Here is a news article: Don’t eat meat, say no to sex after conception, avoid bad company, have spiritual thoughts and hang some good and beautiful pictures in your room to have a healthy baby.

 This is ministry of Ayush’s prescription for pregnant women in India, where 26 million babies are born each year.

 The recommendations are part of a booklet called Mother and Child Care, compiled by the government-funded Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy (CCRYN) under the Ayush ministry, formed in 2014 to promote Indian traditional healing practices.

 Pregnant women must Stay away from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust.

 Avoid bad company

 Be with good people in stable and peaceful conditions only

 Hang some good and beautiful pictures in the bedroom, which will affect the child also.

 Self study, have spiritual thoughts

 Read the life stories of great personalities

 Keep calm (Source: Mother & Child Care Through Yoga and Naturopathy, ministry of Ayush )

 Experts and rationalists accuse a section of BJP leaders and Hindu right-wing groups of promoting unscientific theories in healthcare and other areas.

 Last month, the Jamnagar-based Garbh Vigyan Anusandhan Kendra – allegedly linked to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) – said couples can conceive the “best progeny” through purification, having sex on auspicious days and abstinence after conception.

 Yoga guru Ramdev, known to be close to the ruling BJP, faces criticism after one of his companies claimed to have concocted a medicine that ensure a male child for couples who can’t conceive.

 Union minister Shripad Naik, who released the booked recently ahead of the International Day for Yoga on June 21, said it was published three years ago and is a compilation of yoga practices that are believed to help pregnant women.

 “The booklet does not contain any advice on abstaining from sex,” the Ayush minister said.

 Dr Ishwara N Acharya, director in-charge of the CCRYN, also claimed the booklet does not say that “sex must be avoided”.

 However, page 14 of the booklet has a paragraph which says,“Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatredness and lust…(sic).”

 “The advice is unscientific. Protein-deficiency malnutrition and anaemia are health concerns for pregnant women and meats are a great source of both protein and iron, which is better absorbed from animal sources than plant sources,” said senior gynaecologist and obstetrician Malavika Sabharwal of the Apollo Healthcare Group.

 As for sex, if the pregnancy is normal, there is no need for abstinence as the baby in the womb is protected by the amniotic fluid and the uterus muscles.

 “Caution is advised during the first trimester when the placenta is low-lying and for complicated pregnancies, where there is a miscarriage risk,” said Suneeta Mittal, director of the obstetrics and gynaecology at Fortis Gurgaon.

 Some studies show that a mother’s stress, anxiety and depression may affect the baby’s development.

 “Pregnant women need to be happy and instead of being prescriptive about what they should think and do to be happy, we must urge them to do things they enjoy and strongly advise the family be to supportive,” Sabharwal added.

 Around 44,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes in India each year, official data show. The country’s maternal mortality rate – defined as deaths per 100,000 live births – is 167.

 (With agency inputs)

 First Published: Jun 13, 2017 12:29 IST ||||| FILE- In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, a doctor examines a pregnant woman at the district women's hospital, in Allahabad, in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. India’s government is advising... (Associated Press)

 FILE- In this Oct. 22, 2011 file photo, a doctor examines a pregnant woman at the district women's hospital, in Allahabad, in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh. India’s government is advising... (Associated Press)

 NEW DELHI (AP) — India's government is advising pregnant women to avoid all meat, eggs and lusty thoughts.

 Doctors say the advice is preposterous, and even dangerous, considering India's already-poor record with maternal health. Women are often the last to eat or receive health care in traditionally patriarchal Indian households.

 Malnutrition and anemia, or iron deficiency, are key factors behind India's having one of the world's highest rates of maternal mortality, with 174 of every 100,000 pregnancies resulting in the mother's death in 2015. That's better than five years earlier, when the maternal mortality rate was 205 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, but still far worse than China's 27 per 100,000 or the United States' 14 per 100,000, according to UNICEF.

 "The government is doling out unscientific and irrational advice, instead of ensuring that poor pregnant women get to eat a nutritious, high-protein diet," said gynecologist Arun Gadre, who is based in the western Indian city of Pune but works in rural areas.

 The government booklet, titled "Mother and Child Care," smacks of religious dogma and ignores widely accepted medical evidence that pregnant women benefit from eating protein-rich meats and can safely engage in sex, doctors said.

 It says pregnant women should also shun "impure thoughts" and look at pictures of beautiful babies to benefit the fetus.

 "Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust," reads the booklet, released last week by the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, a part of the government's ministry that promotes traditional and alternative medicine.

 The traditional medicine minister defended the booklet as containing "wisdom accumulated over many centuries," and said it did not advise specifically against sex, only against all thoughts of desire or lust.

 "The booklet puts together relevant facts culled out from clinical practice in the fields of yoga and naturopathy," Minister Shripad Naik said.

 The advice is unlikely to be followed at the many government-run health centers across India. They are operated by the Health Ministry, which has had past conflicts with the traditional medicine ministry and follows more scientific practices.

 The booklet is the latest push for vegetarianism by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu-nationalist government, which already advocates avoiding beef and strictly limits the transportation and slaughter of cows, which are considered sacred by Hindus.

 But the latest homily to pregnant women has outraged the medical community.

 "This is a national shame. If the calories of expectant mothers are further reduced by asking them to shun meat and eggs, this situation will only worsen," Gadre said. "This is absurd advice to be giving to pregnant women in a country like India."

 About a third of India's 1.3 billion people struggle to live on less than $2 a day. Many are lucky to eat more than one full meal a day, and women often give their portions up to their hungry children or husbands.

 Malnourished women are more likely to give birth to underweight babies, who then are in danger of being "stunted" or not growing to their full height and weight. A full 48 percent of all Indian children under the age of 5 are considered stunted, according to a 2015 report by UNICEF.

 "Undernourished girls grow into undernourished women. Married by their families while still in their teens, these girls become pregnant by the time they are 17 or 18, when their bodies have not matured enough to safely deliver a child," said Amit Sengupta, a physician and health care activist with the Delhi Science Forum, a public advocacy organization.

 He said the government's advice to pregnant women betrayed "backward thinking" and hostility toward evidence-based science.

 "This kind of advice is detrimental to women's health," he said. |||||
A summary of this is?

– A government pamphlet's advice for pregnant women in India isn't going over well. The booklet titled "Mother and Child Care" tells the women to "detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust," spurn "impure thoughts," look at "beautiful pictures" to benefit their fetus, and avoid meat and eggs, per the AP and Hindustan Times. According to one gynecologist in India, the advice isn't just "unscientific and irrational," but it's "a national shame" in a country where 174 of every 100,000 pregnancies resulted in the mother's death in 2015, due in part to malnutrition and anemia. That's compared to 14 deaths per 100,000 pregnancies in the US, according to UNICEF. Since women are typically the last to eat and receive medical care in Indian households, the government should be "ensuring that poor pregnant women get to eat a nutritious, high-protein diet," says gynecologist Arun Gadre. This would also help prevent stunted births; some 48% of Indian children under 5 have not grown to the proper height and weight. But "if the calories of expectant mothers are further reduced by asking them to shun meat and eggs, this situation will only worsen," Gadre says. With its advice against lust, the pamphlet also suggests that engaging in sex is dangerous for pregnant women, contrary to medical evidence. A government minister charged with promoting traditional and alternative medicine says the booklet contains "wisdom accumulated over many centuries" from "the fields of yoga and naturopathy."


News article:

BILOXI, Miss.—Even as pressure mounts on Newt Gingrich to drop out of the Republican presidential contest, the former House speaker is preparing to stick it out—with a new short-term goal of keeping Mitt Romney from securing the nomination.

 After mustering no better than second place in Tuesday's GOP Primaries, but beating Mitt Romney in Alabama and Mississippi, Newt Gingrich tells supporters he has no intention of dropping out of the race.

 Mr. Gingrich faced crucial primary tests Tuesday in Alabama and Mississippi, states where he campaigned hard to jump-start his flagging campaign. He lost both to former Sen. Rick Santorum, though he appeared on track to finish a respectable second in both. Even if he had realized his dream of winning both, though, some Republican officials doubt that would have generated enough momentum to win the nomination.

 Still, Mr. Gingrich and his advisers say he isn't going anywhere. In a concession speech, Mr. Gingrich was gracious to Mr. Santorum, while calling the results an indictment of Mr. Romney, widely seen as the front-runner. "I believe that after the primaries are over it will be obvious the so-called front-runner in fact didn't get there, and from that point we will be in a whole different conversation," Mr. Gingrich said.

 WSJ's Danny Yadron takes a look at presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's failed strategy to win primaries in Alabama and Mississippi and discusses his future in the campaign. AP Photo.

 As those remarks suggest, Mr. Gingrich and his campaign have embraced a new goal, which is to block Mr. Romney. "He believes the long haul is to get enough delegates to stop Romney from getting the nomination before the convention," said campaign chairman Bob Walker, a former congressman. "If Romney is stopped, I don't think he gets the nomination at the convention."

 And if the race can be pushed into the convention, Gingrich supporters say, any sense that the former Massachusetts governor is the inevitable nominee would be punctured.

 Still, there now will be pressure for Mr. Gingrich to clear the way for Mr. Santorum to be the single alternative to Mr. Romney. Conservative GOP activist Keith Appell, for instance, argued Tuesday night that Mr. Santorum "has earned the opportunity to take on Romney in a two-man race."

 And Bill Armistead, chairman of the Alabama Republican party, said that "just looking at the numbers, it's hard to see it coming out in [Mr. Gingrich's] favor."

