Facebook has been trying to copy Snapchat for so long it has become a kind of running gag in tech circles. The social networking giant started trying to duplicate the ephemeral-messaging app’s core features even before it offered $3 billion in a failed bid to buy the company in 2013. And the reason why says a lot about what makes the service so powerful.

The latest copy cat attempt came on Tuesday, when Facebook-owned Instagram introduced a new feature called Stories that lets users share a collection of photos and videos that disappears after 24 hours. The new offering is fundamentally identical to Snapchat’s Stories, right down to the name.

Depending on how you count, this is the fourth or fifth such move by Facebook FB . The first was an app called Poke, which offered messages that disappeared automatically. It was released in 2012 and shut down in 2014. In 2013, Instagram premiered Instagram Direct, a private-messaging feature, and in 2014 Facebook debuted an app called Slingshot, which it also later mothballed.

Each of these attempts has tried to imitate one or more of Snapchat’s core features: 1) It is private, and therefore there are no public likes or favorites or comments, and 2) Its messages are “ephemeral,” which means that they automatically disappear after a specified period of time.

In the early days, those attributes meant Snapchat was dismissed by many observers as a “sexting” app, designed to allow teens or twenty-somethings to send intimate photos. But it turned out to be far more powerful than just that, which in turn has helped the company raise multiple rounds of funding, to the point where its theoretical market value is now $19 billion.

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In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom put his finger on one of the things that has made Snapchat’s features so appealing to younger users. He admitted that his company’s new feature was essentially a copy of Snapchat, and said that this was because “we need to have a place where you feel free to post whatever you want without the nagging fear of, did someone like that or not?”

Although the Instagram CEO didn’t provide any figures on Instagram sharing, the Journal quoted from internal documents that said more than half of all teen users of the app delete their posts if they don’t get enough likes or favorites. In other words, the fact that updates are public creates a kind of performance anxiety for many users, something Facebook and Twitter users have also mentioned.

Snapchat you used far more per day; once you shared a single Instagram photo, that was it, you didn't want to overdo. Insta had to fix this.

— Daniel Roberts (@readDanwrite) August 2, 2016

Posts on Snapchat, by contrast, don’t have any public likes or favorites or comments, or follower counts. Justin Kan, who sold his streaming-video startup Twitch to Amazon for $1 billion in 2014, pointed out in a Medium post earlier this year that a lot of the social and psychological friction that other services have simply isn’t there with Snapchat. And as a result, engagement levels are much higher.

On Snapchat, the frictional cost is low: the content doesn’t have to be that good, because it is going to disappear anyways, and everyone else’s content isn’t that great either. There’s no public view count, follower count, likes count, or any other social dick-measuring contest.

The only problem for Snapchat is that messages that disappear automatically aren’t a great environment for advertising, or for creating content that is engaging across a broader cross-section of users—something that Instagram has proven to be very good at. That’s why Snapchat has created newer features such as Discover, which features media content; and Memories, where users can save posts and stories.

Snapchat just raised almost $2 billion in funding. Watch:

Many younger users don’t seem to have any interest in these other features, however. They simply want to continue sharing their private photo and video messages without any pressure to perform or to rack up likes and followers. Can Instagram convince them that its new Stories feature is good for that as well, or will it just seem like a shameless copy-cat with no ideas of its own?

In a sense, Snapchat wants to become a little more like Instagram so that it can appeal to advertisers, while Instagram wants to become a bit more like Snapchat so that it can lure younger users who don’t like the social pressure of a public feed. Which one reaches its goal first remains to be seen—and there are tens of billions of dollars in value resting on the outcome.

Summary: The power of Snapchat rests on two of its core features, which Facebook keeps trying to duplicate


Brock Turner’s probation officer had urged the judge on his case to give him a lenient sentence because he was drunk when he sexually assaulted a woman with the intent to commit rape.

In recently released documents, the probation officer, Monica Lassettre wrote, “This case, when compared to other crimes of similar nature, may be considered less serious due to the defendant’s level of intoxication.”

Lassettre, who recommended a sentence of four to six months in county jail, also wrote that Turner would “likely be highly impacted as a result of his convictions, and he surrendered a hard earned swimming scholarship.”

Judge Aaron Persky has come under fire (and is facing a recall campaign) for sentencing the former Stanford student to only six months in county jail when he was facing a maximum sentence of 14 years in state prison.

On the other side of the argument, Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci wrote that the victim’s own drunkenness at the time of the assault was reason for a harsher sentence, calling it an “aggravating factor warranting a prison sentence.”

Summary: She said the crime was "less serious due to the defendant’s level of intoxication”


SALZBURG, Austria — Thomas Adès’s new opera, “The Exterminating Angel,” based on the surreal 1962 Luis Buñuel film, had its premiere at the Salzburg Festival on July 28; it arrives at the Metropolitan Opera next year. One of the great composers of his generation, Mr. Adès, 45, has written only two previous operas — “Powder Her Face” (1995) and “The Tempest” (2003) — so this was a major event.

In the story, members of an entitled elite inured to societal injustices enter a mansion for a lavish dinner party and become psychologically trapped there. I wrote that Mr. Adès’s score was “exceptionally inventive and audacious,” and many other reviews were just as positive: The London Observer called it “a momentous evening: a turning point for Adès and, it felt, for opera itself.”

A few days after the premiere, I spoke with Mr. Adès at the festival about adaptations, cuts and his future plans. These are edited excerpts from the conversation.

When you did “The Tempest,” you said in advance that this was a Shakespeare play and you were taking it and doing what you wanted with it and making it yours.

It literally was the case that it wouldn’t have been possible to do it otherwise. Maybe I shouldn’t have. But like it or lump it.

But “The Exterminating Angel” is a classic movie. It’s the only version out there. That must be more intimidating.

You’re quite right, although any movie has a relationship with its screenplay. And there was a play before. And there are actually many different versions of the screenplay. We stick fairly closely to the movie in terms of the order of incidents. We stick fairly closely to the final screenplay. But I amplified some things that in a way are suppressed in the final film. [Buñuel] was making it under very difficult circumstances, in exile in Mexico. He didn’t have access to many of the things he wanted. So in some ways, I was able to bring it back. Also the difference is that the film — one of its great qualities — is played, a lot of it, very low-key, so dialogue is all on one level.

And absolutely no music. The acting, with certain exceptions, is quite restrained. With an opera, one’s doing in a way the opposite and bringing out the latent psychological and emotional meaning. The music underlines the power of the feeling. In some ways, I found that operatic subjects, whether it’s a source that you use or a real-life thing, are subjects that seem to invite a further dimension that in a way would bring them to some kind of new stature.

Well, what’s happening to the characters in this film is horrifying. Yet, as you said, Buñuel plays it with detachment. But you chose to show some of that horror. Music can do that: The orchestra tells you what’s really going on.

I’ve enjoyed that with it. Because you’re quite right, it is a horror in every way. But it’s also, I think, much of the time, I was finding how funny it is, the deluded nature of what they’re saying could be very, very funny, and the music could bring out both sides perhaps of that as well.

The piece will travel to other houses. Is it fixed? Are you tinkering?

I’m not sure. There might be a couple what you call director’s cuts. The very first draft was very much longer. Just in the process of finalizing, several things hit the cutting floor. At the moment, I’m not feeling their loss particularly. I’ll almost certainly tinker with some of it, just, we call it, going around the chassis and tightening a few nuts and bolts. It must be said that I do feel the thing is now there as a living, breathing organism. So there’s not that much that one can do without scarring the whole.

If the cuts prove to be at all jarring, you can actually make a piece seem longer.

That’s true. I think so. But things did shift here. I did add a tiny bit right toward the end, when the chorus first comes back in. One had to feel for a split second longer that it was a happy ending. I added four bars. Seemed to sit better.

One challenge for contemporary opera is writing for the voice, figuring out the relationship of the vocal line to words. Have you thought about these issues and challenges? Your first opera, of course, was “Powder Her Face.”

I’ve had much more practice in the theater since then. I suppose one thing, I am more conscious of the dangers in terms of making music foolproof with various things that can happen in the theater. Foolproof is too strong a word. “Powder Her Face,” I was 25 or something. It’s quite fragile orchestration; there’s not a lot of doubling. It’s written for a smallish room, 120 people or so, so when it’s done in a cavernous place for 2,000, the orchestra can easily get lost. The vocal writing, there’s nowhere to hide. It’s almost like a form of pantomime in the theater. So as I’ve gone out, I started figuring out ways to anticipate someone’s having an off day.

Do you have another opera in the works?

I think my average of one a decade might hold. Right now, I’m thinking more of ballet. I think I’ve come to a certain point with opera. We’ll see. My music seems to want to go to the stage with dancers. There have been a lot of ballet versions of my pieces. Maybe I should write a ballet. Might be quite a nice change.

A version of this article appears in print on August 6, 2016, on page C3 of the New York edition with the headline: A Surreal Film Reborn as an Operatic ‘Organism’. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: After the premiere of “The Exterminating Angel,” the composer talks about how he made this haunting opera derived from Luis Buñuel’s 1962 film all his own.


A few months ago, Lilly King was training out of her dorm room at Indiana University. On Monday night, she became an American hero, winning gold in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Rio Olympics. And the victory came with major drama.

On Sunday, Yulia Efimova, the 2015 world champion in the 100 breaststroke, raised a finger, calling herself No. 1 after winning her semifinal. Backstage, King wagged her own finger at the Russian. King then won the second semifinal heat, raised her own finger and called out Efimova on NBC: "You've been caught for drug-cheating. I'm just not a fan."

Lilly King doesn't hold back. Monday’s 100m breaststroke final is about. To go. Down. https://t.co/BWGaUNiTHM https://t.co/YknNeqjv6H

— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) August 8, 2016

Efimova was suspended from Oct. 2013-Feb. 2015 for steroid use, and she was temporarily banned for this Olympics after failing a test for meldonium.

