The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Thursday, October 23, 2008 - 3A
NEWS BRIEFS
NEW YORK
Fear of recession
sparks causes
markets to drop
World stock markets sagged
again yesterday as a barrage of
weak corporate earnings stoked
fears that the government's finan-
cial intervention won't keep global
economies out of recession.
Poor earnings from large
companies in disparate sectors
-Wachovia Corp., Boeing and
Merck & Co. - illustrated how
wide the downturn had spread.
One bright spot was McDonald's
Corp., where third-quarter profits
rose thanks to the strength of its
low-priced meals.
Even with the aggressive steps
the government has already taken,
Treasury Secretary Henry Paul-
son told interviewer Charlie Rose
Tuesday, "Clearly, we're going to
have a number of difficult months
ahead of us in terms of the real
economy."
WASHINGTON
Poll shows race
narrowing
The presidential race tightened
after the final debate, with John
McCain gaining among whites and
people earning less than $50,000,
according to an Associated Press-
GfK poll that shows McCain and
Barack Obama essentially run-
ning even among likely voters in
the election homestretch.
The poll, which found Obama at
44 percent and McCain at 43 per-
cent, supports what some Republi-
cans and Democrats privately have
said in recent days: that the race
narrowed after the third debate as
GOP-leaning voters drifted home
to their party and McCain's "Joe
the plumber" analogy struck a
chord.
Three weeks ago, an AP-GfK
survey found that Obama had
surged to a seven-point lead over
McCain, lifted by voters who
thought the Democrat was better
suited to lead the nation through
its sudden economic crisis.
TEXARKANA, Ark.
New warrant
issued for
evangelist
Former followers of evangelist
Tony Alamo testified yesterday
they were often beaten at his in-
structions and one said Alamo
took a 9-year-old girl as his wife,
as prosecutors sought to prevent
him from being freed while await-
ing trial.
Alamo, 74, is in federal custody
waiting to face charges that he
took minors across state lines for
sex. His trial is scheduled for next
month.
While the hearing was under
way in Texarkana, Arkansas state
troopers executed a new search
warrant at the Tony Alamo Chris-
tian Ministries compound in
Fouke, State Police spokesman Bill
Sadler confirmed. He said he had
no other details. The mayor of the
small southwest Arkansas town,
Terry Purvis, said residents told
him the investigators did not stay
long at the compound.
WORCESTER, Mass.
Wood-devouring
beetle threatens
New England trees
S
A wood-devouring beetle has
gained a foothold in New England,
and authorities plan to cut down
large numbers of infested trees
and grind them up to stop the pest
from spreading to the region's cel-
ebrated forests and ravaging the
timber, tourism and maple-syrup
industries.
The infestation of Asian long-
horned beetles in the Worcester
area marks the fourth time the
pests have been found in trees in
the U.S. and the closest they have
ever come to the great New Eng-
land woods that erupt in dazzling,
tourist-pleasing colors in the fall.
- Compiled from
Daily wire reports
4,186
Number of American service
members who have died in the
war in Iraq, according to The
Associated Press. There were no
deaths identified yesterday.
London atheists make ads India launches first
denying existence of deity mission to moon
- ..- v
Bus advertisements
will say there is
'probably no God'
LONDON (AP) - London buses
have God on their side - but not for
long, if atheists have their way.
The sides ofsome ofLondon's red
buses will soon carry ads assert-
ing there is "probably no God," as
nonbelievers fight what they say is
the preferential treatment given to
religion in British society.
Organizersofacampaigntoraise
funds for the ads said Wednesday
they received more than $113,000
in donations, almost seven times
their target, in the hours since they
launched the project on a char-
ity Web site. Supporters include
Oxford University biologist Rich-
ard Dawkins, who donated $9,000.
The money will be used to place
posters on 30 buses carrying the
slogan "There's probably no God.
Now stop worrying and enjoy your
life." The plan was to run the ads
for four weeks starting in January,
but so much money has been raised
that the project may be expanded.
"A lot of people say tryingto orga-
nize atheists is like herding cats. The
last couple of days shows that is not
true," said comedy writer Ariane
Sherine, who started the campaign.
While most London buses carry
posters for shops or Hollywood
movies, Christian churches and
Muslim groups have bought bus-
side ad space in the past.
Sherine came up with the idea
after seeing a series of Christian
posters on London buses. She said
she visited the Web site promoted
on one ad and found it told nonbe-
lievers they would spend eternity
in torment in hell.
"I thought it would be a really
positive thing to counter that by
putting forward a much happier
and more upbeat advert, saying
'Don't worry, you're not going to
hell,"' said Sherine, 28. "Atheists
believe this is the only life we have,
and we should enjoy it."
The British Humanist Associa-
tion, which is administering the
fundraising drive, said it had been
so successful the campaign might
spread to other cities including
Manchester and Edinburgh.
Most Britons identify them-
selves as Christians, but few attend
church regularly, and public figures
rarely talk about their beliefs. For-
mer Prime Minister Tony Blair was
rare among politicians in speaking
openly about his Christian faith.
Dawkins, author of the best-
selling atheist manifesto "The
God Delusion," said that religion
nonetheless held a privileged posi-
tion in society.
"Religious organizations have
an automatic tax-free charitable
status," he said. "Bishops sit in the
House of Lords automatically. Reli-
gious leaders get preferential treat-
ment on all sorts of commissions.
"This campaign to put alterna-
tive slogans on London buses will
make people think - and thinking
is anathema to religion." .
Dawkins said that as an athe-
ist he "wasn't wild" about the ad's
assertion that there was "prob-
ably" no God.
Sherine said the word was
included to ensure the posters
didn't breach transit advertising
regulations, which stipulate ads
should not offend religious people.
Few believers appeared offend-
ed by the campaign, although most
doubted it would work.
