FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Rock Island, IL - Ballet Quad Cities' upcoming season will be nothing short of monumental as it celebrates the return of Domingo Rubio in his role as Dracula and enters into a partnership with another premiere performing arts organization, Orchestra Iowa based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Ballet Quad Cities' 16th season will include live music with Orchestra Iowa for both the holiday favorite

The Nutcracker and the most beloved fairytale of all times Cinderella. To help open Iowa Orchestra's season, dancers from Ballet Quad Cities will perform during their famed season-opening Brucemorchestra! on the lawn of Brucemore Mansion in Cedar Rapids September 9th. The professional dance company will perform to Gershwin's American Paris and Copeland's The Promise of Living. Additionally, 8 performances of two productions will be presented with Orchestra Iowa accompaniment at the Adler Theater in Davenport and the newly refurbished Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids during the Ballet's 2012-2013 season.

Ballet Quad Cities' historic 2012-2013 season officially opens September 26 and 27 as Dracula is performed at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in Moline, with renowned dancer Domingo Rubio capturing the lead role he first danced in the Quad Cities in 2008 at the Capital Theater. The original choreography and music collage is by the company's resident choreographer Deanne Carter; the ballet loosely follows the Bram Stoker's piece of litature "Dracula".

After providing professional ballet to the Quad Cities region for 16 years, the Ballet's leadership is excited and looking forward to expanding across the state of Iowa. 2012-2013 marks the beginning of an exciting cultural partnership between the Ballet and Orchestra Iowa. The two premier state arts organizations in their respective fields team up for two classic productions. In December, they present Tchaikovsky's famous The Nutcracker ballet and in April, Prokofiev's magnificent masterpiece, Cinderella. Both productions will be staged at both the Paramount Theatre in Cedar Rapids and the Adler Theatre in Davenport. Local auditions will be held for community cast dancer for the productions in both cities.

Annual subscription renewals for the 2012-2013 season may be made by calling the Ballet Quad Cities office at (309) 786-3779.

Growing numbers of Americans are changing their relationship with religion, recent Pew Research Center polls indicate.

Consider the stats:

• Forty-four percent of U.S. adults have either switched religious affiliation, or report "no affiliation"

• More than 16 percent report they are unaffiliated with a religion; that includes those who are spiritual but not religious, and agnostics and atheists

• Twenty-eight percent have switched from the religion in which they were raised

"A full-bodied understanding of the truth does not necessarily come neatly packaged in the form of a church or a scientific theory," says Eli Just, former physics teacher and author of Manny Jones and the Place (www.elijustsupernaturalwriter.com), which links quantum theory, biblical stories and the Mayan precession.

With science developing new concepts about the nature of reality; changing attitudes in institutional religions, and widespread sharing on the internet, more believers are creating their own spiritual narrative -- one that makes more sense to them, he says. Scandals involving sex and money in Christian denominations, which account for more than 78 percent of the faithful in America, have contributed to religious shifting, Just adds.

A recent Pew poll on religion reveals that nearly 40 percent of Americans say there is "too much" religious talk in politics. Many respondents think politicians use religion as a tool for their own benefit, which may serve to increase alienation to religion for the average American, Just says.

Despite wariness on some religious issues, most respondents polled say spirituality plays a significant role in their lives.

"Type in 'new religious movements' in Wikipedia and you'll see the hundreds of religions that have popped up since the 1800s, and those are just the registered ones," Just says. "As a man of science and faith, and I don't think the truths of these two traditions are mutually exclusive. After all, Newton was a fervent Christian."

One of the more recent registered religions was created in 2000 and is called Jediism - a movement based on the philosophical and spiritual ideas posited by Jedi characters in the "Star Wars" movies. Jedi churches often incorporate beliefs from mainstream spiritual traditions including Christianity, Buddhism, Taoism and Stoicism.

"Everything is connected, which is probably why so many people come up with such a variety of spiritual perspectives," Just says. "Personally, however, I don't think the interconnectivity of everything gives license to the notion that all religions are the same."

In addition to the new and fascinating data coming from sources like the Large Hadron Collider in Europe, it's important to remember ideas that are still alive after thousands of years, he says.

"Old religions like Christianity have withstood the test of time," Just says. "That's why the majority of Americans remain spiritual and religious in a traditional sense."

About Eli Just

Eli Just is the author of several books including the popular "Manny Jones" series and "The Eddy." He has a master's in history from Southeastern Louisiana University and is a self-taught student of physics, which he taught at the high school level. As a Christian, Just enjoys exploring themes involving physics and its relationship to religion. He lives in northern Georgia.

Monday, July 23, 2012

Grassley, Thune Continue to Seek Answers on Federal Loan to Luxury Car Maker

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley and Sen. John Thune today continued their pursuit of information about the Department of Energy's selection of a luxury automaker -described as "troubled" in various media reports -- for a $529 million federal loan for advanced technology vehicles manufacturing.  The federal government made part of the loan to the Fisker Automotive Corporation, then froze the remaining portion, raising questions about whether the company was vetted properly in the first place.

Grassley and Thune have sought answers from the Energy Department about the loan.  So far, the Energy Department has not provided much of the requested information.  Grassley and Thune today wrote to the Fisker Automotive Corporation, seeking much of the same information they requested from the Energy Department.

"The taxpayers deserve an accounting of what went wrong with the Fisker loan and whether the Administration misled the public about the economic benefits of the loan," Grassley said.  "The riskiness of loans to companies that may or may not be able to pay them back deserves scrutiny.  The taxpayers can't and shouldn't have to subsidize these decisions."

"There continues to be more questions than answers when it comes to the Obama administration's decision to loan Fisker Automotive $529 million of taxpayer funds," said Thune.  "Taxpayers deserve to know what went wrong and why this loan was approved in the first place.  Although taxpayers have already lost millions on bad Obama administration loans, this administration continues to ignore our basic questions on how these risky bets were made."

The senators' letter today to the Fisker Automotive Corporation is available here.  The senators' June 25 letter to the Energy Department available here.  The senators' initial letter to the Energy Department is available here.  The Energy Department's response is available here.

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 required the creation of a direct loan program from the federal government to car companies through the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing incentive program.   Fisker's two planned vehicles would sell for more than $100,000 and about $50,000.  The high retail prices seem to indicate the vehicles would be out of reach for most Americans, thereby seeming like a questionable choice of investment for a federal program.  Also, the senators questioned whether the company's vehicle production in Finland diminishes the goal of developing advanced vehicle technology to create jobs in the United States.

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack will host a Telephone Town Hall TOMORROW, Tuesday, July 24^th at 7pm CDT.  Loebsack will take questions and talk with Iowans about the issues that matter to them.  People interested in participating in the call are urged to visit http://Loebsack.house.gov to sign up.

"Hearing directly from constituents is critical to my job," said Loebsack.  "Please join me for a conversation about the issues that matter most to you and your family."

Congressman Loebsack Hosts Telephone Town Hall

Tuesday, July 24^th

7pm CDT

To register, visit http://loebsack.house.gov/ and click the Teletown Halls sign up icon on the right hand side of the website.