In the pool Monday, King and Efimova raced side by side in the middle lanes. At the end, King pulled away for the gold. At 1:04.93, she set an Olympic record. Efimova's time was 1:05.50.

"It's incredible, just winning a gold medal, and knowing I did it clean," King said.

King, 19, talked the talk and walked the walk. Then America celebrated on social media.

Lilly King to Russia pic.twitter.com/L5zgJ3aE4Y

— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) August 9, 2016

— Luke Kerr-Dineen (@LukeKerrDineen) August 9, 2016

Lilly King to Russia pic.twitter.com/vnbJu1ihoX

— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) August 9, 2016

Lilly King wins the 100m breast stroke! pic.twitter.com/oG4QIz86aI

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) August 9, 2016

— Chris Kroeger (@Kroeger) August 9, 2016

Lilly!Bet this Indiana car wash is LIT tonight. pic.twitter.com/HGome2DBHF

— Brett Edgerton (@EditorEdge) August 9, 2016

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.” - Lilly King

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) August 9, 2016

Lilly King be like ... pic.twitter.com/POygyNXlRl

— Art Stapleton (@art_stapleton) August 9, 2016

There were a lot of Rocky IV references:

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 9, 2016

— Neil Greenberg (@ngreenberg) August 9, 2016

Hearts on Fire #TeamUSA #LilyKing pic.twitter.com/4kvFn39cbf

— Sean Donovan (@TheSeanDon) August 9, 2016

Lilly King vs. Yulia Efimova right now... pic.twitter.com/apI6eerfLU

— Jeffrey Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) August 9, 2016

King gets a much needed day off Tuesday. She returns to the pool Wednesday for her heat in the 200 breaststroke.

Katie Meili, a 25-year-old Texan, won the bronze medal in the 100 breaststroke and embraced King, as Efimova looked on.

More Olympics: -- These Were The 5 Best Olympics Ever -- Why Michael Phelps Has Red Spots -- Kyrie Irving And Coach K Have 'Unfinished Business'

Follow Jeffrey Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband.

Lilly King, Olympic Swimming, Olympics, Rio Olympics, Swimming, Yulia Efimova

Summary: Lilly King talks the talk and walks the walk in her showdown with Yulia Efimova in Olympic swimming.


In 1973, the critic Susan Sontag wrote about viewing, for the first time, photographs of World War II concentration camps: “One’s first encounter with the photographic inventory of ultimate horror is a kind of revelation, perhaps the only revelation people are granted now, a negative epiphany. For me, it was photographs of Bergen-Belsen and Dachau which I came across by chance in a bookstore in Santa Monica in July, 1945. Nothing I have seen—in photographs or in real life—ever cut me as sharply, deeply, instantaneously. Ever since then, it has seemed plausible to me to think of my life as being divided into two parts: before I saw those photographs (I was twelve) and after. My life was changed by them, though not until several years later did I understand what they were about.”

I had a similar feeling last week while watching, along with millions of others, Diamond Reynolds using her cellphone to broadcast via Facebook Live as her bloodied boyfriend, Philando Castile, a school cafeteria supervisor, lay dying next to her, having been shot multiple times by a policeman. “Stay with me,” she says, extraordinarily calm at the beginning of what would be nearly a ten-minute live broadcast, her four-year-old daughter with her in the car, while the policeman who killed Castile is outside, his gun drawn, facing them. “We got pulled over for a busted tail light in the back and the police just, he … they killed my boyfriend. He’s licensed… he’s licensed to carry,” she narrates to whomever is watching. “He was trying to get out his ID and his wallet out his pocket, and he let the officer know that he was, that he had a firearm and that he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm.”

Then we watch as the policeman is heard saying, “Ma’am, keep your hands where they are.” She responds, one of several times she refers to him as “sir,” perhaps as a way not to get shot herself: “I will sir, no worries, I will.” And a bit later the officer, increasingly distraught, exclaims, “I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hands up!” And she has the presence to answer, “He had, you told him to get his ID, sir, his driver’s license. Oh my God please don’t tell me he’s dead.” Then, for the second time, we hear the officer say “Fuck.”

Reynolds becomes more upset when she is handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car. We hear her daughter say, “That’s OK mommy.” And then a moment later she says, “It’s OK, I’m right here with you.” Crying, Reynolds then makes an appeal, “Y’all please pray for us, Jesus, please y’all. I ask everybody on Facebook, everybody that’s watching, everybody that’s tuned in please pray for us. Sister I know I just dropped you off but I need you to pick me up….”

Read next: Video Shows Grisly Aftermath of Fatal Shooting of Black Man in Minnesota

The viewer is horrified, and somehow complicit. We have intruded on a scene of such utter agony, and from such distance, that it feels like we must do something. But what can be done? Sontag asked a similar question concerning her experience of viewing the photographs of the concentration camps: “What good was served by seeing them? They were only photographs—of an event I had scarcely heard of and could do nothing to affect, of suffering I could hardly imagine and could do nothing to relieve. When I looked at those photographs, something was broken. Some limit had been reached, and not only that of horror; I felt irrevocably grieved, wounded, but a part of my feelings started to tighten; something went dead; something is still crying.”

The lives of the survivors in that car, Diamond Reynolds and her daughter Dae’Anna, of the Minnesota policeman who shot and killed Castile, and of the others who were there at the scene, have been profoundly and irrevocably changed. But so have the lives of the viewers, as we watched the shooting’s immediate aftermath broadcast from within the vehicle, narrated and filmed by a young woman whose boyfriend was dying and whose daughter was watching during what should have been a routine traffic stop. Unlike Sontag’s experience, in the digital age millions of us were able to look on transfixed just as the horror was unfolding, either live or soon afterwards. What do we say to our children? What can we do other than vent our rage? How do we sleep at night?

We can expect that the horrors broadcast, in order to continue to attract our attention, will become even more awful.

The gauntlet is thrown, the trauma is widespread, and we are left knowing that someone, anyone, using Facebook Live, or Twitter’s Periscope, or a comparable app, will soon broadcast yet another horror—as happened only the next day when five Dallas policemen, there to protect people marching peacefully at a Black Lives Matter protest, were killed by a crazed sniper who was himself then killed by a robot with a bomb. And we can expect that the horrors broadcast, in order to continue to attract our attention, will become even more awful as happens when image is used as spectacle.

In an interview on BuzzFeed after the release of the Facebook Live feature earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg commented: “We built this big technology platform so we can go and support whatever the most personal and emotional and raw and visceral ways people want to communicate are as time goes on.” It is doubtful that he foresaw a 26-year-old woman sitting in a car broadcasting over Facebook Live while watching her boyfriend die, or five Dallas policemen being gunned down and killed in a surprise attack the following day.

Read next: Mark Zuckerberg’s Response to the Video of Philando Castile’s Shooting

We also must be aware that these and similar technologies can be used by the aggressors, not only by the victims and bystanders, as has been the case with ISIS’s scripted decapitations and in other criminal acts. Can social media companies like Facebook do a better job of regulating these emerging episodes of horror 24 hours every day of the week, able to determine what is in the public interest with clear, enforceable ethical guidelines in place, than we as a society have done over the last several decades with the gratuitously violent and misogynistic imagery that has been all too pervasive in media? What would the impact have been on Sontag when she was a child, or on any of us, to have encountered Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen via live streaming, watching enslaved laborers toil while exterminations are in progress?

Live-Streaming the Next Mass Tragedy

Just a bit less than fifteen years ago on September 11, 2001, the looping videos of the World Trade Center towers in flames and falling seemed to be everywhere, like a repeating nightmare from which one could never wake. The images shrieked apocalypse on a visual scale never before seen in New York City, with a transcendent blue sky providing a backdrop that made the events of that day seem even more ominous, more cold-blooded and insidious.

Photographs of those fleeing the buildings appeared almost immediately, soon followed by images of the numerous handmade posters displayed by people searching for their missing friends or family. On the same day as the attacks, a photograph of the flag of the United States being raised at the ruins was published, echoing the famous World War II photograph of Iwo Jima, a quick, almost desperate answering salvo in the image war.

What would it have been like if those inside the burning towers had been able to broadcast their plight to the rest of us during those last trying moments?

But it was the imagery of the people falling from the high towers that was seen as the most horrific and forbidden, revealing an even more personal and visceral subtext to the events unfolding in the powerlessness of those trapped. Publishing these images was considered by many as re-victimizing the victims, and as elevating the trauma of those who knew and loved them, or could see themselves in their place. Many at that time were in shock, unable to comprehend how to move forward: there must have been something more to be said than the president’s advice to go shopping, or his decision soon afterwards to bomb Afghanistan.

Now, with billions of pictures and videos being shared every single day, with Facebook Live and Periscope and other such live-streaming apps, we might think of what would it have been like if those inside the burning towers had been able to broadcast their plight to the rest of us during those last trying moments.

In recent years I have often wondered if a distant photograph of people falling from the building had been too much to contemplate in 2001, how could those witnessing on a screen the suffering and death of their loved ones in real time ever deal with the pain? Would a proliferation of such imagery inevitably lead to some form of all-out war as the only way to revenge the suffering that had been shared? Could civilization right itself?

The enormous freedom of expression and dissemination that we have been given in this era of camera-phones is certainly not a license to photograph and publish everything. But for those in a terrible situation, it may be a response, perhaps the only one, which makes some sense. And, as a result, the viewer from afar will not be spared the intimacies of extraordinary suffering, nor will he or she most likely feel that there is an adequate response to them.

Read next: Why Violent News Images Matter

This simultaneous viewing of horror inflicted on others may puncture one’s sense of equilibrium without providing a way to move forward. Such imagery may acknowledge symptoms but do little to explore and repair underlying systems that may be at least partly responsible for the tragedies. Professional journalists, whose job has been to mediate such events, have been largely circumvented by people reporting on their own lives, with results often perceived as more credible due to the raw and unfiltered quality of their documentation. This year’s sad, farcical campaign for national election, preoccupying mainstream media while resembling reality television, is hardly reassuring.