"I think people will ask them-
selves, 'On what basis can they
make that statement?" said Inayat
Bunglawala of the Muslim Council
of Britain.
Satellite will map
lunar surface during
two-year mission
NEW DELHI (AP) - India
launched its first mission to the
moon yesterday, rocketing a satel-
lite up into the pale dawn sky in a
two-year mission to redraw maps
of the lunar surface.
Clapping and cheering scien-
tists tracked the ascent on com-
puter screens after they lost sight
of Chandrayaan-1 from the Sri-
harikota space center in southern
India. Chandrayaan means "Moon
Craft" in ancient Sanskrit.
Indian Space Research Orga-
nization chairman G. Madhavan
Nair said the mission is to "unravel
the mystery of the moon."
"We have started our journey to
the moon and the first leg has gone
perfectly well," he said.
Chief among the mission'sgoals is
mapping not only the surface of the
moon, but what lies beneath. If suc-
cessful, India will join what's shap-
ing up as a 21st century space race
with Chinese and Japanese crafts
already in orbit around the moon.
To date only the U.S., Russia, the
European Space Agency, Japan and
China have sent moon missions.
As India's economy has boomed
in recent years, it has sought to con-
vert its newfound wealth - built
on the nation's high-tech sector -
into political and military clout. It
is hoping that the moon mission -
coming just months after finalizing
a deal with the United States that
recognizes Indiaas anuclear power
- will further enhance its status.
Untilnow,India'sspacelaunches
have mainly carried weather warn-
ing satellites and communication
systems, said former NASA associ-
ate administrator Scott Pace, direc-
tor of space policy at the George
Washington University.
"You're seeing India lifting its
sights," Pace said.
While much of the technology
involved in reaching the moon has
not changed since the Soviet Union
and the U.S. did it more than four
decades ago, analysts say new map-
ping equipment allowsthe explora-
tion of new areas, including below
the surface.
India plans to use the 3,080-
pound lunar probe to create a high-
resolution map of the lunar surface
and the minerals below. Two of the
mapping instruments are a joint
project with NASA.
In the last year, Asian nations
have taken the lead in moon explo-
ration. In October 2007, Japan
sent up the Kaguya spacecraft.
A month later, China's Chang'e-1
entered lunar orbit.
Those missions took high-
resolution pictures of the moon,
but are not as comprehensive as
Chandrayaan-1 will be or NASA's
half-a-billion-dollar Lunar Recon-
naissance Orbiter scheduled to be
launched next year, Pace said. The
most comprehensive maps of the
moon were made about 40 years
ago duringtheApollo era, he said.
"We don'treallyhavereallygood
modern maps of the moon with
modern instrument," Pace said.
"The quality of the Martian maps,
I would make a general argument,
is superior to what we have of the
moon."
Despite Palm's 'hockey mom' image,
GOP spent $150,000 on her clothes
NEW YORK (AP) - Who knew
looking like a hockey mom was
this darned expensive?
Certainly not Wanda Routier,
a proud hockey mom in Hewitt,
Wis., who spends her time in sweat
pants, turtlenecks, ankleboots and
heavy coats.
She was dismayed to hear yes-
terday that the Republican Party
had spent $150,000 in two months
on clothes, hair styling and acces-
sories for Sarah Palin and her fam-
ily from such upscale stores as Saks
Fifth Avenue and Nieman Marcus.
"Iwas putoffbyit," Routier said.
"I mean I know they have an image
to project, but that's alot of money
when we're talking about the econ-
omy the way it is! And the burden
on ordinary Americans."
But another hockey mom
defended Palin. "I can certainly
imagine her clothes would cost
that much," said Page Growney,
a mother of four in upscale New
Canaan, Conn. "What did you
want to see her in, a turtleneck
from L.L. Bean?"
As much of the world knows,
Palin introduced herself at the
GOPconvention-inwhat'sbeen
widely reported to be a $2,500
Valentino jacket - as a "regular
hockey mom," and boasted of
having saved Alaska's taxpayers
"over-the-top" expenditures like
her luxury jet, her personal chef,
even the ride to work.
She has often talked of "real
Americans" and "Joe Six-Pack"
and projected a folksy demeanor
in her vice presidential debate.
"Let's do what our parents
told us before we probably even
got that first credit card," she said
in that debate. "Don't live outside
of our means."
The average U.S. household
spent $1,874 on clothes and ser-
vices in 2006, the last year for
which figures are available from
the government's Bureau of Labor
Statistics.
So her detractors were natural-
ly having a field day with the rev-
elations, first reported on Politico.
com. They included a whopping
$75,062 shopping spree at Neiman
Marcus in Minneapolis, one for
$49,425 from Saks Fifth Avenue,
$4,902 at Atelier, a stylish.men's
store, and even a $92 romper and
matching hat with ears for baby
Trig at Pacifier, a Minneapolis
baby store.
"Nothingsays Main Streetquite
like Saks Fifth Avenue," wrote
Talking Points Memo's David
Kurtz. Added AMERICAblog's
John Aravosis: "Gee, Marshalls
and Target are too good for Mrs.
Joe Six-Pack?"
The episode naturally raised
questions about the propriety
of using party money for such
expenses. The Republican Nation-
al Committee said the clothes
belong to the committee, while
John McCain's campaign said the
clothing would go to a "charitable
purpose" after the campaign.
NIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
School of Social Work
FEDELE F. AND IRIS M. FAURI MEMORIAL LECTURE
"The Impact of the Aging of America
on Children's Health"
Gary L. Freed, MD, MPH
U-M professor of pediatrics,
professor of health management and policy
H,-,, 0
Mon., Oct. 27, 3 p.m.
RSVP 734-763-6886
1080 S. University
Ann Arbor