This sister-in-law expressed concern that our 10-year-old would remember Charlie and say something inappropriate. She's demanding that we lie to him and tell him Claire is another daughter we have never met.

My husband and I do not lie to our children. We feel it is best to explain to all three of our sons that Charlie has decided to make a lifestyle change and let them ask questions if they choose. What is your opinion? -- TRUTH-TELLING PARENTS

DEAR PARENTS: I don't believe in lying to children either, but before you tell your sons that Charlie decided to make a "lifestyle change," I urge you to do some research about gender identity. It is not as simple on any level as changing an aspect of one's lifestyle. It is about who Claire truly feels she is inside.

If your oldest boy remembers Charlie, he should know that some people feel from an early age that they were born into the wrong body -- the wrong gender. Fortunately, there is help for it in the form of medication and surgery. He should be told that the problem has been solved and Charlie is now Claire. When the younger children are older, they can be told the same thing in an age-appropriate manner if the subject comes up.

DEAR ABBY: My children's father died of cancer about a year ago. As a result, they receive Social Security benefits as his surviving dependents. He had no life insurance, so this is all they have.

The problem is nearly everyone who finds out they receive this money becomes angry and jealous. Abby, these benefits came from his earnings and are meant to assist me in supporting the children he is no longer here to help with. We try not to mention the money, but sometimes it comes up in conversation.

How can people be jealous about money received from such a tragedy? Would they really want to lose a family member in exchange for cash? Please ask people to be more considerate in a situation where a child has paid a far greater price than any check in the mail could cover. -- SURVIVING MOM IN ILLINOIS

DEAR MOM: I'm sorry for your loss. People, particularly in a difficult economy, can become jealous if they think someone is getting "something for nothing." (And depending upon how dysfunctional a family is, they might indeed be willing to "lose" a family member in exchange for cash.)

I'm passing your sentiments along, but my advice to you is to stop discussing finances unless there is a specific reason why the person you're talking to must have that information.

DEAR ABBY: My mother-in-law picks her nose in front of others by covering her finger with a tissue and then digging deep into her nose. She claims this is acceptable behavior even though the rest of us are grossed out. She refuses to stop unless somebody like you tells her otherwise.

Please help with this. I have a 7-year-old daughter who sees her, and I don't want her to think this is proper behavior in public. -- GROSSED OUT

DEAR GROSSED OUT: It's one thing to use a tissue for a gentle nose-blow, and quite another to use it as camouflage for a major excavation. That your MIL is grossing out those around her should be evidence enough that what she's doing is bad manners. It is showing lack of consideration for those around her.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

To order "How to Write Letters for All Occasions," send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby -- Letter Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. Shipping and handling are included in the price.

NASSAU, Germany/PRAGUE (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel promised 100 million euros to victims of Germany's worst flood in a decade on Tuesday as she toured areas devastated by the deluge which has claimed 12 lives across central Europe.

Swathes of suburban Prague were submerged but metal barriers along the Vltava river shielded the historic center as the high water shifted north to eastern Germany. In the German state of Saxony, about 10,000 people were forced from their homes, and thousands more were evacuated in Bavaria.

The 12 deaths have occurred in the Czech Republic, Austria, Poland and Germany since the weekend.

Forecasters said receding rains would help water levels to drop across the Czech Republic, but that parts of Slovakia and Hungary, as well as Germany, would be affected in coming days.

Conservative Merkel, who faces an election in September and hopes to win a third term, was keen to show she was helping those affected as she visited the Bavarian city of Passau, where soldiers had been piling sandbags and clearing mud.

"Even if the water level is slowly retreating (in Passau), the effects will be felt for a long time," she told reporters gathered around her on a street.

"Therefore 100 million euros of emergency aid is available from the state (of Bavaria) and the federal government. We are splitting it 50:50."

"Now it is a matter of getting the aid quickly to people."