Voices like that of Diamond Reynolds, or of the anonymous woman reading her anguished 12-page statement last month in a California court as her student-athlete attacker, judged guilty of three felony counts of sexual assault, is given a light, six-month sentence, have found their way into the center of a national conversation. The evidence of social injustice, made available at great personal cost by the individuals affected, now must be responded to with a similar sense of urgency and clarity. Otherwise, we are reduced to a stance of voyeurism, of the most intimate and appalling kind.

Fred Ritchin is Dean of the School at the International Center of Photography.

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Summary: This is how the Facebook Live of Philando Castile will change our future


Actor Tituss Burgess is no stranger to rap and theater: after all, his character in the Netflix comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is known for his original rap song and accompanying homemade music video entitled “Peeno Noir.” So it’s not such a stretch that Burgess (in character as Unbreakable‘s Titus Andromedon) would put together an audition tape for Hamilton, looking to fill the shoes of superstar writer and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda and play the title role when the Tony winner takes his leave from the blockbuster show.

Burgess, in an old-fashioned overcoat and white wig, opens the tape with a disclaimer.

“Now, I’ve not actually been able to get tickets to Hamilton and no audition materials were made available to me… but I think I get it,” he says. He then holds up a ten dollar bill and launches into operatic song. “One day this is gonna be me, looking up from a sea of green!” he sings, before transitioning to his hip-hop side and freestyling a far-too-literal “rap.”

Titus Andromedon may be a diamond in the rough just like Hamilton himself—and we appreciate that he’s throwing away his shot—but let’s just say that the role will probably not be headed his way.

Summary: The 'Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt' actor wants in on the 'Hamilton' action.


Amid growing controversy over whether it should be played at sports events, the national anthem has been dropped from the Olympic Invitational track and field meet at Madison Square Garden.

The playing of “The StarSpangled Banner” is not obligatory, since “its purpose and relevance to sports events has never been established,” Jesse Abratson, the meet director, said yesterday.

The meet will be staged Feb. 16. A Garden official said it would be the first time that a sports event would be held at the world's most famous indoor arena without the anthem being played. The new Garden will be 5 years old next month, and has housed more than 500 athletic contests, from the roller derby to wrestling. It was traditional since World War II to play the anthem at the old Garden.

The action on the anthem came two days after the Eastern Michigan track team had been disqualified for not standing during the playing of the anthem at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, L. I., where the Knights of Columbus meet was held.

Three members of the milerelay team, all blacks, went through stretching exercises during the traditional playing. Some fans hooted and cursed and, after a delay, Jim Foley, the meet referee, summoned the games committee to the floor and a decision was made to disqualify the team.

However, the chairman of the Olympic Invitational, Edwin H. Mosler Jr., said yesterday that he decided as long ago as last month to do away with the playing of the anthem.

“Someone asked us where do we put the national anthem [in the program],” he said, “and we couldn't find a spot.

“Sure, the black factor crossed our minds. One doesn't relish incidents that disrupt an event. It entered into our decision, but it wasn't the key factor.”

At most track meets the anthem is played before the mile race, which usually is the event with the most spectator interest. Generally, it is last on the program.

“I don't believe in stopping the Show at a time when the milers are all keyed up to run,” said Abramson. He added it would make little sense to play “The Star‐Spangled Banner” at the ;beginning of the meet, “when only a handful of people show up.”

It was apparent that fear of an incident by fans or players had been a major factor in the decision.

“What happened at the Coliseum affirms the fact we made a proper decision,” said Abramson. “Who needs booing? Maybe it's out of time, out of place, But I don't think the anthem and the flag should become an issue.”

What appears to be a rising adverse reaction to playing the anthem at public events apparently stems from dissent over the Vietnam war, racial conflicts and a loss of confidence in society's values.

Observers at sports events have noticed a tendency for Mans and athletes to talk, or even sit, in protest while it is played and sung.

Since the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, when Tommie Smith and John Carlos, sprinters, stood on the winners' podium and raised their fists in the Black Power salute, the playing of the anthem has stirred controversy.

José Feliciano, the rock singer, was criticized for the way he sang it in a 1968 World Series game at Detroit. He used a syncopated beat and the television network received hundreds of complaints. He also received praise for his rendition.

Last June the owner of the Kansas City Royals' baseball team, Ewing Kauffman, tried to limit the playing of the anthem to Sunday and holiday games. The policy held for two games and 200 complaints poured in, “almost all expressing indignant and emotional opposition,” according to Kauffman.

He said he had thought many fans did not care, but he quickly restored the anthem.

In the United States the four dominant major sports leagues —baseball, basketball, football and hockey—play the anthem before games. Where Canadian teams are involved, the Canadian anthem, “O Canada,” usually is played, too.

However, in Montreal, “The Star‐Spangled Banner” no longer is played before hockey games involving United States teams.

“There is a lot of sentiment against the Vietnamese war in our country,” a Montreal Canadiens' official explained, “and we have a lot of Americans who came here to escape the draft. We don't want any incidents.”

Many college basketball teams now hold team meetings during the playing of the anthem to avoid incidents involving players who do not want to stand during the ceremony. Some colleges have dropped the anthem at home games.

At the 1971 Holiday Festival basketball tournament at the Garden, the Louisville team remained in the locker room during the anthem, which preceded its game. The publicaddress announcer, in anger, refused to announce the Louisville line‐up.

In Europe crowds generally are well behaved during the playing of a national anthem, even though up to a dozen anthems might be played at an international event.

Before the start of the 24 Hours of Le Mans Auto race, the national anthems of each country represented is played.

In Switzerland, an international boxing match is preceded by the playing of the anthems of each fighter's country, the Swiss anthem and that of the referee's country.

During the 1972 Olympics at Munich, Vince Matthews and Wayne Collett, United States runners, talked and stood at ease during “The Star‐Spangled Banner.” Later, both spoke of their displeasure with this country, saying the words and meaning of the anthem were not being fulfilled.

Although the controversy surrounding the playing of the anthem at sports events has involved mostly black competitors, no national organization appears to be making a concerted effort against blacks' standing or appearing in front of fans during the anthem.

In a recent directive to member groups of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the executive director, Roy Wilkins, said:

“There is no national anthem for Negroes. There is only one national anthem. The national anthem is for all Americans.”

We are continually improving the quality of our text archives. Please send feedback, error reports, and suggestions to archive_feedback@nytimes.com.

A version of this archives appears in print on January 16, 1973, on page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Garden Track Meet Will Drop U.S. Anthem to Avoid Incidents. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe

Summary: J Abramson, dir of Olympic Invitational track and field meet to be held at Madison Sq Garden, NYC, on Feb 16, announces that natl anthem will not be played before meet; says that playing of anthem is not obligatory since its relevance to sports events has never been established; Madison Sq Garden official says that it will be 1st time that sports event will be held at Garden without anthem being played; controversy over playing anthem before sports events discussed; recent controversial incidents concerning anthem and athletics noted; illus; chart of words and music of anthem


Coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef grow better in the summer and in northern areas, a major ocean chemistry monitoring project has found.

The Future Reef 2.0 project is helping to identify which parts of the reef are most vulnerable to ocean acidification change and has just been extended for another three years.

CSIRO scientists have been running an advanced sensor system from a Rio Tinto vessel as part of the research, which also involves the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

CSIRO ocean carbon research scientist Dr Bronte Tilbrook said the research has found ocean chemistry remains positive for coral growth.

Dr Tilbrook said it had also found there were strong seasonal changes, with the best coral growing conditions in summer.

Conditions were also better in the outer regions of the reef and there was more coral growth in the northern parts, he said.

Specifically, the project has been examining how the entire reef is responding to ocean acidification, bleaching and cyclones.

"The data is going to help us understand how the reef is growing and how it's responding to certain stresses," he told AAP.

"We need to get the big picture and that's the thing the ship is allowing us to do."

Summary: Ocean chemistry remains positive for coral growth on the Great Barrier Reef, a large monitoring project has found.


A convicted thief and drug addict who cried as she was jailed for the fatal hit-and-run of a father of two feels self-pity, but not remorse, a judge has said.

Stephanie Joy Maher broke down in the dock as the judge described how her son , who was three when he was in the car the day she left Melbourne engineer Julian Paul for dead, would only see her in the confines of prison.

"The extended term of prison you face will have a disastrous effect on him," Victorian County Court Judge David Parsons said.

But, he added, she could only blame herself.

Maher, 33, was jailed for 11 years with a non-parole period of eight and a half after a jury found her guilty of culpable driving causing death, failing to stop and failing to render assistance.

Mr Paul, 54, was riding home on the Nepean Highway in Brighton on November 26, 2013 when Maher's car struck his bike.

His neck and back were broken and he died three weeks later when his life-support was turned off.

Maher claims she did not know it was a person she hit, thinking it was a stick or a rock that shattered her windscreen.

Numerous witnesses saw her swerving, driving erratically, and one saw Mr Paul illuminated by Maher's car headlights before she bumped into the rear of his bike.

Maher, a former nurse, told a psychologist she does not understand why other motorists didn't call triple-zero, flash their lights or toot their horns at her.

"There is, it seems, a significant amount of self-pity ... but I see no real evidence of your accepting responsibility for the death of Mr Paul," Judge Parsons said.

He recounted Maher's significant criminal history, which includes assault, drug possession and theft offences.

After her nursing registration was suspended, she stole from a number of hospitals to support her drug habit.

On one occasion she took a syringe containing pain-relief medication from a patient recovering from surgery.

"In my opinion your behaviour towards Julian Paul displayed the same moral turpitude as when you committed this crime," Judge Parsons said.

He described her prospects for rehabilitation as limited and said she was likely to re-offend.

