2 Hurt on Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

George Attwal

George Attwal was driving on the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge on Friday when the accident occurred in front of him. He took this photo from inside his car.

An M.T.A. construction truck struck an overhead road sign on the Queens-bound plaza of the Whitestone Bridge at 1:10 p.m. on Friday, causing the steel sign structure to come crashing down on all six lanes and injuring two people who were on the truck, according to M.T.A. Bridges and Tunnels. The accident, which did not injure other passengers, the agency said, forced the immediate closure of the bridge. Cars were being rerouted to the Throgs Neck or Robert F. Kennedy Bridges just before the onslaught of Friday afternoon traffic.

The boom truck was driven by Alpha Painting and Construction Company, a contractor for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority hired to paint the bridge’s Queens and Bronx towers, according to Judie Glave, a spokeswoman for the authority. Two men sustained minor injuries, one had a head injury and another had a fracture leg, and both were taken to New York Queens Hospital.

“Right now we have our maintenance crews out there, they have to cut the metal part of the sign and remove it,” Ms. Glave said. “The hope is to get it open by rush hour.” She admitted that might be difficult.

By early evening, crews for the M.T.A. were able to remove one piece of the fallen steel roadway sign on the southbound side of the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, but the biggest piece is still hanging over the divider on the northbound, Ms. Glave said. At best, she said, “we hope to open the three southbound lanes by 7, but that’s not written in stone. They are working as hard as they can to try and get open as soon as possible.”

George Attwal, a witness who said he was driving his Volkswagen Passat two cars behind the truck, described it as a pickup truck, with a cranelike operator in its bed, perhaps used like a cherry-picker to fix things, he said.

“I guess he forgot to lower it and it hit the roadway sign,” Mr. Attwal, 23, of Flushing, Queens, said in a telephone interview. “It collapsed right in front of us and two people fell off. They were standing in the back of the pickup. On person fell off and he rolled onto the road itself.”

Mr. Attwal, who was returning from a business call in New Jersey and headed to Long Island, said the accident “all happened within two seconds.” The car in front of him slammed on its brakes, and he hit his brakes hard to avoid a collision.

He estimated that the truck was going 15 to 20 miles an hour, but questioned why the two people would be outside on the bed of the truck.

Ms. Glave said she had no information about where the passengers of the truck were at the time. As soon as officials arrived on the scene, they directed Mr. Attwal to turn around and take the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Ms. Glave said that the last time a bridge in the vicinity was closed, it was February. The Throgs Neck Bridge was shut down in both directions for 90 minutes due to high winds that overturned an empty tractor-trailer.

Donovan not a UK candidate; recruits react to news

Once again, Billy Donovan won't be accepting the vacant head coaching position at the University of Kentucky.

University of Florida spokesperson Fred Demerest told Florida Today, "Billy (Donovan) will not be a candidate for any job that comes open, I can confirm.”

The school is scheduled to release a statement later Friday.

In a statement from coach Billy Donovan, he said, “In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible," Donovan said. "I am committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here."

- In other news, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that top Kentucky recruit Jon Hood is "heartbroken" over the news of Billy Gillispie's firing, but would wait to see who the school brings in before deciding whether to opt out of his national letter of intent.

- The Courier-Journal also talked to the father of G.J. Vilarino, a point guard from McKinney (Texas) and the first recruit that Gillispie signed with Kentucky.

Gerry Vilarino told the newspaper, “It’s a tough day for us because we have known those guys (the staff) for years and they’re like family. We’re hurting today and we feel for them. It’s a difficult day on that side of it.

“But from a basketball perspective – solely – G.J. has had his mind set for a long time. Based on our conversations, it’s going to be pretty hard for him to turn it off now and say he’s not going to Kentucky. He has everything ready to go.”

UConn Violated Recruiting Contact Rules

By LYNN ZINSER

University of Connecticut men’s basketball coaches broke N.C.A.A. contact rules in the recruiting of Nate Miles, a former player, according to a report by Yahoo Sports on Wednesday. The article drew on cellphone records to detail contact among Miles, UConn coaches and a former student manager.

Yahoo cited multiple sources in establishing a relationship between Miles and Josh Nochimson, who became an agent after his years as a UConn student manager. By N.C.A.A. rules, Yahoo reported, Nochimson would be a representative of the college’s athletic interests. Therefore, providing Miles with lodging, transportation and meals, which the report alleges, might be a serious violation.

