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[article] Commentary: Candidates should seek votes of Muslim-Americans

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 16:28:34 GMT

By Nafees A. Syed
Special to CNN

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/23/syed.muslim/index.html

Editor's note: Nafees A. Syed, a junior at Harvard University majoring in government, is an editorial editor at The Harvard Crimson as well as a senior editor and columnist for the Harvard-MIT journal on Islam and society, Ascent. She is chairwoman of the Harvard Institute of Politics Policy Group on Racial Profiling. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts (CNN) -- During this election, we have seen the spectacle of two presidential candidates fighting over one voter while snubbing an entire segment of the American population worthy of their attention.

We in the Muslim-American community look wistfully at people like Joe the Plumber, wishing that we too could be courted for our vote by the presidential candidates.

At the same time, we look gratefully at figures like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who reassure us that there is hope for greater acceptance of Muslim-Americans.

Over time, we grew to expect standoffish treatment from the Republican Party. Almost a decade ago, many Muslims, my parents included, supported President Bush for his humble foreign policy stances, strong family values and reaching out to the Muslim-American community.

Things have obviously changed since September 11, 2001, and we have grown used to anti-Muslim rhetoric from Republican candidates. We have run like refugees to the Democratic Party, only to find reluctant tolerance and hope that we will go somewhere else.

American civil rights activist and intellectual W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, "[The American Negro] simply wishes it possible to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows, without having the doors of Opportunity closed roughly on his face."

Over a century later, I and many other Muslim-Americans feel the same, hoping that we can be accepted in America as both Muslims and Americans.

As a college student voting in my first presidential election, I have been inspired by Barack Obama's call for change. My campus is full of Obama posters, and several of my classmates have taken time off to work for his campaign.

There is no doubt Obama has the Harvard vote, but my vote will not be cast as enthusiastically as others.

This campaign means to me what it means for my classmates. In the next few years, the economy and American foreign policy will affect my generation unlike any other, and those concerns are the primary influences on my vote.

However, as a Muslim-American, I see some issues as more personal. I don't blame Obama for clarifying that he isn't a Muslim; if someone misidentified my religion, I would likewise point out the facts, especially if it was part of a larger smear campaign. However, as the first Muslim Congressman Keith Ellison stated, "A lot of us are waiting for him to say that there's nothing wrong with being a Muslim, by the way."

Indeed, Obama's responses to accusations that he is Muslim should be more than just denial; they should be a condemnation of the prejudices that lace such accusations.

When I discuss this issue with fellow Muslim-Americans, especially ones who have dedicated significant time to his campaign, I immediately hear that he's just doing what he needs to do to win.

I respond skeptically to these arguments. Is it really politically necessary for Obama to avoid visiting mosques -- something that President Bush has dared to do -- while rallying support from churches and synagogues? Doesn't his careful distance from the Muslim-American community contradict his message of unity?

Still, others, my parents included, advise that it is best that we as Muslim-Americans avoid marring his campaign with our visible support at a time when any connection with Muslims would jeopardize his chances of winning. They reason that we have to politically isolate ourselves for the better candidate to win, a sacrifice we should make for our country.

I am unwilling to feign political apathy. All I want is for one of the candidates to assure me and the American public that "Muslim" and "American" are not mutually exclusive terms.

Colin Powell's recent interview with Tom Brokaw has left me with some hope. He highlights the flaw in the question of Obama's religion with the answer, "he is not a Muslim; he's a Christian. ... But the really right answer is, what if he is? Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer's no, that's not America."

To prove his point, Gen. Powell recounted the story of Purple Heart- and Bronze Star-winning Kareem Rashad Sultan Khan, an American soldier in Iraq who sacrificed his life for his country. He represents a Muslim-American community that is dedicated to its country and worthy of the presidential candidates' attention and respect.

It is a tribute to Gen. Powell's own dedication to his country that he would take note of the treatment of Muslim-Americans during the elections.

Thanks, Gen. Powell. You said the words that Muslim-Americans around the country were waiting to hear.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nafees Syed.

