Saturday, May 16, 2009

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Ben Sherwood: Just a Kid: A Ten-Year-Old Battles Breast Cancer Top
On May 7th, Hannah Powell-Auslam of La Mirada, Calif. had a mastectomy of her left breast, the kind of surgery that takes place far too often. More than 200,000 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. Many will undergo surgery. But Hannah's case is different. She's only 10 years old. According to her family's Website - Hannah is a "typical 10 year old girl. She loves to play sports, ride her bike, watch Hannah Montana and just be a kid." In March, the fifth-grader at Escalona Elementary School complained about an itchy breast. After her mom noticed a lump, doctors biopsied the tissue, never imagining it could be cancer. The risk of children and adolescent girls developing breast cancer is estimated at around 0.1 percent. "They told me it was not breast cancer, because breast cancer does not happen to children," Carrie Auslam, Hannah's mother, said in an interview with The San Gabriel Valley Tribune . But the doctors were wrong. In April, test results showed that Hannah's lump was invasive ductal carcinoma, Stage IIA. Later, doctors determined it was invasive secretory carcinoma, a more treatable disease. "I didn't really know what cancer was," Hannah told the San Gabriel newspaper. "I just kept crying and couldn't stop." Today, Hannah is recovering from her mastectomy. "She is doing wonderful," her parents wrote on their Website after the surgery. "She is in great spirit[s] and barely complaining at all." She faces more treatments, including the possibility of additional surgery because doctors found cancer cells in her sentinel lymph node. "God chose me because he knows I'm a strong girl and I can get through it," Hannah says. Hannah's story reminds us that the doors of The Survivors Club swing open and shut every hour of the day without regard to age, gender, race or geography. Everyone joins, sooner or later. Whether you're 10 or 90, there's no escaping adversity. With each new membership in the Survivors Club, there are lessons to be learned. While Hannah's case is extremely rare, it reminds us of some of the myths of breast cancer: 1. Breast cancer only affects older women. False. Breast cancer can occur at any age. It has been diagnosed in girls age six and younger. Of course, the risk increases with age. From birth to age 39, one woman in 231 will get breast cancer, according to BreastCancer.org . From 40-59, the risk is one in 25. From 60-79, the risk is one in 15. If you live to 90, your lifetime risk of breast cancer is one in 7. Girls who get their first period before age 11 have triple the risk for breast cancer compared to those who get it later, according to Elisa Bandera, an epidemiologist at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Girls who get it before age 12 have double the risk. Estrogen is the key. The longer your lifelong exposure to estrogen, Bandera says, the greater your risk. 2. Women with smaller breasts are at lower risk. False. Breast cancer doesn't care how much breast tissue you have. There's no connection between the size of your breasts and your risk. All women, regardless of breast size, should commit to routine screenings and checkups, according to BreastCancer.org. 3. If breast cancer doesn't run in your family, you're safe. False. Increasing age is the greatest single risk factor for breast cancer. About 80% of women with breast cancer have no known family history of the disease. 4. Younger women shouldn't worry about breast cancer because there's nothing they can do to reduce the risk. False. Girls and young women between ages 12 and 35 who exercise regularly have a substantially lower risk of breast cancer before menopause compared to those who are less active, according to new research. In a study of 65,000 women, physically active women had a 23 percent lower risk before menopause. High levels of physical activity from ages 12 to 22 made the biggest difference in lowering breast cancer risk. "We don't have a lot of prevention strategies for premenopausal breast cancer, but our findings clearly show that physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood can pay off in the long run by reducing a woman's risk of early breast cancer," according to Dr. Graham Colditz of Washington University School of Medicine who conducted the study. ### If you're interested in contacting Hannah, you can reach her at the following address: PO Box 1861 La Mirada, CA 90637-1861 If you'd like to contribute to help her family with medical, travel, and website expenses, you can visit her Website .
 
Watchdog Digs Into Conduct At SEC Top
A Securities and Exchange Commission official attempted "to intimidate and influence" a family member's broker on multiple occasions by invoking her position, potentially violating agency rules, according to the agency's inspector general.