UConn released a statement on Wednesday addressing the allegations and promising to look into the report’s details.

“The N.C.A.A.’s Eligibility Center reviewed all information that it had concerning the student-athlete’s eligibility status and determined that he was eligible for his freshman year,” the statement said. “The student-athlete departed from the university before ever participating in athletics competition.”

The controversy surrounds Miles, a 6-foot-7 swingman from Toledo, Ohio, who signed with UConn in 2007 and was expelled as a freshman in 2008 when he violated a restraining order obtained against him by a female student. Miles never played a game for UConn and played this season at the College of Southern Idaho, a junior college.

N.C.A.A. rules limit contact to one phone call a month to recruits (or their family or associates) still in their junior year of high school, but Yahoo reported a stream of communications with Nochimson and significant phone calls and texts to Miles himself. Tom Moore, a former UConn assistant coach, was reported to have made 27 calls to Miles’s guardian and a man Miles called his uncle as well as three calls to Miles in December 2006 alone.

“The university takes very seriously its responsibilities of N.C.A.A. membership and will do all that is expected to follow up on any information related to possible N.C.A.A. rules violations,” the college’s statement said.

The Yahoo article, by Adrian Wojnarowski and Dan Wetzel, includes cellphone records obtained by a Freedom of Information Act request.

Aasha Davis Lesley Herring PHOTOS

Lesley Herring Pictures

Aasha Davis Pictures

PHOTOS. Here are pictures of actress Aasha Davis and sister Lesley Herring. Lesley Herring is missing and Los Angeles investigators need your help.

Aasha Davis (photo above) has appeared in Gilmore Girls, Grey’s Anatomy, House M.D., E.R., & the Shield, and is best known as Waverly Grady in Friday Night Lights and as Chelsea Lewis on South of Nowhere.

"Betrayed" AIG Exec Offers Public Resignation

Posted by Daniel Carty

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

In a sometimes scathing, sometimes somber letter to AIG CEO Edward Liddy, an executive working in the company's scandal-plagued Financial Products division resigned his post, expressing frustration at being "betrayed" by those he tried to help.

In the letter, which ran as an op-ed piece in Tuesday's New York Times, executive vice president Jake DeSantis said he was leaving the company because "we in the financial products unit have been betrayed by A.I.G. and are being unfairly persecuted by elected officials."

Liddy appeared before Congress last week to answer for the $165 million in bonus money going to executives of the Financial Products division – the part of the company widely blamed for AIG's near collapse. Those payments, and their recipients, have been blasted by lawmakers and, notably, the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut, who have sought the release of their names.

DeSantis insists he was not involved in the credit default swaps that are at the root of AIG's problems, noting that most of those responsible "have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage."

But being painted with the same brush as those alleged culprits by Congress has left DeSantis feeling "let down."

"I take this action after 11 years of dedicated, honorable service to A.I.G. I can no longer effectively perform my duties in this dysfunctional environment, nor am I being paid to do so. Like you, I was asked to work for an annual salary of $1, and I agreed out of a sense of duty to the company and to the public officials who have come to its aid. Having now been let down by both, I can no longer justify spending 10, 12, 14 hours a day away from my family for the benefit of those who have let me down."

DeSantis criticized Liddy for not defending workers in the "face of untrue and unfair accusations" from lawmakers and "baseless and reckless comments" from the attorneys general of New York and Connecticut, Andrew Cuomo and Richard Blumenthal, respectively.

He said the decision to ask for the bonus payments back was a "breach of trust" and only came because Liddy faced political pressure. DeSantis said the promise of the bonuses was the only reason for some workers to stay on at AIG and try to manage its crisis.

"We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house," he wrote.

DeSantis said he received a $742,006.40 bonus in March and would not return it. Rather, he plans to donate the after-tax sum to various charities, saying he did not "want to see them disappear back into the obscurity of A.I.G.’s or the federal government’s budget."

Valerie Bertinelli Bikini Body Covers People Magazine

Buy the current issue of People Magazine HERE!

Unbelievable. Valerie Bertinelli looks beyond. Words can not describe how good she looks. To top it off, she’s 48 years-old.

Will the reader want to know how Valerie Bertinelli lost the weight?

Yes. Yes. Yes.

This will be a huge seller for People Magazine.

While this formula has been used to death (former star gains ton of weight - goes on diet - poses for cover as skinny star) - IT NEVER GETS OLD!