 Besides the goal of pushing the party's decision into the convention, though, Mr. Gingrich has other reasons to be reluctant to abandon his campaign. He has grand political ambitions that didn't end with his tenure as House speaker in the 1990s. After years earning a lucrative living as a consultant, his friends say, Mr. Gingrich wants a final chapter in public life, and this is likely his last bid for public office. "When you've been thinking about running for president for many years, and you've been running for a couple of years, what's three more weeks, or even three more months?" said Kellyanne Conway, who does polling and strategy for the Gingrich campaign.

 At age 68, he isn't under the financial pressure a younger candidate might be. He was worth more than $6.5 million in 2010, according to his financial-disclosure form filed with the Federal Election Commission.

 "There's not a lot to worry about from his perspective," said Rick Tyler, a strategist for Mr. Gingrich's super PAC, an outside political-action committee that is supporting his candidacy.

 Mr. Gingrich "could retire to Hawaii, play golf in the morning, do [TV appearances] at three in the afternoon and go to dinner," Mr. Tyler said. Instead, though, he appears to be driven by a desire to fill what he sees as a "historic" moment, a sentiment he shares often on the stump.

 "I want to be straightforward: I am a visionary," he told an Alabama crowd last week.

 As a result, Ralph Reed, a conservative activist who is head of the Faith and Freedom Coalition, doesn't expect Mr. Gingrich to step away. "As long as there is money in the bank account and gas in the bus, I expect Newt to keep going," he said. "It's clearly a problem for Santorum, but it's a gift for Mitt because it prevents the kind of mano-a-mano contest between Romney and the non-Romney candidate."

 Getty Images Newt Gingrich addressed a Birmingham, Ala., country club on Tuesday.

 The biggest question for Mr. Gingrich, though, may be how long his campaign can afford to carry on. It spends most of what it takes in and still carries debt from earlier in the nomination fight, according to a person familiar with the matter. The operation reported carrying more than $1.7 million in debt at the end of January, according to the most recent available records.

 Yet the campaign recently moved its Georgia political director to Louisiana, which votes March 24. Earlier this week, it released a post-Tuesday campaign schedule that included stops in Illinois, which votes next Tuesday. It believes it has succeeded in preventing Mr. Romney from running away with the nomination and that it now has an opportunity in Texas, California, Maryland and North Carolina, which votes May 8.

 Those plans signal more confidence than a week ago, when Mr. Gingrich's spokesman, R.C. Hammond, told reporters multiple times that Mr. Gingrich needed to win both Alabama and Mississippi to remain credible.

 Mr. Walker essentially conceded that Mr. Gingrich would be hard-pressed to collect more delegates than Mr. Romney, but he rejected the argument that he should drop out of the race to allow conservatives opposed to Mr. Romney to consolidate behind Mr. Santorum. "Both of us are accumulating delegates state by state that are not allowing Romney to be the inevitable candidate," said Mr. Walker.

 Write to Janet Hook at janet.hook@wsj.com and Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com ||||| With back-to-back losses in the Deep South Tuesday night, Newt Gingrich suffered a third defeat: He lost any of the remaining logic behind his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination.

 His claims to primacy in the South after winning the South Carolina and Georgia primaries evaporated with losses in both Mississippi and Alabama.

 Adding to the sting? The former House speaker who used to represent the Atlanta suburbs in Congress lost both to Rick Santorum, a former senator from the North - Pennsylvania.

 In addition, the fig leaf Gingrich has claimed as the target of relentless and excessive negative advertising from rival Mitt Romney dissolved as Santorum started to win contests and he himself became the target of the former Massachusetts governor’s wrath.

 Santorum has shown an ability to win in spite of it, not lose because of it.

 That leaves the final argument Gingrich has made: that he is the conservative alternative to the “Massachusetts moderate” he has branded Romney.

 A string of wins not just in the South but also the Midwest has lent credence to Santorum’s claim that, rather, he is the true right-wing alternative to Romney.

 It also buttresses his argument that he could fare even better in his quest for the nomination if Gingrich quit the race so he could go head-to-head with frontrunner.

 Even before the polls closed, Gingrich was portending primary disaster, with his staff issuing a memorandum offering a preemptive justification for him remaining a candidate should he lose both of the evening’s contests.

 Senior Adviser Randy Evans and Political Director Martin Baker argued that “Gingrich is well positioned to win the GOP nomination.”

 They noted that heading into Louisiana, only states with a total of 1,141 possible delegates will have voted - short itself of the 1,144 needed for the nomination.

 “The sequencing and pace of the second half favors Newt. When this process started, Newt’s team had two goals: block an early Romney nomination; and plan for a sequenced and paced second half. Newt stopped Romney in South Carolina and subsequently weathered a multi-million dollar barrage of attacks in Florida, surviving to win in Georgia on Super Tuesday,” wrote Evans and Baker.

 “Here is the bottom-line reality: this nomination will not be decided until the fourth quarter – and that is not until June. It also means that the candidate who closes strongest in this race is going to win,” they added. “So buckle up. This race is not going to be won or lost over backroom deals or endless and mind-numbing discussions in the media over delegate counts.”

 The campaign also tried to dispel the ongoing speculation about his candidacy ending by issuing a schedule with seven stops in Illinois between today and Thursday.

 Gingrich himself told his supporters in a non-concession speech: “If you’re the frontrunner and you keep coming in third, you’re not much of a frontrunner.”

 The Gingrich campaign wasn’t the only one with overly optimistic expectations for Tuesday.

 Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor and onetime GOP candidate who now supports Romney, told CNN: “The resilience of Mitt Romney is starting to show through. When he was way behind in Florida, he came back and beat Newt Gingrich. When he was behind in Ohio, he came back and beat Rick Santorum. The same in Michigan and some other places.”

 He added: “I mean if Mitt Romney does well in those Southern states tonight, the script gets rewritten. I mean that’s a breakthrough moment.”

 The candidate himself was strident.

 “Senator Santorum is at the desperate end of his campaign,” Romney told CNN. “I mean, he’s far behind in the delegate count. He’s far behind in the popular vote count. If you look at the math of how many delegates he’d have to win to become the nominee, it’s a very difficult road for him.”

 In a statement after the results were in, Romney said: “I am pleased that we will be increasing our delegate count in a very substantial way after tonight. Ann and I made a lot of new friends in Alabama and Mississippi and we look forward to campaigning in those states in the general election.”

 Senior adviser Eric Fehrnstrom told CNN that Romney’s goal was not to win an “away game” in the South, but to secure one-third of the delegates up for grabs Tuesday.

 Doing so, he argued, would maintain a status quo in the overall campaign standings.

 “Look, this is a delegate contest,” said Fehrnstrom. “Once the dust clears, you’ll be able to look and see that there really will be no ground that our opponents have made up against Mitt Romney.”

 Santorum scoffed at that assessment through the day and during his victory remarks Tuesday night in Lafayette, La., where he had pre-positioned in anticipation of that state’s primary next week.

 “Well, for someone who thinks this race is inevitable, he spent a whole lot of money against me for being inevitable,” Santorum said in a shot at Romney.

 He added that he would “compete everywhere,” and said: “The time is now for conservatives to pull together.”

 The former senator argues that he is the conservative of choice because he can compete against President Obama on all issues, including health care, where he says Romney will falter because he signed a universal health care law in Massachusetts that was the model for Obama’s federal plan.

 The fourth and final candidate in the race, Representative Ron Paul of Texas, exceeds even Gingrich in being a longshot for the nomination.

 Through Tuesday night, he continues to be the only candidate who has not won either a primary or a caucus.

 He largely skipped the South, despite being a Texan, and instead is concentrating on the Illinois primary next week.

 His campaign touted a rally he is holding today with over 1,000 voters at the University of Illinois in Champaign, Ill.

 As impressive as that number may be, though, if it doesn’t translate into votes, it won’t help him advance toward the goal he, Gingrich, and the others share: being elected president of the United States.

 Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @globeglen. ||||| Story highlights Gingrich suffers devastating losses in Mississippi and Alabama

 Gingrich has lost ground among key GOP voting blocs

 Santorum has two big wins Tuesday, but has a tough climb toovercome Romney

 Santorum and Gingrich hope to prevent Romney from winning a majority of delegates

 If Newt Gingrich can't win Alabama and Mississippi, where can he win? The former House speaker fell short in the heart of Dixie on Tuesday, and it's not clear where he goes from here.

 Approaching the halfway mark of the primary season, Gingrich has finished first in a grand total of two states: South Carolina and his home state of Georgia.

 Geographically, bright red Alabama and Mississippi were virtual home turf for the former speaker -- two must-win states for him to at least claim the title of regional powerhouse.

 Compared to South Carolina and Georgia, however, there was a clear, critical decline in Gingrich's support among several key groups on Tuesday.

 Among self-described very conservative voters, Gingrich won 33% of the vote in Mississippi and 37% in Alabama. In South Carolina and Georgia, he won 48% and 53%.

 Among evangelical or born-again voters, Gingrich won 30% of the vote in Mississippi and 31% in Alabama. In South Carolina and Georgia, he won 44% and 50%.

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 Among strong tea party supporters, Gingrich won 34% of the vote in Mississippi and 38% in Alabama. In South Carolina and Georgia, he won 48% and 55%.

 Similar declines among all three voting blocs occurred in comparison to the Florida Panhandle -- a traditional Deep South region. Gingrich narrowly won the Panhandle during the Sunshine State's January 31 primary, according to exit polls.

 Last week, Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said the former speaker had to win Alabama and Mississippi in order to remain viable. Gingrich later asserted that he's going on to the national convention in Tampa no matter what happens.

 Bravado aside, at some point the money dries up and voters stop listening. For Gingrich, that point may have come Tuesday night.

 "If (Gingrich) can't win in the South, he needs to go," said Erick Erickson, editor-in-chief of the conservative RedState.org.

