 2005, this had nearly tripled, to 487.
Among 15- to 17-year-old girls, the rate has almost doubled from 567 to 1046. Among 18- to 24-year-olds, the rise is a little lower, from 351 to 561.
Now, the very youngest group of girls represents nearly 13 per cent of all females who have been involved in an assault - a jump from 8.9 per cent 10 years ago.
According to Professor James Garbarino, an American psychologist and expert in juvenile violence, "girl power" has indeed been a shaping force, one which has motivated them, encouraged their entry into contact sports and to enjoy and be proud of their physicality. Slowly but surely, it has overtaken and replaced the old notion that little girls are just "sugar and spice and all things nice".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/mean-girls/2006/04/07/1143916722751.html
Bunny battle: farmers take carrot and stick approach
A LOT of bunnies down Boorowa way will not live to see Easter this year.
Eleven years after the deadly calicivirus escaped from a remote research facility in South Australia, the disease has had a change of name, and the go-ahead has finally been given to coat it on a rabbit's favourite food: carrots.
With the new delivery system approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, farmers are hopeful that rabbit hemorrhagic disease will hit hard along the NSW tablelands. The approval process took more than four years because of strong opposition and extensive testing.
A week or so ago rangers from the Young Rural Lands Protection Board, armed with vials of the virus, started visiting farms around Boorowa to lace carrots. The baits must be put out within 24 hours to be effective, and death can come within 48 hours.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/bunny-battle-farmers-take-carrot-and-stick-approach/2006/04/07/1143916722810.html
Health system close to bottom of the class
AUSTRALIA'S health system performs below average compared with five other Western nations, an international survey of patient attitudes has found.
Despite routine claims by Australian political leaders that this country is the best place in the world to fall ill, the survey by the influential American health research body, the Commonwealth Fund, ranked Australia fourth out of six.
Disturbingly, the survey also ranked Australia's patient safety fourth, and on other measures including efficiency and effectiveness the system ranked indifferently.
The New Zealand and British health systems, often looked down on by Australian health leaders, rated ahead of Australia's even though both spend significantly less per head of population on health than Australia does.
The survey ranked patients' views and experiences of their country's health schemes, such as access to care, patient choice, problems with medicines and treatment and the extent to which low-income patients were able to access care compared with those on higher incomes.
The surveys of thousands of patients were undertaken in 2004 and 2005. German patients' ratings of their system scored highest in three of six categories.
The results showed that national expenditure was no indicator of performance in patients' views. The United States, which spends by far the most per head on health - $US5635 ($7826) - was the wooden spooner on the patient scores, managing to win only one category, "effectiveness" - basically quality of care.
Australia spends much less - about $4030 - but failed to top any of the six categories, which were largely dominated by Germany. It spends only slightly more than Australia on its health system.
Australia's highest rating - second - was on equity, which gauged the extent to which patients' income affected their ability to get care. Britain ranked first on this measure, with patients saying they experienced no or negligible differences.
The US, with large numbers of people uninsured, came last, and even among Americans on above-average incomes the US lagged considerably.
The findings will provide fresh ammunition for critics of the Federal Government's backing for private health insurance and the failure of the $3 billion health insurance rebate to reduce pressures on public hospitals.
But on the issue of "patient-centredness", Australia was described as performing relatively well on the responsiveness to patient preference.
Britain rated slightly ahead of Australia in the "efficiency" stakes, a finding that will surprise the many critics in this country of the lumbering British National Health Scheme. The authors of the Commonwealth Fund survey acknowledge that patients' assessments might be affected by their experiences and expectations "which could differ by country and culture".
They say internationally developed indicators to measure clinical effectiveness found that none of five English-speaking countries was systematically the best or worst on clinical effectiveness measures, "confirming the mixed story reported by patients".
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/health-system-close-to-bottom-of-the-class/2006/04/07/1143916722813.html
Offbeat shows turn web into world wide TV network
April 7, 2006 - 5:03PM
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The widely hyped merging of the PC and TV is finally taking shape in a way that only a few people imagined in the late 1990s internet boom.
From independent producers like Mondo Media to big media companies like MTV, and even kids who post videos on community sites like YouTube.com, the World Wide Web is becoming a sort of worldwide TV network for audiences seeking offbeat entertainment not shown on mainstream television.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/offbeat-shows-turn-web-into-tv-network/2006/04/07/1143916709822.html
New breed of online games have sex appeal
April 7, 2006 - 7:00AM
Page 1 of 3 Single page
Online games have so far mainly revolved around the killing of fantasy monsters. The occasional fight with a Stormtrooper provides some variety.
Companies are now developing a handful of games - though calling them that is a stretch - designed to give players a very different option: making love, not war.
In "Naughty America: The Game," set to launch early this summer, players will assume the forms of alluring but cartoonish people who meet, flirt and have sex with other player characters.
Characters will have their own apartment, but the world will have also have "public sex zones" and themed rooms, said Tina Courtney, the game's producer.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/breaking/new-breed-of-online-games-have-sex-appeal/2006/04/07/1143916680947.html
The princess and the little scallywag
Her Serenity … the official portrait of Princess Mary painted by Ralph Heimans; inset, one of the early drawings he gave to his former babysitter Marjorie Green.
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By Sunanda Creagh
April 8, 2006
WITH three works in the National Portrait Gallery, Ralph Heimans is one of Australia's premier portrait artists. So it was no great surprise when he was selected to paint the first official royal portrait of Crown Princess Mary of Denmark.
But in a little unit in Cammeray, Marjorie Green, 88, proudly displays some rare early Heimans works - childhood drawings by the artist as a bub.