 
NBC Still Waiting for A Hit From Wunderkind Ben Silverman Top
WHEN NBC hired Ben Silverman in May 2007, he was the hottest executive in the television business, the man who had a hand in bringing reality shows and "The Office" to America. He also happened to be taking a job he had dreamed about as a junior high schooler hooked on television: the top programmer position at NBC. More on Ben Silverman
 
Andy Ostroy: Nancy Pelosi and the Republican Orgasmathon Top
It had to happen. It was just a matter of time before someone, somewhere in the Democratic party would trip up and provide the GOP with the kind of controversial fodder they've been fantasizing about. And to Republicans, the Nancy Pelosi saga this week is the stuff wet dreams are made of. Seems House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can't remember being briefed by the CIA back in the Fall of 2002 about the specific use of torture on terror suspects in U.S. custody, in particular the technique known as waterboarding. Yeah, she remembers meeting with the spy agency, but claims waterboarding never came up. The issue here is that Pelosi's been very critical of the Bush administration's use of the illegal torture tactic, so it's important to know if in fact she knew it was taking place and when. Adding to the complexity of this mess is the fact that she's admitted to knowing about it through briefings just 6 months later, but kept quiet because she felt "powerless" being in the Democratic minority at that time. That is perhaps the most lame excuse since "the dog ate my homework." I'm no fan of Pelosi. I think she's terrible as the face of House Democrats. She's shrill, combative and speaks like a teenager trying to explain why she's late for class. There are some people who project sincerity and integrity, but Pelosi's just the opposite. She comes across as a duplicitous partisan hack. A Tom Delay with tits, yet lacking the balls and efficiency. Whereas Delay was ruthless and resolute, Pelosi's simply an ineffective trainwreck. If she's found to be lying about what the CIA told her and when--former CIA Director Porter Goss claims she in fact was briefed in 2002 about the waterboarding of terrorist suspect Abu Zubaydah--then she should be prosecuted along with Bush, former VP Dick Cheney and everyone else who authorized the use of illegal torture tactics. But let me stop being the objective Democrat for a second and acknowledge the multiple orgasms rippling through the Republican Party right now over the Pelosi saga, which right-wing radio and TV host Sean Hannity said is "blossoming into a Watergate like cover up and scandal." On his radio program, a near-hyperventilating Hannity repeats the mantra "what did she know and when did she know it" every three minutes, literally. Really Sean? Watergate? That Pelosi may have lied about being briefed on the illegal torture tactics being used by the opposing party which then-controlled the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court is of the same scale and magnitude as the President of the United States authorizing a burglary of the opposing party's headquarters in an effort to rig a presidential election and then covering-up this illegal act? You see Sean, this is why no one takes Republicans seriously, and why you guys can't get elected anymore. It's actually fun to watch and listen as Republicans sink their teeth into the Pelosi scandal. They're a beaten, battered, and disenchanted lot who delusionally see Pelosi's foot-in-mouth disease as their ticket back to power. As if the alleged actions of one Democrat is enough to bring down the entire party in the 2010 midterms. Forget the fact that, even if it's true that she lied, who gives a shit? is this really a story? Again, if she lied, she should be punished. And if the Obama administration eventually prosecutes those who knew of and/or authorized illegal torture tactics, then she too should be prosecuted. But the bigger story here, the real story, for Pete's-fucking-sake, is how these blood-thirsty Republicans seem to be forgetting just what the hell Pelosi may have been lying about in the first place. To partisan stooges like Hannity, it's all about Pelosi, and only Pelosi. The GOP blinders are on, and they're racing down the track. It's as if a 711 gets robbed, and the police spend all of their time and energy interrogating a witness who may not be totally forthcoming with information, while the known robbers who told her they did it are allowed to walk free. What these sanctimonious, self-righteous Republicans need to understand, through their shouts of "prosecute Pelosi," is that if she goes down, so do Bush, Cheney and the rest of the torture-mongers who conceptualized and perpetrated the crimes. Pelosi's crime, one of stupidity perhaps, pales by comparison. More on Harsh Interrogations
 
Bankers Bounce Back Top
There are probably good reasons to give Richard Fuld a job at the hedge fund Matrix Advisors. He is familiar with byzantine financial products: Lehman Brothers, the bank he used to run, gorged on them until it collapsed. He might know them enough to be more careful around them the next time.
