Indiana Gazette from Indiana, Pennsylvania • Page 21

ET CETERA Thursday, January 5, 2006 Page 21 Barry Gibb purchases home of Johnny Cash PEOPLE HENDERSONVILLE, Tenn. Barry Gibb of the Bee Gees has purchased the home where Johnny Cash and his wife, June Carter Cash, lived for 35 years. Gibb and his wife, Linda, bought the rustic retreat on Old Hickory Lake for an undisclosed amount, a lawyer for the Cash family said Wednesday. Hender- sonvilJe is 13 miles northeast of downtown Nashville. "This place will always be the spiritual home for the Cashes," Gibb said.

"My wife, Linda, and I are determined to preserve it, to honor their memory. We fell in love with it; it's an incredible honor for us. We plan to use the home to write songs because of the musical inspiration." The home and 4.6-acre property was purchased by Balinda LLC, a Florida company owned by Gibb and his wife, according to Nashville lawyer Robert L. Sullivan, who administers the Cash estate for the family. The house, visited by everyone from U.S.

presidents to ordinary fans, went on the market in June with an asking price of $2.9 million. The price was lowered this fall to $2.5 million. Cash died in 2003, soon after the death of June Carter Cash. His hits include "Ring of Fire," "Folsom Prison Blues" and "I Walk the Line." The Bee Gees are best known for their hits of the disco era in the late 1970s such as "Jive Talkin'" and "Night Fever." BARRY GIBB STEVE JOBS WOODSIDE. Calif.

Steve Jobs, chief executive of Apple Computer lost his bid to demolish a MIRA SORVINO square-foot Woodside mansion that preservationists call a historical treasure. A San Mateo County Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that the town improperly granted Jobs a demolition permit last year for "The Jackling House," which was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style for Utah Copper Co. magnate Daniel Jackling. Jobs bought the house in 1984 but hasn't lived there for a decade, saying he wants to tear it down and build a new, smaller unit that would be more appropriate for his family. They now live in Palo Alto.

Preservationists cried foul and said the house should be protected. A group calling itself Uphold Our Heritage sued the city to stop the demolition. J-l NEW YORK Mira Sorvino who won an Oscar for her role in Woody Allen's 1995 film, "Mighty Aphrodite," is expecting her second child with husband Chris Backus. The couple's first child, Mattea Angel, was born in November 2004. The 38- year-old actress and Backus, a 24-year- old actor, were married in June of that year.

"I'm so excited that Mattea is going to have a sibling," Sorvino told People magazine. "We're going to be a family of four." The baby is due this summer, People reported. Sorvino, the daughter of actor Paul Sorvino, was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in the Lifetime rniniseries "Human Trafficking." She is to star in an upcoming CBS rniniseries "The Hades Factor." I ler screen credits also include roles in "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion" and "Quiz Show." Gay son wanting to adopt is puzzled by opposition DEAR ABBY: I am a 43 year old gay male who has always wanted to be a father. Last night I informed my parents about my decision to adopt a boy who is 7. My parents reacted as if I'd walked in and told them that I had murdered someone.

My mother said she was disgusted and became almost physically ill. My father was less dramatic but no less I have no past history that would cause them to react this way, nor do I have any criminal past (or present) that would cause them to react so vehemently against adoption. I don't understand what their problem is. I know they worry that the child will come with familial baggage and I'll be expected to support others or that any inheritance I receive will go "outside the family." However, my blood family ends with me, whether or not I adopt. My parents are considerably older.

Is there something I am not aware of from the World War II era that would cause my folks to be so opposed to adoption? I'd appreciate some advice as 1 navigate this difficult time. TAKEN ABACK IN GEORGIA DEAR TAKEN ABACK: Your mother could still believe the homophobic and mistaken notion that a gay man adopting a boy means he will molest the child. That would explain her extreme negative reaction to your good news. DEAR ABBY DearAbbyis written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. My advice is to talk frankly with both of your parents and make sure they understand that according to an article published by the American Academy of Pediatrics back in 1994.

"Most child abuse appears to be committed by situational child abusers who present themselves as heterosexuals." Also, "Children raised in gay or lesbian households do not show any greater incidence of homosexuality or gender identity issues than other children." Eurther, according to the American Psychological Association, "there is no evidence to suggest that lesbians or gay men are unfit to be parents or (hat psychosocial development among children of gay men and lesbians is compromised in any respect relevant to that among offspring of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth." Not knowing your parents. I don't know the basis of their beliefs. However, it might be helpful if you were to contact Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays and get their literature to share with your parents. You can contact P-ELAG by going to www.pflag.org or writing to 1726 Street N.W., Washington, D.C.