[thoughts] The Bad to Prepare for the Good

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 12:01:53 GMT

yup. that's not a typo.

early in our walk, we often hear that God uses the "good times" of our lives to prepare us when we hit the "valleys" and "lows" in our walk with him. to remind us of his goodness and faithfulness that will carry us through the dark times.

but as i look back, i have to say that He also uses the "bad" to prepare us for our "good times" in life.

what do i mean? when we hit rock bottom, we have no choice but to turn to God for help. it's easy to "surrender" our lives when its our only viable option.

but what about when we hit the "highs", when everything goes our way and God blesses us beyond we can ever imagine. how much more difficult are words like "dependence", "surrender" and "desperate for God" to live out?

when we're "king of the world", how relevant is the "King of kings"? how much more do we need to reminded of his goodness and faithfulness during the abundant harvest? can He still carry us through the GOOD and allow our walks to be unscathed from any sense of independence from Him?

"thanks for getting me here, Lord. i think i can take it from here. I'll see You again when the storms hit. that's really the only time i need You."

[article] Healing After Tragedy: Chapman Copes With Loss of Daughter

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 14:24:38 GMT

Healing After Tragedy: Chapman Copes With Loss of Daughter

Steven Curtis Chapman: "While We Are Grieving This Process, There Is a Hope"

By JANICE JOHNSTON and EMILY YACUS

Aug. 6, 2008 —

Grammy-winning Christian music star Steven Curtis Chapman and his family suffered a profound loss on May 21 when his 5-year-old daughter Maria Sue was accidentally hit by his 17-year-old son, who was backing up his SUV in their driveway. Maria later died at a Nashville hospital.

The Chapman family gave an exclusive interview to "Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts in their Tennessee home, discussing the accident, their faith and family strength in the wake of their tragedy.

For 5-year-old Maria Sue Chapman, singing was a family gift that came easily. After all, her father was a multiple Grammy and Gospel Music Association award-winning megastar.

The 45-year old Kentuckian and his wife, Mary Beth, were already the parents of three biological children, yet they were encouraged and inspired by their daughter Emily to visit and adopt three little girls from China -- Shaohannah, Stevey Joy and their youngest, Maria Sue.

The experience of adopting the girls would lead the Chapmans to found Shaohannah's Hope, a nonprofit that seeks to ease the expense of adoption. As of July 2008, the group has provided grants to over 1,700 families wishing to adopt orphans in the United States and worldwide.

Chapman described the moment he knew they were destined to return to China to adopt Maria, an orphaned girl he met while on tour there. He said an e-mail containing photos from his previous trip changed their lives and lead them back to Maria.

"As it [the e-mail] opened, it was this picture of me kissing Maria goodbye in that parking lot in China about two weeks earlier," said Chapman. "And it was instant. I knew that that was a picture of a daddy kissing his little girl. It wasn't just a guy with a little child that needed a home, it was a daddy and a little girl. It was just so clear when I saw it."

After Maria's adoption, the Chapman family was complete, and Maria grew into her role as the baby girl of this loving family.

"We knew from the get-go that she was a firecracker," said her adopted mother, Mary Beth.

That same animated spirit would lead her to run toward her older brother as he neared home.

Mary Beth described what happened: "The girls had been playing on the playground and -- complete accident. She was, actually excited that he was coming home. And he is so great with the girls. They just love him. And she was running to see him and, you know, ran, you know, into the back of the car."

Chapman, who immediately got into his car to go to the hospital, had the presence of mind to roll down his window and speak to his inconsolable son Will before leaving.

"I really don't remember this," he said about the moments directly following the accident. "It was, actually, Dave -- Uncle Dave that told me. He said, 'You rolled the window down and just, very loudly yelled really... with as much strength as you could muster and just said, 'Will Franklin, your father loves you.'"

Chapman continued to describe the moment immediately after the tragedy: "I just really had a deep concern in my heart that I wouldn't lose two children as a result of this because I knew what Will was struggling with."

He described the struggle to grieve the death of a child, while at the same time supporting the ones who lived on.

"We have talked a lot. And you will hear all of us talk about the process of grieving with hope. That's what has kept us breathing, kept us alive is that while we are grieving this process, there is a hope that we have that we're anchored to in the midst of just what sometimes seems unbearable," said Chapman.

