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U. of I. Trustees President To Retire Mascot (CBS) CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The University of Illinois mascot Chief Illiniwek will be discontinued after next week. The mascot will perform for the last time on Wednesday, at the U of I's last regular season basketball game, a news release from the university said. U of I Board of Trustees President Larry Eppley announced plans earlier to retire Chief Illiniwek single-handedly on Friday, under pressure from Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones, the Daily Illini reported late Thursday. "The Chief Illiniwek tradition inspired and thrilled members of the University of Illinois community...

HEY YOU! YEAH YOU, LURKER FROM DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND OR DKOS. Please post this Christmas Greeting from all us here at Free Republic. And send it to your friends to. We wish them a Merry Christmas as well. They can't help that you are full of hate and embarrassment for your own country. For My Democratic Friends: "Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, our best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your...

CROWN POINT, Ind. -- Prayer has been banned at 4-H meetings in Lake County, Ind. A memorandum issued last month by the Lake County Cooperative Extension Service said prayer is forbidden at all times, including to "begin or close meetings, fundraisers, camp sessions, including meals, and/or award ceremonies." Stan Sims, the county extension director, said he issued the directive because: "We want to respect peoples' beliefs and be inclusive." No single incident prompted his note. The formal prayers had been a tradition at various events, including 4-H, which has more than 800 youth members in Lake County. The new policy...

PHILADELPHIA - City officials are expected to file a complaint Monday against an English-only ordering policy at Geno’s Steaks, one of Philadelphia’s best-known cheesesteak joints that has entered the national immigration debate. Situated in a South Philadelphia immigrant neighborhood, Geno’s has posted small signs telling customers, “This Is AMERICA: WHEN ORDERING ‘SPEAK ENGLISH.’” “We’re alleging that the sign itself is enough of an unwelcoming message that it may violate the Fair Practices Act,” Rachel Lawton, acting executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. Owner Joseph Vento, 66, whose grandparents struggled to learn English after...

BAGHDAD, June 1, 2006 – The top coalition operational commander in Iraq has directed his subordinate commanders to conduct training in "core warrior values" for all coalition forces, highlighting the importance of adhering to legal, moral and ethical standards on the battlefield, military officials here announced today. Officials said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Multinational Corps Iraq commander, ordered the training to reinforce and sustain training servicemembers received prior to their deployment to Iraq. The order comes as the military investigates allegations of servicemembers killing unarmed Iraqi civilians. "Of the nearly 150,000 coalition forces presently in Iraq, 99.9...

A Richland County senator says the University of South Carolina needs to rethink its “Fighting Gamecock” mascot if the Legislature passes tougher penalties on cockfighting. If the bill passes, “how can we as lawmakers and other leaders of this state justify a major institution in our state running ads and logos on billboards with a fighting gamecock with spurs on the feet?” asked Sen. Darrell Jackson. Jackson’s question came as Attorney General Henry McMaster testified before a Senate subcommittee asking lawmakers to pass a bill raising the penalties for cockfighting, which currently is a $100 fine. The panel took no...

The Times March 07, 2006 Why black sheep are barred and Humpty can't be cracked By Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent TRADITIONAL nursery rhymes are being rewritten at nursery schools to avoid causing offence to children. Instead of singing “Baa baa, black sheep” as generations of children have learnt to do, toddlers in Oxfordshire are being taught to sing “Baa baa, rainbow sheep”. The move, which critics will seize on as an example of political correctness, was made after the nurseries decided to re-evaluate their approach to equal opportunities. Stuart Chamberlain, manager of the Family Centre in Abingdon and the Sure...

THE typical blond, blue-eyed lifesaver is being challenged by a Victorian Government program to get people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds involved in the volunteer service. The campaign, backed by a $3 million grant, has the double aims of promoting racial tolerance and reducing drownings among people from non-English speaking backgrounds. Acting Premier John Thwaites said today the Victorian Government and Life Saving Victoria had begun recruiting "multicultural ambassadors" to spread water safety messages as part of the state's Play it Safe by the Water campaign. The campaign is being delivered in 15 languages as well as English. "We...

Air-quality regulators planned to sample the air around the Santa Susana Field Lab late Thursday for contamination that may have been released when the Topanga Fire roared through the hilltop lab. Thursday was supposed to be the day of the final rocket test at the field lab, ending testing operations at the hilltop site. Instead, it was at the center of a massive brush fire that stretched miles through the rugged area. Several vacant buildings at the site were burned, and an office and machine shop were damaged by the flames. But hazardous waste and radioactive facilities were not affected,...

While looking at the new calender on the desk at work last night I noticed that on January 20th 2005 there is nothing mentioned about the Presidential Inauguration on that day, BUT what is there is this (Eid) al AdhaSo I look through the rest of the months and find this (Eid) al Fitr on November 4th 2005This is on the Staples Desk Calender made by Mead Westvaco Consumer and Office Products.

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Oklahoma tourism officials have recalled about 200,000 brochures with images of activities that may have seemed uninviting to some travelers, such as cow manure tossing and re-enacting Confederate battles, officials said on Wednesday. The pamphlet, called 2005 Annual Events Guide, featured events and activities throughout Oklahoma. It was also riddled with spelling, grammatical and factual mistakes. "We discovered the material in the event guide was culturally insensitive and contained errors," said state tourism director Rob Gray. One item that may not have helped was a photo of an event in which lumps of cow manure are...

WASHINGTON - Israeli-made bullets bought by the U.S. army to plug a shortfall should be used for training only, not to fight Muslim guerrillas in Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. lawmakers told army generals on Thursday. Since the army has other stockpiled ammunition, "by no means, under any circumstances should a round [from Israel] be utilized," said Rep. Neil Abercrombie of Hawaii, the top Democrat on a House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee with jurisdiction over land forces. The army contracted with Israel Military Industries in December for $70 million in small-caliber ammunition. The Israeli firm was one of only two...

PORTLAND — Farm-raised salmon contains more cancer-causing PCBs than wild fish and other common foods, according to a report released Wednesday by a public health advocacy group. The study, by the Environmental Working Group, tested 10 samples of farmed salmon bought in three U.S. cities, including Portland. Farmed salmon now makes up 80 percent of fresh salmon sold around the country. Opinions differ about whether the risk of polychlorinated biphenyls outweighs health benefits of eating seafood. The salmon tested by the Washington, D.C.-based group would be safe under U.S. Food and Drug Administration standards for fish sold in supermarkets. The...

ORANGE COUNTY Businesses Clash Over Downtown Santa Ana Strategy Dispute: Effort by merchants group and city to woo more diverse shoppers will 'bleach' area, Latinos say. By JENNIFER MENA TIMES STAFF WRITER September 18 2002 Merchants in downtown Santa Ana have engaged a mediator to help resolve deep-seated differences over public relations and advertising campaigns intended to draw more diverse shoppers to their predominantly Latino business district. The Santa Ana Downtown Business Assn. has severely cut back on advertising in Spanish-language newspapers and radio, instead directing the trade group's dues to improvements such as more lighting and landscaping, cleaner sidewalks...

The Bush administration has clearly lost the momentum that seemed irresistible in the wake of September 11, when all ambiguity was blown away on a date that shares infamy. The prospect of hanging concentrates the mind, as Dr. Johnson famously said, but nothing is permanent. Nothing much has happened since September 11, so a lot of us have stepped down from the gallows and back to the carefree life. Some of the things the government has done - color-coded warnings, streets-closings to make motorcades safe, warnings of suitcase bombs posted from Moscow - have hardly helped. The lick-and-a-promise approach to...