Plus, it’s the perfect time of year for this type of diet cover!

If you think you saw a lot of Valerie Bertinellie when she first came out as being overweight (I personally thought she looked pretty good) - you will see her more than ever starting today.

This is the type of cover that can revitalize a star’s career overnight.

Congrats to you Valerie!

Jake DeSantis: A Defense of AIG Bonuses

Jake DeSantis, an executive VP in AIG's financial products unit, is getting out. We know this because the NYTimes has his resignation letter, penned to CEO Edward Liddy.

It's a comprehensive rebuke of the AIG-admonishers in Congress and of Liddy himself, who was "not strong enough to withstand the shifting political winds," and committed a "breach of trust" in allegedly asking for the bonus money to be returned only shortly before his Congressional appearance last week, DeSantis says.

Here's excerpt that gives a good insight into how the AIG employees are feeling. Note that DeSantis was not among the group that dealt in the ultimately poisonous credit default swaps:

As most of us have done nothing wrong, guilt is not a motivation to surrender our earnings. We have worked 12 long months under these contracts and now deserve to be paid as promised. None of us should be cheated of our payments any more than a plumber should be cheated after he has fixed the pipes but a careless electrician causes a fire that burns down the house.

A common argument against paying retention bonuses to the AIG employees has been, essentially: Where else can they go? Not only is this the ugliest job market in decades, they're also stained with the AIG name. But not so fast. De Santis says this:

Many of the employees have, in the past six months, turned down job offers from more stable employers, based on A.I.G.’s assurances that the contracts would be honored. They are now angry about having been misled by A.I.G.’s promises and are not inclined to return the money as a favor to you.

Liddy both defended the bonus payments to Congress last week and told legislators he had asked for the bonus money to be returned--for the employees to "do the right thing."

Valerie Bertinelli, 48, Tops People Magazine Cover

Actress Valerie Bertinelli, best known for her role as Bonnie Franklin's daughter, Barbara Cooper Royer, on the long-running television series One Day at a Time tops the latest issue of People Magazine cover at age 48 with a fabulous look.

"Unbelievable. Valerie Bertinelli looks beyond. Words can not describe how good she looks. To top it off, she’s 48 years-old. Will the reader want to know how Valerie Bertinelli lost the weight? Yes. Yes. Yes. This will be a huge seller for People Magazine," writes Mark Pasetsky's Cover Awards.

Valerie Bertinelli is a great honest tale of her weight loss and struggles. She recently published her book "Losing It: And Gaining My Life Back One Pound at a Time."

In the book description, published at Amazon, we read "We all knew and loved Valerie Bertinelli years ago when she played girl-next-door cutie Barbara Cooper in the hit TV show One Day at a Time, and then starred in numerous TV movies. From wholesome primetime in America's living rooms, Valerie moved to late nights with the hardest-partying band of the decadent eighties when she became, at twenty, wife to rock guitarist Eddie Van Halen. Losing It is Valerie's frank account of her life backstage and in the spotlight. Here are the ups and downs of teen stardom, of her complicated marriage to a brilliant, tormented musical genius, and of her very public struggle with her weight.

"Surprising, uplifting, and empowering, Losing It takes you behind the scenes of Valerie's acting career and marriage, recalling the comforts, friendships, and problems of her television family, her close relationships with her parents and brothers, the stress and worries of being the wife of a rock star, and the joys of motherhood. Like many women, Valerie often remembers the state of her life by the food she ate and the numbers on her scale. So despite her celebrity, Valerie's voice is so down-to-earth, honest, and appealing that you'll feel as if you're talking with a girlfriend over coffee. Funny and candid, Valerie recounts her attempts to maintain a healthy self-image while dealing with social pressures to look and act a certain way, and to overcome career insecurities and relationship problems, all of which will be familiar to the hundreds of thousands of women who struggle every day with these same issues.

"From marital turmoil to the joys of a new career, from being named among Penthouse's ten sexiest women in the world to overhearing whispers about her weight gain in the grocery store, this is Valerie's inspiring journey as she finds new love, raises a terrific kid, and motivates other women as a spokesperson for Jenny Craig."