Sitting by her husband's side, Mary Beth added emotionally, "I've said, you know, somewhat coldly, 'I don't care whose lives are touched by this story and whose lives are changed or what good comes of it.' As the heart of a mom, I want Maria back."

Crying, she continued, "And that's -- you know, that's what I want people to know is I want Maria back. But because I know that she is completely whole because of my faith, I know that she's completely whole and completely OK and I'm going to see her again. As a mom, I have to shift that grief to go."

For Chapman and his wife, grieving for Maria and maintaining the strength to comfort their other five children has been extremely difficult.

Mary Beth described her other children and the lives they lead: "I have Emily who's getting married and her fiancé, Tanner, and Caleb and his girlfriend, Julia, and Will Franklin. You know, he's my baby boy. And then Shaoey and Stevey, and my grief gets shifted to making sure there as whole and as healthy as they can be.

She added, however, "But it's the heart of a mom, I'd like to have Maria back."

For the three oldest Chapman children, Emily, Caleb and Will, healing comes through couseling, faith and the unwavering love of family.

"Obviously it's been really hard, you know, just the past couple months," said Will about his sister's death.

Will described his siblings' show of support and love: "I started running after the accident, you know, and started just running away from the house. And I remember Caleb was the first one to run and kind of just jump on me and hold me. And then Shaoey was right there by him."

"To me, you know, that meant a ton... I didn't really want to be at the house, I just wanted to be away. And I was just freaking out," Will continued.

In addition to his supportive family, Will also turned to faith to help him through.

"I've gotten str-- a stronger faith through all this, you know, and more faith through all this. But then there's those days, you know, that just hit you and you're just, like, 'Oh, man, this is just awful.' But-- you just gotta continue to choose to live. And that's the faith that, that continues to keep me going, you know."

Will's siblings described the strength of the Chapman family's support system. "When you see someone hurting and you see someone burdened, you want to take that burden from 'em. And because you-- I-- you'd rather endure that pain than see your brother, in this case my for real brother endure that pain," said Caleb.

"Grief is this windy road," said his sister Emily. "And sometimes you turn the corner and you've got a straightaway and it's beautiful. And then you can turn a corner at the end of that straightaway and it's thunderstorms and mountains and it can be hard, even within the same day."

Chapman said that the accident made the family question their faith in God.

"My son said the other day that, you know, 'Yeah, we are family.'... But we're a family with a lot of questions," Steven Curtis Chapman said. "But that's what faith is. It's living with the questions. That doesn't mean you have the answers. That's exactly what faith is."

The Chapmans sat together on their porch with guitars, playing music. For them the burden is lifted by the grace of shared grief.

Steven Curtis Chapman's current hit song, "Cinderella," was written one night while getting his little princesses ready for bed. Incredibly, he wrote the words to remind him to appreciate each moment with his girls, before they grew up.

Just months before the accident, Chapman's book about fatherhood, "Cinderella: The Love of a Daddy and His Princess," was published.

After losing Maria, Steven thought he could never sing "Cinderella" again. But now, the words have an even stronger meaning for him.

"I thought, you know what? I've got to sing this song. I have to sing it because I have to continue, you know. These chapters that are still being written with my two little girls, Shaohannah and Stevey Joy. And Emily who's getting ready to be married, we need to keep living these moments, these living years -- these moments that we have, we still-- still need to be engaged in those," said Chapman. "And I need to be dancing with my Cinderellas."

And with conviction of faith, Chapman proclaimed, "I'm going to dance with Maria again."

The Chapman's are establishing a home for special needs children looking to be adopted in China. [Their daughter Maria was adopted with a heart defect.] To read more about Maria's Miracle Fund or the Chapman's adoption charity, Shaohannah's Hope, click here.

For more information on Steven Curtis Chapman's music, click here.

[article] Bush signs bill to triple AIDS funding

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:42:58 GMT

Bush signs bill to triple AIDS funding

By KATHARINE EUPHRAT, Associated Press WriterWed Jul 30, 9:37 PM ET

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_aids;_ylt=Ahol7zR869uehlWlr4TS7yys0NUE

President Bush signed legislation Wednesday that triples U.S. funding to fight AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis around the world.