Judge Parsons appeared to choke up as he recalled the emotional victim impact statement delivered by Mr Paul's wife, Janine, who said she felt like she had died, too.

"We can only grieve with her and hope her grief diminishes," Judge Parsons said.

Summary: A Victorian motorist who killed a cyclist in 2013 has been jailed for 11 years.


Police have said their investigation into the suspected murder of Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer is at a "crucial stage", after they seized a car her foster father once owned.

Detective Inspector Damien Hansen this morning called for people to respect the confidential nature of their ongoing investigation into the 12-year-old's death last year.

The seized car, and Tiahleigh Palmer. (9NEWS)

"The investigation's been going for 11 months and we're very happy with the progress of it, but at certain times there's certain aspects for operational reasons that the police and investigators need to keep confidential," he said.

"We'll be making further statements through the day on this.

"The investigation is at a crucial stage at this time and that's all I can say."

Det. Insp. Hansen confirmed that a seized car did belong to Tiahleigh's foster father, and declined to identify any persons of interest in the case.

"It's possibly been one of the most difficult investigations that I've been involved in. There's a mountain of work that's gone on behind the scenes," he said.

A $250,000 reward is on offer for information on her death. (AAP)

Earlier today, Tiahleigh's foster father told media he had "nothing to say" about the car being seized.

When asked why the blue Ford XR6 sedan was taken by police for forensic examination last week, he said "speak to the Crime and Corruption Commission".

Tiahleigh was reportedly last seen alive when she was dropped off at Marsden State High School on October 30 last year.

Her remains were located on the banks of the Pimpama River on November 5.

The seized car had since been sold, and the current owner is not linked to the investigation, police earlier advised.

Investigators have also appealed for anyone who saw a car matching its description on Kerkin Road North near the Pimpama River last October to come forward.

Detective Inspector Mark White said 20 investigators were working on the homicide case, which remains a top priority for police.

"The investigation's been going on for almost 11 months and the investigators involved are relentless in identifying those persons who are responsible," he said.

A $250,000 reward has been offered for information which leads to the conviction of the person responsible for Tiahleigh's death.

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016

Summary: A car seized by police investigating the murder of Logan schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer previously belonged to her foster father, 9NEWS can reveal.


The first thing to know about Castle of our Skins is that it’s a Roxbury-based concert and education series of classical music by black composers, past and present, and that it will kick off its fourth season on Saturday with “A Veil of Liquid Diamonds,” a program of works by the Ohio-based African-American composer Jeffrey Mumford.

The next thing is where the series gets its unusual and evocative name. Ashleigh Gordon, a violist and the series’s cofounder and codirector, said during a recent phone conversation that it comes from the opening of a poem by Nikki Giovanni: “We are all imprisoned in the castle of our skins.”

The poem, Gordon explained, makes the point that “if this is who I am, I will learn to love it, to exalt it, to feel wholly comfortable and fully embrace my skin. And that kind of unabashed appreciation of who we are is what Castle of our Skins is trying to do.”

The necessary prerequisite for appreciating this tradition of classical music by black composers, of course, is knowing that it even exists. That’s the first hurdle that Castle of our Skins seeks to overcome. “I want people to understand that it is diverse, there is this history and this culture, in this country and around the world,” Gordon said. “It’s not just spirituals, it’s not just jazz — nothing wrong with those genres, but there is a world out there and it’s already quite rich and fertile. You just have to be exposed to it.”

That’s no easy feat. When Gordon and her cofounder, composer Anthony Green, first talked about creating a platform to change that, “we could list on maybe one hand, between us, black composers that we knew of.”

Their solution was research, and lots of it. Gordon spent a week at the Center for Black Music Research in Chicago and came up with stacks of music, much of it largely unknown. Castle of our Skins repertoire now stretches from composers born in the 19th century such as William Grant Still and Florence Price to current voices such as Jessie Montgomery and Renee Baker. One especially valuable discovery was the Guadalupe-born Chevalier de Saint-Georges, one of the first composers of African ancestry. (He was sometimes referred to as “the black Mozart.”) He wrote a number of string quartets, some of which are sprinkled throughout the group’s concerts this season.

Castle’s new season is a busy one. In addition to Saturday’s concert, there will be an “edu-tainment” concert of string quartets in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library that’s part of ArtWeek Boston (Oct. 1); a contribution to Franklin Park Art Grove called “A House of My Own,” exploring the concept of home through a black lens (also Oct. 1); a residency at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania (Nov. 13-15); the premiere of three pieces written in response to the group’s call for works for strings inspired by black visual art (March 24); an ambitious collaboration with Roxbury-based artist Daniel Callahan (April 29); and a performance in the group’s annual residency at the Museum of African American History (June 8).

“It’s exciting and also incredibly overwhelming at the same time,” Gordon acknowledged. “But it really feeds itself, a kind of energy that you give out and you receive at these events.”

As for Saturday’s concert, it is the first dedicated to a single composer and will feature Gordon’s string trio, Sound Energy. She met Mumford in the early 2000s, when she was a student at Baldwin Wallace University and he taught at Oberlin College. He was a student of Elliott Carter, and, she said, “you can hear a lot of that reference. I like to think of his music being like, you’re looking through a kaleidoscope and you’re seeing many variations of the same color and texture, a lot of which are overlapped on top of one another.”

Gordon’s hopes for Castle are ambitious, but they seem right for a world that more often than not seems agonizingly divided.

“I really believe, with everything we’re doing, if you explore a little bit from our lens, being African-Americans, from your own vantage point, explore a little bit your own culture, and encourage other people to do the same, hopefully it trickles down and encourages others to be more curious about each other.

“Maybe this is idealistic,” she continued, “but if you’re more curious about each other, maybe you’re more tolerant of each other and there’s just greater social harmony. Maybe that’s too lofty, but I would hope that people would come away with a greater appreciation, and then translate that into their daily interactions.”

A Veil of Liquid Diamonds

Presented by Castle of our Skins at Roxbury Community College, Sept. 24, 7:30 p.m. Tickets: $10-15. www.castleskins.org

Summary: The Roxbury-based group Castle of our Skins kicks off its season with a concert of works by composer Jeffrey Mumford.


Russia has reacted angrily to "unacceptable" British and American suggestions that it is committing war crimes in Syria's bloody civil conflict.

Moscow warned that the comments could harm the US-Russia brokered ceasefire in Syria, as Boris Johnson visited a refugee camp in Turkey, near the Syrian border.

The Foreign Secretary's visit to the camp around 161km from Aleppo in Syria comes after angry exchanges at the United Nations over the latest offensive by the Russia-backed regime to take the beleaguered city.

Russia was accused by Britain and the US of barbarity and helping Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime "unleash a new hell" on the city but Moscow has hit back.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia considers the tone of the criticism "unacceptable" and insisted "such rhetoric is capable of causing serious harm to the resolution process" in Syria.

Peskov told reporters that Russia was concerned that "terrorists" were using the ceasefire to "regroup, to replenish their arsenals and for obvious preparations to carry out attacks."

Meanwhile, the Syrian regime said the ceasefire is still viable and said it was willing to take part in a unity government but also claimed the West was supporting "terrorists" in the country.

Their comments come after British ambassador Matthew Rycroft joined his US and French counterparts in walking out of an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Sunday in a show of anger.

The meeting came after Johnson warned that Moscow would be guilty of committing war crimes if its warplanes were deliberating striking civilian targets.

Rycroft told the security council meeting in New York that it was "difficult to deny" that Assad's regime and its Russian allies were engaged in committing war crimes.

"After five years of conflict, you might think that the regime has had its fill of barbarity - that its sick bloodlust against its own people has finally run its course," he said.

"But this weekend, the regime and Russia have instead plunged to new depths and unleashed a new hell on Aleppo."

The UN special envoy on Syria, Staffan de Mistura, said the offensive to take the city had unleashed "unprecedented military violence" on its inhabitants, killing at least 213 civilians, many of them women and children.

He said there had been reports of the use of bunker-busting bombs and incendiary weapons which created "fireballs of such intensity that they light up the pitch darkness in Aleppo as if it were daylight".

Earlier, Johnson accused Russian president Vladimir Putin of "protracting" and called for an investigation into whether Russian forces were committing war crimes.

"Putin's regime is not only as it were handing Assad the revolver, he is in some instances firing the revolver himself," he said.

Summary: Russia has criticised the US and UK for using "unacceptable" tone and rhetoric in speeches on Syria at the UN.


A court has heard two hairs allegedly found in a car helped police arrest Robert John Adams, who has pleaded not guilty to strangling a Sydney nurse in 1983.

Mr Adams, 64, pleaded not guilty to allegations he strangled nurse Mary Wallace, 33, in the NSW Supreme Court on this afternoon.

Crown prosecutor Mark Hobart SC alleged Mr Adams had choked Ms Wallace after they met during a night of drinking at the Alpine Inn in Crow’s Nest on September 24, 1983.

"During the act, the accused placed his hands around (the victim’s) throat and strangled her until she almost became unconscious," Mr Hobart told the court.

Mr Hobart said Ms Wallace accepted a lift from Mr Adams in the early hours of the morning after he claimed he was a police officer.

Mr Adams told police he'd tried to have consensual sex with her in his car before falling asleep and waking to find her gone.

He was charged with Ms Wallace’s murder in 2013 after forensic technology matched two hairs found in his boot to the victim’s DNA profile.

Defence barrister Peter Lange said Mr Adams denied trying to choke the victim, and some of the evidence, including the DNA evidence, would be disputed.

Ms Wallace’s body has never been found.

Mr Hobart also alleged Mr Adams had raped three other women in the 1970s, and each time had taken his victim in a choke-hold “for sexual gratification”.

His trial for a 1975 rape was abandoned after the victim fled Sydney saying she was in fear of her life, Mr Hobart said.

Mr Adams was also convicted of the May 1976 rape of a woman he met at a Mosman sailing club.

