December 13, 2005

Hundreds of battered immigrant women and children are being illegally denied food stamps and other aid because of programming errors in New York welfare computers and faulty staff training, according to legal papers that poverty lawyers plan to file in federal court today. The lawsuit is a last resort, the lawyers said, because city and state officials have failed to fix systemic problems that force many women to choose between staying safe and feeding their families, despite government policies aimed at supporting them until they can get on their feet.

New York Rangers and player Dominic Moore prepare to face Vancouver Canucks; Moore's older brother Steve, who played for Colorado Avalanche, was assaulted by Canucks player Todd Bertuzzi in 2004 and has postconcussion syndrome; Bertuzzi has been reinstated and Steve Moore has not played since; Dominic Moore could be lined up against Bertuzzi in game; photos (M)l

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, warning that a transit strike would seriously hurt the city's economy, announced yesterday that only cars with at least four people would be allowed to enter Manhattan south of 96th Street on weekday mornings if bus and subway workers walk off the job on Friday. Starting times for city schools would be delayed by two hours to allow children time to get to school, and several streets, including much of Fifth and Madison Avenues, would be closed to all but emergency vehicles, according to an affidavit the city filed in court yesterday.

In the years leading up to and including World War II -- long before T-shirts became a medium for messages -- wartime propaganda was printed on textiles designed for more formal clothes. The legend ''England expects that every man will do his duty,'' echoing Nelson's famous message at the Battle of Trafalgar, appeared on rayon fabric used for scarves and dresses in the early 1940's, and a Japanese woman's silk kimono of the same period sports Nazi and Japanese flags in a subtle design that acknowledges the Axis alignment. These and more than 125 other examples of war-themed textiles used in clothing and accessories -- mostly from Japan -- are on view in ''Wearing Propaganda: Textiles on the Home Front in Japan, Britain and the United States'' at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design and Culture. Coinciding with the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the show explores how graphic design on cloth was used to rev up wartime sentiments, from relatively quiet Allied warnings about keeping lips buttoned to Japanese crowing over victories (like a 1937 baby's kimono printed with illustrations lauding Japan's invasion of Nanking, China).

Supreme Court will decide validity of Congressional map Texas Republicans pushed through State Legislature in highly unusual mid-decade redistricting that led to loss of five Democratic Congressional seats; court will hear appeals of four groups of plaintiffs representing Democratic, Hispanic and black voters as well as city of Austin and its surrounding county; although cases will be heard on expedited basis on Mar 1, should court overturn any aspect of 2003 plan there could be turmoil during state's Congressional primaries on Mar 7; special three-judge Federal District Court in Austin upheld Texas redistricting in decision issued in June; plan was engineered by Rep Tom DeLay and supported by Gov Rick Perry, Republican; previous redistricting challenges heard by Supreme Court recalled (M)