 If Gingrich does go, Santorum will get the one-on-one challenge to Mitt Romney he's been all but pleading for. Romney told CNN Tuesday afternoon that Santorum is facing a "desperate end" to his campaign. Santorum's big wins on Tuesday night indicate that end is anything but nigh.

 "It's just the beginning," Santorum spokesman Hogan Gidley said.

 "This is a grassroots campaign for president," Santorum told a group of supporters in Louisiana Tuesday night. It's managing to "defy the odds day in and day out."

 This race has now become an arduous delegate slog. The first man to claw his way to a bare majority of 1,144 wins. Heading into Tuesday, Romney had 459 delegates, Santorum had 203, and Gingrich had 118, according to CNN estimates. Ron Paul trailed badly, with 66 delegates.

 Prior to Tuesday, Romney needed to win roughly 48% of the remaining delegates to go over the top. Santorum needed about 66% of the remaining delegates, and Gingrich needed 72%.

 Given the calendar and the GOP's rules regarding the proportional allocation of delegates, it's tough to see a scenario under which anyone overtakes Romney. Santorum, Romney, and Gingrich each won roughly a third of the combined delegates at stake in Mississippi and Alabama.

 Realistically, the name of the game for Santorum -- and Gingrich if he goes on -- is to prevent Romney from hitting the 1,144-delegate mark and push for a contested convention when the Republicans meet in Tampa in August.

 Can it be done? Most analysts still expect Romney to eventually seal the deal in May or June, but the GOP's conservative base continues, on the whole, to be remarkably resistant to calls to fall in line behind the frontrunner.

 "If we go to a convention, we would be signaling our doom in terms of replacing President Obama," Romney told Fox News earlier this week. "That will not happen."

 There hasn't been a seriously contested convention since Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan battled down to the bitter end 36 years ago. The odds of another contested convention are long, but the game of presidential politics is anything but predictable. |||||
What is a shorter version of the above article?

– Newt Gingrich lost both Mississippi and Alabama last night, and the calls for him to drop out have risen to a deafening roar. Here's what pundits are saying: "If Newt Gingrich can't win Alabama and Mississippi, where can he win?" asks CNN. The states are "virtual home turf" for the ex-speaker. Dig deeper, and the numbers keep looking bad; Gingrich saw sharp declines among key groups like very conservative voters and evangelicals. Gingrich "lost any of the remaining logic behind his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination," writes Glen Johnson of the Boston Globe. He can't even claim he was derailed by Mitt Romney's attack machine—Rick Santorum "has shown an ability to win in spite of it." NPR notes that it's now impossible for Gingrich to get the 1,144 delegates needed to beat Romney. "Gingrich has long been an advocate for thinking 'outside the box,' but lately he has moved outside the box where one finds the calculator, abacus, and the times table." "It is time for Santorum vs. Romney and let the chips fall where they may," agrees Erick Erickson of Red State. A one-on-one contest will give Romney "a run for his money he needs to become a candidate conservatives can potentially rally around." But don't hold your breath. Gingrich's advisers tell the Wall Street Journal that he's staying in—purely to make sure Romney doesn't get enough delegates to clinch the nomination.


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About

 In this White House, it's all about "The One." Need proof? Now his White House staff has even started inserting Obama into the biographies of previous presidents. In fact, the photos below highlight Obama's role in some other historical moments, you may not have been aware. (NOTE: This website is intended to be satirical and is not intended to be construed as real ... except perhaps in the mind of President Barack Obama.)

 If you want to really change history and elect the next Republican President volunteer here.

 Twitter

 Facebook

 YouTube ||||| The White House has found a new way to cite President Obama's actions on issues ranging from Medicare and Social Security to energy, trade, taxes, veterans and civil rights -- by linking from the biographies of former presidents on the White House website.

 Click on almost any president since Calvin Coolidge, scroll to the bottom of his official bio, and you'll find one or two references to something Obama has done to carry on that president's achievements.

 The additions -- first noted in a tweet from the conservative Heritage Foundation, then picked up by the neoconservative magazine Commentaryand given broader attention by ABC's Jake Tapper -- spurred a reaction from the Republican National Committee.

 On its Tumblr account, the RNC has pictured Obama in "world-changing events you didn't know Obama played a part in." Here you can see Obama landing in the New World with Christopher Columbus, attending Napolean's coronation, guest-lecturing with Albert Einstein and hanging out with Elvis and the Beatles.

 White House officials point out that the official biographies are not altered in any way. The links after them take readers to other places on the White House web site via "Did you know?" tabs.

 Some of the historical references are innocuous. For instance, after Coolidge's bio, the White House added this:

 On Feb. 22, 1924, Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.

 Jump all the way to George W. Bush, and you get another reference to social media:

 In 2002, President George W. Bush's State of the Union was the first to be live broadcast on the Internet. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama's State of the Union speeches were available in an enhanced live stream version that featured infographics, charts and data side-by-side in real time with the President's speech.

 But in between, the references to Obama -- complete with hyperlinks that take you elsewhere on the White House website -- clearly highlight efforts the White House would like noted, such as fighting to protect Medicare and Social Security or expanding the rights of gays and veterans. ||||| Calvin Coolidge

 At 2:30 on the morning of August 3, 1923, while visiting in Vermont, Calvin Coolidge received word that he was President. By the light of a kerosene lamp, his father, who was a notary public, administered the oath of office as Coolidge placed his hand on the family Bible.

 Coolidge was "distinguished for character more than for heroic achievement," wrote a Democratic admirer, Alfred E. Smith. "His great task was to restore the dignity and prestige of the Presidency when it had reached the lowest ebb in our history ... in a time of extravagance and waste...."

 Born in Plymouth, Vermont, on July 4, 1872, Coolidge was the son of a village storekeeper. He was graduated from Amherst College with honors, and entered law and politics in Northampton, Massachusetts. Slowly, methodically, he went up the political ladder from councilman in Northampton to Governor of Massachusetts, as a Republican. En route he became thoroughly conservative.

 As President, Coolidge demonstrated his determination to preserve the old moral and economic precepts amid the material prosperity which many Americans were enjoying. He refused to use Federal economic power to check the growing boom or to ameliorate the depressed condition of agriculture and certain industries. His first message to Congress in December 1923 called for isolation in foreign policy, and for tax cuts, economy, and limited aid to farmers.

 He rapidly became popular. In 1924, as the beneficiary of what was becoming known as "Coolidge prosperity," he polled more than 54 percent of the popular vote.

 In his Inaugural he asserted that the country had achieved "a state of contentment seldom before seen," and pledged himself to maintain the status quo. In subsequent years he twice vetoed farm relief bills, and killed a plan to produce cheap Federal electric power on the Tennessee River.

 The political genius of President Coolidge, Walter Lippmann pointed out in 1926, was his talent for effectively doing nothing: "This active inactivity suits the mood and certain of the needs of the country admirably. It suits all the business interests which want to be let alone.... And it suits all those who have become convinced that government in this country has become dangerously complicated and top-heavy...."

 Coolidge was both the most negative and remote of Presidents, and the most accessible. He once explained to Bernard Baruch why he often sat silently through interviews: "Well, Baruch, many times I say only 'yes' or 'no' to people. Even that is too much. It winds them up for twenty minutes more."

 But no President was kinder in permitting himself to be photographed in Indian war bonnets or cowboy dress, and in greeting a variety of delegations to the White House.

 Both his dry Yankee wit and his frugality with words became legendary. His wife, Grace Goodhue Coolidge, recounted that a young woman sitting next to Coolidge at a dinner party confided to him she had bet she could get at least three words of conversation from him. Without looking at her he quietly retorted, "You lose." And in 1928, while vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota, he issued the most famous of his laconic statements, "I do not choose to run for President in 1928."

 By the time the disaster of the Great Depression hit the country, Coolidge was in retirement. Before his death in January 1933, he confided to an old friend, ". . . I feel I no longer fit in with these times."

 The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association.

 Learn more about Calvin Coolidge 's spouse, Grace Anna Goodhue Coolidge. |||||

– History is written by the winners, and in this case by the winner of the 2008 presidential election: Take a gander at almost any presidential biography on WhiteHouse.gov from Calvin Coolidge on up, and you'll find a "Did You Know?" section that somehow, some way, links their achievements to President Obama's, USA Today reports. Coolidge, for instance, was the first president to make a public radio address; but Obama was the first to hold "virtual gatherings and town halls on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc." These, er, helpful additions were first spotted by the Heritage Foundation, and conservatives are having a field day with them. "No wonder he always seems so proud of himself," quips Sean Mandel of Commentary, who was the first to blog about the insertions. The RNC, meanwhile, has set up a fairly hilarious "Obama in History" Tumblr account, photoshopping the president into everything from the moon landing to Washington's trip across the Delaware.


War was being waged against the Indian state, less than 200 kilometres from the capital. On Wednesday night, the government finally arrested Sant Rampal, a cult leader who had been holed up in his ashram in Hisar, Haryana, defying the authorities. The last few days of Indian television have been dominated by sights of Rampal’s fervent supporters clashing with authorities outside the ashram, barely three-and-a-half hours away from Delhi. At least six people—including an 18-month-old child—have died and many more have been injured in the violent standoff, as Rampal attempted to avoid appearing in court on charges of murder dating back to 2006. The visuals were reminiscent of other famous religious standoffs, from Operation Blue Star in 1984 which was aimed at flushing Sikh militants out of Amritsar’s Golden Temple to the horrific Waco siege in Texas in 1993, when 76 people were killed after a fire broke out at the campus of a fringe religious group suspected of weapons violations. In Hisar, too, supporters chucked petrol bombs and traded fire with authorities, who in turn have claimed that women and children were being used as shields. Other than a general sense of law and order breaking down easier in Haryana than most other states, the question that usually comes up in situations like this: how did it come to this? How could a cult leader be running a little fief of his own so close to New Delhi?