After she rejected his advances, Mr Adams allegedly took her by the throat and threatened to choke her, to "finish her off" and "throw her into the water where she would tell no tales", Mr Hobart said.

"I've done a terrible thing. Take me to the police station," Mr Adams allegedly told his victim afterwards.

Mr Hobart said it was after the second rape charge that Mr Adams told the investigating detective, "I need psychiatric help. I must be mad to do these things".

He was sentenced to six years' jail but only served two.

Adams met the third woman at a North Sydney bar in 1978 and raped her in his car while squeezing her throat, before taking her to a house and having sex with her twice more, a court heard.

Summary: Robert John Adams has pleaded not guilty to murdering Sydney nurse Mary Louise Wallace, who vanished more than three decades ago.


Damien Oliver (right) rides Jameka to victory in the Group One Oaks on Oaks Day at Flemington Racecourse last year. (AAP)

More than 100,000 people are expected to come through the turnstiles at Flemington Racecourse for the Melbourne Cup.

The $6.2 million race, the richest handicap race in the world and the biggest sporting prize in Australia will be run for the 156th time.

Some of the big favourites include Australian-bred Jameka, and Godolphin's Hartnell and Oceanographer.

The race will also welcome some of Australia's biggest celebrities to the exclusive Birdcage enclosure.

Elsa Pataky, Chris Hemsworth's wife and a successful actress and model in her own right, will be one of the biggest stars at the marquees.

American entertainment personality Maria Menounos will also make her final Cup carnival appearance.

Australia's 2016 Eurovision entry Dami Im will perform the national anthem ahead of the big race at 3pm.

The Melbourne Cup is also one of the biggest for the fashion stakes, with bold looks and colours expected to take out fashions on the field.

Unfortunately Melbourne's unpredictable weather shows no sign of letting up for the Cup, with a 50 per cent chance of rain expected during the big race.

Summary: Thousands of racegoers will file into Flemington for the Melbourne Cup, expecting to see fast horses, bold fashion and a celebrity or two.


Not all heroes wear capes as one Brisbane man clad only in jocks has proven after helping police track down a runaway driver.

A car ploughed into a fish and chips shop at Hendra around 2am on Thursday and the driver ran from the scene.

A neighbour named Daniel gave chase down the street and was able to help police track down the alleged driver, a 35-year-old man, while only wearing "me jocks".

"All I had was me jocks on and I was chasing (the driver) up the street," he told the Nine Network.

The driver has been charged with one count of unlicensed driving and is due to appear in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on January 31, while his pursuer has been labelled a hero.

"He (says to me) 'don't be a hero mate,' and I said 'I'm not trying to be a hero but the police are coming'," Daniel said.

Summary: A man clad only in his underwear has helped police track down a driver who tried to flee the scene of a crash in Brisbane overnight.


Neighborhood opponents are lining up against a condo tower that entrepreneur Steve Belkin wants to build along Charlesgate in the Fenway. Batting cleanup is the Boston Red Sox.

Newly-released documents show the baseball team filed a five-page comment letter in October with city officials complaining that Belkin’s proposed 340-foot tower, two blocks away at Charlesgate and Ipswich Street, would loom too closely over its beloved stadium and “significantly transform the iconic views of the city skyline that fans now enjoy.”

“We have strong concerns that this proposed project would create an unacceptably tall and impactful 29-story building in very close proximity to Fenway Park, and which might have significant negative impacts on the surrounding neighborhood as well as our historic ballpark itself,” wrote David Friedman, the team’s senior vice president for legal and government affairs, in a letter to the Boston Planning & Development Agency.

The Red Sox’ principal owner, John Henry, also owns the Boston Globe. The team had no comment.

The Red Sox included in its comments an image they said came from Belkin’s development team showing the new tower jutting above the park just beyond the right field stands. Belkin’s formal submission to the BPDA does not include any images showing views of the tower from Fenway.

Other groups, including the Fenway Civic Association and Boston Preservation Alliance, have also raised concerns about the tower, chiefly over the shadows it may cast on nearby parks and “uncomfortable” winds it would generate on Ipswich Street.

The tower has some support, too, including from the Fenway Alliance, an umbrella group for cultural and educational institutions in the neighborhood, and Fenway Studios, an artists’ housing development that Belkin’s company, Trans National Properties, is in talks with to help fund renovations.

Justin Krebs, who is spearheading the project for Belkin, said his team will modify the building design to address wind and shadow concerns. But he also noted its height is necessary to build enough units to fund promised improvements to Ipswich Street and pathways along the Muddy River, and to create more affordable housing in the neighborhood.

“We’re open to a dialogue,” Krebs said. “But we haven’t heard a reason why we should reduce the height. We’re sensitive to how that impacts our ability to deliver all of the other benefits that seem to be widely embraced by the community.”

But Krebs noted the tower would not cast shadows onto Fenway Park itself. Still, the team, in its letter, calls for more thorough study, and if necessary a shorter building.

The BPDA has been holding public and community meetings on the project in recent weeks. Final approval is still at least a few months away. In an e-mailed statement, BPDA director Brian Golden said his agency is “eager to see redevelopment at the site that is appropriate for the Fenway neighborhood.”

Summary: Team says 340-foot tall building would loom over Fenway Park, ruin views.


Tom Brady piloted the New England Patriots to a 26-10 victory over the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday, his 201st NFL triumph breaking the all-time record for wins by a quarterback.

"We're in the locker room with a walking legend," Patriots cornerback Malcom Butler said after Brady threw for one touchdown pass in the victory that took the Patriots to 10-2 for the season.

He broke out of a tie with now-retired Peyton Manning for number one on the all-time wins list, including regular-season and post-season contests.

The record put Brady in the spotlight, but the Patriots' defence also came up big, holding the Rams to 25 yards of offence in the first half - the fewest yards ever allowed by New England in a half.

LeGarrette Blount, raced 43 yards for a touchdown on a fourth-and-one play on New England's first possession.

Brady hit Chris Hogan with a 14-yard TD pass in the second quarter and Stephen Gostkowski kicked four field goals.

Summary: New England Patriots 26 - Los Angeles Rams 10


The Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled a severe weather warning for abnormally high tides across southern parts of Tasmania.

The tide peaked at about 8.35am (AEDT) on Wednesday at Hobart's Battery Point at 1.85 metres, some 30cm above the usual high tide mark.

A combination of warm water, a full moon, air pressure and wind, there were initial concerns the tide may cause low-level flooding, but emergency services haven't reported any problems.

"We are seeing the tide slowly decrease and we will cancel the severe weather warning," Bureau forecaster Matthew Thomas told AAP.

The tidal anomaly can be forecast well in advance.

"It's based on the gravitational pull of the moon, not just the weather," Mr Thomas said.

The extent of the tide is subject to weather conditions which can be forecast up to 10 days in advance.

Summary: A full moon is set to deliver abnormally high tides to parts of southern Tasmania where emergency crews will be on flood watch.


Tuesday, June 6th 2000, 2:13AM

THE FIRST LIFEBOAT to make the Jersey beach carried 92 crewmen and two passengers. Another boat, capacity 58, came in with just four crewmen.

This was the degree to which the men of the Morro Castle - "the most cowardly in the history of the sea," snarled a disgusted Coast Guardsman - had abandoned their paying customers to the flaming horror 8 miles out.

Homebound to New York after a merry Havana holiday, the luxurious Ward Line pleasure ship had been struck down in the darkness by a phantom stranger. Capt. Robert Willmott had suddenly died, hale one minute and agonizingly sick the next. Shortly after that, fast-spreading fires had begun raging from stem to stern.

Then two great explosions had lit up the night, and all hands had taken to the boats and deserted, leaving the passengers to burn to cinders in the furnace belowdecks or hurl themselves, screaming, into the ocean. And the elegant Morro Castle had drifted on, a floating crematory. In their cabins, nothing would be found of the trapped dead but their dentures.

By daybreak Sunday the 9th of September 1934, the great vacation liner was beached at Asbury Park, a charred and smoldering hulk 200 feet off the boardwalk, a thrilling spectacle for hundreds of thousands of gogglers. In New York City, the Federal Bureau of Navigation immediately convened hearings into what already was shaping up as one of the world's eeriest maritime mysteries.

This was no act-of-God lightning strike, as Ward Line officials had at once sought to suggest. No, this was pure evil. This was monstrousness beyond imagination.

"Wholesale murder!" bellowed the Daily News.

HAVANA WAS casinos and racetracks and lilting tropical nights, once a playground for only the wealthier of American sports, more recently become an affordable package destination for thousands of middle-class tourists eagerly courted by the cruise lines.

Havana was also soldiers and rebels and shooting in the streets - regularly roiled by insurrectionists even in the best of times, now in particular turmoil ever since the Army had driven butcher Gerardo Machado out of the Cuban presidency - but that only added to the exotic intrigue of the place.

Everyone wanted a Havana holiday. At the Ward Line pier at the foot of Wall St. on Sunday afternoon, even as weeping families gathered upstairs for any shred of news of their missing loved ones, downstairs there were gay bon voyage parties for those boarding the Iroquois. There were newlyweds. There was flying rice.

In Havana, these travelers would be met by the same striking dockworkers who had sent off the Morro Castle a few days before. Several longshoremen had been killed in recent rioting, scores of citizens and soldiers injured, and it was Cuba's Maritime Labor Union that fast became the focus of the Morro Castle investigation as Navigation Bureau Assistant Chief Dickerson Hoover - brother of the Justice Department's J. Edgar Hoover - opened his hearings.

Had these radicals actually planted incendiaries aboard the liner and poisoned its captain to teach a frightful lesson to the Ward Line?

That was certainly what first appearances suggested. In Havana, Cuban police flatly declared the Morro Castle disaster an act of sabotage and rounded up mobs of Reds. Threats were made against the Pan-American Airways seaplane terminal. Murder plots against U.S. Ambassador Jefferson Caffery were uncovered.

