Gay softball, bi any other name

This sounds like one more story of discrimination based on sexual orientation in the sports world.

Three bisexual men filed a lawsuit after they were disqualified from playing in a Softball World Series tournament. And, they say, because they are bisexual their team forfeited its secondplace trophy.

But hold on. As in Alice's Wonderland, the world of athletics is not always what it seems. The defendant is the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association. The event was the 2008 Gay Softball World Series in Seattle. The bisexuals claim they were discriminated against not by straight people, but by gays. They say they were kicked out not for being gay, but because they're …

UN hopeful on getting aid to Myanmar survivors

U.N. officials expressed hope Monday they will soon be able to get help to more than 1 million cyclone survivors still waiting for food and shelter, if Myanmar's ruling junta keeps its promise to let foreign aid workers into the country.

More than three weeks after the storm, people huddled along roadsides, desperate for any sort of handout. The U.N. estimated less than half the 2.4 million people victimized by the May 2-3 storm had received emergency assistance.

In Pyapon, a coastal township southwest of Yangon, hundreds of makeshift huts had been thrown up along a road. Women and children squatted outside, the children begging for food, their arms …

Dolores Hoder, active in breast-feeding advocacy group

Dolores "Dee" Hoder wanted to know about everything new and shewanted to help people.

That made her a natural to be one of the earliest members andboosters of La Leche League International when it first was formed inthe Chicago suburbs by the late Dr. Gregory White and his wife, Mary,to promote natural childbirth and breast-feeding.

"Dr. White was getting this group together and teaching peopleabout breast-feeding and the hospitals were all up in arms about it.It was more work for them," said Mrs. Hoder's husband of 52 years,James.

She also volunteered at a number of soup kitchens and homelessshelters over the years.

Mrs. Hoder died Sunday at her …

Cut the cost and raise the reliability of your instrumentation

Review your maintenance, engineering, purchasing, and construction practices. Often, big improvements are possible.

In today's highly competitive global economy, most companies in the chemical process industries (CPI) are striving to reduce manufacturing costs and increase production from existing assets. This article discusses how better approaches for plant instrumentation can help you to achieve and sustain these goals.

Results at several companies prove that the following savings can be realized:

* instrument maintenance costs reduced by greater than 50%;

* production losses due to instrumentation cut by over 45%/y;

* instrument engineering time …

Jackson State beats Mississippi Valley State 83-73

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Jenirro Bush scored 25 points to lead Jackson State to an 83-73 win over Mississippi Valley State on Saturday night.

Tyrone Hanson and Grant Maxey each added 17 points for the Tigers (11-9, 7-1 Southwestern Athletic Conference), who have won three in a row.

Jackson State led 38-31 at halftime and finished 24 of 56 from the field (42.9 percent) and 31 of 42 from the free-throw line (73.8 percent) for the …

Islanders-Thrashers Sums

N.Y. Islanders 1 0 2_3
Atlanta 4 2 0_6
First Period_1, Atlanta, Bergfors 17 (Little, Antropov), 5:04. 2, Atlanta, Antropov 16 (Little, Hainsey), 8:51. 3, Atlanta, MacArthur 14 (Afinogenov), 9:16. 4, Atlanta, Afinogenov 20 (Peverley), 14:25. 5, N.Y. Islanders, Streit 9 (Weight, Bailey), 19:43 (pp). Penalties_Schubert, Atl (roughing), 10:01	Armstrong, Atl (charging), 18:26.
Second Period_6, Atlanta, Antropov 17 (Bergfors, Bogosian), 10:05 (pp). 7, Atlanta, Artyukhin 5, 15:53. Penalties_Oduya, Atl (holding stick), :54	Jackman, …

Stock funds that rallied are risky

After the stock market's steep drop April 14, one lesson seemsclear: Investors in stock mutual funds can run, but they can't easilyhide.

Only a handful of stock portfolios gained ground that day amid arecord 618-point loss for the Dow Jones industrial average and worsedamage for indicators such as the Nasdaq composite index.

Of the few stock funds that rallied that day, most aren't the typeyou'd want to bring home to mom. Many are more risky than mainstreamstock portfolios. Some examples:

Gold funds. They were winners April 14, rising almost 2.3 percenton average, according to Lipper Analytical Services in Summit, N.J.The funds invest in gold-mining firms such …