Meteorologists predicted the worst might be over for cities such as Passau but warned of flooding in the historic city of Dresden and nearby Meissen, both devastated when similar floods swept across central Europe in 2002.

In those floods a decade ago, 17 people were killed in the Czech Republic, and damage estimated at 20 billion euros ($26 billion) was inflicted.

NO POWER

Merkel's tour is reminiscent of 2002 when then-Social Democrat (SPD) chancellor Gerhard Schroeder donned wellington boots and rushed to flood-hit areas only a few weeks before an election which he was at risk of losing.

His decisive crisis management gave Schroeder, a strong campaigner, a boost in the polls which, along with his resistance to the Iraq war, helped him win a second term.

Merkel may have left her boots at home, opting instead for sturdy walking shoes and a black rain jacket, and is already riding high in the polls - but her political senses have kicked in, said commentators.

"Now the chancellor is travelling to the flooded areas as a gesture of sympathy," wrote the center-right Die Welt daily, adding she would be measured against the likes of Schroeder.

"But where there is a catastrophe, symbolic appearances and the cynicism of observers begin," it said.

Those in affected areas had less political concerns. "We just want things to get back to normal and want to be able to get in and out of town," said Wolfgang Klawitte, a resident of the Saxony town of Grimma.

"We have no electricity and at some point we also need to get food."

The Zwickauer Mulde river broke its banks after days of rain and Grimma's old town was submerged. The river, usually at a level of about 1.6 meters, reached 6 meters on Monday.

ZOO SUBMERGED

Merkel later visited Pirna in Saxony and was due to stop in Greiz, in the eastern state of Thuringia in the afternoon. German Transport Minister Peter Ramsauer said he expected the damage in Germany to cost hundreds of millions of euros.

In the Czech Republic, areas to the south and north of the capital Prague were under water on Tuesday, including the zoo and horse racing track. Large parts of its subway system stayed shut with officials saying they would not reopen for days.

Czech electricity producer CEZ shut down its Melnik 2 and 3 coal-fired power plants on Tuesday as a preventative action against floods on the Elbe river.

Spolana, a chemical factory in Neratovice, north of Prague, said it had moved dangerous substances to a safe location and shut down all production.

The floods across the region sent shares in reinsurers Munich Re and Hannover Re down by about 2.5 percent on Monday, with markets anticipating big claims from property owners once the waters recede.

High water is likely to stop shipping on the Rhine in south Germany until at least Thursday morning, the local navigation authority said.

Shipping was stopped over the weekend on southern sections of the river and the river stayed closed to shipping south of Koblenz on Tuesday, it said.

(Additional reporting by Reuters TV; Writing by Madeline Chambers and Jan Lopatka; Editing by Pravin Char)

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A high-level U.N. panel recommended an ambitious roadmap Thursday to tackle the world's major challenges, from climate change to equality for women, with a key goal of ending extreme poverty everywhere by 2030.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon appointed the panel last year to recommend a new development agenda after the U.N. Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, expire in 2015. World leaders agreed in 2000 on anti-poverty goals including cutting extreme poverty by half, halting the HIV/AIDS pandemic and increasing the number of people with access to clean water and sanitation.

The extreme poverty and clean water goals have been met, but many other of the goals probably won't be achieved.

The 27-member U.N. panel expressed "deep respect" for the MDGs, saying: "The 13 years since the millennium have seen the fastest reduction in poverty in human history: there are half a billion fewer people living below an international poverty line of $1.25 a day. Child death rates have fallen by more than 30 percent, with about three million children's lives saved each year compared to 2000. Deaths from malaria have fallen by one quarter."

The panel proposed a major expansion of the MDGs with a special focus on the more than one billion people still living on less than $1.25 a day to tackle the causes of poverty such as weak government institutions, corruption, a lack of basic freedoms, conflict and hunger.