Growled The News: "If this is a sample of the return we can expect from a faction in Cuba for the decency and open-handedness with which the Roosevelt administration has treated Cuba, then we ought to take reprisals. ... If any faction of Cubans did this thing, it is up to us to give them a punishment they will never forget."

BUT THE affair would not be that simple. Things became only murkier as Hoover's probe proceeded. In Cuba, authorities now theorized that the plot against the Morro Castle had been hatched in New York; the city had, of course, been a hotbed of Cuban exile politics for nearly 40 years; it was William Randolph Hearst's newspaper that had, after all, ignited the Spanish-American War.

At the same time, U.S. Attorney Martin Conboy charged in open court that Ward Line officials were inexplicably blocking the federal investigation at every turn. Soon, these officials were refusing to make any comment at all, as evidence mounted that their flagship had regularly ferried arms from New York to Havana.

The Morro Castle probe was obviously going to be a long and drawn-out business, full of twists and turns and incomprehensibilities. Perhaps there would never be solution and closure.

BLACKENED AND dead, the ship sat immovably in 12 feet of water, nose pointed at New York as tugboats strained helplessly. There was no moving the corpse. Apparently it would be a beachfront attraction for a long time to come.

In much the same way that, two years earlier, families had happily motored out to New Jersey's Sourland Mountains for a Sunday picnic at the spot where the Lindbergh baby was found, throngs now made it their custom to descend on Asbury Park for a day with the Morro Castle. Boardwalk business boomed. The convention center started charging 25 cents a head for a vantage balcony view.

Summary: By JAY MAEDER THE FIRST LIFEBOAT to make the Jersey beach carried 92 crewmen and two passengers. Another boat, capacity 58, came in with just four crewmen. This was the degree to which the men of the Morro Castle - "the most cowardly in the history of the sea,"snarled a disgusted Coast Guardsman - had abandoned their paying customers to the flaming horror 8 miles out. Homebound to New York after a merry Havana holiday, the


Saturday, October 8th 2005, 1:25AM

Apparently, revenge is a dish best served in your debut novel.

Just as Plum Sykes autopsied her relationship with artist Damien Loeb in her first book, it seems former gossip columnist Deborah Schoeneman is doing the same with her ex, celebri-chef Rocco DiSpirito (r.)

A Crown Publishing internal blurb for her upcoming novel, "4% Famous," notes: "Things get complicated as [Kate, the main character] starts dating Marco, the hot new chef-hunk. Her efforts to place good items about him and block damaging ones start to wear on her own career and conscience."

When contacted about the memo, Schoeneman's first response was:

"They called him a hunk? I'll have to change that." The former New York

magazine and Observer gossip added: "Marco Mancini may be partially inspired by Rocco ... but I haven't used any of his personal life as fodder."

Supporting characters include "Tim, an already jaded, near-alcoholic gossip writer with no boundaries," (Chris Wilson? Tim McDarrah? Me?) and "Blake, who has chosen gossip as a way to rebel against his rich Upper East Side society family."

No word on whether there's a Yorkshire terrier named Cindy.

The Splitsville vote Here's an angle on Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson's relationship for the conspiracy theorist in you: An online betting site has canceled wagers on their possible divorce, claiming too many bets came from the couple's hometowns.

"We have an extremely strong suspicion that those betting know the couple or are in close enough association to either Simpson or Lachey that they have insider information," said Nine.com spokesman Jack Abrams.

"A near unanimous amount of these bets were placed on the couple not being together," according to the statement.

Of course, the current Us Weekly cover story

trumpeting their "Split!" (which they deny) might have something to do with it, too.

Why 'Rent' dumped New York

Don't expect to see much of New York City in the film version of "Rent." The city's just too clean.

"When we did shoot in the East Village, they had to spread around a lot of trash and put transparencies of graffiti up in front of the walls," actor Anthony Rapp told me at a Gotham magazine party last week.

Rapp is reprising his role as Mark

Cohen from the Broadway stage version. Taye Diggs and East Village native Rosario Dawson also star in the film.

Apparently the one city filthy enough to stand in for old-school New York is (the envelope, please) ... San FranÂcisco!

Another reason the production went west, said Rapp, is because San Fran doesn't have New York's nighttime noise restrictions, which hampered filming the musical numbers.

And what exactly does one say to "the sexiest woman alive"?

I wish I'd asked you that before meeting her, for Jessica Biel (l.) now bears that title, courtesy of

So, um, Jess - any downside to being the sexiest woman alive?

"There's a lot of pressure," she said sagely. "I guess I have to be pretty sexy all the time."

"Maybe my shoulders and my arms, because they're bigger [and] more muscular than maybe some other actress' arms."

Check. And any tips for readers who might want to feel more sexy themselves?

"Wear heels." (Not you, boys.) "[They're] very uncomfortable, but you push through that for fashion and that feminine feeling that you get can't feel with any other footwear."

So there you go, ladies: Wear your

stilettos to the gym, and you could be on the cover of Esquire this time next year.

Emmy winner Stockard Channing pleaded no contest on Thursday to a misdemeanor DUI charge. The "West Wing" First Lady was arrested in December

after driving her Porsche Boxster past stalled traffic on the shoulder of a Hollywood freeway - right into a police roadblock. ... Russell Simmons (r.) enjoyed a guys' night out on the rooftop of SushiSamba 7 Monday, dining on shrimp, eel and ceviche. ... Rachel Hunter caught the New York Rangers' season home opener Thursday, Madison Square Garden's first hockey game in more than a year. ... Newly single Jamie-Lynn DiScala, Amanda Hearst and Brittny Gastineau (who was not happy to be kept waiting by MTV veejay Quddus' red-carpet photo op) turned out for the Young Friends of the ASPCA benefit Thursday.

Which Italian designer (whose initials aren't D.V.) hasn't learned the lesson of Kate Moss? He astounded guests at his Milan Fashion Week party by doing lines in the VIP room, from a stash of coke he keeps in film canisters.

Summary: Rocco's ex-flame writes roman Ã  chef A pparently, revenge is a dish best served in your debut novel. Just as Plum Sykes autopsied her relationship with artist Damien Loeb in her first book, it seems former gossip columnist Deborah Schoeneman is doing the same with her ex, celebri-chef Rocco DiSpirito (r.) A Crown Publishing internal blurb for her upcoming novel, "4% Famous,"notes: "Things get complicated as [Kate, the main character] starts dating Marco, the hot


Designer dresses. Exotic locations. Fat paychecks. Think becoming a successful model takes nothing but good looks and a little luck?

“A model’s career is typically very, very short, but those few years change your life forever, and can scar you in many ways,” prominent celebrity stylist Phillip Bloch, who once modeled for everyone from Jean Paul Gautier to Yves Saint Laurent, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column.

Indeed the casting couch is still stitched into the fabric of the not-so-glamorous industry, models and industry experts told this column in a series of interviews. Certain social settings invite abuse more than others.

“When a girl is left alone with one person, it makes it easier for this to happen,” Jackie Miranne, a former “Project Runway” model, and the host of the “America’s Next Top Model Aftershow” said. “Castings are always safest when they take place in a more professional setting, such as the offices of a magazine or casting company.”

Unfortunately castings, where a model is chosen for a job, aren’t always held in traditional offices or audition rooms. In her early days, prominent petite model Isobella Jade made the mistake of going to meet with a so-called agent named Gianni in his apartment, and Gianni asked to see her body.

“I don’t know what came over me but I even undressed to my bra and panties. He kept saying, ‘you have such a hot little body.’ It was an innocent compliment and I took it, but then he kept trying to tickle me,” said Jade, who has since written about her life in the modeling memoir “Almost 5’4.” “There were times during my early years pursuing modeling when I was asked to bend or pose in a certain suggestive way when the shoot didn’t call for that to happen. There were times I was told if I gave the photographer ‘more attention,’ my photos would be sent to an editor at a magazine.”

Model Amy Weber has no shortage of scary tales to tell.

“[A photographer] drove me out to the middle of nowhere and told me to lie down in the high grass. I was wearing a bikini and he kept telling me to get into these super provocative poses and at one point said, ‘open your legs like a flower,’” she said. “I was so creeped out that I ran out and walked almost 15 miles to get to a place to grab a taxi.”

And even legitimate meetings can involve an excessive amount of flash flashing.

“Sometimes it is easy and you go in, one at a time, and show your book, or try on garments and you are out of there. But sometimes it is a major cattle call, and they will at times ask you to be ready to go either in your bathing suit or bra and panty,” Weber continued. “So you are literally standing there with a hundred other girls wearing practically nothing, trying not to compare your boobs to the girl on your right. Horrible.”

“There a few big names in the fashion industry that are notorious for ‘sampling’ the models before they took the job. Basically, it comes down to a choice of whether you are willing to throw your principles overboard to accelerate your career,” said former model Ariane Sommer. “It becomes more problematic, however, if the model in question is extremely young and impressionable. These girls often don’t know how to stand up for themselves and are like a deer in the headlights.”

Indeed models are entering the profession at younger and younger ages. This year, a 10-year-old girl posed for French Vogue, all dressed up and draped cross a couch. In 2007 a 12-year-old was named the Face of Gold Coast Fashion Week in Australia. Prada recently used a bevy of beauties as young as 13 for a provocative ad campaign.

Bloch vividly remembers being on a shoot with Liv Tyler, who was a mere 14 or 15 years old at the time, where the alcohol was flowing.

“There was lots of guys around, laughing and talking dirty, lots of beer and smoking. Everybody totally just forgot Liv was just a child,” he said. “She was just so mature and just rolled with it. It is very easy to forget a lot of these girls are so so young.”

Model Fernanda Romero, who stars in the new Mango fashion ad campaign, said in a lot of cases, there is nobody guiding these very naïve, desperate-to-succeed models through the ins and outs of a very grown-up industry.