"I have known him all his life and babysat him since he was born," Miss Green said yesterday. "The royal couple love him, and he certainly is brilliant. I have lots of drawings and paintings that he did when he was a little boy.
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/04/07/1143916723245.html?from=top5
Washington Post
In Argentina, They've Got a Beef
Many Incredulous at Call to Eat Less Meat in Bid to Curb Inflation
By Monte Reel
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, March 20, 2006; Page A08
BUENOS AIRES -- Guillermo Ugartemendia has nothing against making sacrifices for his country, but like millions of Argentines, he drew the line when the president asked everyone to stop eating so much beef.
"Unthinkable," said Ugartemendia, 35, after polishing off a rack of ribs at a steakhouse Thursday night. "It's not a viable option."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/19/AR2006031900996.html?sub=AR
Why a Hairstyle Made Headlines
By Robin Givhan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page C01
When Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) summoned the media to Howard University last week to tell her side of the story in an altercation with a Capitol Police officer, she assumed the traditional news conference position behind a podium and a bank of microphones.
She stood there wearing a coral-colored jacket and dangling earrings and raising the serious issue of racial injustice. But it was impossible not to stare at her hair. As your plainspoken mother might say, it appeared to be standing all over her head.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040602341.html
Immigration Bill Stalls in Senate
Republicans Insist on Amending Measure
By William Branigin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; 12:27 PM
A Senate compromise on a major overhaul of the nation's immigration laws hit a roadblock today, as majority Republicans insisted on being allowed to amend the measure and balked over cutting off debate on it.
Most Senate Democrats had resisted efforts to amend the compromise bill, fearing that GOP opponents of provisions to legalize the status of millions of illegal immigrants would push through fundamental changes.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700182.html
Judge Rules in Favor of 'Da Vinci Code' Author
By Fred Barbash
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; 11:30 AM
A British judge today rejected a closely watched copyright infringement claim against the author and publisher of "The Da Vinci Code," who were accused of appropriating the central theme of the blockbuster novel from the central theme of a work of non-fiction.
High Court Justice Peter Smith dismissed the claim brought by the authors of "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" as virtually devoid of merit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700601.html
Passover Cooking
Gil Marks
Jewish cooking expert
Friday, April 7, 2006; 12:00 PM
The Jewish holiday of Passover begins Wednesday, April 12, at sundown. This eight-day holiday commemorates the exodus of Israelite slaves from Egypt during the reign of the Pharoah. The first two nights are celebrated with seder feasts, which include many culinary symbols and traditions connected to the story of the Hebrew flight from slavery.
Jewish cooking expert Gil Marks will field your questions and comments about Passover and its many food traditions.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/04/DI2006040400702.html?nav=nsc
Blasts at Baghdad Shiite Mosque Kill Scores
By Omar Fekeiki and Ellen Knickmeyer
Washington Post Foreign Service
Friday, April 7, 2006; 11:30 AM
BAGHDAD, April 7 -- Explosions tore through at least one Shiite Muslim mosque in Baghdad Friday as hundreds of worshipers were at prayer. Police reports of the death toll in the first hours after the blast ranged from 40 to more than 60.
A Post reporter was near the scene as three explosions ripped through central Baghdad's Baratha mosque, which is closely associated with the biggest Shiite Muslim religious party leading Iraq's government.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/07/AR2006040700548.html
A Post-College Path to Somewhere
By Laura Sessions Stepp
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page H01
Timothy Ziese, a 22-year-old college senior poised to join the adult ranks, thinks frequently these days about a 6-year-old named Calvin.
Calvin and Hobbes was a comic strip that assumed cult status when he and his friends were in elementary and middle school. Ziese recalls the last strip, on Dec. 31, 1995: the precocious Calvin, standing alongside his sardonic stuffed tiger, Hobbes, near the top of a snow-covered hill, a toboggan nearby.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600039.html
Newly Translated Gospel Offers More Positive Portrayal of Judas
By Guy Gugliotta and Alan Cooperman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, April 7, 2006; Page A01
The National Geographic Society released yesterday the first modern translation of the ancient Gospel of Judas, which depicts the most reviled villain in Christian history as a devoted follower who was simply doing Jesus's bidding when he betrayed him.
The text's existence has been known since it was denounced as heresy by the bishop of Lyon in A.D. 180, but its contents had remained an almost total mystery. Unlike the four gospels of the New Testament, it describes conversations between Jesus and Judas Iscariot during the week before Passover in which Jesus tells Judas "secrets no other person has ever seen."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/06/AR2006040600921.html
Ancient 'Gospel of Judas' Translation Sheds New Light on Disciple
Discussion About the National Geographic Project
Marvin Meyer
Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies and Director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, Orange, Calif.
Friday, April 7, 2006; 2:30 PM
The National Geographic Society is displaying the first modern translation of the ancient "Gospel of Judas," which says that the most reviled villain in Christian history was simply doing his master's bidding when he betrayed Jesus.
Marvin Meyer, who is on the nine-person Codex Advisory Panel assembled by the National Geographic Society, will be online Friday, April 7, at 2:30 p.m. ET to field questions and comments about the first modern translation of the ancient "Gospel of Judas" released Thursday by the organization.
Meyer is Griset Professor of Bible and Christian Studies and director of the Albert Schweitzer Institute at Chapman University, Orange, California. He is one of the foremost scholars on Gnosticism, the Nag 'Hammadi library, and texts about Jesus outside the New Testament. He is one of the translators of the codex.
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/04/06/DI2006040601589.html?nav=nsc
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