The five-year, $48 billion plan renews a program credited with saving millions of lives in Africa alone and is widely seen as one of the major achievements of the Bush presidency.

Bush said the program, launched by him in 2003, "is the largest commitment by any nation to combat a single disease in human history."

The president signed the bill in the ornate East Room of the White House, surrounded by lawmakers and people affected by AIDS whom he met on his February trip to Africa.

The legislation is a rare case of relatively easy cooperation between the Democratic-controlled Congress and the White House. It passed the House last week by a 303-115 vote and the Senate earlier in the month by a vote of 80-16.

It renews Bush's original five-year, $15 billion program called the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which was set to expire in September.

Some GOP conservatives questioned the new plan's sharp spending increase. But most on both sides of the aisle, and in groups that advocate both health initiatives and Africa, praised the U.S. aid for boosting America's reputation abroad.

Bush diverted from broader remarks to issue a personal appeal to those stricken with AIDS.

"Don't let shame keep you from getting tested or treated," he said. "Your life is treasured by the people who love you. ... It matters to the people of the United States."

The AIDS initiative has so far supported care for nearly 7 million people and helped deliver lifesaving anti-retroviral drugs to about 1.7 million HIV-positive people. With the AIDS pandemic now affecting 33 million people worldwide, both Democrats and Republicans have called it one of the most significant accomplishments of the Bush presidency.

The program's five-year renewal comes with some significant changes that took months to negotiate: a third of prevention funds will no longer be reserved for abstinence education; a "conscience clause" gives religious groups the right to refuse participation; more focus is placed on women and girls; and HIV-positive people will find it easier to get visas into the United States.

Bush said the goal for the new funding is to prevent 12 million new HIV infections, treat more than 2 million with anti-retroviral drugs, support care for 12 million and train at least 140,000 new health care workers.

[article] U2 Set Sale For a New Horizon

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 19:25:10 GMT

U2 Set Sale For a New Horizon
Exclusive: New Studio Album & Tracklist Revealed

Sunday Mirror, July 29, 2008

Stephen Maguire and Seamus Ross

Source: http://www.atu2.com/news/article.src?ID=5054

It's the beautiful day millions of U2 fans around the globe have waited patiently to see for the past four years.

Now we can reveal details of the supergroup's long-awaited new album.

It is believed to be titled No Line On The Horizon and will be on sale in music stores on November 14.

The band's record company Universal has already registered the internet domain name nolineonthehorizon.com -- prompting speculation this will be the new record.

And among the songs to be released on what many music insiders are calling the band's best work to date are "Moment of Surrender," "For Your Love," "Love Is All We Have Left" and "One Bird."

Others include "If I Could Live My Life Again," "The Cedars of Lebanon" and "No Line On The Horizon."

Earlier this week a 19-strong film crew headed to the Spanish city of Cadiz to shoot a video for the band's first single from the new album although the band were not believed to be present.

Last night an insider said the U2 machine is gearing up for the release of one of the most keenly-awaited albums in recent years.

"The album is more or less all in the bag except for a few minor details," the source revealed. A lot of people have been waiting a long time for this album as they do with every U2 album.

"But the word coming out is that the band is very, very happy with the end product and when U2 are happy it should be quite a piece of work. They're not easy to please."

Legendary producer Steve Lillywhite, who has worked with U2 for more than two decades, said the new album had blown him away.

It is the first original work since the band released the smash-hit How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb in November 2004. It sold an incredible 10 million copies and picked up eight Grammy Awards.

But music commentators think the new record could be even bigger for Bono, the Edge, Larry and Adam.

U2 are also expected to announce details of a huge worldwide tour, which would almost certainly include a number of nights at the new O2 Arena in the Dublin Docklands -- formerly known as the Point Theatre.

In a flurry of activity, the group have just re-released their first three albums -- Boy, October and War -- in extended formats and with previously unreleased tracks.
It has led to that rare thing -- U2 making a mistake.

A quantity of the re-released War albums have been printed with incorrect track listings inside a booklet.

But ironically, it won't hit sales, as the botched items are likely to become collector's pieces.

© MGN Ltd., 2008.