 
Kim Bensen: The PERFECT day to start a diet ... Top
"I HAVE to lose weight! But Memorial Day is coming ... burgers with the works, pasta salad with cubes of CHEESE, gooey brownies and chips, chips, chips! I'll start my diet AFTER the weekend parties!" Well, maybe you haven't said these EXACT words, but I bet most people have had thoughts that rival them. There's no doubt about it: looking forward to upcoming events can put a damper on beginning any new weight loss program. So I headed to our family calendar hanging on the fridge to see if I could find when the PERFECT time to start a diet would be. Surely there must be a lull, some sort of break from food-focused festivities in a twelve month span. I started flipping through the already heavily penciled months of July and August. Right after Memorial Day comes equally tempting 4th of July barbecues, followed by our annual family camping week. Skip S'mores? No Way! Three weeks after that, a much anticipated trip to Disney. Diet? I don't think so! S-U-M-M-E-R! With its never-ending ice cream socials, carnivals and weekends at the beach. The whirlwind finally ends with the biggest picnic of all -- Labor Day. Maybe fall? Everyone heads back to the gym when school busses roll around. But mixed with all the back-to-school supplies, retailers are also featuring bags of Halloween treats. Chocolate and twizzlers catch our eyes EVERYWHERE! No sooner are we done with Trick or Treat than we are bombarded with the makings of pies and pastries and everything for THE FEAST to end all feasts. Thanksgiving ... the day synonymous with bounty -- gluttony -- and the kick off to the holidays. There's no doubt about it; December can be a trying time for anyone looking to eat less and cut back on high calorie foods. But what about New Years? Resolutions abound as Americans flock to renew gym memberships and purchase diet supplements which boldly promise "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days!" The actual holiday itself is steeped in open house buffets and hors d'oeuvre orgies, but after that? No wait, I mean after the Superbowl? Retail shelves trade footballs for lacey red hearts and pink satin bows secretly covering pounds and pounds of decadent chocolate. This time of year also brings mid-winter vacations, hot chocolate in the ski lodge, cruise line specials and comfort foods. Outdoor activities are curbed for a time and motivation lags in the long nights and short, cold days as the world holds its breath in anticipation of ... Spring. Although lent could be a great kickoff for a diet, there's no avoiding those marshmallow bunnies, chocolate eggs and cello bags of sweets. Easter is the number one confectioner's holiday and peeps can be awfully hard to pass up. Then there are the rounds of graduations, weddings and showers. It almost seems as though the parties will never die down when ... you got it, we're back to Memorial Day again! A year and no decent window to diet! No wonder we still struggle with our weight! And I haven't even mentioned all the days in between that tempt us -- like boyfriend break ups and new relationships beginning and the stresses of moving, new jobs, NO jobs! Deaths. Tragedies. Health issues, being layed up or being layed off or being layed over (stuck in the airport). Caregiving. Giving birth. Birthdays and anniversaries and all the millions of other occasions, joyous or sad, that drive us together or pull us apart, and, in the center of it all, there is food. And then, as I let the pages of our family calendar fall back into place I saw it. There it was. The PERFECT day to start my new diet. It was TODAY.
 
Kamran Pasha: Why Angels and Demons Will Shake Up Hollywood's Attitude Toward Religion Top
Ron Howard's new adaptation of the Dan Brown book Angels and Demons represents a breakthrough in Hollywood's approach toward religion, taking the discussions of faith away from the extremes of proselytizing and rejection to the middle ground. That is where most believers are, and that is where great storytelling takes place. And Angels and Demons is great storytelling. As a practicing Muslim working inside Hollywood, I have often felt that there is a tangible bias in the entertainment industry, not just against my own religion, but against people of faith in general. Too often, I have seen important film and television projects that look at religious faith in a sophisticated way disappear into a black hole within the system. The excuse used by many traditional Hollywood types, that religion is just too controversial a matter to deal with in cinema, has always rung false. Indeed, the great moguls who founded Hollywood knew that the majority of their audience consisted of devout believers, and being smart businessmen, they catered to religious ticket buyers with majestic films like The Robe and The Ten Commandments . Indeed, it is the latter film, Cecile B. DeMille's epic on Moses, which has exerted profound personal influence on me both as a believer and as a filmmaker. The Ten Commandments was the first movie I ever saw when I emigrated from Pakistan to the United States at the age of four. Watching that film on our newly acquired television set in our tiny apartment in Queens, I was taken away to a magical dimension. A world where God spoke to men through a burning bush and a pillar of fire, where a shepherd's staff could transform into a snake and the Nile could turn red with