But, despite all this diplomatic friction, Wen s entourage for his visit is dominated by a large business delegation. Currently, both countries economies are thrusting confidently forward both are thirsty for more and bigger markets.

He surrounded himself with an entourage of young, unknown scholars like Martin Buber and Shai Agnon and Franz Kafka, and he paid each one of them a monthly salary so that they could write in peace.

But he and his large entourage have apparently raised the ire of Olympic officials with unruly behavior, repeatedly trying to push their way into competition zones without the proper credentials and responding rudely when checked, the Press Trust of India reported.

On Wednesday, Olympic organizers threatened to withdraw Goel's accreditation if the behavior did not improve, sending a warning letter after he and his entourage tried to enter restricted areas in the gymnastics venue and the arena where fencing and taekwondo is held.

But then, in 1999, Dorje staged a stunning escape to India via Nepal, attracting the world s attention, but also deep suspicion because of the apparent ease with which he and his entourage managed to flee. The Dalai Lama has hosted him at the Gyuto monastery in Dharamsala, India, ever since.

Of course, history is not destiny, but one can be sure that at least some in Russian President Vladimir Putin s entourage, if not Putin himself, have been thinking about Ogarkov s failure and its impact on the Soviet elite. After all, Kremlin leaders, Putin included, define themselves through what was, not what could be.

I knew nothing about Wofford and even less about Methodism, but I was reassured on the first day that I taught at Wofford College to find, among the auditors in my classroom, a 90 year old Hungarian, surrounded by a bevy of middle aged European women who seemed to function as an entourage of Rhinemaidens.

There are those in Bush s entourage who would like nothing better. While even a major air attack would fall short of destroying all of Iran s nuclear installations and, moreover, leave the technical know how intact, it might at least slow down the program for a while and serve as a warning to other potential proliferators.

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA Winston Churchill once said that, in wartime, truth was so precious that it needed to be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies. In America s presidential campaign and, sadly, within Iraq itself nowadays the Iraq War may not be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies, but it has certainly picked up a vast entourage of partisan half truths, cynical indifference, and uninformed stubbornness.

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA Winston Churchill once said that, in wartime, truth was so precious that it needed to be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies. In America s presidential campaign and, sadly, within Iraq itself nowadays the Iraq War may not be surrounded by a bodyguard of lies, but it has certainly picked up a vast entourage of partisan half truths, cynical indifference, and uninformed stubbornness.