The panel's report will kick-start two years of discussions and negotiations on what the development agenda after 2015 should be

The co-chairs, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and British Prime Minister David Cameron, called it a "bold and practical" proposal with 12 goals and 54 targets.

"Our vision and our responsibility are to end extreme poverty in all its forms in the context of sustainable development and to have in place the building blocks of sustained prosperity for all," the panel said.

The recommended goals include ensuring food security, sustainable energy and sustainable natural resources management; creating jobs and promoting economic growth and good governance; achieving gender equality and ensuring stable and peaceful societies. Targets include promoting free speech and the rule of law, ending child marriage, protecting property rights, encouraging entrepreneurship and ensuring that every child has at least a primary school education.

Mexico's former foreign relations secretary Patricia Espinoza, a panel member, said the vision for 2030 won't be achieved "if the world continues to do business like we have been doing for the last decades."

U.S. panelist John Podesta, who served as President Bill Clinton's chief of staff and co-chaired President Barack Obama's transition team, told a press conference that one of the MDGs' failings was that it didn't include proposals to promote the peace and security that world leaders talked about in 2000.

The panel rectifies this by recommending "building blocks" to peace and stability, but Podesta said "more than 40 percent of the extreme poor now live in conflict and conflict-affected states, so until we tackle that problem with real vigor, I think ... it's hard to finish the job."

[More from BGR: ]

This article was

1. RBNY'S JEROME DE BONTIN SPEAKS OUT ON NYCFC AND ATTENDANCE

It's been mostly radio silence from the Red Bulls since the announcement that NYCFC would become New York City's second MLS franchise. But on Thursday de Bontin went on the Seeing Red podcast to discuss a variety of issues. Central among them was the club's new market competition,Lots of good stuff here, so give it a listen.

2. RED BULLS FANS HOPING FOR KAK OR ABIDAL ... DON'T GET YOUR HOPES UP

It seems like the Brazilian has been linked with New York forever, and it seemed even more likely when his brother joined the Red Bulls. Does that mean he's headed to Red Bull Arena soon, especially since the club is looking around for a third Designated Player?

3. COULD GARETH BARRY BE THE FIRST MANCHESTER CITY PLAYER HEADED STATESIDE?

, but the rumor mill is already in full swing. What does that mean for the next two-plus years? It means get used to anyone and everyone wearing sky blue to be linked with their sister club across the pond.

4. SPEAKING OF MANCHESTER CITY RUMORS, CARLOS TVEZ TO TORONTO FC?

Not. Gonna. Happen. A Brazilian publication reported the TFC were willing to break the bank to the tune of $10 million per season to land the Argentine star,

5. ROMA BECOME FIRST-EVER MLS ALL-STAR OPPONENT TO HAIL FROM SERIE A

It was practically an open secret, but the official announcement dropped Thursday thatfor the AT&T MLS All-Star Game on July 31 in Kansas City. They may not have quite the same international cache as Chelsea or Manchester United, but that's not a bad thing, according to Jeff Bradley.Of course,at Sporting Park.

6. WHO HAS THE EARLY LEAD ON AN ALL-STAR SPOT OPPOSITE THE GIALLOROSSI?

MLS has been pretty darn successful against foreign competition in the All-Star Game, but who might carry the banner this time around? Well, . You may well disagree. Either way, you won't want to miss these goals of ASG's past.Plus,

7. WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AFFILIATES MEET MLS PARTNERS IN US OPEN CUP? WELL, IT DEPENDS

It's a conundrum we've only begun to see this season with the implementation of a partnership between MLS and USL PRO: What happens when loanees face the prospect of playing against, and perhaps knocking out, their parent club in US Open Cup play? In the case ofMeanwhile, the New England Revolution did it a bit different,for a match against their Rochester affiliate.

8. DEMPSEY HEADED NOWHERE, ALTIDORE INTEREST RAMPS UP

Clint Dempsey moved to Tottenham for a shot at the Champions League. That didn't happen in Year 1, and rumors began flying that the Texan could be sold to provide funds to bolster the squad. . Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, interest in Jozy Altidore is building. That's no surprise after a massive season for AZ Alkmaar.