[article] At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 11:43:06 GMT

At Magnet School, An Asian Plurality
Group Forms 45% Of Freshmen at Thomas Jefferson

By Michael Alison Chandler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, July 7, 2008; A01

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/06/AR2008070602343.html?hpid=topnews

Asian American students will outnumber white classmates for the first time in the freshman class at the region's most prestigious public magnet school this fall, a milestone reached as the number of African Americans and Hispanics has remained low and the Fairfax County School Board prepares to review the school's admission policy.

At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in the Alexandria area this year, more than 2,500 applicants vied for 485 seats. Asian American students got 219, or 45 percent of the total, while white students got 205, or 42 percent. About 38 percent of the school's students were Asian American in the past school year.

T.J., as the school is known, draws students from several Northern Virginia jurisdictions. It ranks among the nation's top public schools in some surveys because of its rigorous curriculum and high-achieving students. Its average combined SAT score in 2007 was 2155, compared with 1639 countywide. More than 150 of its students that year were semifinalists for National Merit scholarships.

A plurality of Asian American students in a high school class would be an anomaly in the Washington region, where fewer than one in 10 residents is Asian American. In Fairfax, which supplies most of the school's students, people of Asian descent account for 16 percent of the population, census data show. That percentage has doubled since 1990 and is the highest in the area.

Among the incoming T.J. freshmen is Yuqing Zhang. Born in China, Yuqing immigrated with his family a decade ago, when his parents came to the United States for graduate school. He began learning math as a toddler from his grandmother and has excelled throughout school. As an eighth-grader at Longfellow Middle School in the Falls Church area, he took geometry and a class that combines high-level algebra and trigonometry. He placed 30th in a national math competition.

Yuqing, 14, said he has heard that T.J. is very competitive but added that he looks forward to focusing on his favorite subjects, math and science. The school is appealing, he said, because it "makes you do the best," and its students "model a good work ethic."

The rising concentration of Asian Americans at T.J. mirrors demographic trends in other elite math and science magnet schools. In New York, the selective and specialized Stuyvesant High School, Bronx High School of Science and Brooklyn Technical High School have Asian American majorities, although about 10 percent of the metropolitan population is of Asian descent. In San Francisco, Asian Americans make up more than 60 percent of the students at selective Lowell High School and about a third of the city's population.

The success of Asian American students reflects the educational commitment found in many immigrant communities, particularly for second-generation students fluent in English and encouraged by upwardly mobile parents who came to the United States for higher education or professional positions.

The demographic imbalance in top public magnet schools has become a sensitive issue, however. Black and Hispanic students often are vastly under-represented. Many of the schools struggle to reflect the diversity of the wider population while maintaining a transparent admissions process with uniformly high standards.

Jenny Tsai, a recent Harvard University graduate, wrote her thesis about what she perceived as a growing sentiment that "too many Asians" were at top magnet schools. She attended the selective Hunter College High School in New York, where she sensed "a certain level of anxiety" as the portion of Asian American students in the entering class grew from less than a third to more than half between 1997 and 2003. Tsai said some students felt a need to justify their admission or their contributions.

"I don't think there was ever a question of who really belonged there until the numbers shifted," she said.

Admissions offices at top private colleges are becoming the front line for debates about equal access as the supply of high-caliber Asian American applicants swells and colleges try to maintain student diversity. Some Asian Americans contend that they face informal quotas and are forced to meet higher standards, similar to hurdles that Jewish Americans faced in the first part of the 20th century.

On the high school level, more public magnet schools are adopting objective merit-based systems as race-based policies are being overturned in courts. A Chinese American student sued the San Francisco Unified School District in the 1990s after he was rejected from Lowell High, leading to a court decision that overturned the school system's quota-based admissions. And race preferences at Boston Latin, the Massachusetts city's most prestigious school, were struck down by a federal appeals court a decade ago in a case brought by the father of a white applicant who was rejected.

The Fairfax School Board has adjusted the T.J. admissions policy over time to reflect legal decisions and changing politics. An affirmative action policy that allowed racial and ethnic variations in academic benchmarks was abandoned in the late 1990s. Afterward, admissions of black and Hispanic students plummeted. In 2001, nine black or Hispanic students were admitted, down from nearly 50 in 1994, according to the board's Minority Student Achievement Oversight Committee.

