Underwear

No sooner did the wordy announcements of this show go out than some people began to notice how gender-conscious, and how combative toward traditional notions of high art, "Foundations: Underwear, Under Where?" really is. This unusual exhibit at Rosemont College is a single, pared-down version of what was originally conceived as a four-part series on a foundation theme. One unit would have dealt with architectural sketch-models, another with social/political commentary about institutional foundations, including those that reject artists applying for grants.

At the risk of being considered unpatriotic, I have to say that I was not thrilled by the spectacle of American soldiers making sport of the contents of Manuel Noriega's underwear drawer. If that sort of thing isn't against the Geneva Conventions, it ought to be. The American military command in Panama issued a 2 1/2-page statement on Noriega's bad habits, written as a sort of prosecutor's brief to prove that Noriega is what the Army called a "truly evil man. " Based partly on what was found in Noriega's headquarters, the report said that Noriega was the sort of fellow who snorted cocaine and kept a mistress and enjoyed pornography and practiced voodoo and owned a picture of Hitler and was "a conditioned drinker" and wore red underwear to ward off the evil eye. I don't think I've ever run across anybody who had all of those habits at once, but I could match some sinner of my acquaintance with just about every one of them individually.

A Northeast Philadelphia man has been arrested and charged with raping a 23-year-old woman at a bar in Bensalem Township. Bensalem Township Police said Douglas Aster, 31, raped the woman in an area off of the main room moments after the woman had participated in an underwear contest at Street Road Bar & Grill, in the 3600 block of Street Road. The woman's name is being withheld by police. Police said the woman was raped in the early hours of May 30 and reported it to police immediately.

Police in Montgomery County have arrested a Dresher man who allegedly stalked a Springfield Township woman and broke into her home to steal her underwear. Kornwell Chan, 37, of Audubon Drive, carried out the burglary while the woman's family was on vacation around Christmas, police said. Chan allegedly placed all the family photographs face down except the woman's, which he moved to the dining room table, according to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. The only items missing from the woman's home were her bras and underpants.

Police are asking residents here to keep an eye on each other's underwear - at least until they catch the person who has been pilfering pairs off West End clotheslines. A rash of heists - five incidents have been reported in the last three weeks alone - has forced some residents to stand watch while their dainties dry. "I don't know how this numbskull has the nerve," said Dene Robbins, 79. One bra and 10 pairs of beige nylon underwear were taken from her backyard April 26. "The man needs help.

Rangers at French Creek State Park are investigating claims by three young campers who said they saw a man in their cabin who tried on a pair of girls' underwear, but there are no suspects, said Ranger Brian O'Donnell. Officials at the Chester County Conservation Camp, a weeklong camp for children, called the rangers. The girls' parents said their campers' week came to an end when the girls found the man in their cabin as they fetched their raincoats for a canoe trip. The man, they said, was wearing jeans and a white T-shirt, and appeared to be in his 30s. He apparently apologized for being there.

Venus Williams made quite the splash in her French Open debut on Sunday. She wore a black lace dress with skin-tone short shorts that gave the "illusion" - her word, not mine - that she wasn't wearing underwear. There's an Associated Press photo of her from behind where her dress has flopped up and seemingly exposed her bare butt. Google it real quick. You'll see. It's incredibly suggestive. What do you think of her outfit and the statement she's making? I don't want to Google it, Ashley.

And now . . . are you ready for this . . . we are going to be seeing a real live woman modeling her underpants on TV! Not only that, but in another ad, a male model for Fruit of the Loom underwear will be making a . . . well . . . brief appearance. Did you say: What's the big deal? Haven't TV soap operas already set up scenes in which we are led to believe the characters are not wearing any underwear at all? Why make a fuss over advertising that is less revealing than your average bathing suit?