In her positive review of the book, Lisa Shea from BellaOnline.com writes "If I'm going to have a few complaints about the book, they are primarily that portions come across as a hard sales pitch for Jenny Craig. It's no real coincidence that this comes out right while she is a main spokesperson for Jenny Craig, and the book even shipped with a coupon / flayer for Jenny Craig right in it. She pushes the food several times in the book. But while this is a bit grating, it's also to be expected. She is rather grateful to them for helping her regain her life, and is showing it. If you picked up a book by someone whose life was saved by ZooFooLoo meditation, the book would probably pitch ZooFooLoo meditation a few times."

US sperm bank offers stimulus deals

One of the oldest banks of its kind in the United States, Xytex International, on Tuesday rolled out a stimulus package for customers who are hurting in these tough economic times.

Xytex is a sperm bank, and it's offering up to 200 dollars off a vial of sperm to clients wishing to start or add to their family, but need a little help.

"We're all feeling the effects of the economy and, especially for families seeking reproductive options, every dollar counts," Xytex spokeswoman Danielle Moores told AFP.

So, Xytex is offering deals on vials from "select" donors, who come a bit cheaper than the usual "standard" donor.

"Select donors are a new level of donor which we introduced to try to help our clients who are interested in third-party reproduction but, with the tough economy, are having a little bit of trouble purchasing a regular donor," Moores told AFP.

Select donors, explained Moores, are men from whom Xytex has "many, many vials because they're very successful donors or able to stop in several times a week or -- for whatever reason, we have a huge inventory," and it is being made available in a sort of clearance sale.

Xytex prefers to call it the balancing effect of supply and demand.

"Select donors haven't reached the end of their shelf-life, they're just over-produced," Moores said.

Select donor units run between 250 and 350 dollars, representing a savings of between 135 and 235 dollars on comparable vials from a standard Xytex donor, which start at 385 dollars and go up to 585 dollars.

Xytex is also offering deals on ART donors -- not as in Picasso or Jasper Johns but as in "assisted reproductive technology." These run between 290 and 390 dollars.

"These are vials that are available for patients who are undergoing either IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which can be very costly procedures," said Moores.

"For ICSI, you really only need one sperm which is injected into the egg. So we can offer these donors at a lower cost because there's a lower quality commitment, but it works for these patients because they need fewer cells anyway," Moores said.

"It's a way to offer another option at a slightly better price to help someone undergoing IVF or ICSI to have a family," she said, stressing that while prices have been cut, Xytex has not scrimped on its usual rigorous medical, psychological and genetic screenings for donors.

Call to 'shut down' Street View

A formal complaint about Google's Street View has been sent to the Information Commissioner (ICO).

Drawn up by lobby group Privacy International (PI), it cites more than 200 reports from members of the public identifiable via the service.

PI wants Street View shut down while the ICO investigates the service.

"The ICO has repeatedly made clear that it believes that in Street View the necessary safeguards are in place to protect people's privacy," said Google.

Privacy International (PI) director Simon Davies said his organisation had filed the complaint given the "clear embarrassment and damage" Street View had caused to many Britons.

Speaking to the BBC, Google boss Eric Schmidt, said: "We agree with the concerns over privacy.

"The way we address it is by allowing people to opt out, literally to take anything we capture that is inappropriate out," he said "and we do it as quickly as we possibly can."

He added: "We are getting controversy over street view because it is so successful. It turns out that people love to see what is going on in their local community."

Private and public

Mr Davies said Street View fell short of the assurances given to the ICO that enabled the system to launch.

"We're asking for the system to be switched off while an investigation is completed," said Mr Davies.

"The Information Commissioner never grasped the gravity of how a benign piece of legislation could affect ordinary lives," he added.

In July 2008, the ICO gave permission for Street View to launch partly because of assurances Google gave about the way it would blur faces and registration plates.

Google has removed some images following complaints

Since Street View launched in the UK on 19 March, PI has been contacted by many people identifiable via the service.

Among them were a woman who had moved house to escape a violent partner but who was recognisable outside her new home on Street View.

Also complaining were two colleagues pictured in an apparently compromising position who suffered embarrassment when the image was circulated at their workplace.

The ICO said it had received the complaint from PI and would respond "shortly".

It added: "It is Google's responsibility to ensure all vehicle registration marks and faces are satisfactorily blurred.

"Individuals who feel that an image does identify them (and are unhappy with this) should contact Google direct to get the image removed," it added.

"Individuals who have raised concerns with Google about their image being included - and who do not think they have received a satisfactory response - can complain to the ICO."

Safeguards

"Data protection is a question of taking reasonable steps," said Nick Lockett, an IT lawyer with DL Legal.