In 2004, the board adopted an admissions policy that takes racial and ethnic diversity into account as a "plus factor" but not a determining factor. Unlike the approach used by Stuyvesant High and the other specialized schools in New York, which relies primarily on standardized exam results, the T.J. admissions process weighs grade-point averages on a sliding scale with test scores in an initial screening. In the second round, the selection committee considers additional factors, including teacher recommendations and extracurricular activities that demonstrate interest in science and technology, as well as students' cultural background, economic status, sex or race.

Despite those changes and a weekend enrichment program meant to help prepare promising candidates from under-represented groups, admissions of Hispanic and black students have increased only slightly. The incoming class will have 10 Hispanic and nine African American students. The School Board is scheduled to review the admissions policy this month. Whether it will alter the policy is unclear, but the issue is sure to draw close attention from many parents.

Fluctuations in the demographic profile of the incoming freshman class could be attributed in part to a new eligibility requirement that applicants take first-year algebra by eighth grade, said Judith Howard, the school's admissions director. The demographics of the incoming class may vary slightly on the first day of school because, among other variables, some applicants who recently moved to the area may be admitted.

Minority advocates and education experts say raising black and Hispanic enrollment at T.J. must be a long-term effort.

"If you have been behind the eight ball since kindergarten," an admissions policy or a middle school preparation program is not going to help much, said John Johnson, a member of the minority student oversight committee. He said parents and communities must push as soon as possible to put students on a faster academic track.

Many Asian American students in Fairfax have strong, early academic encouragement from families and communities, particularly in math and science. Many pursue extracurricular academic activities, receive private tutoring and pay for preparation courses before the T.J. entrance exam.

Another member of T.J.'s Class of 2012 will be Seiyoung Jang, 15, who moved from Seoul to Atlanta when she was 11 when her father took a job there. Her father returned to Korea a few years later, but her mother stayed so Seiyoung and her brother could continue their U.S. education.

They moved to Northern Virginia in part so Seiyoung could apply to the renowned magnet school.

"I heard T.J. was famous for education courses and high opportunities," said her mother, Mejung Kim.

[article] Apple and Eve

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:00:22 GMT

Apple and Eve

Revealed: The heroine of Pixar's new release, Wall-E, was born from an iPod.

By Richard Siklos, editor at large

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/09/technology/siklos_walle.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2008051208

LOS ANGELES (Fortune) -- In Pixar Films' upcoming animation epic, "Wall-E," the title character is a cute but clunky robot whose centuries of solitude on an abandoned Earth is broken by the arrival of a svelte, futuristic robot named Eve - who is so white, gleaming, and well, pod-like, that she looks like she was born in Apple's design room. It turns out that she was - sort of: Eve marks the first design collaboration within Steve Jobs' culture-shaping Apple-Pixar-Disney axis. (Jobs sold Pixar to Disney and is Disney's largest shareholder as well as the CEO of Apple.)

"I wanted Eve to be high-end technology - no expense spared - and I wanted it to be seamless and for the technology to be sort of hidden and subcutaneous," Andrew Stanton, Wall-E's director, told Fortune. "The more I started describing it, the more I realized I was pretty much describing the Apple playbook for design." It is, of course, not the first time a product has inspired a film character - think of the murderous HAL 9000 robot in "2001: A Space Odyssey," based loosely on big IBM mainframes of the day.

But it may be the first time a character was based on a true corporate sibling. A call from Stanton to Jobs in 2005 resulted in Johnny Ive, Apple's behind-the-scenes design guru, driving across the San Francisco Bay to Pixar's converted warehouse headquarters to spend a day consulting on the Eve prototype. Stanton said that it was a "lovefest" with Ive, but that the notoriously tight-lipped design wizard offered few specific modifications. "Apple is so proprietary and so secretive that he couldn't even really allude to where the future of technology was going," says Stanton. "The most he could do is nod his head to the things we said we wanted to do." (Through a spokesman, Ive declined to comment.)

