October 23, 1999

Decision by Lois/USA advertising agency to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is indicative of intensifying competitive pressure in advertising industry; in the past, agencies that lost large clients could retrench, regroup and recover; but that has become increasingly difficult in recent years, as shown by swift closings of some other agencies; agency's owner George Lois comments (M)

Jesse Ventura and Pat Buchanan and Ross Perot would be nowhere without the new media and their need for spectacle and outrage. But even a pop-culture candidate can have an idea or two worth wrestling with. In The Times Magazine

Interview with Ayatollah Sadegh Khalkali, Iran's former hanging judge, who 20 years ago was Islamic nation's Robespierre, grim avenger who condemned hundreds and possibly thousands of men and women to death, some after trials that lasted only five minutes, or after no trials at all; now, Ayatollah Khalkahi, 73, is in a double bind, since he has announced his support for reformers; conservatives who want nothing to disturb power of clerics regard him as a liability now better discarded; but he is an embarrassment, too, to reformers, since he has announced his support for those favoring more democracy, tolerance and respect for law; now Ayatollah Khalkhali is caught between two views, in a sort of no man's land, watched around the clock by police guard; photos; map (L)

Gore campaign all but admits it is engaged in what can be called pre-emptive scheduling; in field where two candidates such as Gore and Bill Bradley hold similar views on similar topics, and even use similar language, being first is one of few ways for a candidate to try to distinguish himself; as result, Gore campaign has been eyeing Bradley's schedule and having Gore speak first on same topic; Gore campaign has lots of reasons for pre-emptive scheduling; one is that Gore advisers see Bradley getting credit for and being taken seriously on variety of issues that Gore has worked on for years; Bradley also appears to be benefitting from press coverage of his speeches with a steady rise in polls; photos (L)

Federal appeals court blocks lower court decision and bars members of Ku Klux Klan from rallying in lower Manhattan with their faces shielded by masks; decision is victory for Giuliani administration; three-judge panel of United States Court for Appeals for Second Circuit unanimously rejects Klan's arguments that city is selectively enforcing state law that bars wearing of masks during most rallies; judges also deny appeal from group of Klan opponents, Partisan Defense Committee, who claimed their rights were violated when police rejected their request for a sound permit for rally at same site as Klan; photo of New York City Corporation Counsel Michael D Hess with an asst, Daniel S Connolly (M)