"If Street View is infringing privacy then almost anything you can do with data is going to be infringing privacy," he added.

Struan Robertson, a legal director at Pinsent Masons, said he did not think the turning on of Street View would result in court action against Google for breaching privacy.

"That's largely because we have got rulings from the courts on when a photograph risks privacy rights and when it does not," he said.

The Manchester United star Christiano Ronaldo is blurred on a poster at Old Trafford - a wonderful example of what can happen when anxieties over our 'surveillance society' collide with our 'celebrity culture' Mark Easton's blog

Recent cases in the courts have revolved around whether the focus of a camera was on an individual. Google's Street View, which snaps the whole scene, would seem to pass that test, he said.

Responding to the filing of the complaint, Google described it as a "publicity stunt"

In a statement the firm said: "Before launching Street View we sought the guidance and approval of the independent and impartial Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)."

Google said the ICO had re-iterated its confidence that Street View did enough to protect privacy.

"The fact that some people have used the tools in place to remove images shows that the tools work effectively," it added.

"Of course, if anyone has concerns about the product or its images they can contact us and we look forward to hearing from them," it said.

Mr Davies said the ICO should take another look at Street View because of the promises Google gave about the efficacy of its face-blurring system.

In its complaint, PI said Google's assertion that its face blurring system would result in a "few" misses was a "gross underestimation".

This meant, said the complaint, that the data used for Street View came under Data Protection legislation which requires that subjects give permission before information is gathered.

"The promised privacy safeguards do not provide adequate protection to shield Street View from the general requirement of notice and consent," said the complaint

Zang Toi’s Design for the Winter Ball

New York based Malaysian fashion designer Zang Toi has signed on as The Encore sponsor of The School of American Ballet’s Winter Ball, taking place in New York on March 9th, 2009. In anticipation of the event, he has provided us with this exclusive preview of the beautiful gown he designed for Event Chair and philanthropist Pamela Joyner.

He describes Ms. Joyner’s couture gown as a silk and stain strapless “Diva Gown” with silver beading and embroidered French chantily lace. Zang has also designed the gown that Pamela Joyner’s daughter, Michelle Giuffrida, will wear.

The Winter Ball is The School of American Ballet’s highest profile annual benefit, and this year will serve as the School’s celebration of their 75th Anniversary. This glamorous black-tie dinner dance at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater dance is attended by 400 of New York City’s socialites and philanthropists, including event chairmen Chelsea Clinton, Stacey Bendet Eisner, Pamela Joyner, Coco Kopelman and New York City Ballet dancers Sara Mearns and Amar Ramasar.

There will be wonderful showing of San Francisco attendees including: Susan Dunlevy, Dr. Deepa Pakianathan, Janice & Jonathan Zakin, Fran Streets, Sandy Barrett, Alison Carlson, and Dayle Haddon, among others.

To honor the School’s 75th Anniversary, Van Cleef & Arpels has created a special Award of Excellence named after Claude Arpels, whose friendship with SAB co-founder George Balanchine inspired the ballet “Jewels” in 1967. The first award, which will become annual, will be presented to George Balanchine posthumously and will be accepted by SAB Artistic Director Peter Martins.

The Encore is the Winter Ball’s after-party. After dinner, 200 of the city’s philanthropic chic young professionals join the Winter Ball for dancing and dessert. A highlight of the Winter Ball is a pièce d’occasion performed by the School’s students, choreographed by Adam Hendrickson (SAB alumnus and New York City Ballet Soloist).

Drew Altizer will be in New York to photograph the event, so check back later to see more from this wonderful evening.

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Mary Tyler Moore
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A lesson in 'ministering to the one'

By Jerry Johnston

Wednesday, Mar. 25, 2009

Last week, Sister D. baked me a lemon pie. I won't give her name. I don't want to undermine the spirit of her gift. I will say I know of no other sister who has less free time to pinch and poke pie crusts for crusty old newspaper columnists.

My first thought was of Jack Handy's little tidbit of wisdom: "When you die, if you get a choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if it's not, mmmmmmmmm, boy!"

I also knew if I didn't share her gift I would never get to pie heaven.

I gave several people a taste.

"This is not her first pie," my wife said, licking her lips.

A member of our Spanish-speaking branch got scriptorial. "Do you think we could multiply it, like the loaves and fishes?" he said.

One single guy, who I knew couldn't cook his way out of a paper bag, wanted the recipe. And my grandson, Lincoln, who hates the taste of lemon, loved that pie dearly.