9. BELGIUM WALTZED, NOW WHAT FOR US NATIONAL TEAM?

Nobody was happy with the USMNT's 4-2 loss in Cleveland on Wednesday night, but what did we learn? , thenabout the US' ability to stand toe-to-toe with top sides. They'll get another chance to prove themselves on Sunday,

10. CHELS IS OUT, BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR CHIVAS USA?

First things first, youth academy director of socceragainst the Seattle Sounders, keeping the seat warm forThen the club will try to dig itself out of the hole that developed under theafter a seven-game skid without a win.Perhapsaround.

11. HEARTBREAK FOR TIJUANA AS COPA LIBERTADORES RUN PETERS OUT

Until the clock ticked past 90 minutes, Club Tijuana were done for in Brazil on Thursday night. The quarterfinal series with Atltico Mineiro was tied on aggregate, 3-3, but away goals meant the Brazilian powers were slated to move on. Then the referee blew his whistle and pointed to the spot in extra time, a turn of events that put Americans Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona and Greg Garza on the brink of the semis. . Duvier Riascos sent his attempt down the middle andand end TJ's Copa dreams.(VIDEO)

12. BECKHAM SITS COURTSIDE IN MIAMI, BUT PASSES ON FAN WELCOME

The rumors are starting to ramp up to fever pitch, and David Beckham isn't exactly tamping them down these days. With the concept of a ,at the Miami Heat's Eastern Conference Finals matchup against the Indiana Pacers. Beckham didn't, however, meet with thein support of any potential expansion bid. Perhaps next time.

13. SWEDE'S APPARENTLY WANT SOME MLS INSIGHT, AND DAN KEAT DELIVERS

Dan Keat didn't play much for the LA Galaxy during two seasons in Southern California, but he landed on his feet at Superettan side Falkenberg FF andYou'll need the help of Google translate (unless Swedish is your second language) to read what Keat had to say about fellow All White Ryan Nelsen, David Beckham and the level between the two leagues.

14. SPAIN'S BEST AND BRIGHTEST HEADED TO THE BIG APPLE

Don't expect La Roja manager Vicente del Bosque to bring a watered down side to New York City for June 11's friendly vs. Robbie Keane and Ireland. Far from it, in fact. Spain announced their preliminary roster for the trip on Thursday, and, well, it can only be described as stacked.

15. AMERICAN BUSINESSMEN HOPE TO REVAMP DUNDEE UNITED

This sounds good: We want to turn a 1 million business into a 10 million business. It's much harder to pull off, though, and that's what a group of Americans hoping to return Dundee United to the Scottish Premier League are facing.

MLSsoccer.com Musts

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President Barack Obama on Friday publicly called on Congress to prevent Stafford student loan interest rates from doubling this summer.

The president, who spent time on the 2012 campaign trail speaking out against a rate increase, spoke in the Rose Garden Friday surrounded by college students. He pressed Congress to extend current rates or work toward a compromise to avoid the increase3.4 percent to 6.8 percentset to take place July 1.

Lawmakers on both side of the aisle have said reforms are needed, but are divided over the solution.

"Higher education cannot be a luxury for a privileged few," Obama said Friday. He noted, as he has in the past, that it was only nine years ago that he and his wife Michelle finally paid off their student loans, which he said cost more than his mortgage. "And we were lucky," he said, noting they had "more resources than many." And this, he added, was around the time the First Couple planned to start saving for their daughters' college funds.

Obama had warned on the 2012 campaign trail that allowing rates to double would cost the average student borrower $1,000 for each year of college over the life of their loan. Stafford student loans are offered to low- and middle-income students. That added cost could greatly affect , as well as put recent graduates in difficult positions, in the current tough economic climate, experts say.