20036. Please don't put it off. While it's not impossible to teach an old dog new tricks, it can take time to broaden the horizons of people whose minds have been closed for half a century or more. My advice is to start ASAP I wish you luck. DEAR ABBY: When my father and 1 are in his car and he's taking me somewhere, he tries to scare me by touching my knee and saying, "BOO!" I have told him I don't like it and asked him not to do it anymore, but he keeps on doing it.

He thinks it's funny, but 1 don't. Am I overreacting? UNCOMFORTABLE INMONMOUTH.1LL. DEAR UNCOMFORTABLE: No, you are not. Your father's behavior is inappropriate and a little sadistic. He shouldn't be touching you in a way that you have asked him not to.

Tell your mother that he's making you uncomfortable, and if that doesn't end it. tell a trusted teacher or counselor at school. Write Dear Aliby (it Abby.com or P.O. 'Box ti944(). IMS Angeles.

CA .9006.9. 11 nil frmJ Press Syndicate Today is Thursday, Ian. 5, the fifth day of 2006. There are 360 days left in the year. Today's highlight in history: On Ian.

5, 1896, the Austrian newspaper Wiener Presse reported the discovery by German physicist Wilhelm Roentgen of a type of radiation that came to he known as X-rays. On this date: In 1589, Catherine de Medici of France died at age 69. In 1781, a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burned Richmond, Va. In 1895, French Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, convicted of treason, was publicly stripped of his rank.

(He was ultimately vindicated.) In 1925, Nellie T. Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in U.S. history. In 1933, the 30th president of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, at age 60. In 1949, in his State of the Union address, President Truman labeled his administration the Fair Deal.

In 1970, loseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United TODAY IN HISTORY The Associated Press Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville. home. UMWA President Anthony Boyle and three others were convicted of the killings. In 1981, British police charged truck driver Peter Sutcliffe with murder; he was later convicted of killing 13 women as the "Yorkshire Ripper." In 1994, Thomas P.

"Tip" O'Neill, former speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, died in Boston at age 81. In 1998, Sonny Bono, the 1960s pop star-turned-politician, was killed when he struck a tree while skiing in South Tahoe, he was 62. Ten years ago: An end to a three-week-old partial government shutdown was in sight as the House acted to restore the jobs and wages of hundreds of thousands of federal workers. I-awyers for Hillary Rodham Clinton released sought-after billing records that were discovered the day before in a White House office, lapanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama resigned.

Five years ago: In a blizzard of last-minute executive orders, President Clinton curtailed road building and logging on federal forest land. One year ago: President Bush opened a new drive for caps on medical malpractice awards, contending the limits would lower health care costs. The bodies of 18 young Iraqi Shiites taken off a bus and executed in December 2005 were found in a field near Mosul. Cpl. Wassef Ali llassoun, a Marine charged with desertion in Iraq after mysteriously disappearing from his posi was again declared a deserter this time for failing to report to his U.S.

base. Today's Birthdays: Former Vice President Walter Mondale is 78. Actor Robert Duvall is 75. Football Hall-of-Fame coach Chuck Noll is 74. King luan Carlos of Spain is 68.

Talk show host Charlie Rose is 64. Actress-director Diane Keaton is 60. Rhythm- and-blues musician George "Funky" Brown (Kool and the Gang) is 57. Rock musician Chris Stein (Blondie) is 56. Actor Clancy Brown is 47.

Singer Iris Dement is 45. Rock musician Kate Schellenbach (Luscious lackson) is 40. Actress Heather Paige Kent is 37. Rock singer Marilyn Manson is 37. Actress (anuary Jones is 28.

So, what are the greatest inventions of all time? EDITOR'S NOTE: Following is the 15th in a 20-part series called "Invention Mysteries: The Little-Known Stories Behind Well-Known Inventions" and is part of the Newspaper In Education program. The age-old question, "What's the greatest invention of all time?" has been debated for many years without any kind of consensus, so there's probably not a perfect answer. Instead, let's select the five greatest inventions of all time. First, let's establish some criteria: The number of people who use it or benefit from it. Its impact on society.