blood, a world where an evil Pharaoh could be humbled by a simple prophet emerging from the desert. I remembered turning to my father as the end credits rolled, my heart pounding with wonder, and asking him a question that would begin my personal journey of faith. "What is God?" Over the years, I have heard many answers to that question, but none that has yet to satisfy me more than the one my father gave me that day after we watched the movie. "God is the light of the universe. What Moses saw was just one ray of that light." His perspective has stayed with me over the years, and has allowed me to approach both my craft as a filmmaker and novelist, as well as my social interactions as a human being, with a sense of humility. The Ten Commandments taught me that God is everywhere, and His voice can be heard at any time, from any source. Whether it is through a bush burning in the desert, or from the mouth of someone from another culture, even another religion, God's voice is always echoing around us, if we only choose to hear. Yet faith, as any true believer will admit, is hard. We are imperfect people living in a broken world trying to make sense of it all, and it is often hard to reconcile what our hearts tell us about the spiritual beauty of God and what our senses tell us about the evils and suffering of creation. Faith at its best is our shelter during the storms of life, our sturdy ship to guide us through the turbulent seas of the human experience. But at its worst, it can be used as a tool to control and oppress others, to spread suffering instead of love in this world. Any believer who is sincere must confront daily the contradictions that come with belief and somehow synthesize these opposing realities in a way that makes sense to the heart, even if it cannot be grasped by reason. To trust that there is purpose and meaning in this cosmos, despite the onslaught of evidence to the contrary. Maybe that is why it is called "faith" in the first place. Angels and Demons is the first Hollywood movie in a long time that really looks at what it means to be a believer, and the extremes that can be found among people who look to faith for guidance. Without revealing the film's secrets, I think it is safe to say that it is a movie that examines whether science and religion are incompatible, and explores the dark actions that people take when they conclude that one of these disciplines threatens the other. While some conservative Catholics might find the film's portrayal of the secret dealings inside the Vatican offensive, I think most people, Christian or otherwise, will appreciate its very human picture of characters who are motivated by faith and committed to struggling with "demons," both in others and within themselves. It is this presentation of raw, imperfect human beings struggling with faith that I appreciated most, as I face these battles within myself every day as a believer. Indeed, when I wrote my novel, Mother of the Believers , I found myself naturally examining these conflicts in the context of the birth of Islam. My book, which follows the rise of Islam from the perspective of Aisha, Prophet Muhammad's wife, portrays the early Muslim community as consisting of very complex, passionate and, at times, flawed individuals. People who most overcome their own inner demons to do good, and when they sometimes fail, who repent and return to the "straight path," as sincere faith is called in the Qur'an. What I hope my novel accomplished, and what I know Angels and Demons did, is to take the discussion of religion out of the hands of extremists with an agenda. That agenda could be the desire to proselytize others and convince them of the truth of a religion, or to go to other extreme, which is to mock believers as simpletons who couple belief in God with a conviction that the earth is flat and that babies come from storks. To my sorrow, many of my colleagues in Hollywood share the latter agenda. People of faith have complained for years, with real justification, that Hollywood promotes an anti-religion outlook. Bill Maher's recent documentary Religulous went out of its way to find the wackiest, craziest believers in the world and then mock them. And Hollywood studios continue to resist making movies that would appeal to believers. Long before there was any controversy over Mel Gibson's beliefs, his idea about doing a film on the Crucifixion in Aramaic was mocked by studio executives, who could not understand why such a film might appeal to millions of Christians. While one can certainly take Mr. Gibson to task for some of his words and actions, the movie is a powerful and compelling work of cinema that even a non-Christian like myself can appreciate. At its core, it is a film about the central Christian story of the Messiah's tragic sacrifice for mankind. How could that not be a blockbuster? And yet many people I knew in the industry flew into an outraged frenzy when The Passion of the Christ became a huge global hit. It was as if the demonstrated power of traditional religious audiences was a personal insult to the worldview of many Hollywood players, who, in my experience, usually worship only one god - money. This prejudice against faith inside Hollywood makes Angels and Demons an even greater accomplishment. Ron Howard's movie is important not only because it treats religious faith with respect, but because it actually explores the central