“There is no one there to help,” she said. “Only your agents can help at times. But they have got so many girls that you have to be smart and wise, and know very well who you hang around

According to Romero, the ones to look out for are the men behind the cameras.

“There are some predators for sure, I wouldn’t say stylists or agents, it is more the photographers,” she said. “Of course they aren’t all bad; there are some amazing professionals out there.”

Miranne also said that it’s not uncommon for “creepy designers or photographers” to ask models to do inappropriate things like pose nude or undress for a video camera, and she often feels sick to her stomach when other girls share their horror stories.

But the industry isn’t all evil.

“You can find bad people who will take advantage of weaker people in any kind of industry, so of course there are some in the fashion business,” Sommer continued. “I don’t think it would fair to say that it is commonplace for young models to be taken advantage of, but there is certainly a risk.”

Summary: Fashion Industry Full of Predators, Especially Behind the Lens, Models Say


Before you slide into a holiday-induced brain freeze, there are a number of steps you can take before year end to save you money, courtesy of Uncle Sam. There are lots of other juicy tax benefits that are slated to disappear at the end of 2011, but read carefully, because some are subject to income testing. "A little planning can go a long way," according to Michael Goodman, CPA/PFS, CFP and President of Wealthstream Advisors. He advises acceleration of deductions this tax year if you expect to be in a lower tax bracket next year.

7 deductions due to expire in 2011

1) Higher education expenses: Taxpayers with adjusted gross incomes (AGI's) of up to $65,000 for singles and $130,000 for couples can claim $4,000 of deductions for college tuition and fees. (IRS Publication 970)

2) Mortgage insurance deduction: Borrowers with AGI's up to $100,000 may be able to treat qualified mortgage insurance as home mortgage interest, which means that 100 percent of 2011 premiums may be deductible. The insurance contract had to be issued after 2006 and deductions are phased out in 10 percent increments for homeowners with AGI's between $100,001 and $109,000. (IRS Publication 936)

3) State sales-tax deduction: If you itemize your taxes, you can choose to take an itemized deduction for state sales taxes instead of state and local income taxes. This is a no-brainer for residents of states without income taxes, such as Texas and Nevada. But it might also work for people in areas with low state-income taxes that made a large purchase during the year such as a car or an engagement ring. (IRS sales tax calculator)

4) Energy efficiency upgrades: Here's where going green can save you green. If you make energy efficiency improvements to your home before the end of the year, you may be eligible for a tax credit of 10 percent for the cost, up to a maximum of $500. Approved improvements include new windows, insulation, high efficiency furnaces, water heaters and air conditioning, among many. Be sure to keep your receipts and manufacturer certification. (Energy Star items that qualify for the tax deduction)

5) IRA charitable donation: Donors over age 70 1/2 can contribute up to $100,000 of traditional IRA assets directly to one or more qualified charities (but not a donor-advised fund). While there's no tax deduction, the gift is excluded from income, and can count as part or all of the required minimum distribution. The charity must be qualified as publicly supported (no private foundations or donor-advised funds), and the distribution must go directly from your IRA to the charity without going to you first. The timing of this could be perfect if you haven't yet taken your required minimum distribution for 2011; if you don't need the money; or if you don't itemize. (IRS Publication 590)

6) Enhanced adoption credits: As part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (March 2010), the Adoption Tax Credit was extended one year until Dec. 31, 2011, the amount of credit was increased to $13,360 and it was made refundable, meaning that families can benefit even if they have less than $13,360 of federal income tax liability. If adoption expenses have been paid for by an employer, you may qualify to exclude up to $13,360 from income. The credit is subject to income phaseouts from $185,210 to $225,210 in AGI. (IRS Topic 607)

7) Classroom deduction for teachers: K-12 educators who work at least 900 hours during the school year can claim an above-the-line deduction of up to $250 ($500 if married filing joint and both spouses are educators, but not more than $250 each) of any unreimbursed expenses (books, supplies, computer equipment (including related software and services), other equipment, and supplementary materials) used in the classroom. (IRS Topic 458)

9 More year-end tax tips (with no expiration, except the calendar)

1) Mail your checks for deductible purchases: Procrastinator alert! If you're the type of person who waits until the last minute for everything, take note: To qualify for write-offs of charitable contributions and business expenses, your payments must be postmarked by midnight Dec. 31. The IRS says just writing "December 31" on the check does not automatically qualify you for a deduction; and pledges aren't deductible until paid. Donations made with a credit card are deductible as of the date the account is charged.

2) Give appreciated stock or fund shares to charity: Get in the holiday spirit, with the help of Uncle Sam. One way to lower your tax bill in April is to donate appreciated securities, like stocks, bonds or mutual funds, to a charity. You'll write off the current market value (not just what you paid for them) and escape taxes on the accumulated gains. Since charities don't have to pay capital gains on the gift, they get the full value of your generosity. Goodman says "donor-advised funds are a great solution for quick year-end planning. If you know you want the deduction but can't make the decision as to which charity you want to use, the DAF allows you to capture the deduction now and decide on the charity later."

3) Take advantage of low capital gains rates: If you're in the 10 or 15 percent bracket -- taxable income below $67,900 for married couples and $33,950 for singles -- profits on long-term capital gains (or ones owned more than 12 months) won't be taxed at all in 2011 and 2012. That's right: Your capital gains tax rate will be ZERO percent. It might make sense to sell taxable assets at gains in the next two years, because most experts believe that rates will rise in the future. That goes for high earners, because the current top rate is at a historic low of 15 percent. Given that a new 3.8 percent tax on net investment income is set to take effect in 2013 for joint filers with AGI's of $250,000 or more (or $200,000 for single filers) it makes sense to consider locking in gains at this year's lower rate. Goodman warns that "the portion of the capital gain that puts you over the taxable income threshold will be taxed at the higher cap gains rate."

4) Sell losers: If you have investment losses in a taxable account, now is the time to use those losers to your advantage. You can sell losing positions to offset gains that you have taken previously in the year, to minimize your tax hit. If you have more losses than gains, you can deduct up to $3,000 of losses against ordinary income. If you have more than $3,000 of losses, you can carry over that amount to future years.

5) Avoid getting soaked by a wash sale: If you are starting to clean up your non-retirement accounts to take losses, don't get soaked by the "Wash Sale" rule. The IRS won't let you deduct a loss if you buy a "substantially identical" investment within 30 days, what's known as a wash sale. To avoid the wash sale, wait 31 days and repurchase the stock or fund you sold, or replace the security with something that is close, but not the same as the one you sold...hopefully something cheaper, like an index fund. (IRS Publication 550)

6) Fully fund your college savings 529 plan: The average public university now charges over $8,200 for tuition and fees -- a massive 8.3 percent increase from last year -- so now's the time to get a leg up on your education savings with a 529 plan. Money saved in these programs grows tax-free and withdrawals used to pay for college sidestep taxes, too. You can invest up to $13,000 in 2011 without incurring a federal gift tax and many states offer state tax deductions for the contributions. (529 Plan information)

7) Use your flex account or lose it: Some employers require employees with flexible spending accounts (pretax dollars that pay out-of-pocket medical and childcare expenses) to forfeit contributions that go unused by Dec. 31. If you have an FSA, check your company's rules. If you have cash sitting in the account and your deadline is year-end, spend it to avoid leaving money on the table.

8) Retirement withdrawals: According to Fidelity Investments, two-thirds of all IRA holders haven't yet taken their required payouts (required minimum distributions or MRD), which must be withdrawn by Dec. 31. There is one exception: Taxpayers taking their first required payout may do so by April 1, 2012. The penalty on not taking your required minimum distribution is steep -- 50 percent on the shortfall. (IRS FAQs about MRDs)

9) Project your income: If you're self-employed, estimate your income for 2011 and 2012. If your tax bracket could rise next year, delay making tax-deductible business purchases until January, when the write-offs will become more valuable. If you think you'll bring in less money in 2012, do exactly the reverse.

Summary: The window of opportunity is rapidly closing on year-end tax savings, but there's still time to pay less to the IRS in April


At least seven people were killed in a pair of explosions apparently targeting Norway's government buildings in Oslo and at least 80 more killed in a shooting outside the capital, police said.

The tangled wreckage of a vehicle was seen near the Norwegian government building that was targeted in the blast, officials said. It was not clear if the car was a bomb vehicle or near the site of a blast. At least one explosion was the result of a massive vehicle bomb, U.S. government sources on the scene said.

Hours after the blasts, a gunman opened fire at a youth meeting on an island outside of Oslo, killing at least 80. One man was arrested in connection to both attacks. Norwegian Minister of Justice Knut Storberget said the man in custody was Norwegian but his motives are unclear at this time.

TV2, Norway's largest broadcaster, later identified the suspect as Anders Behring Breivik, 32, describing him as a member of "right-wing extremist groups in eastern Norway." Norwegian police would not confirm the identity of the suspect.

READ: Gunman Opens Fire at Norwegian Youth Camp

Norway's prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg, who has an office in a building hit by the blast, was uninjured and said in a statement the blast was "severe" and all available resources were being put into the rescue effort.

President Obama said the incident was "a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring."

WATCH: Our Hearts Go Out to the People of Norway, Obama Says

Pictures, posted on Twitter, show several buildings with windows blown out. Multiple tweets described people bleeding in the streets.

"It felt very big. It shook the whole building," Norwegian government official Anders Lande said of one explosion. "There was lots of glass. As I was evacuated, I saw several people injured."

U.S. ambassador to Norway, Barry White, said the United States "condemns these despicable acts of terrorism." The American ambassador said the attack will serve as a kind of wake-up call to Norwegians who may have thought they were safe from terrorism.

White said all US embassy staff were safe and accounted for.

PHOTOS: Blast Rocks Norwegian Government Buildings

ABC News' Matthew Mosk, Matthew Cole, Jim Sciutto, Martha Raddatz and Kirit Radia contributed to this report.

Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.

Summary: Hours after explosions, at least 80 killed at youth meeting.


