November 22, 2004

Ben Brantley reviews Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance, written by Barry Humphries, Andrew Ross and Robert Horn; Barry Humphries stars as Dame Edna Everage; photos (M)

New York Jets defeat Cleveland Browns, 10-7; photos (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg and Cablevision chmn James Dolan are at center of most vicious battle of Bloomberg mayoralty; it pits Dolan, very rich man with enormous attachment to his legendary Madison Square Garden, against even richer mayor whose passion to leave his mark on West Side of Manhattan is rivaled only by his distaste for man trying to stop him; battle between two men over whether city should help finance football stadium for New York Jets gets nastier daily and is becoming factor in 2005 mayoral race; photo (M)

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses seeming civility of Nascar fans, who have thus far remained loyal to their favorite drivers and have not yet been turned off by excesses that seem to have tainted other sports; contends that fans of NBA basketball no longer respect game or its players, resulting in confrontations with players like one that occurred between Indiana Pacers player Ron Artest and Detroit Piston fans; photo (M)

Nassau County Exec Thomas R Suozzi and Suffolk County Exec Steve Levy, despite bitterly feuding in 2003, have teamed up to tackle some of Long Island's overriding issues; they have signed 'declaration of cooperation' between their counties, which historically have gone their separate ways; skeptics question whether Suozzi and Levy will bridge personal differences and overcome practical hurdles to forge solutions that eluded their predecessors (M)/

Television executives say viewers across nation are remarkably similar in favoring evening programs featuring murder, mayhem and sexual transgression despite presidential election results that suggest electorate's closer embrace of traditional values; say election results will have little impact on which shows they decide to air, although some new shows may have some secondary characters who exhibit strong religious beliefs; tables of top shows' rankings in selected markets; photos (M)

Hundreds of demonstrators from across globe have flooded streets of New York to spread word about persecution of practitioners of Falun Gong, spiritual practice of calisthenics and meditation that Chinese government has banned; they claim that government is not only suppressing practice in China, but it is using harassment, spying and intimidation to destroy Falun Gong in US; supporters of movement say 1,100 followers have died and thousands more have been tortured and imprisoned for their beliefs, chiefly in China, but increasingly in other countries; photos (M)

America Online puts new emphasis on luring users to free Web sites supported by advertising, reversing strategy that sought to sell users new pay services; risks accelerating loss of paying subscribers while offering free services; boldest effort in new strategy will come with new version of AOL.com Web site, advertising-supported Web portal that will seek to compete with Yahoo and MSN; AOL's failure to keep pace in Internet advertising has been especially painful, given that company virtually invented online advertising business and dominated it until 2001; photo; drawing; graph shows decline of AOL subscribers (M)

Key Republican groups are divided about how to overhaul tax code or even whether to proceed; economic conservatives share ideological belief in flattening income tax rates and eliminating as many tax preferences as possible; business groups want to preserve breaks for research, oil drilling, health insurance, equipment leasing and scores of other purposes; Christian conservatives want to promote charitable deductions and 'family values,' and may want to defend tax breaks for married couples with children; Pres Bush has offered few specifics, saying he will create bipartisan advisory panel before end of year that will make recommendations within fairly short time (M)

New-York Historical Society's $5 million Alexander Hamilton exhibition, presented as blockbuster and derided by some historians as unbalanced history revealing society's new, conservative bent, draws much smaller crowds than expected; society is planning roster of eight more modest shows with New York themes, including Arriving in Style: Treasures of 18th-Centry New York, celebrating society's 200th anniversary, which will open with fund-raising gala; photos (M)

Since high school, Ron Artest has found himself in the center of a storm. Amid heavy security at the Palace, the depleted Pistons took the court again and won in double overtime. ARTICLES, PAGE D3

Going back to high school, the Pacers' Ron Artest has had frequent run-ins during his basketball career. SportsMonday, Page D3.