issue that is important to many believers today - how to reconcile ancient religious beliefs with the modern discoveries of science. Contrary to the prejudices of anti-religion writers like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, the majority of faithful people are not living in a delusional world, their eyes and ears closed to science and discovery. In Angels and Demons , one of the most important scientists involved in cutting edge physics research happens to be a Catholic priest. For that character, the quest to understand the fabric of the universe through the lens of quantum science is very much a religious quest to pierce the veil and see at last the Face of God. As several characters in the film point out, religion and faith are methodologies to come to understand the truth of the cosmos. They do not need to be antithetical to each other. In fact, they can and should be complementary human endeavors to understand this remarkable universe in which we find ourselves. And this is by no means a radical new perspective among believers. As the film points out, Galileo saw himself as a devout man seeking to understand God's creation. Isaac Newton also found no contradiction between faith and science and believed the existence of God was self-evident. It was simply his role as a scientist to better understand the work of the Creator. God was the cosmic clockmaker and scientists were merely examining the delicate inner workings of His design. And in the modern world, with the strange and inexplicable discoveries of quantum physics, scientific treatises on the nature of reality sound remarkably like ancient mystical writings. The more we learn about the shocking contradictions and improbable mechanics of the subatomic world , the more it appears that the universe is less like Newton's giant clock and more like one giant dream, imagined from within an implicate order that transcends human reason. Such a vision would be familiar to the Sufis of Islam, along with their counterparts among Buddhist masters, Kabbalists and Christian mystics like Meister Eckhart. And it is not only the scientists that are beginning to realize that something truly magical serves as the foundation of reality. Believers are beginning to see in the wondrous scientific order of the universe the evidence of the Divine in action. In The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief , Francis S. Collins explains why the discoveries of modern science only confirmed his personal faith as a Christian. Mr. Collins is no backwoods preacher - he is a pioneering medical geneticist who once led the Human Genome Project. A similar effort to unite faith and science has long been under way in my own faith, Islam. In my novel, I discuss how Islam was founded on a hunger for knowledge. Prophet Muhammad said: "Seek knowledge, even if you must go to China." And his words inspired Muslims to become the world's greatest scientists at a time when Europe was mired in the Dark Ages. In Lost History: The Enduring Legacy of Muslim Scientists, Thinkers and Artists , Michael Hamilton Morgan demonstrates how Muslim scientists in the Middle Ages made incredible advances in every field of study, from astronomy to medicine to mathematics. In the modern world, there has been a popular effort among Muslim writers to present Islam's scripture, the Qur'an, as completely compatible with the discoveries of modern science. A bestselling book in the Muslim world, The Bible, The Qur'an, and Science , by a French physician Maurice Bucaille, argues that the Qur'anic verses describing everything from the expansion of the universe to the intricate details of embryonic growth inside the womb are in absolute alignment with modern scientific theories. Of course, non-believers will be skeptical of such claims, but the point is not whether Mr. Bucaille's reading of the Qur'an is correct. What matters is that his theories are now commonplace among Muslims, so that believers do not find modern scientific discoveries to be in any way threatening to their faith. In fact, because of this widespread interpretation of the Qur'an, many Muslims find confirmation of their faith through the discoveries of modern science. The painful Christian debate over the importance of science versus faith that is portrayed in Angels and Demons is simply not happening in the Muslim world, as there is already a consensus that there can never be any contradiction between the two. But even if one is unconvinced that any ancient scripture can remain unchallenged by the discoveries of modern science, it is important to note that the purpose of scripture is not, in fact, to serve as a scientific textbook. The purpose of any holy text that has survived the centuries is to provide moral and ethical guidance to human beings. That is true of the Bible, the Qur'an, the Bhagavad Gita and the Buddhist Sutras. These texts are meant to help us as human beings live in this world and make sense of our lives. They survive because they work. A Christian friend of mine once asked how I reconciled the story of Adam and Eve in the Qur'an with the scientific consensus on evolution. I smiled and said to him that I didn't bother. It's like comparing apples and musical notes. The scientific theory and the scriptural story serve totally different purposes. Science is about how. Religion is about why. Scientists examine the fossil record and come to an