| Paying for a summer visit to Israel
Chad Sinanian doesn't want a fancy house with gates and guards. He doesn't want a six-figure sports car that goes so fast it flirts with time travel. His only dream -- the all-consuming wish that drives his destiny -- is to visit Israel this summer. Now, comes the hard part. The 40-year-old Sinanian, a Danbury resident since 1992, has neurological disabilities, poor coordination and emotional problems stemming from what he calls a "troubled" childhood. Granted, it's expensive enough to fly half-way around the world and spend 10 days in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and the rest of Israel. But the price tag grows exponentially when you factor in a trip for someone with special needs. How much are we talking here? The cost is about $14,000 through a company called "Israel 4 All," which specializes in sightseeing for people with special needs.
Match-by-match guide to the Guinness Premiership
Adam Balding, who is on loan from Gloucester until the end of the season, plays against one of his former clubs. London Irish v Saracens, 1.30pm Paul Hodgson, no doubt disappointed to have missed out on a first cap for England against France last weekend, returns for the exiles alongside Mike Catt. Seilala Mapusua plays his first match since December. After five months out, Dan Scarbrough has recovered from knee surgery for Saracens, while Cobus Visagie, Hugh Vyvyan, Ben Skirving, David Seymour and Glen Jackson return. Kevin Sorrell (ankle) and Andy Farrell (rib) are out. Tomorrow Bristol v Bath, 3pm Mark Regan, dubbed "The Clown" by Marc Lièvremont, the France coach, has to be content with a place on the Bristol bench for the big derby at Ashton Gate.
Editorial: Labor for LNG
All the Mailbag correspondents who lately have denounced the proposed liquid natural gas terminal at Bradwood Landing on the Columbia River might be interested in what organized labor has to say."The Oregon AFL-CIO is solidly in support of a proposed liquid natural gas terminal along the Columbia River near Astoria," the labor federation said in a press statement Wednesday, "The facility will create 450 construction jobs over three years, plus 65 permanent living-wage jobs, and generate $7.8 million a year in taxes for Clatsop County."The union already has an agreement that union contractors will build the terminal if it's allowed. Jobs for its members obviously are the group's main concern, but Oregon AFL-CIO President Tom Chamberlain also said of the project: "It will ... help secure a more stable energy future for Oregon."The labor federation makes two other important points to answer critics who worry about safety and the environment.On safety: "The natural gas will be held in two-foot-thick concrete double-wall storage tanks, and tankers will operate under strict regulations of the U.S.
Unlikely allies fight same-sex marriage in Iowa
Because Iowa doesn't have a residency requirement, Hurley believes same-sex couples from out of state will marry here, then sue their home states for recognition. The court likely will not rule until 2009. But Ratliff and Hurley say it's imprudent to wait.
So do 45 of Iowa's 100 state representatives, who are co-sponsoring legislation on a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. When surveyed on how they would vote, the Iowa House of Representatives was split 50-50. This will be a critical week because legislation concerning the constitutional amendment must make it out of committee by Thursday or the bill won't be voted on this session. Ratliff and Hurley have been two of the loudest voices in this legislative and cultural fight, organizing rallies against same-sex marriage and lobbying the Legislature to let Iowans vote on its legality.
Magazine Uses all Anti-Right Examples to Show 'How Media Messes With ...
The hypocrisy is so thick in this piece it almost seems to have been penned for a Comedy Central late night TV show. To prove their point, that Americans are misled by "straw man arguments," Sci. Amer. gives us the example of president Bush saying in a 2005 speech that, “We've heard some people say, pull them out right now. That's a huge mistake. It'd be a terrible mistake. It sends a bad message to our troops, and it sends a bad message to our enemy, and it sends a bad message to the Iraqis." This, Sci. Amer. says, is a mischaracterization of the anti-war position. No one, they say, was ever saying that we should immediately pull out of Iraq. The statement that unnamed “people" are advocating a troop withdrawal from Iraq “right now" is a straw man, because it exaggerates the opposing viewpoint.
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