How Not To Fly (about)

Fairness Toward Jews Not Among Film's Merits

...it is in his depiction of Pilate, the Roman governor, and Caiaphas, the Jewish high priest, that [Mel] Gibson makes artistic choices that are questionable. Pilate is repeatedly viewed as someone who would like to set Jesus free, but can't.... History suggests Pilate was a brutal and mediocre bureaucrat.

Caiaphas, meanwhile, is shown persistently calling for nothing less than Jesus' death. Since the movie is so tightly focused on Jesus' final hours, there is no context behind this demand and as a result it seems to be driven by little but personal animosity.

...the unequal treatment of Pilate and Caiaphas seems to needlessly tip the balance of blame toward the Jewish leaders.

Smith & Wesson's New Chairman Resigns After Reports He Committed Armed Robberies

[Springfield, MA] The resignation by Minder, who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., came three weeks after The Arizona Republic reported that he had spent more than 10 years in Michigan prisons in the 1950s and 1960s for a string of armed robberies and an attempted prison escape.

Minder said he didn't disclose his criminal past to the other directors of the 150-year-old gun company prior to his election as chairman in mid-January.

"Nobody asked," he said...

Education Chief Sorry For Calling Teachers' Union Terrorists

Education Secretary Rod Paige admits it was an "inappropriate choice of words" to call the nation's largest teachers' union a "terrorist organization...."

Paige: "It was an inappropriate choice of words to describe the obstructionist scare tactics the NEA's Washington lobbyists have employed against No Child Left Behind's historic education reforms."

Sierra Club Urges Scalia To Get Off Cheney Case

At issue in the case, to be argued at the Supreme Court this spring, are allegations that energy industry executives and lobbyists were in on the Cheney meetings while environmentalists were shut out....

Scalia has said there was nothing improper about the [duck hunting] trip he took with Cheney three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to consider the case. The two men flew together in January on a government jet to the Louisiana hunting camp of a multimillionaire oil services tycoon....

At Amherst College this month Scalia said: "It's acceptable practice to socialize with executive branch officials when there are not personal claims against them. That's all I'm going to say for now. Quack, quack."

Schwarzenegger Fights Gay Unions

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has told his top legal official to act against the city of San Francisco for allowing gay marriages.

He ordered the state's attorney-general to take immediate steps to get a court ruling against the same-sex weddings. Mr Schwarzenegger said they represented "an imminent risk to civil order."

More than 3,000 gay couples have been married in San Francisco since the city's new mayor decided to defy state law and allow such weddings.

E-Mail Used To Alert Of STD Exposure

Fighting fire with fire, public health officials are using e-mail to try to stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases among people who meet through Internet chat rooms and Web sites. In a pilot program in Los Angeles County, health officials use e-mail and the Internet to notify the sex partners of people who had been diagnosed with STDS.

Senior High Takes Aim At Test Scores With Pep Rally Preceding ITED Tests

[Grand Island, NE] While students are being asked to do well on the tests to measure their own academic progress, [Principal] Mann acknowledged that the tests are also important because they will show how well Senior High measures up to the adequate yearly progress standards set by the federal education law No Child Left Behind.

Skilling Indicted For Fraud / Ex-Enron CEO Pleads Not Guilty, Bail Set At $5M; Faces Life In Prison And $80M In Fines

The charges against Skilling and Causey allege that from 1999 to 2001 the two men used various devices and schemes to manipulate Enron's financial results [manipulating the stock price....]

According to congressional investigators, Skilling sold more than 500,000 shares of Enron stock for more than $21 million in 1999 alone, and profited greatly by cashing in more stock in the months before the collapse.

Enron's questionable partnerships hid more than $1 billion in debt, ultimately plunging the company into bankruptcy.

"I spent probably most of my professional life helping to build Enron Corporation," Skilling told CNN's Larry King in 2002. "I don't think there was anyone that was as shocked by the collapse of the company as I was."

Dean Criticizes Kerry Over Attack Ads

[Milwaukee, WI] It was first revealed Tuesday that Torricelli, who is in the midst of raising cash for Kerry, transferred $50,000 of his own campaign funds to that group, which initially had refused to disclose its benefactors.

One commercial showed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and attempted to raise doubts about Dean's national security credentials. Other spots focused on Dean's record on NAFTA, his past comments on Medicare and his stand on gun rights....

Dean denied that the link from the ads to Torricelli to Kerry was a convoluted one. "The link is unassailable. The same fund-raiser, who is ethically challenged and had to step aside from the [2002 NJ] Senate race because of that, raised money from the same donors to support both Senator Kerry and this... political action group..."

Bush And Rice Defend U.S. Basis For War

[National Security Adviser Condoleezza] Rice said the president promised after September 11 that he would do everything possible to avoid another attack on U.S. soil....