understanding of what it means for the history of life on our planet. But the scriptural story of creation is not about history - it is about values. As a believer, the story of Adam and Eve teaches me everything I need to know about what it means to be human. We are all children of Adam, whose name simply means "dust" in Hebrew and Arabic. We are children of this earth. Human beings are brothers and sisters, all part of one family. Like our archetypal father figure, we can make mistakes, we can sin, and we can also repent and find forgiveness. That is the lesson of the story in both the Bible and the Qur'an. Whether it describes a historical event is absolutely pointless and irrelevant. Science can tell me how I got here as a human being, but it cannot tell me what I am supposed to do now. Indeed science without a spiritual connection can be used to create great evil, as the Nazis proved with their eugenics experiments. The Nazis believed in the methodology of science, but they did not believe in the simple lesson derived from faith - that human life is sacred. The ancient stories and rituals of our religions are meant to help us learn profound spiritual truths that cannot be deduced by examining cells under a microscope. It is that power of wise storytelling that is religion's purpose and gift to humanity. Cecil B. DeMille understood that. He knew that the power of the Bible lay in its stories, and he turned those stories into incredibly moving, epic films. These ancient tales about good versus evil, love and revenge, and the triumph of the weak over the proud, are timeless and have meaning for every generation. It is a kind of storytelling that Hollywood has sadly forgotten. But perhaps with Angels and Demons , Hollywood can start moving away from the extremes of materialism and cynicism toward the spiritual center where the audience eagerly awaits. And then maybe we filmmakers might be able to play a more profound role in the human tradition of storytelling that makes life worthwhile. Kamran Pasha is a Hollywood filmmaker and the author of Mother of the Believers , a novel on the birth of Islam as told by Prophet Muhammad's wife Aisha (Atria Books; April 2009). For more information please visit: http://www.kamranpasha.com More on Religion
 
Congress Party's Dominance Shows Swing Towards Continuity And Stability Top
Rani Singh is a South Asia analyst and has covered four Indian elections. She is a frequent commentator for US and UK television networks and has reported from all over South Asia, including Pakistan and Kashmir. She specializes in politics, defense and security issues and edits Rani's Report at ranisingh.blogspot.com In the Indian election results declared by India's Election Commission, the ruling Congress Party alliance has won a far greater number of seats than was expected. The result, which has taken some by surprise, has already led to some key decisions and a declaration of the need for introspection by opposition groups. The Lower House of Parliament has 543 seats, and 272 are needed for a majority. Indian politics, historically, was dominated by two parties, but this stranglehold broke with the emergence of a variety of other groups, including those from the left. It hasn't been possible for one group to achieve a majority for nearly two decades, which is why coalition governments -- some weak and short, some strong and longer-lasting -- have become the Indian norm. This time, though, India has shown a nationwide swing towards continuity and stability. The Congress-led grouping, the United Progressive Alliance, has won so many seats it will not have to compromise on its principles and can choose a co-operative coalition partner as it forms a new government. The Congress party itself has gained the highest number of seats that any single party has taken in 25 years. 76-year-old Manmohan Singh, who led the Congress party, is the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru in 1961 to be voted back after completing a full five-year term. PM Manmohan Singh is the architect of India's economic reform which took place in the early 1990s and which led to India now being widely acknowledged as the world's second-fastest growing economy. Uncharismatic, he is seen as gentle and conciliatory, uncorrupted and 'a safe pair of hands.' He was one of the world leaders to have a bilateral meeting with US President Barack Obama at the G20 Summit in London in April 2009. He was also responsible for the Indo-US nuclear agreement in 2008 which led the left-leaning parties to depart the UPA. Singh's passionate espousal of the deal led to him being seen as a man of conviction. The nuclear agreement is almost certain to hold with the new government. The Times of India wrote: The election marked an emphatic endorsement of Manmohan Singh as PM, a triumph of Sonia Gandhi who took the right calls -- from a robust backing of Manmohan as PM to allowing Rahul (Gandhi) to take over from her as the party's main campaigner which, in turn, saw her son come into his own. The Congress party has the Gandhi family at its heart. Sonia Gandhi, widow of former PM Rajiv Gandhi, is the president and power-broker. In this summary of the runners and the riders of the election, Sonia's son Rahul Gandhi is seen as the heir apparent to Manmohan Singh. His father, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru were all Indian Prime Ministers, and family dynasties