I'm telling you all this, of course, for a couple of reasons.

The first reason is to make you all hungry and envious.

The second is to show the power that comes when one individual focuses on another.

The gift was a lesson in "ministering to the one."

Years ago I was asked to pinch hit for our TV critic on a Hollywood press tour. At one point there I ended up in a corner with the four writers who gave the world "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." I asked them why their scripts had so much more staying power than others. They told me it was because they never thought about making jokes or making statements about society. What they did was focus intensely on each individual character -- their fears, dreams and feelings.

Would Mary throw that shoe or not?

Would Ted burst into tears?

By keeping their eyes on individual characters, they made "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" memorable and bright.

By doing the same with the individual "characters" we know, we can do the same with our own lives.

One on one, the job gets done.

There's an old expression: "He can't see the forest for the trees." It means a person misses the big picture by looking too hard at the details.

But I've always thought the expression should be turned on its head. It should read, "He can't see the trees for the forest."

In other words, he can't see the individual because he's so focused on the group.

He can't see individual Muslims. He only sees the group.

He can't see individual Republicans, Democrats, Mormons or Mexicans because he only sees them as part of a group.

But when we finally get past that, when -- like cowboys -- we finally cut a calf out of the herd for special treatment, that's when we begin to make the connections that can literally change our lives and change our world.

But then, the sister who baked my pie knows that. She has been doing it for years.

She learned it at the knee of a couple of other people who've spent their lives "ministering to the one."

The End of the Global War on Terror

By Al Kamen
The end of the Global War on Terror -- or at least the use of that phrase -- has been codified at the Pentagon. Reports that the phrase was being retired have been circulating for some time amongst senior administration officials, and this morning speechwriters and other staff were notified via this e-mail to use "Overseas Contingency Operation" instead.

"Recently, in a LtGen [John] Bergman, USMC, statement for the 25 March [congressional] hearing, OMB required that the following change be made before going to the Hill," Dave Riedel, of the Office of Security Review, wrote in an e-mail.

"OMB says: 'This Administration prefers to avoid using the term "Long War" or "Global War on Terror" [GWOT]. Please use "Overseas Contingency Operation.'"

Riedel asked recipients to "Please pass on to your speech writers and try to catch this change before the statements make it to OMB."

An OMB spokesman took issue with the interpretation of OMB's wishes. "There was no memo, no guidance," said Kenneth Baer. "This is the opinion of a career civil servant."

Referring to the phrase "global war on terror," Baer said, "I have no reason to believe that would be stricken" from Hill testimony.

By way of history, senior Bush administration officials several years ago wanted to stop using the phrase and switch to something many felt might better reflect the realities of the fight against international terrorism.

One leading option was to change the name to GSAVE, or Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism. This was not as catchy an acronym as GWOT, but officials felt it more accurately described the battle.Then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld even used the GSAVE abbreviation publicly.

But, in a White House meeting, President Bush ruled that it was still a war for him, and Rumsfeld and everyone else went back to GWOT.

Obama's Notre Dame speech draws protests

By John McCormick |Chicago Tribune's Breaking News blog

3:06 PM EDT, March 24, 2009

President Barack Obama's plan to speak at the University of Notre Dame's commencement ceremony this spring is generating disapproval among some on the heavily Catholic campus and triggering protest by national anti-abortion groups.

"In many ways, the president does not have a whole lot in line with the mission of this university, especially in terms of its Catholicism," said Mary Daly, president of the campus Right to Life club.

Daly said Obama's views on abortion and stem cell research run counter to Catholic teaching and he should not be given such a prominent speaking platform. "People look to this university as a leading example of American Catholicism," she said.

Obama's May 17 speech in South Bend is one of three commencement addresses he is expected to give this spring. He has also agreed to speak to ceremonies at Arizona State University and the U.S. Naval Academy in Maryland.



Daly's club and others with similar views are in the process of trying to decide how to move their protest forward. National Catholic organizations, meanwhile, are attempting to mobilize opposition to Obama's selection by reaching out to alums of the school and others.

The Cardinal Newman Society, an organization dedicated to the "renewal" of the nation's Catholic colleges and universities, has issued an "urgent alert" on its Web site. As of mid-morning today, the organization claimed more than 60,000 people had signed an online petition to stop the "scandal" at the university.