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When interest rates were scheduled to double last summer, Congress, facing public pressure, passed a bill to stop that from happening. Obama signed it into law last year. But ahead of this year's July 1 expiration, Washington finds itself in the same situation.

"If this sounds like dj vu all over again, it's because it is," Obama said Friday. He called on Americans to once again pressure Congress to act.

The Republican-led House has already acted. House members passed a student loan plan offered by Republican Rep. John Kline of Minnesota, chairman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce. His proposal ties rates on student loans to the interest on the 10-year Treasury rate. But the White House and many Democrats take issue with that plan because interest rates would change annually.

"The House bill isnt smart and it isnt fair," Obama said. He once again took issue with the fact interest rates would change annually under Kline's proposal and added that he believes the Republican plan "eliminates safeguards for lower income families."

Several Democrats have offered their own proposals in Congress, as has the president.

Obama outlined his proposal in his budget this year. Like Kline's plan, it also calls for tying rates on student loans to the interest on a 10-year Treasury note, but it also locks in those rates for the life of the loan.

Some student loan advocates criticize the president's proposal because it doesn't provide a cap on those ratessomething included in Kline's plan.

Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell chalked Friday's event up to politics.

"With the President and Congressional Republicans in agreement on the need to provide a permanent reform to address the increase in interest rates on new student loans, no one should be fooled by todays campaign-style event at the White House," the Kentucky Republican said in a statement. "House Republicans have already passed legislation that would prevent a rate hike, and Senate Republicans have proposed a solution similar to one the President himself called for in this years budget. Heres one issue where the two parties can and should find quick agreement.

"Unfortunately, the President appears more interested in needlessly stoking partisan divisions in Washington than helping young Americans avoid a higher interest rate on their student loans," he continued.

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a statement Friday noted that Kline's plan mirrors the president's and said the differences between the two "are small." Boehner then took issue with the president's event, which he argued stokes partisanship.

"With time so short and the differences between our proposals so slight, todays event was misguided and deeply disappointing," he said. "A president who promised young people he would reject petty partisanship, today practiced it himself. If he really wants to shield students from higher rates, he should work with his former colleagues in the Senate to act. Thats what our students deserve."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) following Obama's remarks Friday announced in a statement that the House legislation is a "non-starter" and that the Senate next week will vote on a Democratic-backed plan.

I hope my Senate Republican colleagues will put politics aside and join us in providing middle-class families with the security of knowing they won't be forced to pay thousands more for student loans on July first. This is exactly the kind of common-sense proposal we need to keep our economy growing," Reid said.

Another problem is I am having a lot of feelings for his best friend, and he has feelings for me, too. I don't want to tell my boyfriend because I love him and don't want to lose him. I also don't want to ruin his friendship with the other guy.

My boyfriend wants to have sex again, but I don't. I wish I could take it back. What can I do? -- LOST AND CONFUSED

DEAR LOST AND CONFUSED: Because you had sex once does not mean you are compelled to do it again. Feeling as you do about the best friend is a strong sign that as much as you care for your boyfriend, you are not in love with him.

If you are being pressured to have sex, it's important for your sake that you tell your boyfriend you feel it happened too soon, you're sorry you did it, and you have decided to wait until you are older to start again. It would be an intelligent move for you because your affections appear to be all over the map right now.

I am also concerned because you didn't mention whether you both used birth control. It's a sign of maturity when couples plan ahead and take precautions to avoid an unwanted pregnancy. (And yes, a girl can get pregnant the first time.) In fact, there's a word for teens who have sex on the spur of the moment and don't use birth control: It's PARENTS.

DEAR ABBY: My friend is a compulsive talker. "Chatty Cathy" draws detailed descriptions of people I don't know and don't care about and lingers over past and current tribulations. I tolerate her behavior because she's a kind person, but she is oblivious to how much she dominates a conversation. It's like something compels her to fill every silence with monologue.