still play a part in Indian politics. Rahul's energetic grassroots campaigning is seen as one reason for the success of his party. More urban youth connected with young leaders like Rahul Gandhi than the BJP's gen-next. India Today Editor Raj Chengappa said: We had for the first time a very young generation that is voting in large numbers. I went to a poll booth and I was surprised that almost 50 per cent of the voters were below 25. This is an unusual phenomenon. I think they rooted for Congress. Congress recently revealed that in the latter stages of campaigning, there was a surge of young voters to their Website. Analysts note that Rahul Gandhi has been able to expand the vote base beyond the Congress Party's traditional strongholds. The Times of India asked: Why has Congress done so well? What went right for it? It would appear it was seen as a more sincere party than its rivals -- possibly a result of Manmohan Singh's earnest and honest image and Sonia Gandhi's understated style. It was also seen as a party for the ''aam admi'' (the common man), and the National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme and loan waiver for indebted farmers made it appear a pro-poor party. The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme guarantees one hundred days of employment each year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage. Though India's economic growth has been affected by the global economic slowdown, her financial institutions have remained sound. India marks itself out as different from the US and Europe in that her financial sector has not been affected by the downturn and remains healthy. In an exclusive interview, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Dr Rakesh Mohan said: 'Our banks are well capitalized, profitable without exception; the money markets, the securities markets, the foreign exchange markets have all been working absolutely normally.' Dr Mohan added, crucially, 'in the case of the Indian banking system we've had very conscious regulatory and supervision policies to reduce the risk levels.' Editor Raj Chengappa clarified: 'Rural India voted strongly for development... because the [ruling coalition] had money in their hands; the economic meltdown had not hit [rural dwellers] as much as [those] in urban India.' Countryside voters made up 65% of the electorate. Manmohan Singh said, "We have an obligation to the people of India to provide a stable and secular government," underscoring two core themes that helped the Congress retain power in one of the most fiercely fought electoral battles since independence 62 years ago. Raj Chengappa concurred. 'Their entire focus (was) on development and the economy. Congress has a very strong economic team. Second, they have shunned divisive politics, unlike the BJP.' The electorate, at 714 million, is more than double the entire population of the United States. India achieved universal adult suffrage for women at the same time as for men, and the lower and middle classes embrace their franchise. Total turnout, up from 58% in 2004, was around 60%, according to the Election Commission. The opposition alliance led by the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, was roundly routed. This shows a shrinking of support for the opposition as well as for a group of left-wing parties. The Indian media reported that BJP leader, 81-year old L.K. Advani, has said that he wishes to step down though his party states that they have not accepted his resignation. 'There's something for us to learn and unlearn,' said BJP party spokesperson Balbir Punj, as he conceded defeat. 'We had not expected the complete badgering that the Left got in Kerala, thereby, ensuring a very good show by the Congress there,' was the comment of another leader, referring to the southern state of Kerala and in the eastern province of West Bengal where communist parties fared badly, handing the advantage to the Congress camp. The international media made the state of Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister Mayawati the poster-girl of the election, even touting her as a possible prime minister. The wealthy, diamond-loving heroine of the 'untouchable' class who travels to rallies by helicopter was trounced in her own state by Congress. The 'Third Front' group of parties she leads is still the third largest alliance after the UPA and the NDA, but has lost many seats, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India. PM Manmohan Singh will formally resign Sunday, April 17, and on Monday April 18, the Indian President Pratibha Patil will commence -- after consulting with her own team of constitutional experts -- the process of deciding the make up of the new government. She will have a slightly easier task as the electorate has delivered a very decisive mandate to the UPA. Pundits had feared a multi-hued coalition which would have involved frantic negotiations and cross-trading. PM Manmohan Singh is almost certain to be reinstated, according to his party. He told the media Saturday he has asked Rahul Gandhi to him to join his cabinet as a new entrant. Another candidate for the new cabinet could be Congress ally Laloo Yadav. Among the winners of this election, one to watch is former United Nations undersecretary-general Shashi Tharoor, now added to the enlarged number of Congress party MPs who will soon be on their way to New Delhi to take up their seats.