 Religious fervour

 One answer is simple and obvious: religion. Faith is always a tricky subject to navigate in Indian culture and cult leaders, from Sai Baba to Asaram Bapu, make everything much trickier for law enforcement.Taking on a campus filled with supporters of such a leader who see him as divine is not the same as invading the headquarters of a criminal gang. In this case, those standing in the way were willing to go much further in an attempt to stave off the authorities, whether that meant self-immolation or essentially going to war with the police. Their reaction was serious enough to prompt police to step back after an attempted invasion of the ashram on Tuesday when they were unable to locate the cult leader.

 And this isn’t just an Indian problem. One of the chief criticisms of the handling of the Waco incident was their inability to understand how exactly to deal with a doomsday cult leader.

 “To the F.B.I. agent, Mount Carmel was a hostage situation, and the purpose of the ‘negotiation’ was to get the man behind the barricade to release some of his captives,” wrote Malcolm Gladwell in a piece looking back at the Waco incident. “But Koresh saw his followers as his students. They were there of their own free will, to learn the prophecies of Revelation. How could he release people whom he was not holding in the first place?”

 Police, not army

 It’s often said that if the government really wanted to end India’s left-wing militancy problem, all they would have to do would be to send the army in. India’s military has more than enough firepower and competency that the issue would be solved within months if not weeks. But it could potentially create as many problems as it would fix.Armies are meant to be used against enemies. Against your own citizens, you use police and paramilitary forces, who are trained to do different things. Hence the issues that those in India’s periphery, Kashmir and the Northeast, have with the centre’s approach, but this is one of those reasons that a standoff like this can drag on. The government might have sent 14 Central Reserve Police Force companies to Hisar to help handle the situation at Rampal’s ashram, but their task is not to invade with shock and awe. It was apprehend the cult leader to ensure his court appearance with, as expressly instructed by the High Court, “as little bloodshed as possible”.

 Martyrs and backlash

 Three years ago, a large yoga meet in the middle of the capital was suddenly broken up by the Delhi Police. Around midnight, the cops raided a large camp where thousands of followers of Baba Ramdev had gathered for a three-day event, featuring plenty of yoga as well as political posturing.The sudden raid by the police, including lathi charge on thousands of sleeping supporters which led to the death of one woman, was widely criticised as a sign of the trust deficit between those governing and those governed as well as an example of excess force. A similar situation came up when the head of the Dera Sacha Sauda cult had to be arrested in 2007.

 While that may have been a different government and a more prominent leader, the memory is still reasonably fresh. Indeed, the incident earned much criticism from those who are currently in charge both in Haryana and at the centre. Moreover, the midnight raid was one of the many incidents that built up an image of the previous government’s inability to relate to the people—something the new Bharatiya Janata Party administration would not want to risk, after forming the government in Haryana for the very first time.

 This post originally appeared on Scroll.in. ||||| Image copyright AP Image caption Rampal was arrested late Wednesday night and produced in court on Thursday

 Controversial Indian guru Rampal, who was arrested on Wednesday night after a week-long stand-off at his ashram in Haryana state, has been remanded in custody until 28 November.

 The self-styled guru is wanted in connection with a 2006 murder case and for contempt of court.

 He was arrested a day after his supporters fought a pitched battle with the police at his ashram.

 At least six people died during the stand-off, police said.

 The bodies of four women and a child were found at the site on Wednesday.

 A fifth woman, aged 20, died at a local hospital after leaving the ashram. The causes of their deaths are being investigated. Police say the bodies did not "bear any injuries".

 The 63-year-old guru, who is facing charges of waging war against the nation, told reporters on Thursday that he "regretted" the deaths, but denied police allegations that he had used his followers as human shields during clashes.

 "I did not use them (as shields). They were acting on their own," he said.

 The guru also denied all the charges against him saying "I am innocent, all the charges against me are baseless".

 After being led out of his fortress-like complex in an ambulance late on Wednesday, the guru was taken for a medical examination.

 Before arresting Rampal, the police managed to evacuate more than 16,000 followers from the ashram and sent them home in buses and trains.

 "There could still be between 3,000 and 4,000 people inside the complex," local police official Satender Kumar Gupta told reporters after the guru's arrest.

 Police accused his armed devotees of holding people hostage, and using women and children as human shields.

 One man said the private securitymen - who were known as "commandos" - had threatened the people inside the ashram and refused to let them leave during Tuesday's bloody clashes.

 "We were separated from our families so that we couldn't leave. They also used coercion to make us attack the [police] forces and said they would shoot us if we didn't throw stones to protect the guru," Ram Kumar, a follower, told The Indian Express newspaper.

 More than 200 people were injured in the clashes - police fired tear gas and water cannon, and used bulldozers to try to break into the sprawling complex, while ashram members threw stones and other missiles and opened fire.

 At least 270 people have been arrested in connection with the violence and charged with rioting, illegal detention, attempt to murder and waging war against the state.

 Who is Rampal?

 Image copyright AFP

 Rampal is accused of involvement in a murder case dating from 2006 in which a man died in a clash at another of his ashrams.

 He denied the allegations and was released on bail. The authorities ordered his arrest on contempt charges after he repeatedly failed to appear in court.

 The Punjab and Haryana High Court had set a final deadline for Rampal to appear in court on Monday in the contempt case.

 Rampal ignored the summons and his lawyers said he was too ill to make the 250km (155-mile) journey to the court in Chandigarh, which serves as the capital of both states.

 The judges criticised the government, saying they "lacked the will" to arrest the guru and said he must be in court by Friday.

 Many people visit the guru, believing he can cure illnesses.

 Rampal: How did an engineer become a revered guru?

 Why so many Indians flock to gurus ||||| Story highlights Commissioner: The guru is arrested without resistance from his followers

 Police wanted to arrest the 63-year-old guru, who was wanted in a murder case

 Police clashed with his followers on Tuesday, leaving scores of people injured

 Ashram authorities handed over 6 bodies; authorities believe they died of illness

 Police on Wednesday arrested an Indian guru after clashing, sometimes violently, with his supporters over the last 10 days.

 Also on Wednesday, his followers turned over six bodies that authorities believe died of illness.

 The spiritual leader, Rampal Maharaj, was arrested by Indian police without resistance from his followers, said regional administrative commissioner M.L. Kaushik.

 Police had surrounded the ashram and ordered its evacuation, cutting off the water and electricity, and warned they wouldn't leave until they had arrested Rampal.

 His supporters clashed Tuesday with police officers who were trying to storm the sprawling ashram -- a kind of religious compound -- to take the guru into custody, according to Kaushik.

 Tensions between police and the guru's supporters started some 10 days ago when the followers didn't let officers arrest him, the commissioner said. The situation began to escalate, culminating in the full-blown clashes.

 Several security personnel were injured in the clashes with the guru's followers, who fired shots and pelted police with stones at the site in the northern state of Haryana, police said.

 Television footage showed hundreds of police in riot gear aiming water cannon and tear gas at stone-throwing crowds. As many as 85 of Rampal's followers were hurt, authorities said.

 After the clashes, thousands of the supporters left the ashram overnight and into Wednesday, police said. Early Wednesday afternoon, they estimated that about 5,000 people remained inside the 2½ acre complex, which was reported to be calmer.

 Police said the six dead bodies, with no visible signs of injury, were handed to them by the ashram authorities.

 "We believe they were sick and died because of lack of medical attention on time," Kaushik said.

 The bodies will undergo autopsies at a nearby hospital to determine the cause of death.

 Rampal, 63, is a worshiper of Kabir, a 15th-century Indian mystic, according to his website.

 Authorities were carrying out arrest orders for him after he had repeatedly failed to appear in court in connection with a 2006 murder case, Kaushik said.

 Officials at the ashram couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday. |||||

Write a summary.

– An Indian guru was arrested yesterday after a 10-day standoff during which at least six people died. Police say up to 20,000 followers of the guru Rampal Maharaj, who is wanted in connection with a 2006 murder, battled police at his ashram, a 2.5-acre religious complex in Hisar, the BBC and CNN report. Though police say followers used women and children as human shields, five women and an 18-month-old child "were sick and died because of lack of medical attention on time," authorities add. Rampal, 63, says he "regretted" the deaths but argues his supporters, who believe he can cure illness, "were acting on their own." Some 200 were injured as police used tear gas, water cannons, and bulldozers to penetrate the complex. Police evacuated 16,000 followers, some of whom say they were coerced into fighting, but say several thousand more may remain. "We were separated from our families so that we couldn't leave," one supporter says. Commandos "said they would shoot us if we didn't throw stones to protect the guru." Others threw petrol bombs and fired on authorities, Quartz reports. Some 270 people were arrested and charged with rioting, attempt to murder, and waging war against the state. Rampal, a follower of the Indian mystic Kabir, had repeatedly failed to appear in court after he was accused in the death of a man during a 2006 clash at another ashram. His lawyer said he was too ill to travel. He will now remain in custody until Nov. 28.


North Korean soldiers salute in front of Kumsusan Palace of the Sun, the mausoleum where the bodies of the late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il lie embalmed, in Pyongyang on Thursday, April 25, 2013.... (Associated Press)

 Seoul said Friday that it has decided to withdraw the roughly 175 South Koreans still at a jointly run factory complex in North Korea, raising a major question about the survival of the last symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

 The statement by the country's minister in charge of inter-Korean relations came after North Korea rejected Seoul's demand for talks on the factory park that has been closed nearly a month.