Her personal and work relationships suffer because of it. It's hard for her to hold a job, and she often becomes upset over this co-worker's or that family member's behavior. It is always the other person's failure, yet she is always in the center of the commotion.

She has had a tough life, partly of her own making. If I try to send subtle cues of uninterest, she doesn't pick up on them and keeps talking and talking. I feel sorry for her. Is there anything I can do to help her, without seeming critical? -- EXHAUSTED LISTENER IN HAWAII

DEAR EXHAUSTED: Not knowing your friend, I can only guess what drives her to talk compulsively. Some people do it because they feel the need to prove to others how smart they are. Others do it out of nervousness or insecurity because they are uncomfortable with silence -- even if it is a momentary pause in conversation.

Because her behavior has had a negative impact on her employability, the next time she mentions problems at work, it would be a kindness to suggest to her that, because it's happening repeatedly, she discuss it with a psychologist. That's not hurtful; it's helpful.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

The national semifinals will air on TBS in 2014 and 2015, with the title game remaining on CBS, the companies said Tuesday.

Under the 14-year deal that CBS and Turner Sports signed with the NCAA in 2010, CBS and TBS were scheduled to start alternating broadcasts of the entire Final Four starting in 2016, but Turner had the option to move that up to 2014.

Network executives decided in recent months that the best approach for both companies was to split the coverage for the next two years before beginning to take turns. TBS will televise the entire Final Four in 2016 and CBS in 2017.

"It was a nice opportunity to have a transition," Turner Sports chief David Levy said during a conference call.

The two companies recently completed the third year of their contract, which televised every game in the tournament for the first time using CBS and three Turner channels TBS, TNT and truTV. The new model has drawn strong ratings and proved viewers are comfortable finding the games on cable.

That success made Turner eager to get in on the Final Four early. Sports fans have become increasingly accustomed to major events on cable, include college football's title game.

Basketball's NCAA final will stay on a traditional broadcast network for two more years before making its cable debut. Meanwhile, TBS will add more big games: The channel will also begin airing two of the four regional finals starting next season. They had all been on CBS.

"We both win in this scenario," CBS Sports Chairman Sean McManus said.

The original financial terms of the deal won't change under the new arrangement, McManus said.

Network executives have yet to decide which announcers will call the Final Four games next season. Steve Kerr of Turner had joined Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg of CBS in the booth for the semifinals and final in the first three years of the partnership.

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta promised a wide reform of property tax on Friday, addressing one of the main issues dividing his coalition government, but gave no details on where he would find the billions of euros to pay for it.

He confirmed pledges to suspend the widely hated IMU tax on principal residences brought in by his predecessor Mario Monti but held back from the demands of center right members of his fragile left-right coalition for it to be scrapped entirely.

Letta has had to balance pledges to keep Italy's budget deficit below European Union limits of 3 percent of gross domestic product with the priorities of his diverse coalition, cobbled together two months after an inconclusive election.

"The choices we make will be within these horizons but they will be markedly pro-growth," Letta told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

He also set aside 1 billion euros to boost unemployment benefits for workers placed in special temporary redundancy schemes, part of which would be paid for by funds aimed at boosting productivity in the economy.

National statistics agency ISTAT confirmed this week that Italy, the euro zone's third-largest economy, was in its longest recession since current records began in 1970 and Letta has made boosting growth and cutting soaring levels of youth unemployment a priority for his government.

Payments on the IMU tax due in June, affecting around 15 million homes, will be pushed back until September, pending a broader reform of the overall system of property taxes which he said would be completed by August 31.

The measures, which cover certain agricultural buildings but exclude luxury residences, leave the government needing to find 2 billion euros immediately to help cash-strapped local authorities, which depend on the tax, fund municipal services.

Letta did not detail where the money would come from but the suspension would be financed exclusively from cuts to spending, said Deputy Prime Minister Angelino Alfano, from Silvio Berlusconi's center-right People of Freedom (PDL) party.

