September 30, 2004

Charles Isherwood reviews pop-musical production The Ten Commandments at Kodak Theater in Hollywood with music by Patrick Leonard, lyrics by Maribeth Derry and directed by Robert Iscove; Val Kilmer and Kevin Earley star; photos (M)

Center for Public Integrity reports that Pentagon has awarded over 40 percent of its business, total of $362 billion, on no-bid basis over last six years, with biggest companies winning bulk of their contracts without going through competitive process; finds that 80 percent of all contracting dollars went to 1 percent of all contractors; says Lockheed Martin Corp, nation's largest military contractor, got 74 percent of its $94 billion in Pentagon contracts since fiscal 1998 without competition; notes Pentagon has becoming increasingly dependent on contractors for work formerly done by soldiers and Pentagon civilian workers; Lockheed holds competitive bidding is often not cost effective for Pentagon; Charles Lewis of center deplores 'stunning lack of accountability' that Pentagon treats as minor annoyance; Pentagon defends practices; Pentagon spending graph; photo (M)

Air Canada orders 45 passenger jets worth $1.35 billion from Empresa Brasileira de Aeronautica (Embraer); has option to buy 45 more planes; seeks to renew its fleet with smaller regional jets; Embraer stock price graph (S)

Grenada Is Still in Ruins, 3 Weeks After Hurricane Some children in Grenada have been studying amid the ruins of a house destroyed by a hurricane three weeks ago. Their school was also damaged and is still closed. Government officials and aid workers said clean drinking water and food were still scarce on much of the island, and most residents still lack electricity and telephone lines. PAGE A3 Monitoring Law Thrown Out A federal judge struck down a surveillance provision of an antiterrorism law, ruling that it broadly violated the Constitution. PAGE A26 Remaking the Reservation With a New-Style Indian Village With new jobs and higher incomes making many in the Winnebago tribe ineligible for public housing, families found middle-class housing was in short supply. In a bid to keep these families from leaving the reservation, the Winnebago tribe of Nebraska is building a village of shops and single-family homes from scratch. HOUSE & HOME, PAGE F1 Stewart Assigned to a Prison Martha Stewart was assigned to serve her five-month sentence at a federal women's prison in Alderson, W. Va. BUSINESS DAY, PAGE C1

Article on Celsius 41.11--The Temperature at Which the Brain Begins to Die, documentary made in six weeks by Hollywood conservatives that is billed as 'The Truth Behind the Lies of Fahrenheit 9/11!'; film was written by Lionel Chetwynd and Ted Steinberg and financed and produced by Citizens United, Washington conservative group; photo (M)