 Seoul said it issued a Friday deadline for North Korea to respond to its call for talks because it was worried about its workers not having access to food and medicine. North Korea hasn't allowed supplies or workers to cross the border since early this month.

 "We've made the inevitable decision to bring back all the remaining personnel in Kaesong for the protection of our people as their difficulties continue to grow," Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said in a televised statement. He didn't take questions from reporters.

 Ryoo urged North Korea to protect the property of South Korean companies at Kaesong and ensure the safety of South Korean managers when they return home. He didn't say when the withdrawal would take place.

 Pyongyang's powerful National Defense Commission earlier said Seoul's demand for working-level talks was deceptive and that ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills and the spreading of anti-North Korea leaflets at the border were proof of Seoul's insincerity.

 "This is a war of pride between the Koreas, but they are conducting it while leaving some room for talks," Lee Hochul, a political science professor at Incheon National University in South Korea, said, adding neither side is mentioning a permanent shutdown of the industrial complex.

 "Once drills end and tension subsides, they may try to revive contact over Kaesong," Lee said.

 An association of South Korean businessmen with factories in Kaesong released a statement saying they were shocked at Seoul's decision to pull the workers out.

 The park in the North Korean border town of Kaesong is the most significant casualty so far in the recent deterioration of relations between the Koreas. Pyongyang barred South Korean managers and cargo from entering North Korea early this month, then recalled the 53,000 North Koreans who worked on the assembly lines. More than 800 South Korean managers were stationed in Kaesong before the ban.

 "If they are truly worried about the lives of South Korean personnel in the (complex), they may withdraw all of them to the south side where there are stockpiles of food and raw materials and sound medical conditions," the statement from an unidentified spokesman for the North's National Defense Commission said Friday. It added that North Korea would guarantee the workers' safety during the withdrawal.

 "If the South's puppet group looks away from reality and pursues the worsening of the situation, we will be compelled to first take final and decisive grave measures," the statement said.

 The statements on Kaesong this week follow what had been something of a lull after a weeks-long tirade of warlike North Korean rhetoric that included threats of nuclear war and missile strikes. Tension rose as Seoul responded with its own tough language to Pyongyang's outburst, which was unusually violent, even by the standards of the already hostile relationship between the Koreas.

 Meanwhile, the military drills continue. On Friday, airplanes flew over South Korea's southeastern city of Pohang and amphibious vessels landed on the coast. North Korea calls the drills, which are set to end Tuesday, war preparations.

 "Even at this moment, South Korea is ramping up the intensity of coastal landing drills with the United States in the east, driving the already tense situation to a point of explosion," North Korea said in its statement. It said the annual drills and the scattering of North Korean leaflets along the border belie the South Korean government's calls for talks.

 The Kaesong complex has operated with South Korean know-how and technology and with cheap labor from North Korea since 2004. It weathered past cycles of hostility between the rivals, including two attacks blamed on North Korea in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.

 "Seoul has executed a high-stakes gambit" by deciding to pull South Korean workers from Kaesong, said Kim Han-jung, a Yonsei University professor who once served as an aide to liberal President Kim Dae-jung, under whom the idea of the park was conceived. "The deadlock over the park is likely to persist for a long time. It will take a lot of political effort to restore it."

 Both analysts said that Pyongyang could confiscate South Korean properties in Kaesong in the worst scenario as it did in 2010 at a South Korean-built mountain resort on North Korea's east coast. The cross-border tourism project came to a halt in 2008 after a South Korean tourist was fatally shot by a North Korean guard at the Diamond Mountain resort.

 Impoverished North Korea objects to views in South Korea that the Kaesong park is a source of badly needed hard currency. South Korean companies paid salaries to North Korean workers averaging $127 a month, according to South Korea's government. That is less than one-sixteenth of the average salary of South Korean manufacturer workers.

 Pyongyang also has complained about alleged South Korean military plans in the event the North held the Kaesong managers hostage.

 A South Korean employee at Kaesong said she watched the ministry's briefing on television. She did not know whether she would leave Kaesong because her company's headquarters in the South had not called her yet.

 "I've been staying here to protect our factory and our goods," she said when reached by phone, declining to be identified because her company asked her not to speak to the media. She has been in Kaesong since April 2, one day before North Korea blocked entry to South Korean workers, and has been eating rice and noodles, she said. One other colleague is staying with her.

 ___

 AP writer Youkyung Lee contributed to this report. ||||| The top South Korean official charged with handling North-South relations says the time has come for South Korean workers still at the shuttered Kaesong factory zone to return home.

 Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-jae said Friday that the government has made an "unavoidable decision" to bring about 180 South Korean workers home.

 The decision came hours after North Korea rejected the South's proposal for formal negotiations to restart operations at the Kaesong complex.

 Seoul gave Pyongyang 24 hours on Thursday to agree to talks, warning of a tough response if Pyongyang did not agree to the offer.

 Hours after the deadline passed Friday, Pyongyang dismissed the offer and warned that it would be the first to take tough action if the South insists on worsening the situation at the border town.

 South Korean President Park Geun-hye met with her security-related Cabinet ministers on Friday, regarding fate of the Kaesong complex.

 Operations at Kaesong, just north of the border, have been suspended since North Korea angrily pulled its workers and blocked South Korean access to the center earlier this month.

 About 180 South Koreans remain there in hopes that production can resume, but they are thought to be quickly running out of food and supplies.

 Kaesong is the last remaining symbol of cooperation between the two foes, and is seen as a bellwether of Korean relations. Although work at the center has been suspended during times of heightened tensions, it has never been shut down completely since it was established in 2004.

 Though Pyongyang has refrained from making daily threats of violence against the South in recent days, tensions remain high on the Korean peninsula.

 North Korea is angry over U.N. Security Council sanctions passed in response to Pyongyang's February nuclear test, as well as annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. ||||| SEOUL—South Korea said it will pull its remaining staff from a suspended joint industrial park inside North Korea, moving to break a three-week deadlock but risking the collapse of the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean economic cooperation.

 Earlier Friday, North Korea rejected a new proposal from South Korea for talks over the Kaesong Industrial Complex—an effort by Seoul to end a standoff that began when the North started preventing traffic from the South from entering the facility on April 3. Six days later North Korea... |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– Nearly three weeks after North Korea pulled its 53,000 workers from the Kaesong Industrial Complex—a jointly managed industrial park just inside the North Korean border—the South Korean government is ordering its remaining citizens out, reports the Wall Street Journal. Despite the virtual shutdown of the complex, one of the last symbols of North-South cooperation, about 175 South Koreans had remained behind to ensure North Korea would not unilaterally confiscate the goods and machinery left there. But the AP reports Seoul was worried about its workers not having access to food and medicine; North Korea hasn't allowed supplies or workers to cross the border since early this month. Seoul had given Pyongyang 24 hours to agree to restarting talks, warning of serious consequences if the North said no, reports Voice of America. But the North let the deadline pass then issued a "no", along with a threat: If the South "pursues the worsening of the situation, we will be compelled to first take final and decisive grave measures," reads a statement issued today. "The government has made an inevitable decision to bring back home all of our citizens left behind in Kaesong for their protection," said South Korea's Unification Minister. "Their hardship is growing due to North Korea's unfair measures in Kaesong."


Summarize this article:

Lindsay Police Report Pokes Holes In Jeweler's Story

 The police report detailing howallegedly stole a $2,500 necklace from an L.A. jewelry store shows two puzzling inconsistencies in the jeweler's story -- inconsistencies that could help Lindsay beat the rap.According to the report, obtained by TMZ, the jeweler first told cops Lindsay had been in the store three times before the alleged theft -- looking at the necklace in question. The next day, the jeweler changed her story and said it was actually a ring Lindsay had been eyeing on previous visits and never looked at the necklace.And there's another inconsistency. According to the report, on January 23, the owner told cops, "The surveillance video revealed that as Kaman [owner] was talking to Lindsay's male friend, Lohan reached up to her neck area with both hands, removed the store necklace, and placed it inside her black Chanel bag."But the next day, the owner changed her story, saying Lindsay walked out of her store with the necklace around her neck. The reason for the inconsistency -- the owner claims she reviewed the video on a different monitor the second time and saw it differently.The jewelry store owner's credibility is crucial because Lindsay claims the owner loaned the necklace to her. ||||| Lindsay Lohan Wants Plea Deal

 insists she's innocent but still desperately wants to plea bargain her felony grand theft case because she's terrified of being locked up ... sources connected with the case tell TMZ.set a court hearing for February 23, so the lawyers can talk plea bargain. We've learned Lindsay is willing to plead guilty to make the case go away, provided she doesn't get any jail or prison time.Sources say the prosecutor wants jail time so there's an impasse.But there's another way Lindsay can make this case go away. When there is only one charge on the table -- as there is here -- the defendant can essentially cut a deal with the judge, cutting the D.A. out of the picture. Ifoffers to plead guilty to felony grand theft, with the judge's assurance he won't put her behind bars, the case could go away.And, it's common in cases like this for the judge to reduce the offense to a misdemeanor if Lindsay stays out of trouble for 12 months. ||||| Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period. |||||

– Lindsay Lohan is accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace, and now the jewelry store accusing her says the troubled starlet also tried to walk out with a diamond earring just four days prior. La Lohan allegedly tried on a pair of diamond earrings on Jan. 18, and only removed one—then, after looking around a bit more, started to leave the store with the other one still on, that ear covered by her hair. When confronted by a clerk, LiLo “laughed, admitted to her mistake, and removed the earring.” TMZ notes that this little anecdote could actually help Lindsay, proving that she’s simply absentminded—because it turns out the actress actually left her own earrings, a more expensive pair, on the counter as she walked out. There are other inconsistencies in the police report that could also help, including details of the store owner’s story that have changed. Even so, the gossip site reports that Lohan is scared of going to jail and may plead guilty simply so she can get a plea bargain and avoid prison. (For more, check out her perhaps-inappropriate court outfit.)