The Pro-Life Action League is urging supporters to call in protests to university president Rev. John Jenkins and ask him to un-invite Obama, something a university spokesman has said is highly unlikely.

As part of his visit, Obama is expected to be awarded an honorary degree, making him the ninth president to receive one from the university.

Jenkins told the campus newspaper, The Observer, the school is not honoring Obama for his stands on issues, but rather his leadership.

"The invitation of President Obama to be our commencement speaker should in no way be taken as condoning or endorsing his positions on specific issues regarding the protection of life, such as abortion and embryonic stem cell research," he told the paper. "You cannot change the world if you shun the people you want to persuade."

Daly, however, said she does not view a commencement address as an opportunity for dialogue on the issues. "It's a very much one-way conversation," she said.

Obama will be the sixth U.S. president since Dwight Eisenhower to speak at a Notre Dame commencement.

Is Calorie Restriction the Key to a Longer Life?

I distinctly remember speaking with an unknown elderly couple many years ago while seated next to them at a restaurant. I don't recall what started the conversation, but I do know that it had something to do with food. At any rate, the husband and wife -- both of whom looked rather healthy, despite the fact that they were in their late 80s -- proudly stated that the key to their longevity was not eating. "Huh?," I muttered through a mouthful of pasta primavera, only to be told once again by these fine people -- who dined only on small bowls of soup -- that they attributed their long lives to eating very, very little food.

Fast forward several years and millions of calories later, and I found myself thumbing through a copy of Men's Health magazine at Border's while I chomped on a protein bar. Amazingly, I came across a small article on how many people in Okinawa, Japan consume 700 calories less per day than the average Westerner. Apparently, this low-calorie diet is based on the eating principle known as hara hachi bu -- only eating until eight-tenths full. Researchers posit that this may be part of the reason why Okinawans have among the lowest rate of heart disease, osteoporosis, and hormone-dependent cancers.

And then, just when I thought I couldn't possibly find any more information to support the claims made years prior by the elderly couple I met, I came across a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Said study validated their assertion, showing that eating fewer calories extended the average lifespan.

And THEN, about a week ago, I stumbled upon a Barbara Walters interview with people who associated their good health to what would seem like a dangerously low amount of daily calories. No, they weren't starving themselves, they were simply following the old adage of eating like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a pauper at dinner. But, in doing so, they were eating far less total calories than the average person does.

Needless to say, I was a bit shocked to learn that the quaint and pleasant elderly couple I encountered years ago may have actually been onto something. I suppose I should have realized this at the time, for their sunny disposition and easily observed good health was evidence that at least some credence should be lent to their claim. It's not to say that eating less calories to be healthy is a new concept; rather, it's the idea of eating even less than what is considered to be eating less that struck me as somewhat surprising, if entirely confounding. How could we possibly be nourished if we are constantly malnourished? Unless -- and this is when the old folk's advice, the article in Men's Health, the peer-reviewed journal article, and the Barbara Walters interview suddenly culminated into a novel thought --our Western standards for proper nourishment are overinflated. Would we do just fine -- if not better -- if we consumed, as many Okinawans do, 700 calories less per day?

I'd be very interested to hear any of your opinions on this matter, particularly those of you from the medical community. I wish I could somehow track down that elderly couple and ask them if they could elucidate further on their theory on how to live a long, healthy life, but I never did get their names, let alone any contact information. That's a shame, really, since I'd be willing to bet that they're both still very much alive and continuing to enjoy pleasant dinner conversation with strangers.

Calorie Restriction Diet Plan

Calorie Restriction Diet Plan - One of the most popular diets is the calorie restriction diet, and it seems to be backed up by great medical results. This is different from fads diets that opt for one thing over the other because the calories we consume are filled with nutritional value.

With a calorie restriction diet plan, you are eating less calories than the ones you need to maintain your current weight. This amount of needed calories will vary from individual and well in each case you need to eat 25% calories than the ones needed. Unlike other diets, the nutritional value is also a key factor, this means that participants will only focus on healthy food that will prove to be better for the long term.

This calorie restriction diet plan was first noticed in animals and it yielded great results. Animals with this diet lived longer than animals with other diets, not only that but these animals also had less occurrences of certain diseases.

Benefits of the calorie restriction diet plan: better heart rate, lower body fat, healthy cholesterol levels, healthy blood sugar levels.

Drawbacks of the calorie restriction diet: loss of muscle mass, risk of anemia, risk of loss of bone density.