South Park's 'Chef' quits, citing religious bigotry
Soul music veteran Isaac Hayes, the voice of the libidinous character Chef on the satiric television cartoon South Park, says he is leaving the show, citing its "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.
"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs and others begins," Hayes said in a statement issued through his spokesman in New York.
Hayes, 63, a follower of the Church of Scientology, did not mention a South Park episode that aired last fall poking fun at Scientology and some of its celebrity adherents, including actor Tom Cruise.

From the Moscow Times

Tuesday, April 11, 2006. Issue 3390. Page 1.
U.S. Using WTO to Contain Russia

By Anna Smolchenko
Staff Writer
Fearful of Russia helping Iran build a nuclear bomb and the Kremlin reverting to authoritarianism, the United States is once again threatening economic retaliation.

At issue is Russia's long campaign to get into the World Trade Organization, which would open markets around the globe to Russian goods.

While Moscow has resolved trade disputes with many countries, it has yet to iron out all its differences with Washington, a prerequisite for admission to the 149-member WTO.

The United States is the last major country to put up obstacles to Russian entry to the WTO.

On the surface, the outstanding WTO issues are purely economic -- intellectual property rights, for instance, or keeping Russian markets open to American poultry exports, an issue that has recently arisen.

But just beneath the surface, the politics surrounding Russia's quest to join the global trade organization are clearly visible.

U.S. Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader and one of a handful of Republicans likely to run for president in 2008, indicated Monday that the political chasm separating the United States and Russia figured into the resolution of trade disputes.

Speaking at a news conference after meeting with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Frist said Russia's disregard for the rule of law, human rights violations and other "anti-democratic" tendencies "color the position of the United States."

read more at the Moscow Times