The head of the Confindustria business lobby, Giorgio Squinzi, as well as economists from international bodies such as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, have said the priority should be on cutting payroll charges rather than the housing tax.

But IMU has become a banner issue for the PDL, which has repeatedly demanded its complete abolition as well as the repayment of contributions paid in 2012, a move which would cost around 8 billion euros.

Letta's own center-left Democratic Party wants a more limited cut to the housing tax, to ensure that lower income families drew the greatest benefit. It says the main priority should be finding ways to head off a planned increase in sales tax due to come into effect in July.

(Additional reporting by Steve Scherer, Naomi O'Leary, Catherine Hornby; writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Reuters) - When a racist pitcher beans Jackie Robinson in the head in the new movie about the first black man to play major league baseball, Sherrill Duesterhaus wants everybody in the theater to know it's a lie.

Duesterhaus' father, Fritz Ostermueller, threw the pitch, but it did not hit Robinson in the head and there is no evidence he uttered, "You don't belong here and you never will," as shown in "42," the Warner Bros. Pictures film that opened in April.

"I respect Jackie Robinson, his story is so inspiring and it's good that it is out there, but not at the expense of someone's good name," said Duesterhaus, 66, of Joplin, Missouri.

Duesterhaus said she had been warned by a friend that the film was unflattering to her father, who died of cancer at age 50 when she was 11 years old.

But the scene in which he taunts Robinson and throws at his head was still a shock, she said.

"It just took my breath away," Duesterhaus said. "I thought, 'All these people are sitting here believing this and it didn't happen.' It broke my heart."

She said her father was a "kind and loving man" and neither she nor her mother can recall him talking badly about Robinson or any black player.

Duesterhaus produced an article from a Pittsburgh newspaper in 1947 in which her father said Robinson crowded the plate, making pitching to him difficult. Ostermueller played for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the time.

"I told my wife the night before I pitched that I might have trouble with Robinson - that one of my pitches would hit him, if he didn't move back," Ostermueller said in the article.

"I knew, too, some people would say it was intentional. It wasn't at all, but in his first trip to the plate I hit him. After that, he moved back a couple of inches and showed me some respect."

TRUTH 'WENT SOUTH'

The pitch early in the 1947 season - Robinson's rookie year - sailed toward his head but he deflected it with his arm before falling to the ground, according to several accounts.

Robinson's teammates on the Brooklyn Dodgers yelled at Ostermueller, but no fight broke out on the field as shown in the movie.

A Warner Bros. spokesman, Paul McGuire, had no comment in response to questions about the film and Duesterhaus' concerns.

She said the movie contained other errors, such as showing Ostermueller as a right-handed pitcher, when he threw left-handed.

"I enjoyed the movie," Duesterhaus said, "up until the truth went south."

Jonathan Eig, author of the 2007 book "Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season," said Robinson took verbal abuse from some players but there is no indication Ostermueller wanted to drive him out of baseball or threw at him because he was breaking the game's color barrier.

"I was surprised they chose that moment to dramatize the issue and picked Ostermueller of all people to be the villain," Eig said. "Even as I was watching the movie, I wondered if any of Ostermueller's kids will see this and what they would think."

Eig said Robinson was known to lean into pitches and swing wildly, making him vulnerable to getting hit.

Robinson was hit by more pitches than all but one other National League batter in 1947, and led the league in that category in 1948, according to baseball-reference.com.

Robert Butler, a former film critic for the Kansas City Star who now has an online movie review site, said the movie unnecessarily tainted Ostermueller's reputation.

"In my opinion, it's the result of bad research, laziness or outright malice," Butler said. "It would have been the easiest thing in the world to give (Ostermueller) a different name in the film. That said, anyone who goes to movies looking for true history is fighting a losing battle."

(Editing by David Bailey and Xavier Briand)