Former top U.S. weapons inspector David Kay said last month it was "highly unlikely" Iraq had significant stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction before the U.S.-led invasion. Under political pressure, Bush announced last week that a bipartisan commission would look into prewar intelligence in Iraq and other intelligence related to weapons of mass destruction.

Powell earlier had conceded that weapons of mass destruction have not yet been found in Iraq, but he said the search is not yet finished.

Guard Records On President Are Released

The White House released yesterday summaries of President Bush's Texas Air National Guard service records and pay documents... Summaries prepared by the Defense Financing Accounting Service indicate that Bush was paid for service in October and November 1972 and in January and April 1973....

In a contentious White House briefing yesterday, McClellan repeatedly said that the documents show the president "fulfilled his duties," as reporters asked for specifics not indicated in the documents....

[DNC chair Terry] McAuliffe again questioned Bush's service yesterday, declaring in a statement: "The handful of documents released... by the White House creates more questions than answers. The fact remains that there is still no evidence that George W. Bush showed up for duty as ordered while in Alabama...." [where Bush has been saying he did Guard drill.]

Three Wise Men May Have Been... Women

[London, England] A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women.

"Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom or gender embodied in the term," a Synod spokesman said on Tuesday after the revision was agreed by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year.

In the authorised 17th century King James bible used by up to 70 million worshippers in Anglican churches around the world, the gift-bearing visitors are referred to as "The Three Wise Men."

Nothing Says 'Love' Like Body Armor

[Big Stone Gap, VA] Some newlyweds choose jewelry, flowers or candy for Valentine's Day gifts, but Sara Mullins-Spears picked something more practical to show she loves her husband, Robert: surplus FBI body armor and protective plates.

Mullins-Spears' stepfather, Staff Sgt. David Taylor, and husband, Sgt. Robert Spears, are among 45 members of the Virginia Army National Guard's 189th Engineer Company soldiers attached to the 276th Engineer Battalion as it awaits possible overseas deployment from Fort Dix, N.J.

"They called about a week ago," Mullins-Spears said. "They were told once they got overseas that they'd be issued ballistic vests and Kevlar plates, but there's this horrible fear because that's what the 1032nd Transportation Company was told. They've been over there a year now and are just getting the plates."

A 1032nd soldier, Spc. Nathaniel Williams of Fort Blackmore, survived a close-range gunshot to the chest Jan. 14, apparently because of homemade armor plates he fashioned while waiting for Army-issue armor since last March.

Second-Grader Suspended For 'Hell' Reference

[Pittsburgh, PA] A second-grade student got a one-day suspension from school after telling a boy he would go to hell for saying, "I swear to God..."

Pittsburgh Public Schools' student code of conduct prohibits profanity, but doesn't provide a clear definition. Lack of an explanation could lead to problems with enforcement of the policy, according to Vic Walczak, legal director of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

John Kerry Takes Five Out Of Seven States In Tuesday's Primaries

Kerry was the day's biggest winner by far. He scored decisive victories in Arizona, North Dakota, Delaware, New Mexico and Missouri.... the most delegates and now leads former governor Howard Dean of Vermont in that race 255 to 156 overall... To capture the nomination, a Democrat needs the backing of 2,161 party delegates....

In the South Carolina primary, Edwards cruised to an easy 15-point win over Kerry, taking home 45 percent of the vote.... Edwards has repeatedly bragged of being the only candidate who can win below the Mason-Dixon line [against George Bush] this fall.... In Oklahoma, Wesley Clark scratched out a razor-thin 1,300-vote victory over Edwards....

Dean skipped competing in the seven states that voted Tuesday. Instead, he is focusing on upcoming contests in Michigan and Washington...

After finishing a disappointing fifth in last week's New Hampshire primary, advisors urged [Joe Lieberman] to drop out of the race. Instead, he chose to focus on winning tiny Delaware. Kerry ultimately took the state by a giant margin, carrying 50 percent of the vote to Lieberman's 11 percent.

Police Dog Suspended; Bit Black Child

[McKees Rocks, PA] Dolpho attacked a 14-year-old black girl on Jan. 28 during a crime-prevention demonstration at a school but did not break the youngster's skin. The girl's parents said a white student petted the dog without incident before he attacked their daughter.

In 2002, town officials ordered a two-month investigation to determine if Dolpho was singling out blacks while on patrol after the dog escaped from police vehicle and bit a 9-year-old black boy playing nearby.

Apologetic Jackson Says 'Costume Reveal' Went Awry

"The decision to have a costume reveal at the end of my halftime show performance was made after final rehearsals," Jackson said in a statement. "MTV was completely unaware of it. It was not my intention that it go as far as it did...."

MTV posted this tease on its Web site last week: "Janet Jackson's Super Bowl show promises shocking moments."