Forget the economists, the Federal Reserve, and the president of the United States. If you want tangible proof whether the economy is turning around, open your man's underwear drawer. Because sales of tightie-whities and boxers have ridden up, which means the recession might be winding down - or on a brief holiday. Data released yesterday by the NPD Group Inc. show that sales of men's underwear spiked 4.6 percent the first six months of this year, while sales dropped in virtually every other apparel category.

DETROIT - A Nigerian who pleaded guilty to trying to blow up a Detroit-bound plane began his path to terrorism with a text message from a top al-Qaeda figure in Yemen, the U.S. government said Friday in a court filing that discloses new details about their relationship. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces life in prison at his sentencing Thursday. Although the punishment is mandatory, prosecutors filed a memo urging the judge to also order the maximum penalty - which ranges from 20 years to life in prison - for seven other crimes.

EVERYONE HAS HEARD of steroids, HGH and blood doping. But performance-enhancing underwear? Tina Maze, who finished fourth in a World Cup slalom in her native Slovenia yesterday, had her underwear confiscated and tested after a second-place finish in Austria last week. The New York Times reported the Swiss ski federation protested after the race claiming the one-piece undergarment - we're not talking Victoria's Secret here - contained higher levels of plastic than permitted.

Police in Montgomery County have arrested a Dresher man who allegedly stalked a Springfield Township woman and broke into her home to steal her underwear. Kornwell Chan, 37, of Audubon Drive, carried out the burglary while the woman's family was on vacation around Christmas, police said. Chan allegedly placed all the family photographs face down except the woman's, which he moved to the dining room table, according to District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman. The only items missing from the woman's home were her bras and underpants.

Police in Montgomery County have arrested a Dresher man for allegedly stalking a Springfield Township woman and breaking into her home to steal her underwear. Kornwell Chan, 37, of the 1900 block of Audubon Drive, carried out the burglary while the woman's family was on vacation during Christmas break, police said. Chan allegedly placed all the family photographs face down except for the victim's, which he moved to the dining room table, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman.

SALT LAKE CITY - A Utah woman accused of trying to sell her 13-year-old daughter's virginity pleaded guilty yesterday to having the girl model in her underwear for men. The 33-year-old woman entered the plea in Salt Lake City to two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. She also had faced two first-degree felony counts of aggravated sex abuse of a child, which could have brought life in prison if convicted. Prosecutors agreed to drop those charges in exchange for her plea.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - Campus police at New Mexico State University are investigating claims that someone stole panties from a woman's clothesline. The woman told officers on Monday that she had hung several pairs of colored underwear and two bras on the clothesline Saturday night. She found her gate open Sunday and nine pairs of panties worth about $60 were gone. A year ago members of an NMSU sorority told police that one of their members had been stealing Victoria's Secret underwear and bras worth hundreds of dollars.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man pleaded guilty Wednesday to trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear, defiantly telling a federal judge that he acted in retaliation for the killing of Muslims worldwide and referring to the failed explosive as a "blessed weapon. " Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who acknowledged working for al-Qaeda and never denied the allegations, entered the plea against his attorney's advice on the second day of his trial. He faces a mandatory life sentence for the 2009 attack that aimed to kill nearly 300 people on Christmas Day in the skies above Detroit.

DETROIT - Moments before he tried to bring down a Northwest Airlines jet, a young Nigerian on a mission for al-Qaeda retreated to the plane's lavatory for a long cleansing ritual to prepare for death, prosecutors told jurors Tuesday. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab prayed, washed himself, brushed his teeth, and put on perfume, then returned to his seat and tried to detonate a bomb in his underwear, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel said in his opening statement at the start of Abdulmutallab's trial.

DETROIT - A Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down a jetliner with a bomb in his underwear made a defiant political outburst Tuesday, demonstrating again why his courtroom behavior will be closely watched throughout the trial in which he is representing himself. "The mujahideen will wipe out the U.S. - the cancer U.S.," said Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, scowling as he referred to Muslim guerrilla fighters. When marshals removed his handcuffs, he also claimed that a radical Muslim cleric killed last week by the American military was still alive.