Among her other attributes, Eve has expressive blue eyes that look inspired by an old Lite Brite game, a head and arms that seem unattached to her body, hovering and flying abilities and an onboard weapons defense system. Asked whether the robot is meant to be a preview of Apple's (AAPL, Fortune 500) product line circa 2,700 - when the film is set - Stanton says: "I kind of leave it to interpretation." Still, don't be surprised to see Eve bots working the counters this summer at an Apple Store near you.

[article] Job Openning/Posting

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 17:52:46 GMT

John Yembrick
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0602
john.yembrick-1@nasa.gov

Kylie Clem
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kylie.s.clem@nasa.gov

June 25, 2008

RELEASE : 08-158

Deadline Approaching to Apply for New NASA Astronaut Class

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/jun/HQ_08158_astronaut_deadline.html

HOUSTON -- NASA's deadline for accepting applications for the 2009 Astronaut Candidate Class is July 1. Those selected could fly to space for long-duration stays on the International Space Station and missions to the moon.

To be considered, a bachelor's degree in engineering, science or math and three years of relevant professional experience are required. Typically, successful applicants have significant qualifications in engineering or science, or extensive experience flying high-performance jet aircraft.

Teaching experience, including work at the kindergarten through 12th grade level, is considered qualifying. Educators with the appropriate educational background are encouraged to apply.

After a six-month period of evaluation and interviews, NASA will announce final selections in early 2009. Astronaut candidates will report to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston during the summer of 2009 to begin the basic training program to prepare them for future spaceflight assignments.

To apply to be an astronaut, visit:

http://www.usajobs.gov

Additional information about the Astronaut Candidate Program is available by calling the Astronaut Selection Office at 281-483-5907, or by visiting:

http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/recruit.html

[article] Riots, instability spread as food prices skyrocket

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 17:09:00 GMT

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/04/14/world.food.crisis/index.html

(CNN) -- Riots from Haiti to Bangladesh to Egypt over the soaring costs of basic foods have brought the issue to a boiling point and catapulted it to the forefront of the world's attention, the head of an agency focused on global development said Monday.

"This is the world's big story," said Jeffrey Sachs, director of Columbia University's Earth Institute.

"The finance ministers were in shock, almost in panic this weekend," he said on CNN's "American Morning," in a reference to top economic officials who gathered in Washington. "There are riots all over the world in the poor countries ... and, of course, our own poor are feeling it in the United States."

World Bank President Robert Zoellick has said the surging costs could mean "seven lost years" in the fight against worldwide poverty.

"While many are worrying about filling their gas tanks, many others around the world are struggling to fill their stomachs, and it is getting more and more difficult every day," Zoellick said late last week in a speech opening meetings with finance ministers.

"The international community must fill the at least $500 million food gap identified by the U.N.'s World Food Programme to meet emergency needs," he said. "Governments should be able to come up with this assistance and come up with it now."

The World Bank announced a $10 million grant from the United States for Haiti to help the government assist poor families.

"In just two months," Zoellick said in his speech, "rice prices have skyrocketed to near historical levels, rising by around 75 percent globally and more in some markets, with more likely to come. In Bangladesh, a 2-kilogram bag of rice ... now consumes about half of the daily income of a poor family."

The price of wheat has jumped 120 percent in the past year, he said -- meaning that the price of a loaf of bread has more than doubled in places where the poor spend as much as 75 percent of their income on food.

"This is not just about meals forgone today or about increasing social unrest. This is about lost learning potential for children and adults in the future, stunted intellectual and physical growth," Zoellick said.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, also spoke at the joint IMF-World Bank spring meeting.

"If food prices go on as they are today, then the consequences on the population in a large set of countries ... will be terrible," he said.

He added that "disruptions may occur in the economic environment ... so that at the end of the day most governments, having done well during the last five or 10 years, will see what they have done totally destroyed, and their legitimacy facing the population destroyed also."

In Haiti, the prime minister was kicked out of office Saturday, and hospital beds are filled with wounded following riots sparked by food prices. Watch Haitians riot over food prices »

In Egypt, rioters have burned cars and destroyed windows of numerous buildings as police in riot gear have tried to quell protests.

Images from Bangladesh and Mozambique tell a similar story.