Article:

poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201511/3342/1155968404_4638251377001_Donald-and-pastors-.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Donald Trump talks with reporters while surrounded by a group of African-American religious leaders in New York on Nov. 30, 2015. Black pastors demand apology from Donald Trump

 Instead of endorsements, many black pastors issued Donald Trump demands for an apology for his treatment of racial minorities at a closed-door meeting at Trump Tower in New York on Monday.

 The demands, part of an hours-long meeting with dozens of black faith leaders that has been mired in controversy since it was announced on Wednesday, come after many leaders came under fire for meeting with Trump and after his campaign canceled the public portion of the event. But Trump, rarely one to avoid news cameras, held an impromptu press conference anyways and described the meeting as full of “love.”

 Story Continued Below

 “It went longer only because of the love. It didn't go longer for other reasons,” Trump said of the two-and-a-half hour session. “There were unbelievable solutions, I think, to problems that we will solve that other people won’t be able to solve.”

 But there were also disagreements. During the meeting, pastors demanded Trump apologize not only to the black community, but also to Mexicans for his inflammatory rhetoric, according to Bishop Orrin Pullings, a Richmond, Virginia-based pastor.

 “Our community really wants him to be sensitive with the way he handles people and they feel he’s insensitive,” said Pullings. “We told him that you are insensitive in appearance to our community and that’s not a good position. He listened to us and you know, I think Donald Trump is a very good listener.”

 But others advised Trump against backing down, according to Pullings. “Another crowd said, ‘No you should never apologize. You’re ahead in the polls now because of your big mouth … You start apologizing, you’ve got to keep apologizing.’”

 Pullings said Trump remained noncommittal, which he took as a sign that the mogul will not be issuing an apology any time soon. “It’s probably out of the question.”

 In Trump’s account of the meeting, pastors did not ask him to tone down his rhetoric. “The tone has taken me to first position in every single poll,” he told reporters afterward. “The beautiful thing about the meeting is they didn’t ask me to change the tone.”

 The back-and-forth echoes a similar debate that emerged among evangelical leaders at a similar meeting at Trump Tower in September. At that meeting, which included evangelical leaders of all races, several attendees challenged Trump on his habit of personally attacking critics and rivals and asked him to tone down his rhetoric while others defended Trump’s bombast. The September meeting concluded with those gathered laying hands on Trump and praying over him.

 Monday’s meeting was held under more contentious circumstances, and while it opened and closed with prayer, there was no laying on of hands.

 Trump has come under fire in the past week for condoning the rough treatment of a Black Lives Matter protester by his white supporters at a campaign rally in Alabama and for tweeting a chart with made-up statistics overstating the percentage of white murder victims killed by blacks.

 On Wednesday, Trump’s campaign initially announced the meeting with 100 black pastors and a press conference at which the pastors were to endorse the mogul. But backlash built quickly as other black faith leaders condemned Trump — including in an open letter published by Ebony Magazine.

 And on Sunday, Trump’s campaign canceled the open-press portion of the event, writing instead that it expected some pastors to issue endorsements after Monday’s closed-door meeting.

 Trump said Monday morning on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” that he believed the Black Lives Matter movement had pressured black clergy to withhold their endorsements of him. "It gets publicity — unfortunately, as everything I do gets publicity — and probably some of the Black Lives Matter folks called them up and said: 'You shouldn't be meeting with Trump because he believes that all lives matter,'" he said.

 According to Pullings, when Trump began to defend the treatment of the Black Lives Matter protester by explaining that there were 10,000 people at the rally and he did not know the race of the man, he was interrupted by Maryland-based Bishop Michael Freeman, who told him, “I have 10,00 members. If someone yells out in my crowd I don’t have them thrown out.”

 Pastors also criticized Trump’s mocking impression of a New York Times reporter’s physical handicap. Though Trump and the reporter have met on several occasion and he prefaced his impression by saying, “You ought to see this guy,” Trump maintains he does not know what the reporter looks like. ||||| NEW YORK (AP) — Dozens of black pastors pressed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday to address what some called his use of racially charged rhetoric, with several describing a meeting that became tense at times as attendees raised concerns about his blunt language.

 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, center, talks with reporters while surrounded by a group of African-American religious leaders in New York, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. Trump met with a coalition... (Associated Press)

 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump works the crowd at the conclusion of his second campaign visit to Georgia at the Macon Centreplex Coliseum while a member of the crowd holds up the former... (Associated Press)

 Republican Presidential candidate Donald Trump, left, talks to Pastor Darrell Scott while surrounded by reporters in New York, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. Trump met with a coalition of 100 African-American... (Associated Press)

 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, foreground center, stands in the middle of a media crush in the Trump Tower lobby in New York, Monday, Nov. 30, 2015. Trump met with a coalition of 100... (Associated Press)

 While some left the gathering at Trump's skyscraper in midtown Manhattan with hopes their message had resonated, Trump said afterward he had no plans to change his approach, which he said had taken him to "first position in every single poll."

 "The beautiful thing about the meeting is that they didn't really ask me to change the tone," Trump said. "I think they really want to see victory, because ultimately it is about, we want to win and we want to win together."

 At a rally later Monday in Macon, Georgia, Trump told a nearly all-white audience of about 5,000 that the meeting was "inspiring" and "unbelievable."

 "It was a really terrific day," he said.

 But several pastors who met in New York with the billionaire real estate mogul, who has held a consistent lead in preference polls of GOP voters for several months due in large part to his aggressive style of campaigning, said the session was a bit more complicated.

 Bishop George Bloomer, who traveled to the gathering from North Carolina, said he arrived in New York with concerns about "the racial comments that have been made and the insensitive comments that have been made," including an incident earlier this month in which a black protester was roughed up by Trump supporters at a rally in Birmingham, Alabama.

 Trump said after the incident, "Maybe he should have been roughed up because it was absolutely disgusting what he was doing."

 "I asked him: 'Are you a racist? People are saying that about you,'" Bloomer said. "If you are seeking the African-American community to support you, at the least, you're not helping with these kind of things that are going on."

 Bloomer said he told Trump that "if he wants to have our ear as a community, to at least tone down the rhetoric some kind of way, tone it down. And he said that he would."

 Pastor Al Morgan of Launch Ministries in Raleigh, North Carolina, said part of the group's discussion focused on whether Trump should lighten up a bit.

 "What he said was that he would take that into consideration," Morgan said. "So the thing was trying to be who he is, so you have to remain true to yourself. And, in his defense, that's gotten him where he is. So the thing is, how do you convey a person's heart with their personality? That's the dilemma."

 Trump is seeking to replace President Barack Obama, who won two terms in the White House by bringing together a coalition of young people, single women and black and Hispanic voters.

 Democrats maintain an enormous edge with African-American voters, with Republican presidential candidates faring poorly among minorities in the past two elections. In 2012, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press and television networks, 93 percent of black voters backed Obama. In 2008, the number was 95 percent.

 But Trump has been courting the support of evangelical black clergy members and other African-American leaders as he works to broaden his appeal in a crowded Republican field.

 In Georgia, radio host and failed 2012 presidential hopeful Herman Cain was among those who introduced Trump. Cain was the lone major black Republican candidate four years ago. Trump also interrupted his own 75-minute speech to bring another black Georgia Republican to the microphone. Bruce LeVell, who has served as party chairman in suburban Atlanta's Gwinett County, announced his endorsement, drawing roars from Trump's backers.

 Monday's meeting with the pastors was originally promoted by the campaign as an endorsement event, in which he would receive the backing of 100 black evangelical and religious leaders.

 But many of those invited to the meet-and-greet objected to that description, saying they accepted the invitation only because they wanted to challenge Trump about what he's said as a candidate.

 Trump kicked off his campaign with a speech in which he said some Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals, and recently drew criticism for retweeting an image of inaccurate statistics that vastly overrepresented the number of whites killed by blacks, among other errors.

 In a letter published by Ebony magazine, more than 100 black religious leaders wrote that "Trump's racially inaccurate, insensitive and incendiary rhetoric should give those charged with the care of the spirits and souls of black people great pause."

 They also expressed concern that Monday's gathering would "give Trump the appearance of legitimacy among those who follow your leadership and respect your position as clergy."

 Pastor Victor Couzens, from Cincinnati, Ohio, said he nonetheless felt an obligation to attend the meeting to hear what Trump had to say.

 "It's very unfortunate the way he has talked to not just the African-American community, but things he's said about women and Mexicans and Muslims," Couzens said. "But what's more discouraging than the things that he has said is the fact that in the face of him saying all of these things, he continues to surge in the polls."

 And some attendees emerged expressing full-throated support for Trump.

 "What we were able to do today was allow people to see his heart for themselves and to make up their own minds about him," said Darrell Scott, the senior pastor of New Spirit Revival Center in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who helped to organize the meeting. "They find out that he's not the person that the media has depicted him to be."

 ___

 Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow contributed from Macon, Georgia.

 ___

 Follow Jill Colvin on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/colvinj ||||| It seemed like a powerful counterpoint to the perception of Donald Trump as intolerant: A hundred black ministers and religious leaders would endorse him at his offices in Manhattan, vouching for his sensitivity and broad-mindedness.

 But within hours of the announcement a few days ago, furious backtracking, denials and finger-pointing were underway.

 By Monday afternoon, the supposed declaration of support from a cross-section of African-Americans seemed to crumble as several pastors insisted they had never agreed to attend or back Mr. Trump. In the end, his political debut with black leaders was refashioned into a private meeting with a smaller group that played down talk of endorsements.

