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This year 's Igs were presented by five actual Nobel winners amid showers of paper airplanes tossed by the 1,200 audience members - - another Ig Nobel tradition.A favorite : Princeton University psychologist Daniel M. Oppenheimer . " Worried that surprise raids are driving away workers who are their lifeblood , businesses are pooling their money and joining unusually broad alliances that include labor unions and civil rights groups to push Congress to overhaul the nation 's immigration laws.The coalition Alliance for Immigration Reform 2007 announced its formation this week , placing the force of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , Service Employees International Union and the nation 's largest Hispanic civil rights group behind a unified lobbying effort to get a law passed before the politics of the 2008 presidential campaign make a compromise on the contentious issue unworkable . It argues that the Federal Circuit 's recent rulings , including its decision against MedImmune , reversed years of precedent that favored what some call the " pay and sue " strategy.The case has potentially wide implications for other technology firms , since it will affect the ability of patent holders to deflect challenges to their monopolies over inventions.MedImmune is supported in the case by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association and by the Bush administration - - which told the court in its brief that " there is a strong federal policy . " " I respect you and the arguments you've made , " Bush told skeptical lawmakers from both parties in his sixth State of the Union address and the fourth since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 . " The dam has broken on the justices ' desire to stay behind the red curtain . The cases underscore the pitfalls faced by local law enforcement as it intensifies its fight against immigrant smuggling and undocumented workers . " Having poetry books around is actively harmful by about the same amount , " perhaps because it signals a " Bohemian " lifestyle that may encourage kids to become guitar-strumming , poetry-reading dreamers.Still Time to Play the News GameMore than 800 people have played the News Game , the latest online experiment conducted by The Washington Post , washingtonpost.com and Stanford University 's Political Communication Lab . without a mandatory middle , " she said.The court yesterday also unanimously struck down a lower court 's decision that made it harder for prisoners to bring lawsuits alleging mistreatment . " There 's some people who like to look for judicial experience in a nominee to the Supreme Court , but there 's nothing that should require that , and historically there have been individuals who have been on the Supreme Court without judicial experience , " she said . Cumbersome securities regulation and immigration restrictions are diminishing the importance of the nation 's financial markets , according to a report by consulting firm McKinsey & Co. released yesterday.New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg ( R ) and Sen. Charles E. Schumer ( D-N.Y . The historic and cordial meeting produced an accord that called for working toward reunification ( though without specifying how ) and for permitting visits between families long divided as a result of the war . These are real experiments in the social sciences developed by Stanford University 's political communication lab in collaboration with The Washington Post and washingtonpost.com . Several Web sites , notably ArabRap.net , serve as nerve centers for Arabic rap and help spread the music under the radar of government censors.Still , many nonsecular Arabs view rap as another intrusion of Western culture and " an affront to [ Arab ] heritage or an imitation of the West , " Kahf wrote.Arabic rappers respond to the challenge by using traditional instruments behind familiar rap beats . " Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. spoke to his fellow members of the Federalist Society , a coalition of conservative lawyers and legal scholars who have gone from rebel outsiders to Washington insiders - - the group drew 1,500 people to its annual banquet and warranted appearances by administration leaders from Vice President Cheney on down.Roberts 's turn on the stage was the most complete , and it showed that his sure-footed performance in his confirmation hearings , where he left even senators opposed to his conservative philosophy aglow , was no fluke.He has a politician 's gift for appearing open while answering only the questions he wants to answer , along with an almost over-the-top humility about being , at 51 , the youngest chief justice since John Marshall , and he offers a reassuring middle ground between those worried about threats to judicial independence and those alarmed by activist judges.He provided a little something for everyone . Koreans , as well as people in several other Asian countries , have believed since antiquity that each person is destined to possess certain characteristics depending on where his or her birth year falls in the 12-year astrological cycle.These beliefs are still so deeply held that couples delay having children in a horse year , induce abortions if they believe their baby will be a girl or deliberately misreport their daughter 's birth year , the researchers found . It was death penalty day yesterday at the Supreme Court , coincidentally 30 years to the day since Gary Gilmore became the first person to be executed under the country 's modern capital punishment laws.The court heard three death penalty cases from Texas even as executions are on hold in an increasing number of states , from Maryland to California , and as the number of new death sentences continues to fall . " His attorney said the law was unconstitutional because it violated the right to sexual privacy without government interference . " Stemming the Loss of Good TeachersPerhaps what we need is a No Teacher Left Behind program.Certainly we should do something : Schoolteachers are less qualified today than they once were . But on Oct. 3 , 2005 , when he announced he had picked Miers , his loyal legal counsel , to succeed retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor , the right wing of their own party skewered both Bush and Miers.A little more than three weeks later , she withdrew from contention amid the unrelenting backlash , particularly from conservatives , who argued that there were far better candidates.Miers ' resume was filled with firsts : first woman president of the Dallas Bar Association , first woman president of the Texas bar , first woman president of her law firm.She was Bush 's personal lawyer in Texas , took on the thankless job of cleaning up the Texas Lottery when he was governor and followed him to Washington to serve as staff secretary . Still , scholars said that his opinions since joining the 3rd Circuit in 1990 yield important clues , such as which areas of law he is passionate about , whether he strives for consensus and how his views align with Supreme Court decisions.To examine his record , The Post looked at how Alito voted on all 221 cases he has helped to decide in which the 3rd Circuit - - which handles appeals from Pennsylvania , New Jersey , Delaware and the Virgin Islands - - issued a divided ruling . It did not permit any other exception , however , based on its finding that none could be medically justified.If the court wants to uphold the federal law without overruling a precedent that is only six years old , it could say that it is bound by Congress 's factual findings , which distinguish the federal law from the Nebraska one.That is the course urged by the Bush administration in its brief , which speaks of " the long-standing principle that Congress is better equipped than courts to make factual findings that inform the constitutionality of federal statutes .