In the United States and other Western nations, more and more poor families are feeling the pinch. In recent days, presidential candidates have paid increasing attention to the cost of food, often citing it on the stump.

The issue is also fueling a rising debate over how much the rising prices can be blamed on ethanol production. The basic argument is that because ethanol comes from corn, the push to replace some traditional fuels with ethanol has created a new demand for corn that has thrown off world food prices.

Jean Ziegler, U.N. special rapporteur on the right to food, has called using food crops to create ethanol "a crime against humanity."

"We've been putting our food into the gas tank -- this corn-to-ethanol subsidy which our government is doing really makes little sense," said Columbia University's Sachs.

Former President Clinton, at a campaign stop for his wife in Pennsylvania over the weekend, said, "Corn is the single most inefficient way to produce ethanol because it uses a lot of energy and because it drives up the price of food."

Some environmental groups reject the focus on ethanol in examining food prices.

"The contrived food vs. fuel debate has reared its ugly head once again," the Renewable Fuels Association says on its Web site, adding that "numerous statistical analyses have demonstrated that the price of oil -- not corn prices or ethanol production -- has the greatest impact on consumer food prices because it is integral to virtually every phase of food production, from processing to packaging to transportation."

Analysts agree the cost of fuel is among the reasons for the skyrocketing prices.

Another major reason is rising demand, particularly in places in the midst of a population boom, such as China and India.

Also, said Sachs, "climate shocks" are damaging food supply in parts of the world. "You add it all together: Demand is soaring, supply has been cut back, food has been diverted into the gas tank. It's added up to a price explosion."

[article] Mikhail Gorbachev admits he is a Christian

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 12:03:51 GMT

By Malcolm Moore in Rome

Last Updated: 3:04am GMT 19/03/2008

Source: http://http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/19/wgorbachev119.xml

Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Communist leader of the Soviet Union, has acknowledged his Christian faith for the first time, paying a surprise visit to pray at the tomb of St Francis of Assisi.


	Giotto’s fresco of St Francis and St Clair

Accompanied by his daughter Irina, Mr Gorbachev spent half an hour on his knees in silent prayer at the tomb.

His arrival in Assisi was described as "spiritual perestroika" by La Stampa, the Italian newspaper.

"St Francis is, for me, the alter Christus, the other Christ," said Mr Gorbachev. "His story fascinates me and has played a fundamental role in my life," he added.

Mr Gorbachev's surprise visit confirmed decades of rumours that, although he was forced to publicly pronounce himself an atheist, he was in fact a Christian, and casts a meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1989 in a new light.

Mr Gorbachev, 77, was baptised into the Russian Orthodox Church and his parents were Christians.

In addition, the parents of his wife Raisa were deeply religious and were killed during the Second World War for having religious icons in their home.

Ronald Reagan, the former United States president, allegedly told his close aides on a number of occasions that he felt his opponent during the Cold War was a "closet believer".

Mr Reagan held deep religious convictions himself. However, until now Mr Gorbachev has allowed himself to express only pantheistic views, saying in one interview "nature is my god".

After his prayers, Mr Gorbachev toured the Basilica of St Francis and asked in particular to be shown an icon of St Francis portraying his "dream at Spoleto".

St Francis, who lived in the 12th century, was a troubadour and a poet before the spiritual vision caused him to return to Assisi and contemplate a religious life.

Even in his early days, St Francis helped the poor, once giving all of his money to a beggar. As well as spending time in the wilderness, he also nursed lepers and eventually became a priest.

"It was through St Francis that I arrived at the Church, so it was important that I came to visit his tomb," said Mr Gorbachev.


	Mikhail Gorbachev during his visit to the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi

"I feel very emotional to be here at such an important place not only for the Catholic faith, but for all humanity."

He also asked the monks for theological books to help him understand St Francis's life.

Father Miroslavo Anuskevic, who accompanied the former Soviet leader, said: "He was not recognised by any of the worshippers in the church, and silently meditated at the tomb for a while. He seemed a man deeply inspired by charity, and told me that he was involved in a project to help children with cancer.

"He talked a lot about Russia and said that even though the transition to democracy had been very important

for the world, it was very painful for Russia. He said it was a country which has a great history, and also a great spirituality."