 A few of those who showed up sounded uncomfortable. “It appears as if he’s a possible racist based upon some of the things he said about black America,” said Brehon Hall, a preacher from Toledo, Ohio, as he headed into the meeting at Trump Tower. |||||
What is a summary?

– Donald Trump says a meeting with dozens of black pastors at Trump Tower on Monday was "amazing," "inspiring," and "unbelievable"—but he has no intention of changing his campaign's tone. His campaign initially said the summit would be followed by public endorsements from more than 100 clergy members, though it later canceled the public part of the meeting and pastors say there were plenty of disagreements during the talk, Politico reports. "I asked him: 'Are you a racist?'" Bishop George Bloomer tells the AP. "People are saying that about you," Bloomer says he told Trump. "If you are seeking the African-American community to support you, at the least, you're not helping with these kind of things that are going on." Clergy members say the roughing up of a Black Lives Matter protester at a Trump rally was discussed, as was Trump's rhetoric on immigration. Afterward, Trump said, "The beautiful thing about the meeting is they didn't ask me to change the tone," per Politico. Some attendees say he did agree to soften his tone somewhat, though the AP reports that at a Monday evening rally in Macon, Ga., where he was introduced by Herman Cain, Trump repeated the positions on immigration that the pastors had been concerned about. But he has adopted a "newly conciliatory tone on racial matters," according to the New York Times: Trump and the clergy members who met with him were strongly criticized by the Rev. Al Sharpton on Monday, and Trump's only response in a Times interview was, "Deep down inside, Al likes me a lot."


So basically I was trynna get to this girl but the police told me to go home so we made this deal if i win u leave but if u win I step andddddd she step 󾰴✌🏽

 A Washington, D.C., police officer challenged a teenage girl to a dance-off, holding her own as the two did the "Nae Nae" dance.

 A female officer arrived to break up a fight in a park on K Street SW Monday afternoon when she saw 17-year-old Aaliya Taylor dancing to the popular Silentó song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)," Aaliya said. The girl said she usually fears officers and was surprised by what the officer said.

 "As I'm stepping off, I started to dance and then the cop was like, 'I could do better,' and I was like, 'OK, you want to challenge me?'" the senior at Ballou High School said. "I was in shock."

 The officer – whom the Metropolitan Police Department declined to name – matched the girl step for step as onlookers laughed and cheered.

 'We Need More Cops Like You': Officer Challenges Teen to Dance-Off

 A D.C. police officer challenged a teenage girl to a dance-off, holding her own as the two did the "Nae Nae" dance. The girl, Aaliya Taylor, said the encounter changed how she thinks about police. "She gave me a hug and she was like, 'What's your name?' and she was smiling," Aaliya said. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, we need more cops like you.'" (Published Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015)

 Aaliya said the encounter changed how she thinks about police.

 "She gave me a hug and she was like, 'What's your name?' and she was smiling," Aaliya said. "I was like, 'Oh yeah, we need more cops like you.'"

 The teen later posted a video of the dance-off on Facebook, where it's been viewed more than 279,000 times in less than 24 hours.

 In the end, the officer and Aaliya called the dance-off a tie.

 D.C. police confirmed to the Washington Post that the officer in the video is with their department.

 "DC has innovative ways to keep our community #saferstrongerDC," Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "A @dcpolicedept officer even did the 'Nae Nae.'" ||||| Focused crawls are collections of frequently-updated webcrawl data from narrow (as opposed to broad or wide) web crawls, often focused on a single domain or subdomain. |||||
What is a one-paragraph summary of the above article?

– If all conflicts could be solved through dance-offs, the world would be much less violent (and Channing Tatum would probably be president, or something). Thankfully it's a world we're one step closer to after a Washington, DC, police officer and Iraq War veteran was caught on camera defusing a situation with some local teens through the undeniable power of the Nae Nae, the Washington Post reports. After an unnamed officer broke up a fight between some teens and ordered the crowd to disperse Monday, 17-year-old Aaliyah Taylor instead started playing the song "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" on her phone and dancing. The officer's reaction was a breath of fresh air, to say the least. "I started to dance and then the cop was like, 'I could do better,'" Taylor tells NBC Washington. "I was in shock." Taylor shared the video of the ensuing dance-off on Facebook, where it's been viewed nearly 700,000 times as of this writing. She tells the Post all seven of her siblings have been roughly handcuffed or arrested in the past for nonviolent crimes. That's why she's usually afraid of cops, according to NBC. That changed Monday. “Instead of us fighting, she tried to turn it around and make it something fun,” Taylor says. “I never expected cops to be that cool." The Hill reports even Obama is a fan, with the president tweeting: "Who knew community policing could involve the Nae Nae? Great example of police having fun while keeping us safe." For her part, the officer tells the Post she's embarrassed the video is getting so much attention because it's the kind of good policing officers do every day.


Article:
Mr Putin's surprise appearance on a music channel to hand out awards came as a shock even to the journalists his minders handpick to follow him around not to mention the audience of baseball cap-wearing adolescents.

 Dressed in a polo-neck jumper and a sports jacket, Mr Putin, 57, looked distinctly awkward among a crowd of head-bobbing hand-waving teenagers. As the crowd around him writhed to a noisy rap song, he stood motionless with his hands stiffly at his sides while his security detail mingled among the audience "in youth disguise".

 Mr Putin then took to the stage himself and spoke out against drugs and vodka, doing his best to show he knew about what he called "mass youth culture". "

 Rap, even urban rap and street rap, is kind of crude, but is already filled with social content and addresses the problems of youth," he told an open-mouthed audience. "Graffiti is becoming a real art form – refined and polished. Break dancing is something completely unique."

 One rapper later called an embarrassed looking Mr Putin "a legend and our idol," saying he dreamed of performing a rap duet with the Russian strongman. But the outing did not garner Mr Putin his usual rave reviews. ||||| Vladimir Putin Relates to Russian Youth

 In what one Moscow newspaper called "a desperate move" to appeal to Russia's youth, Vladimir Putin presented an award on a music channel this weekend and kind of made a fool of himself. Doing his best to look cool, in a turtleneck and windbreaker, Putin warned his young friends about the hazards of drugs and vodka. Then he weighed in on some pressing issues of the day:

 "Rap, even urban rap and street rap, is kind of crude, but is already filled with social content and addresses the problems of youth. Graffiti is becoming a real art form - refined and polished. Break dancing is something completely unique."

 So, that's how the Russian president prime minister feels about hip-hop, graffiti and break dancing. You were wondering, right?

 Vladimir Putin turns to rap and break-dancing [Telegraph] |||||Summary:

– While it would have been infinitely more entertaining had Vladimir Putin actually tried to freestyle, his appearance at a music awards show this weekend still made newspapers titter. Putin, who first stood around looking awkward while his “youth disguised” security mingled with the dancing crowd, handed out an award and offered his thoughts on rap ("addresses the problems of youth"), graffiti ("a real art form"), and, yes, break-dancing, the Telegraph reports. He looked “less than slick,” tee-hees Andrew Osborn in the Telegraph, dubbing him “stiff,” “awkward,” and “embarrassed,” before quoting a Moscow newspaper that called it “a desperate move” to increase his popularity. Putin was “doing his best to look cool, in a turtleneck and windbreaker,” adds Adam K. Raymond in New York. The stunt apparently worked on one rapper, who says he dreams of performing a duet with Putin.


Article:

Two decades after the tragic 1998 death of Matthew Shepard — who was brutally beaten for being gay in one of the most heinous hate crimes in American history — some progress has occurred toward LGBTQ equality, but obstacles still remain, advocates say.

 The 21-year-old college student was abducted on Oct. 7, 1998 and driven to a remote area east of Laramie, Wyo., where he was tied to a fence, beaten with the butt of a pistol and left to die. Almost 18 hours later, he was found by a bicyclist who at first mistook him for a scarecrow.

 Shepard died five days later at Poudre Valley Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. — setting off a wave of protests and activism that led to the passage of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded federal hate crime laws to include attacks motivated by a victim’s gender or sexual orientation.

 His attackers, who pretended to be gay in order to lure Shepard, will spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

 Since Shepard’s death, his friends and family have honored his legacy by fighting to enact anti-hate crime legislation and protect minority populations through the Matthew Shepard Foundation.

 Jason Marsden, executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, said the occasion of the anniversary allowed him to reflect on social progress that’s occurred since his friend’s death — and change that still needs to happen.

 “It’s meaningful to process how much time has gone by,” he said. “Obviously, now, we are in a very different position with same-sex marriage being legal nationwide.”

 While significant strides have been made for the LGBT population over the past two decades, a tremendous amount of work remains to be done, Marsden said.

 Employers in many states are legally protected to fire employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

 Cyberbullying also requires fresh thinking about how to protect minority populations, he said.

 “It's a new problem that developed that didn’t used to exist and which is profoundly damaging to LGBT youth and youth from all walks of life that have minority identities,” Marsden said.

 Hate crimes — which rose 12% in America’s 10 largest cities in 2017 — remain a cause for concern. According to a report by the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, anti-gay or anti-LGBT attacks accounted for the most frequent types of hate crimes last year in Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Detroit. In New York City, only anti-Jewish hate crimes were more common in 2017.

 While hate crimes involving sexual orientation and gender identity remain common, 15 states have hate- or bias-crime laws that don’t feature LGBTQ inclusion, according to research by the Human Rights Campaign.

 A handful of states still don’t have hate crime laws.

 Currently, 18 states and Washington, D.C. have hate crime laws covering sexual orientation and gender identity.

 Shepard’s parents have worked tirelessly to ensure that their beloved son did not die in vain.