For example, does it save lives? Its place on the historical timeline: Would this invention be possible without a previous invention? We won't consider developments such as fire, the wheel, the alphabet or the spoken language because these are considered to be "discoveries" rather than "inventions." Electricity could be classified as a discovery, too, but we include it in this column because of the subsequent electrical inventions that harnessed the power of electricity The top contenders, in no particular order, are: Johannes Gutenberg's printing press (invented in the mid-1400s) The discovery and use of electricity Indoor plumbing (early records place its origin between 2,500 B.C.-1,700 B.C.) Alexander Graham Bell's telephone (1876) Thomas Edison's incandescent light bulb (1879) Sir Alexander Fleming's penicillin (1928) The mass-produced automobile Computers The Internet Using a process of elimination, its place on the historical timeline, the Internet is eliminated because it would not exist without the discovery of electricity, the invention of the telephone and computers. Computers cannot be considered the most important invention of all time because they depend on electricity. While the light bulb and the telephone have each been considered by many to be the greatest invention ever, neither would have been invented without electricity. So what are the five most important inventions in history? In my opinion, they are: The printing press, electricity, indoor plumbing, the automobile and penicillin. These have all impacted millions of lives in a positive way.

and none of them required the use of a previous invention. PENICILLIN Penicillin has saved millions of lives since Fleming discovered it by accident in 1928. It also plays a major role in treating illnesses such as pneumonia, rheumatic fever and scarlet fever. In addition, it was the foundation for discovering many other antibiotics that are used today. Prior to the widespread use of indoor plumbing, many people died of dysentery, cholera and other sanitation-related diseases.

There are no exact figures on the number of lives that have been lost due to a lack of indoor plumbing, but it's been estimated to be in the millions worldwide. In terms of an invention's impact on society and its ability to save lives, I believe indoor plumbing is even more important than penicillin. PRINTING PRESS Many of today's major inventions would not have been possible if IN the inventors had not received a good education. Gutenberg's printing press brought us movable type and type-written books in the mid-1400's, and is considered by many to be the greatest invention ever. Prior to I he priming press, only the nobles and the wealthy had access to the kind of education that books afforded.

Gutenberg made education available to the common man when he created his printing press, just as Henry Ford's mass production of the automobile has changed the world in many ways. He made them available to the common man when he developed the concept of assembly line production. ELECTRICITY We all know that electricity has led to the development of everything from street lamps, indoor lighting, refrigerators and other household appliances, radio and television, the power to run our homes and workplaces, telephones, computers and the Internet, just to name a few. Not much else needs to be said about the importance of this invention. So in terms of an invention's impact on society and the number of people who have benefited from it, the five greatest inventions of all time, in my humble opinion, are: 1) The mass-produced automobile 2) Penicillin 3) Indoor plumbing 4) Printing press 5) Electricity Keep in mind that there are millions of people in underdeveloped countries who do not benefit from any of these inventions.

Write a one-page pttper explaining what you think is the greatest invention of all time. Explain why it is the greatest invention, using the three criteria mentioned in this story: The number of people who use it or benefit from it. Its impact on society. For example, does it save lives? Its place on the historical timeline: Would this invention he possible without a previous invention? Keep an Eagle Eye on Notices Protect your right to know the actions of your government. How important are public notices in newspapers? As your newspaper to die tiiture and toward continuing to provide the essential infomiation that kx al citizens need in a timely rash- ion, it is appropriate to review die concept of publishing 1 Notices in newspapers.

This concept is based on two fiindmiental principles: in a Democracy, tfje Public has an absolute right to knou'tfie actions of its gowniment. Second, a Detnocnuy is a i stetn of checks and balances in winch it is inappropriate to rvfy on the gotvrnment to be the exclusive printer wpositor and gatekeeper of information. Government has a duty to make information accessible to die entire community in a place where the seeks and expects to find community news. Independent publication of Notices is essential to maintain die trust of die people. A newspaper is a historical record dial cannot altered, is absolutely secure, and provides information essential to an inforcned citizenry.

Newspapers, dieretbre, are die Ix'st and only way of ensuring an intbmied and to help guarantee that government conducts its Ixisiness openly. Challenges to legislative requirenients for publication of notices in newspapers liave txvome common in recent years. With die Public's support, Pennsylvania Newspapers will continue to provide this essential component of our democracy..