Applying our methodology to a preliminary group of 140 candidates from around the world, we selected the 100 most influential women from four categories: business, politics, media and lifestyle (entertainment, sports and fashion). To determine rank within each category, as well as overall rank within the list of 100, we applied the same metric--weighting equally a dollar component and a "buzz" factor.

In business, we took into account company revenue (or an appropriate percentage) and total Factiva hits over the last 12 months; in politics, the most recent national budget (or an appropriate percentage) and total Factiva hits over the last 12 months; in media and lifestyle, salary and earnings over the last 12 months and the impact of social media--the sum of Google hits, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and radio and TV appearances during the past 12 months.

List Editors Mary Ellen Egan Michael K. Ozanian List Web Editor Caroline Howard ForbesWoman Reporters Meghan Casserly Jenna Goudreau Forbes Magazine Editor Tom Post Reporters Heidi Brown Quentin Hardy Tatiana Serafin Dirk Smillie Brian Wingfield Research Susan Radlauer Design Blair Ellis James Ellis Jason Gnewikow Nina Gould Kai Hecker Irwin Hou Matt Owens AthleticsNYC.com Product Management Andrea Spiegel Audrea Soong Audience Development Berkeley Bethune Rachel Blatt Sandrine Charles Becca Cohen Drew Hansen Jeff Ho Photo Research Merrilee Santoro Database Management Vishakha Bhansali Jon Bruner Benjamin Lee Mitchel Rand Dmitri Slavinsky Jimmy Zhou Technology Michael Dugan David Dunlop Ryan Huang Steve McNally Vadim Supitskiy Shihhao Su

Summary: How we ranked the Forbes Power Women.


Veracode Inc., a software security company based in Burlington, has acquired Marvin Mobile Security, a Berkeley, Calif., maker of software that tests the safety of smartphone and tablet apps. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Millions of workers bring their personal mobile devices into the workplace, raising concerns that they’ve downloaded software apps that could vandalize corporate networks or steal sensitive information. Even a benign app may transmit information that a company might want to keep secret, such as the location of a key executive or the contents of his address book. “This is an acute source of pain” for …

This is an article preview. The full story is available to BostonGlobe.com subscribers.

Summary: Software security company Veracode Inc. of Burlington has acquired Marvin Mobile Security, a Berkeley, Calif., maker of software that tests the safety of smartphone and tablet apps. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Veracode had begun work on a similar product, said Veracode CEO Bob Brennan. But when Veracode learned that Marvin Mobile Security had already created such software, he decided that an acquisition made more sense.


This afternoon the Lords have to decide whether to defy the Commons and vote to remove the glorification clause from the terrorism bill for a second time. Artists - particularly in the arts which involve representation - will be hoping they'll do so.

Partly because of Rowan Atkinson's intervention, the religious hatred bill was seen as the most obvious threat to artistic expression. But the glorification clause is perhaps even more dangerous. Subject to considerable pressure, Charles Clarke amended his original proposals, and incorporated glorification within the offence of indirectly encouraging terrorism. Under the new clause a laudatory speech, play or pamphlet about the ANC, the Irgun or the Easter Rising would only fall within the net if the speaker intended his or her audience to be encouraged to emulate it in existing circumstances.

It is this clause which the Lords removed, substituting one which defined "indirect encouragement" in pretty much the same terms as glorification. What it didn't have was the word "glorify". The difference between the Commons and the Lords is not about encouragement of terrorism, which is clearly criminalised. It's about the expression of an opinion.

Where the representational arts specifically get into trouble is in the only allowable defence, which in both versions is for the accused to show that the glorification or encouragement neither expressed his views nor had his endorsement. When the opinion is represented, how do you know? The conundrum has been confronted before. The problem for theatre companies with the prohibition of the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities (section 28) was defining "promotion". By having lesbian protagonists, do Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, or Frank Marcus's The Killing of Sister George, "promote" their sexuality? Similarly, does a laudatory biography, documentary drama or eulogy "endorse" the "terrorist" actions of Nelson Mandela or Gerry Adams in a way that might encourage disenfranchised minorities to take up arms, as they did?

Juries will face these questions when the distinction between portrayal and promotion, expression and endorsement, representation and its object is subject to a challenge which goes way beyond the Danish cartoons. As we speak, Christian Voice is picketing the tour of Jerry Springer: The Opera, on the grounds that a dramatisation of a TV presenter's nightmare is a literal representation of Jesus Christ. Last week, actors playing Guantánamo inmates were interrogated under terror laws at Luton airport.

The failure of public institutions to distinguish between representation and reality is not without precedent. The newspapers which excoriated Sikhs and Muslims for challenging free speech have campaigned vigorously for the suppression of plays, paintings and even books which represent or refer to Myra Hindley, Mary Bell or James Bulger's killers, on the grounds that representation is an endorsement of their crimes.

In the same way, the Daily Mail criticised a proposed TV dramadocumentary about the IRA on the grounds that "dramatisation almost inevitably makes the audience see things from the central character's point of view". Once again, the distinction between representation, description and promotion becomes dangerously fuzzy. John Adams's The Death of Klinghoffer has been attacked for representing the views of terrorist hijackers. Will librettist Dic Edwards face prosecution for his opera Manifest Destiny, whose central character is a Palestinian woman tempted to become a suicide bomber?

We cannot rely on the presumption that the principles of free speech are as hard-wired into our culture as we might like to. The cartoon controversy is framed as the rational, enlightened west versus backward Islam. In fact, under theatre censorship laws that were not abolished until 1968, British playwrights couldn't show two men in bed together, mention venereal disease, criticise the royal family, insult friendly foreign powers, or represent God. The Sheffield Crucible's revival of Howard Brenton's The Romans in Britain reminds us that, as recently as 1980, a theatre director was prosecuted for pimping, on the grounds that there was no difference between actors simulating sex on stage and a couple having sex in the street.

In fact, the difference goes to the core of how human beings learn, act and live. When Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart says that the rights of artists have to be set against the rights of communities to be secure and safe, she trivialises and marginalises activities that are central to how we are.

By enabling people to imagine what it is like to see the world through other eyes, artistic representation develops capacities without which we cannot live together in societies at all. To promote that complex but vital idea requires, first, levelling the playing field by repealing the blasphemy laws. It requires an understanding of why Muslims and Sikhs get angry, and an acknowledgement that they are not the only religions involved in these controversies. But it also requires the House of Lords to stick to its guns today.

· David Edgar is a playwright; a longer version of this article will appear in the next edition of NCA News, the journal of the National Campaign for the Arts

Summary: David Edgar: Artists have been here before and know they face a real threat from the attempt to outlaw the glorification of terror.


A 21-year-old Bay Area man is suing 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith and former 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, saying he was shot twice in the leg when he was "caught in the crossfire" of a drunken gunfight at Smith's home that included both football players.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court by Ronndale Esporlas, seeks unspecified damages from Smith, 23, and Walker, 29. Walker left the 49ers after last season and signed with the Tennessee Titans.

The suit stems from a party that Smith threw on June 29, 2012, at his home on Higuera Highland Lane in the foothills east of San Jose. More than 100 people showed up, and by the time the bash ended early the next morning, Smith had been stabbed and two people had been shot, authorities said.

Smith, whose alleged attacker faces assault charges, said he knew the lawsuit was coming.

"Things happen," he said Wednesday at 49ers headquarters. "You've just got to focus on the things that you do. I'm focused on playing against Green Bay, and we'll see how it goes."

Walker said he was shocked by the lawsuit and complained his name was being "put through the mud," according to the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville.

An attorney for Esporlas said in the lawsuit that Smith and Walker charged $10 for admission to the party, plus $5 per drink. The football players themselves drank heavily, the suit said.

At one point, in an effort to end the raucous event, Smith, Walker and others "appeared on the balcony of the house, brandished handguns, and began shooting in the air," attorney David Kleczek wrote.

He said Walker then moved to the driveway, where he "began firing a handgun in the air and toward others attending the party." That's when a group of people near the street returned fire, the suit said, with Esporlas and a friend "caught in the crossfire between the two groups of people firing gunshots at each other."

According to Kleczek, Esporlas suffered permanent injuries to his leg. He said the players had fired handguns on the property "on several other occasions" before the party.

Neither Smith nor Walker has been accused of crimes. But Santa Clara County prosecutors charged a man from San Jose with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing Smith at the party in a gang-related attack.

The charges against Steven Barba, 27, were filed in June but had never been reported publicly. A second defendant, 20-year-old Christopher Sanchez of San Jose, is charged with assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting 31-year-old Oladapo Ashaolu at the party.

Attorneys for Barba and Sanchez, who are also charged with actively participating in a street gang, did not return telephone messages. Reached at his San Jose home, Ashaolu declined to comment.

A judge has sealed affidavits describing the case at the request of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, which asserted that such disclosures would "inhibit the further investigation of possible co-conspirators."

Trent Baalke, the 49ers' general manager, released a statement Wednesday saying the team had "been aware of this matter concerning Aldon Smith for some time. We will continue to monitor the situation closely, but will have no further comment at this time, as this is an ongoing legal matter."

A spokesman for the Titans said the team was aware of the situation but would have no comment.

Demian Bulwa is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: dbulwa@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @demianbulwa

Summary: A 21-year-old Bay Area man is suing 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith and former 49ers tight end Delanie Walker, saying he was shot twice in the leg when he was "caught in the crossfire" of a drunken gunfight at Smith's home that included both football players.  According to Kleczek, Esporlas suffered permanent injuries to his leg.  [...] Santa Clara County prosecutors charged a man from San Jose with assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly stabbing Smith at the party in a gang-related attack.  Attorneys for Barba and Sanchez, who are also charged with actively participating in a street gang, did not return telephone messages.  A judge has sealed affidavits describing the case at the request of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office, which asserted that such disclosures would "inhibit the further investigation of possible co-conspirators."