 Still, they are disheartened by the violence-inciting rhetoric that still exists today — rhetoric that advocates say has worsened since Donald Trump entered the political arena.

 “We in no way anticipated that we would make this giant U-turn,” his mother Judy Shepard told NBC’s “Today.” “I just feel like we are having to start all over.”

 Mathew Shepard, a bright student who was openly gay, was beaten and tortured 20 years ago in an attack that would take his life. His parents and a foundation that bears his name re ... Mathew Shepard, a bright student who was openly gay, was beaten and tortured 20 years ago in an attack that would take his life. His parents and a foundation that bears his name re ... SEE MORE VIDEOS

 Carl Siciliano, founder of the Ali Forney Center, an organization that serves homeless LGBT youth, remembers protesting Shepard’s death in New York City.

 “It was out of control — cops wouldn’t let us go in the direction we wanted to and we were all over the place,” he said. “It was an army of people being so upset and outraged over the horror and cruelty manifested in his death, and the hatred against us that we saw."

 Siciliano, who is gay, said he feels safer today than he did in the 1990s, but that not everyone shares that sentiment.

 “I think for transgender people it hasn’t progressed enough. There are still segments of society that face terrifying levels of violence,” he said. “And there are still also so many families that are not able to accept their LGBT children.”

 The Ali Forney Center saw a spike in intake in 2017. About 20% more young people have sought out the organizations services over the past two years, according to Siciliano.

 Both Marsden and Siciliano await a more diverse Congress that will enact legislation that protects the LGBT community.

 Until then, Marsden suggests that individuals take it upon themselves to effect meaningful change — however small.

 “Ultimately, we have the power to change society. If we want to erase hatred and its impact from our culture, we can do that voluntarily, individually, free of charge, immediately, by changing the way we behave, and by demanding more accountability from our institutions.

 “If we try to erase a little bit of hate in our corner of the world, it is our most effective route to change. If you hear someone say something hateful, there are gentle ways to advance this message and it doesn’t have to be political, it doesn’t have to be confrontational,” he said.

 Siciliano is also looking beyond the legislative track for change.

 “It’s not a matter of laws but of the human heart of people to be able to accept one another and value one another in our differences,” he said. ||||| Close Get email notifications on Brandon Foster daily!

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What is a summary?

– Twenty years after he was tied to a fence, beaten, and left to die for being gay, Matthew Shepard will be laid to rest in the same cathedral as Hellen Keller and Woodrow Wilson. The ashes of the University of Wyoming student—kept in an urn since his 1998 murder—will be interred at Washington's National Cathedral following a remembrance service on Oct. 26, the Casper Star-Tribune reports. Shepard's death helped inspire the expansion of hate-crime laws to include crimes relating to sexual orientation. Shepard's mom, Judy, describes the location as "a sacred spot where folks can come to reflect on creating a safer, kinder world." The dean of the cathedral, which observed the 15th anniversary of Shepard’s death in 2013, said the cathedral was "honored and humbled to serve as his final resting place." He referred to Shepard's death 20 years ago Friday as "an enduring tragedy" that "should serve as an ongoing call to the nation to reject anti-LGBTQ bigotry." Despite the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide, there is much still to be done in terms of legal protections, while cyberbullying presents a new and "profoundly damaging" problem for LGBT youth, Jason Marsden of the Matthew Shepard Foundation tells the San Diego Union-Tribune. "If we try to erase a little bit of hate in our corner of the world, it is our most effective route to change," he says.


Write a summary based on this article:

 “Has life got you stressed out?” begins a voiceover in the commercial, in an over-the-top style of an infomercial, as a woman sits stuck in traffic. “Want to have some fun? New from Trojan, a brand you trust. Introducing vibrating Tri-Phoria — it’s like three massagers in one.”

 The new commercial, by Sullivan Productions of Tampa, Fla., calls the product a “personal massager.” Borrowing a trope from pharmaceutical commercials, it continues, “Side effects of Tri-Phoria may include screams of ecstasy, curled toes, a sudden glow and intense waves of pleasure.”

 In “The Technology of Orgasm,” a history of the vibrator, Rachel P. Maines writes that in the early 1900s the devices were advertised in women’s magazines and the Sears catalog, albeit obliquely as relaxation aids, and it was not until they started appearing in stag films in the 1920s that, as Ms. Maines puts it, their “social camouflage” was undone and such ads disappeared.

 Asked to review the new Tri-Phoria commercial, Ms. Maines said it “comes very close to telling you what it is good for” without quite doing so.

 “The camouflage used to be a lot thicker, but there’s still a very thin layer of camouflage,” she said. “The networks have moved to where they’re resigned to accept some sort of advertising — but they still require a fig leaf held up with suspenders.”

 Brian Fays, executive vice president for advertising at MTV, which is owned by Viacom, lauded Trojan’s restraint.

 Photo

 “No matter how liberal you are, a little kid doesn’t need to hear the word ‘vibrator,’ ” said Mr. Fays, who knows about advertising decisions by other Viacom networks that accepted the Tri-Phoria commercial, like Comedy Central, Logo and Spike.

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 “At first there was a certain amount of trepidation that maybe the viewing public wasn’t prepared to see a commercial with vibrators, and we automatically put it in the overnight slot, but we opened it up because, instead of it being taboo, they got their point across subtly,” he said.

 MTV, in fact, is among the most restrictive of the cable networks, permitting the Tri-Phoria spot only between 3:30 a.m. and 6 a.m., which Mr. Fays attributed to the network’s having a “younger demographic.” But if the commercial has “smooth sailing” during earlier slots on other Viacom networks, MTV may permit it to be seen in earlier time slots too, he said.

 Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters.

 Not everyone views television networks’ greater acceptance of ads of a sexual nature as a victory. On Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement urging, among other things, that ads for erectile dysfunction drugs like Viagra be shown only after 10 p.m. and “not be overly suggestive.”

 Trojan says the Tri-Phoria campaign represents the largest advertising campaign for a vibrator, and that the company is spending “millions” on it, but declines to be more specific. The Trojan brand spent a total of $22.4 million on advertising (most of it focused on condoms) in 2009, according to the Kantar Media unit of WPP.

 Market research companies that follow a variety of consumer goods do not track the vibrator market, but research by Trojan pegs annual revenue for the devices in the United States at about $1 billion, 2.5 times that of condoms.

 According to Trojan-financed studies published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, 52.5 percent of women and 44.8 percent of men have used vibrators. Contrary to the perception that the devices are nearly always used by the unaccompanied, 40.9 percent of women and 40.5 percent of men report having used them with sexual partners.

 Men made 40 percent of the online purchases of the Mini and the Touch, two small vibrators Trojan introduced in the last two years. In 2009 it focused on men with ads in Maxim for the Mini.

 Jim Daniels, vice president for marketing at Trojan, said the restrained approach of the ad on cable networks would increase the likelihood of eventually gaining approval for the commercials on the major broadcast networks.

 “Our goal is with facts and experience on our side to approach networks for approval, possibly in the early part of next year,” Mr. Daniels said.

 He says that although Tri-Phoria is available only on Trojan’s Web site now, he expects it to be carried at major retailers like CVS, Walgreen’s and Wal-Mart beginning in the first half of 2011.

 Advertisement Continue reading the main story

 “This is right in Trojan’s wheelhouse,” he said. “We think we’re creating a good buzz — pun intended — and we think consumers will be happy with the products we’re offering.” ||||| Trojan recently released a state-of-the-art vibrator: the Triphoria. Three unique tips! The company also figured out how to get cable networks to let them advertise the sex toy during the day: Don't call it a "vibrator."

 Trojan just assumed that prudish cable networks would stick their commercial for Triphoria between early-morning reruns of Seinfeld. But the spot does such a good job of just barely indicating what the product does that many networks, including VH1 and Comedy Central, have approved the commercial for early evening and even day slots, according to the Times.

 The key was not mentioning the word "vibrator." One network exec tells the Times: "No matter how liberal you are, a little kid doesn't need to hear the word ‘vibrator,'" Instead, the commercial plugs the "vibrating triphoria," as a "personal massager."

 So, kids will turn into sex maniacs at the word "vibrator," but "vibrating Triphoria" is OK? We know kids are dumb, but do they not understand how nouns and verbs work? Can they not comprehend the fact that something which vibrates is, technically, a "vibrator"? We are headed down a slippery semantic slope, here. By this logic, Trojan could advertise a new double-headed dildo—the Duojoy—by marketing it as the "dual-penetrating Duojoy." Or a new ball-gag—the Stuff-o-Matic: The "Smothering Stuff-o-matic". Who knows what kinds of esoteric sex acts our children may someday half-understand!

 Not that we have any problem with this. Just looking out for the kids, here. |||||

– Condom king Trojan managed to get its new vibrator commercial on TV—and not just during the wee hours—by doing one simple thing: not referring to the product as a vibrator. Apparently referring to it by its proper name (“Vibrating Tri-Phoria”) is OK. Trojan also agreed not to show the actual product: Instead, it shows multiple boxes, all of which vibrate jubilantly as the voiceover promises side effects including “screams of ecstasy, curled toes, a sudden glow, and intense waves of pleasure,” the New York Times reports. “No matter how liberal you are, a little kid doesn’t need to hear the word ‘vibrator,’” says an MTV exec. Really? wonders Adrian Chen at Gawker: “We know kids are dumb, but do they not understand how nouns and verbs work? Can they not comprehend the fact that something which vibrates is, technically, a ‘vibrator’? We are headed down a slippery semantic slope, here. By this logic, Trojan could advertise a new double-headed dildo—the Duojoy—by marketing it as the ‘dual-penetrating Duojoy.’”