 
Michael Phelps Loses In Backstroke Top
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Michael Phelps is not unbeatable. Not when he's going against Aaron Peirsol. The world-record holder and two-time Olympic champion handed Phelps his first defeat in almost a year, winning the 100-meter backstroke at the Charlotte UltraSwim on Saturday night. Wearing his new Arena suit, Peirsol got off to a strong start and touched in 53.32 seconds. Phelps was trailing by more than a half-second at the turn and had no chance to make that up against one of the world's greatest backstrokers, taking second in 53.79. Phelps will remember this one. "No matter who I'm racing, I hate to lose," he said. "Aaron and I have had a number of battles back and forth. ... That's the fun part about racing Aaron _ you know he's always going be there. He's a racer. He's a competitor. He's someone I like to race." Phelps' last defeat in a final? Exactly 364 days ago, when Peirsol beat him in the 200 backstroke at Santa Clara, Calif., during the run-up to the Olympics, according to USA Swimming. Phelps didn't swim the backstroke in Beijing _ it didn't fit into the schedule that produced a record eight gold medals and made him the winningest Olympian ever. But he's changing things up as he looks ahead to this summer's world championships and the 2012 London Games. The 100 backstroke is one of his main targets. Bring it on, Peirsol said. "By no means is anybody giving anything to anybody," said Peirsol, who set a world record in the 100 back while winning his second straight Olympic gold in the event at Beijing. "I definitely wanted to win that race." Phelps is competing in five events at Charlotte _ his first meet since Beijing _ but only two were on his Olympic program. He won them both on Friday night, the 200 freestyle and 100 fly. He swam the 50 free during the Saturday morning prelims and posted the eighth-fastest time, but that was merely a chance to test out the new straight-arm stroke he'll use in his final event, the 100 free on Sunday. Phelps scratched from the 50 final, which was won by world-record holder Frederick Bousquet of France. There's still some work to do in the 100 back, not to mention some stout competition. Ryan Lochte, the Olympic champion in the 200 back, finished fourth Saturday night _ not bad considering he was wearing an old-fashioned Speedo brief instead of one of the high-tech suits. Phelps' coach ripped off a lengthy to-do list when they get back to Baltimore. "There's probably three or four things in that race he can do better," Bob Bowman said. "His start wasn't very good; he came up really bad from his start. His turn was not exactly where it should be. And he didn't have any legs at the end. That's just conditioning." Still, Phelps tried to put the loss in perspective. He's coming off a nine-month layoff that was by far the longest of his career. He had intended to come back sooner, but had to serve a three-month suspension imposed by USA Swimming after a British tabloid published a photo of him using a marijuana pipe. The suspension ended May 5. Now it's time to chase down Peirsol. "When Michael gets beat, he remembers the race more," Bowman said. "When I say, 'Let's do some kicking to help with the 100 back,' it'll have more credence." Phelps was done when he made the turn in 26.64 _ putting him 0.62 behind Peirsol. "If he's going to race Aaron, he's got to be on even terms one time and see what happens," Bowman said. "You don't come back on someone who's the best finisher ever. You have to push him a little bit." Peirsol was surprised by his big lead at the flip. "I couldn't see him, so I thought he was probably really far ahead of me," Peirsol said. "When he wasn't, that made things a little easier." Still, this has the makings of a very juicy rivalry. Phelps said he's not planning to hang a picture of Peirsol next to his bed as he once did with Ian Crocker when those two were battling in the 100 butterfly. Not yet, anyway. "This is going to come back with me," Phelps said of the loss. "It doesn't matter what stroke it is or what event it is, I don't like to lose. Aaron has got the upper hand on me in pretty much all of our races." Though she's been overshadowed by Phelps' return, 17-year-old high schooler Dagny Knutson has actually won more events in Charlotte than the star attraction. Knutson, who trains without benefit of a team or world-class facilities in her native North Dakota, picked up her third gold medal of the weekend with another win over Olympian Katie Hoff, this time in the 400 freestyle. Knutson won with a personal-best time of 4 minutes, 9.60 seconds. Hoff, who changed coaches after a disappointing performance in Beijing, has yet to recapture the form that made her one of the most hyped swimmers not named Phelps going into the Olympics. She was edged at the wall in 4:09.72, after also losing to Knutson in the 200 free. The North Dakotan's other win came in the 400 individual medley. Bousquet only entered the meet on Wednesday, less than a month after becoming the first swimmer to break the 21-second barrier in the 50 free. He failed to match his 20.94 from the French national championship, but turned in the fastest time ever posted in the U.S. _ 21.33. Olympian Cullen Jones, who trains in Charlotte, was second in 21.92. Bousquet, a former college star at Auburn, is eager to take the record even lower, though his main goal is winning a world championship in Rome this summer. "I can shoot for sub-20 one day," he said. "I'm trying not to put any limit on it. But right now, it's more a matter of winning the race than going fast. I really want to win the 50 at the world championships. I know it's going to be very hard. These guys are bringing it big time." More on Michael Phelps
 

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